July, 2001
[This started the whole thing. Dick and I were exchanging some emails about digital cameras, and he went into an Andy Woodbury imitation...] Whatcha think...?, I mean whatcha say there Kenny-o? (thp-thp-thp-thp-thp-thp-thp-thp-thp-thp-thp-thp) Got any water? I'm a little thirsty!
It's Ken-Ken, not Kenny-o. ("You wanna beer?" Oh yea - I remember that! Well whatcha say there Ken-Ken? Andy nickname list: Kenny - Ken-Ken Danny - Danny-o Peter - Moe Noopy - Sis Any girl he liked - Sis or toots BTW - Danny emailed me last week and said he got an email from Peter who said Ed Bacon died. I think Danny went to the funeral. I'm not sure. I'm waiting for Danny's reply. Kinda sad - but Pete said Ed had a triple by-pass 12 years ago and "out lived the odds years ago." Wow... That is sad about Ed Bacon. How old was he, do you think? About Tommy's age, huh? Ed must have been about 75. Remember his oldest son Roger was about Danny’s age? Hey what was Brian & James last name? They were brothers weren't they? I think Brian was James younger brother. Roger & Brian hung out together. Marshall helped paint the bars while dating Noopy, James wore a size 16 shoe... he drove a 1964 Dodge Polaris 318 cu in. And I can hear him inhale with that laugh "heh...heh...heh...heh...heh. Whoa!!! where did that come from?" The mind is a good thing if you know how to work it! Trouble is only some parts work! I'll bet Danny can fill in some blanks here! Anyway, I was confusing Ed Bacon with Dave Spinks. Don't ask me how--but that's who I was thinking of. I was way out in left field. (The mind is a terrible thing.) And now I'm trying to remember Ed. Short, bald, a little chubby, right? I'm thinking he was in his 50s already, back in the days of Junglewood. So, yeah, at least 75. There's a guy out here named Everett Heidemann that we hired to do work for us at our first place--reminded me of Ed Bacon. Now I can't separate them in my memory. I wish I had a picture. Ed was assistant manager of Junglewood for years, wasn't he? I remember James, but not Brian.. Remember James' laugh? (heh..heh..heh..heh) God, that's been a long time. But I just can't quite remember Brian... let me try: he was older, thinner, a little shorter, right? (James was big!) And I have no clue what their last name was. Roger Bacon. Another faint memory. You were confusing Ed Bacon with Dave Spinks??... that's almost like confusing Jonathon Winters with Jim Carey. I had to mention this because you should have heard me laugh. The guy in the office next door told me (kiddingly) to hold it down. Thanks though, I need to laugh more. By the way Dick, the only part about James that I can attest to is your perfect description of his laugh. Were you serious about all of the statistical data you spouted off in reference to his car and shoes? It's more like confusing Dom DeLouise with Pope Paul II--that's what I thought when I finally straightened it out. Say, Dan, did you go to his funeral?? [adding Peter Woodbury to the group…] All right! I think it's time to get Peter in on this! Pete, follow the correspondence below. Then help us fill in on some Junglewood trivia. I think we all trust your detailed memory the most here. What was Brian & James last name? They were brothers weren't they? What size shoe did James have? I can remember looking at them when he put one up on the bench and someone said "Whoa, look at that!" Hugh brown hi-top dusty boot! Size 16 - I'm not sure? His car was a Dodge and I am certain of the 318 cu in. but not sure of the model. Just a big boat anchor! Pete - Any other Trivia of the Ed Bacon era? I remember Ed would always tell us, "I get all the fun jobs." while you and I would tie strings, disbud, run wire and try to make Mike McGuire say cuss words. There was this one time out in 8 & 9 time when you and I got all tangled up messin' around and I pulled your underpants clean out the back of your jeans and threw' em up and they wrapped around a support wire 12 feet up! Don't ask me why but I think they stayed there for more than a week or so. OK - Your turn!
Hello to all of you out there, The brothers’ name is Learson. There was also two other kids that also worked at Junglewood. There was a girl between Brian and the youngest, Phillip. I can't remember her name, but she went to C.C. and was studying marine biology or something like that. She had a boyfriend that had a BMW motorcycle. Phil was my age, tall, skinny and had long curly hair and smoked Chesterfields among other things. I think that their dad worked with Ed at Rocky Flats. Dave Spinks had a black and silver 57 Chevy. He was going to work with disabled children and he had blackheads by his ears. Brian Learson's girlfriends name was Linda Prudholm or something like that. I think she was going to study Russian. They use to make out in her car at lunch time while the rest of the guys would either be going off the pole or feeding Othello or Wesley their lunch scraps. Does anybody remember Noel Lightburn? He taught me how to drive the tractor and how to back it up with the trailer on it. Do everybody remember learning how to pick carnations and how badly we cut our thumbs. Also during pulling time seeing who had the worst wire cut. It is sad to hear about Ed Bacon. I was thinking about him all weekend had many memories surface. All the memories got me thinking about the value of them. Maybe the memories only have some significance to a few people (like Junglewood stories) but none the less it's history. Before written history the American natives all passed on their rich history by word of mouth only. Any way to make a long story short, I feel that everybody should write an autobiography, if for no other reason than to get it down in print and preserve it for everyone. For the same reason we all share the memories of the 'Junglewood Years' and feel compelled to document them somehow. Our children all love to hear the stories over and over. If we each just wrote a chapter, we'd have a huge book in no time. I know, I'll stop. Give it some thought. Once upon a time (roughly June of 1967) it was either Pete or Dick that was helping me change the steam blanket on one of the long benches in 8 house. We were in the process of lifting the hot plastic off a newly cooked bench and just about done when I noticed a very large and very slow moving rat emerging from under this extremely HOT bench. I could hardly believe he lived through 120 minutes of a literal hell. Anyway, he saw me approaching him and seemed to care less when suddenly the little guy coughed. It was very hard to not feel sorry for him, but when he coughed, he blew a smoke or should I say steam ring! I only remember how hard I laughed when I told the story a little later to someone, but understandably, it didn't seem that funny at the time. Pete or Dick, which one of you was with me? I do remember one of us ran and got a wrist rocket and put him out of his misery. Pete, I do remember Brian Learson and Linda Prudholm liked making out in their car at noon, but I also remember another guy (???) who used to do the same thing with his girl friend at lunch time... Jim Ridgeway - it just now occurred to me! Remember him? He used to make me laugh. He was at least 2 years older than me, but I can't remember his girls friends name. Her last name began with a "P" and she was good looking. There was a big construction outfit in the Jefferson County area that had her last name plastered on it. I'll remember it later and tell you... the trucks are still running on the streets... "Pascal" I just got it too! I'll never remember her first name... do one of you? That's all for now. bye Learson! That's right! Hold on. I think I smell a fire! Time to go jump in the ditch and roll it out! [This is a reference to one of the several little brush fires we kids had started out in the fields of Junglewood. I remember panicking because I thought this one had gotten out of control. So, I ran about 20 yards to the ditch, jumped in, ran back soaking wet, and literally rolled over the fire before it could spread any further. It worked, but I still remember Danny laughing because he thought I’d over-reacted.] —— What was James' favorite expression? It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't quite remember it. Something like, "Are you kidding me?", but that wasn't it... —— Gad, you guys are amazing--I can't remember 1/10 of this.. I do remember Jim Ridgeway--just barely, though. And, actually, I remember Noel Lightburn—way, way back. Peter, you must've been about 7 or 8 at the most then, right? First time I've heard the smoke ring story--amazing. Sounds like a cartoon. Oh, and I remember Dave Spinks' black Chevy. Danny, you have the most amazing animal stories... like the time you tossed a dart up in the air and it came down with a dead bird on it. —— I'm adding Tom to this. Hi, Tom, we're sharing old Junglewood stories with Peter.. OK, I just remembered another Andy story. My first paycheck...working at the greenhouse for 60 cents an hour, and I only worked one hour during the first pay period, so my check was for "Sixty cents only." I carried the damn thing around in my wallet for about 6 months and then tried to cash it at Piper's (or was it Pifer's? remember? We bought caps for our cap guns there, or Bazooka bubblegum for a penny). Anyway, they wouldn't cash it, so a few days later, I told Andy about it, showed him the check, which was now falling in half along the crease where I'd folded it, and I remember him just laughing. He pulled 60 cents out of his pocket and gave it to me, and tore up the check. I remember thinking, "now how are they going to reconcile that? What a mess the books will be!" [adding Benj, Bill and Jim to the list…] Benj, Bill & Jim, Junglewood Trivia started up after we heard from Peter that Ed Bacon died last week! Kind of a "in memory of Ed Bacon" thing. OK - Who were all the Sams brothers names? Oldest to youngest? We may need your help on this one! I remember Billy playing ping-pong in the garage during morning 9:00 break with Jim Sams? Maybe 1960? Long before Ed Bacon’s time! Who would stop & get donuts at Mr. Donut (Alameda & Wadsworth) after delivering the flowers to DWF?
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