MORE HOMEMADE GAMES

     In the last edition, with the help of viewers, we recalled some of the games we "made-up" as teens to fill spare times. These were the days that few young people had cars or various similar "incidentals" It was even before the advent of television. Our time was simply "our time" with no promises of any specific itinerary.
     The response we received was great.
     Larry "Lefty" Moore, BHS-52, sent a picture of a train setup he has in his California back yard.
     Gary Knox, UCHS-58, wrote, "I invented a similar dice game method for baseball, basketball, football and sports car racing. I compiled the team leagues and standings. I made a fictitious map of Iowa, had high school basketball seasons complete with tournament champions....made a scoreboard out of cardboard similar to Jordan's at the time. Even made a trophy out of scrap wood. Made a sports car race track from a scrap piece of plywood I found. I had a complicated way of using dice to decide if the car spun out on corners, depending on the speed set on cardboard speedometers. All I have left are pictures of the race cars I had drawn. Sadly, the rest got thrown away when I entered eighth grade. Playing baseball and basketball for real took over my interest."
     Gary followed up with a picture of one of his race cars....the Wayland Warrior. He wrote, "during the summer, I played the games outside in our farmyard when not doing chores. My dad put a basketball on the corn crib, found an old baseball bat in the barn, used an old baseball wrapped with black electrician tape, an oil can football, and my red Hawthorne bike served as my race car. I sometimes talked my younger sister into being my opponent for my games. I had no brothers to play with. Movietone newsreels at the Rialto and watching Jordan High School games sparked all my imaginary games."
     Mike Loehrer, BHS-64, co-inventor of a miniature, backyard golf course with Dick Musser, BHS-64, wrote, "my youngest son and another guy came up with a wonderful idea a few years ago. They invented a way to save beer from lines that had to be drained nightly. Think about it. At every sports venue, the beer lines have to be drained and some of these lines are many feet long. That's a lot of beer to lose. Even in bars across the country, the lines need to be drained at night. I don't know what happened with his idea. I told him I'd cover the cost of the patent. I'll have to ask him next time we get together."
     Mike added, "life was so good before TV dominated our lives. Remember when we got one baseball game a week with Dizzy Dean and Buddy Blattner doing the announcing? Great times."
     P.S. Loehrer liked the Kornerman's napkin idea. "You could have made millions. Of course, the patent fee is something like $20K."
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     We received another addition  to our list of Boone piano teachers.
     John Kueck, BHS-61, wrote, "Mrs. Wall (Wahl?), who lived in the north part of town, was my piano teacher from K-6th grade. I was not the best student since I preferred sports and the outdoors versus being stuck inside practicing piano. My mother played the piano by ear and always wanted to take lessons as a girl but had no piano. She did experiment on a church piano and learned to play by ear which always amazed me. I'm sure she wanted me to take lessons so she could have a piano. In sixth grade, Mrs. Wall told my mother she'd taught me all she could and I needed to move to a more advanced teacher. That was my out from further lessons."
     The Kornerman says, "I think it was Wahl and, from my north side days, I remember George Wahl, BHS-51, probably a son of the piano teacher."
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     BOONE CONNECTED DEATHS: Paul Stolte, 75, Boone. Born in Boone. Stratford HS-62.  Married Sandra Peterson in 1963 in Stratford. Worked for Goodrich 38 years prior to his retirement in 2005. The couple lived on a small farm south of Boone for many years. Paul was very involved in youth baseball in Boone, including coaching and leadership roles with Little League and Babe Ruth baseball programs. He is survived by his wife, Sandra, three boys, Shawn, Kory and Jason, brothers Norm and Chuck, and sisters Peggy Scott and  Pat Frette. Sisters-in-law Marvaline Anderson and Sharon Fruechtenicht also survive............Nicholas Adamski, 56.
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     Worldwide Korner headquarters are located at 928 South Jackson, Boone, Iowa 50036-4932. Phone number is 515-432-1530. To email your stories/memories/comments......
kelleyskorner1@gmail.com