That's the place. The tower had a telescope but no one ever went up there. First floor had freshman lockers (#128 here) and the third floor had the senior lockers that were bigger but then again we started out with 1200 freshmen and graduated 600 or so. We left school right into the upswing in Viet Nam but were largely untouched up to that point.
It was, in fact a wonderful school and similarly excellent prep for college and life. It was serious but fun. The classes were generally hard and some departments were absolutely excellent. I can remember every teacher I had there and have actually tried to do my schedules from Ms. Smith's German class at 8am when I was a freshman to ending with Orchestra my senior year with Loren Cady...then rushing to the golf course.
One fine friend who I met when we were in 7th grade I think, new to town and the schools, just wrote me. We have kept in touch on the Internet here and there over the past decade..probably a half dozen messages. Her fanily lived on Center Avenue, the main street in town, and I knew her two brothers well and her just as a fine friend but we weren't close close...she was of the "cute girl aristocracy"..not that she ever once was anything other than normal and genuine...but she was out of my league so to speak (every male who reads this will understand the pecking orders). And you know what? I liked and admired her as a person. She had a friend, Barb, who is in admissions at a big deal private school up East, and Joyce who was the first black person who I really got to know (Bay City wasn't big on integration let me tell you)...anyway, these folks were just good people and it is heartening to head back to a reunion this fall with the thought of seeing people who, in my mind's eye, haven't changed a whit in all these years and who I appreciate having had the opportunity to know.
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