Going Back to the Old Days on Moline Memories

 

Did You Walk, Get a Ride, Take a Bus, Or Bike To Coolidge?

 

I started a Facebook page for my junior high - Calvin Coolidge - and one for my grade school - Garfield.

I gather photos where I can - many have helped. Facebook encouraged me to ask questions, so I posted for Coolidge - "How did you get to Coolidge?"

We have 1,500 members, so I thought a few might want to respond.

We have 1,100 responses to that question. One alumnus became quite disturbed that we listed various means, such as walking, riding a bike, or getting a ride in the family car. New members of the group tend to add to the list because it is often near the top.

• One lawyer became very angry that we were discussing trivia. He probably missed the nostalgia of stores along the way, 
• a book store, 
• a laundry where we bought hot cocoa in the winter. 

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Graduates of Moline's 1966 Class - Consider Organizing a Reunion
For the 60th Anniversary in 2026

 

We need to get our stories straight about how tough we had it in those years,
plus The Flood!

I was thinking that people near the Quad Cities would be the best hope for organizing the 60th anniversary for the Moline High graduates, The Gold Medal Class of 1966.

2026 seems far away now, but it will be too late to do a good job unless some plans are made. Zoom makes it easy to communicate and saves on travel. Nevertheless, I think it will work better if face-to-face meetings are arranged along the way.

The Facebook  page for our class is Moline 1966. That is probably the best place to start.

I can post information on this Moline Memories blog, which has almost 500,000 views, a convenient way to share general information.

Friday, January 12, 2024

Congratulations - Howard Lindstrom and Becky McFarlin -
56th Wedding Anniversary!

 

Howard Lindstrom and Becky McFarlin were married December 30, 1967

Congratulations on their 56th wedding anniversary!

Saturday, December 23, 2023

50th Wedding Anniversary - John Jackson and Jane Rosborough

 

 John Jackson and Jane Rosborough Jackson were married on December 22, 1973

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Moline's Gem - Thanks to the Bartlett Family

Bartlett Performing Arts Center aka Moline High School

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Honoris Causa A Couple To Add To Our Golden Wedding Anniversary List - William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett - 67 Years!

 William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett got married June 30, 1951. Here is a wonderful description of their personal and professional lives.

 Read about the Bartlett Performing Arts Center here.

Moline Actress Bonnie Bartlett Saved by Heroic Husband

 William Daniels saved his wife Bonnie Bartlett from a burglar - by switching on the lights.

William Daniels, the actor who portrayed the beloved Mr. Feeny on "Boy Meets World," poked fun at his part in foiling an attempted burglary over the weekend at his California home.

“I struggled with an intruder. Took him to the ground. I beat him up. And he ran away with bruises all over him,” Daniels, 91, said with a chuckle during an interview with ABC News that aired Wednesday. “Would you like to print that? You better not, it’s a total lie.”

An unidentified individual attempted to break into Daniels’ San Fernando Valley home Saturday night while he was there with his wife, Bonnie Bartlett, a representative for the actor confirmed to Fox News.

Everyone seems to be reading this older post:


Downtown Moline, 1950s: The Barlett Insurance Agency was owned by Bonnie's father,
who helped found the Music Guild.

Watching the Weekly Favorites on Moline Memories

 They were not from Moline, but we have aged with them.

We watched too much TV, our parents said, while watching TV.

I enjoy looking over the most watched for the week list in the left column, finding out which posts have suddenly gained attention. The all-time most viewed are at the bottom of the blog page.

Often one post will be viewed for the week because that person just passed away. My father used to read the Moline Dispatch and rattle the pages, saying in shock, "He was my classmate!"

I thought, long ago, some children and grandchildren might ask, "What was it like growing up in Moline? Did anyone famous come from there?"

The software that mapped the origin of readers often glowed for that spot called Hollywood, where we had three celebrities working or retired there.

I used to walk by the Bartlett Insurance Agency in downtown Moline, near Melo Cream. I never thought, "Maybe one will star on TV and be married to another star forever." No wait - "Maybe the family will build a beautiful addition on our new (in the 60s) high school."

Perhaps someone will win the Medal of Honor, someone I knew in school. No, too rare for that to happen.

 Downtown Moline in the 1950s. "Sir, Moline was a small town, as I have said, but there were those who loved her."

Bonnie Bartlett

 John Baker, Medal of Honor.

Moline Memories - 300,000 Views Total - Established 2010

A 2010 post -

On February 3rd, 1959, a small plane took off in a winter storm and crashed immediately, killing Buddy Holly, J. P. Richardson (The Big Bopper), Ritchie Valens, and the pilot.

On a Winter Dance Tour, their last concert was at Clear Lake, Iowa, near Mason City, hometown of the Music Man, Meredith Wilson.

Holly's early death was especially tragic, because he was a musical pioneer with great talent and a young wife. She was expecting but lost the child.

Don McLean coined the term the day the music died in his song "American Pie." The song became a perennial hit, encouraging the fad of inexplicable lyrics. One attempt to decode the song is located here.

Holly's songs are classic pop, simple and evocative.

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Dave Coopman has left a new comment on your post "February 3rd - The Day the Music Died":

The Winter Dance Tour played the Capitol Theater in Davenport on January 29, 1959. It was sponsored by KSTT, and for this appearance it was called the Concert of Stars, since it was the only venue where dancing could not take place. There was an ice storm in the Quint Cities that night, but the show was still sold out.

Strangely, no pictures of that night have ever turned up. There must be some somewhere.

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Winter Dance Party Dates:

January 23 - Milwaukee, WI
January 24 - Kenosha, WI
January 25 - Mankato, MN
January 26 - Eau Claire, WI
January 27 - Montevideo, MN
January 28 - St. Paul, MN
January 29 - Davenport, IA
January 30 - Ft. Dodge, IA
January 31 - Duluth, MN
February 1 - Green Bay,WI
February 2 - Clear Lake, IA

 Ken Berry, Moliner, recently celebrated his 85th birthday.