BeaconMediaNews.com
2 November 25 - December 1, 2010
What Memories They Ignite Dorothy's Place
By Dorothy Denne I bought my husband a special present for Christmas 2009. I think I bought it for him. I dunno, maybe I bought it for me. It was PBS’ 6 CD set of The Fabulous Fifties Music. The set has over 100 songs that bring memories from a seminal period in my life. The ‘50s saw me through my final years of jr. high, through high school, through my bachelor degree and into the launching of my forty plus years teaching career. Of course I had to check to be sure each CD was operable so thus came about an evening sitting in my favorite rocker eating Cheez-its, drinking wine and alternately smiling and tearing up as I sang along with likes of Frankie Laine, Kay Starr, Pat Boone and Rosemary Clooney. I remembered exactly where I was and what I was doing when each of the songs first hit the air waves. In the early ‘50s my mom was a widow in ill health. I was a teen busting my butt to keep my
grades up while working to help keep food on our table. My mom saw me graduate from high school in the Spring of 1954. I saw her die in the Fall of the same year when I was 17 and still busting my butt working full time and attending night school in my freshman year of college. When Mom died, my responsibilities changed. I had only myself to worry about. I finished that freshman year and decided ‘I’m outta here’. At 18, I gave up the idea of college and headed for the big city of Pittsburgh, Pa. to take on the world and make my fortune. My first job there was working as a proofreader for a publishing house. Then a series of events that can be called fate or divine intervention got me back into school at University of Pittsburgh. Another three years of hard work and hard study, then in late summer of 1958 I was heading to St Clair Shores, Michigan with a Bachelor degree and an appointment to interview for a teaching position. I arrived for that interview with more guts
than brains, and $11.37 to my name. The superintendent hired me and his secretary advanced me the first month’s rent on a one room and bath efficiency apartment she knew of. By the time those fabulous fifties ended, I was teaching first grade in one of the top paying school districts in the nation. I was earning $4500 a year. I lived in that lovely little $65 a month one room plus bath with a view of beautiful Lake St Clair. I had a delightful Irish landlady with a flashing temper, a wicked sense of humor and a heavy-drinking spouse. I dated a car salesman a few times and, along with a finance company, became the owner of a brand new 1959 Chevrolet Biscayne with a radio and a heater. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. It may have been like Heaven to me, but I knew I had a Hell of a lot of living yet to do. Fast forward 50 years. As I sat in my favorite rocker eating Cheez-its and drinking wine, I was glad I had bought my husband the 6 CDs of Fabulous Fifties Music. What memories they ignite.
Correction An error was made in last week's Readers Choice issue. Lynda linforth was voted Winner for Personal Trainer not Pilates Program.
Lynda Linforth Who Takes Care of You?
M E D I A ,
I N C .
Publisher/Editor in Chief Von Raees
Editorial Editor
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Columnists Dorothy Denne Wally Hage
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Winner Personal Trainer Lynda Linforth has been a nationally certified personal trainer since 1998 and is the owner of Train Inc., a private personal training studio in Arcadia specializing in weight loss, post-rehab exercise and post-cancer exercise, plus self-defense classes and a Bride and Bikini Boot Camp. (Learn more at www. trainarcadia.com.) Lynda, who is also a certified Performance Enhancement Specialist and a licensed nutritionist, was voted Best Personal Trainer in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2010. “I am very grateful” she says. “One of my greatest satisfactions is seeing my clients benefit from exercise and proper nutrition.”
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Beacon Media Caption Contest Winners Announced
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We were very pleased with the response we had to a contest we ran in conjunction with Arcadia Publishing on a new book about the history of Mount Lowe railway. The three winners we selected are: 1. Hal McClintock - “ Now THIS is a photo opportunity” 2. Ashlyn Davini - “ Pasadena’s First Gold Line” 3. Steve Baker - “You Can See Forever--Or Fall Forever, If you’re not careful!” Each winner receives a copy of the new book by Arcadia Publishing: Postcard History Series Mount Lowe, by Michael A. Patris and the Mount Lowe Preservation Society Thank you all for entering. We will have another contest in the New Year. Special Thanks go to Teresa Simmons of Arcadia Publishing for the inspiration and providing the gifts for our winners!
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