1975

I'm aware of two outlying events that occurred in 1975 that would go on to greatly impact and shape my life in the future. The first one is Riley Cooper would fulfill his student teaching experience at my high school during spring semester. He taught math. I was not in any of his classes nor was I aware who he was or that he was at the school. My high school, J.I. Case located in Racine, Wisc., was large with an enrollment of over 2000 students for 10 - 12th grades. A student (Harry Kline) that I wouldn't know and become friends with until our senior year (Fall '76) was one of Riley's students. Riley would connect with Harry and recruit him to be a participant in Phantom Lake YMCA Camp's summer teen leadership program (i.e., the Staff Development Program). That Harry and I would both be in the same advanced graphic arts class our senior year almost did not happen. A class I initially selected, biochemistry, was cancelled because of a lack of interest from students. The teacher (Mr. Wooley) of the Graphic Arts class asked me to take the class and that stuck with me, so I picked it as my second choise. Harry and I became friends in this class. One day Harry wore a powder-blue "golf" Phantom staff shirt to class. The shirt caught my eye and I asked him about the camp. He said he was going to work there in the summer and that they were looking for summer camp counselors. He asked me if I was interested and that he'd be happy to ask the camp to send me a job application. I took him up on the offer and a short time later I received the application materials in the mail. I applied, was hired and Harry would give me a ride to camp in June and many times afterwards. We would work together at Phantom for several summers and be college roommates at Winona State.

The other event in 1975 would happen during the summer. My wife's (Jenny - a.k.a. Fozzie) older brothers, Tim and Paul, would go to Phantom Lake YMCA Camp as campers for the first time. They would return for one more summer in 1976. I would miss them by a year. My first summer was in 1977. There is a chance Harry worked with them as an SDP (i.e., LIT or AC - teen assistant counselor). I believe they knew Riley who was the camp's program director. At the time Jenny's family lived in Mount Horeb, Wisc., at the time, a small farming community located southwest of Madison. How they learned about Phantom would be interesting to know. They must have enjoyed their time at camp. Jenny's older sister Susan would go to Phantom in 1980 & 1981. Susan ended up not having the best experience at camp, but come for two summers. She did like her camp counselors. Jenny would come to Phantom for the first time in 1985 (Camp was at-risk for closing and be put up for sale in after the summer of 1984). She loved her experience and would return every summer through 1995. She would come to camp for multiple week-long sessions, partake in the camp's SDP program and eventually join the staff. We started dating when she was a student at the University of Illinois - Urbana. It's amazing that life brought us together and the odds that this happened must be astronomical! Reflecting back, I certainly feel like I won the lottery.

Number One Songs of 1975 of note: 1) June 1 -7 John Denver Thank God I'm a Country Boy

and 2) June 8 - 14 America Sister Golden Hair. John Denver remains one of my favorite music artists and the first big concert I would go to was seeing America at Milwaukee Summerfest with a bunch of camp friends on our break between sessions in July of 1977 - my first summer at Phantom. A year later I would see John Denver play in Milwaukee with a bunch of camp friends organized by Riley. Yes, 1975 was an incredible year! Below are photos at camp of Riley, Harry, me, Jenny's brothers Tim and Paul plus one of Jenny and her brother Tim.