Reply from Dick Johnson (68): Dunseith, ND
Gary and Friends,
I should have been more precise. The Frozen Fingers group from Minot,
which we belong to, is joining us for a jam session in Bottineau, at the
Senior Center on Main Street every second Sunday of each month. The
first jam session is planned for March 8 at 1 PM. It’s open to the
public at no charge and the Senior Citizens will be providing the
lunch. At this time I’m not sure if the lunch is free will or if items
are priced, but either way it will be great! There will be pickers and
singers from all over the area taking turns playing all kinds of music .
It should be a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Hope to see you there!
Dick
Folks, Mark your calendars. This will be a fun event every month. I wish I could be there. Gary
Reply from Shirley Olson Warcup (49): Ivans, UT
Shirley is Dick Johnson’s aunt – sister to his mother
Gary,
Was the Fred Chase Vance Baily mentioned in his letter a painter? Two brothers who were painters painted our house when we lived on a farm west of Dunseith. Shortly after they finished the job, one of them was accused of murdering someone at San Haven. I was perhaps 8 years old at that time–I don’t remember their names. I do know that my parents were surprised when they heard about the murder and arrest. Both of these brothers were apparently very satisfactory workers and very polite men. I know my parents were skeptical that one of them could have done something like this, however, if my memory is correct one of them was convicted of the murder. Perhaps someone with a better memory than mine knows if our painter was Fred Chase.
Shirley Olson Warcup
Reply from Gary Metcalfe (57): Forsyth, MO
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Reply to Vance Bailey’s letter
Here is some input about Jules Waldron, Vance mentioned the boys left town. In a letter from Bing Evans to his mother dated October 20, 1941, Bing was in training at Ft. Lewis, Wa. Bing says, ” I spent the last weekend in Seattle, John Schimitz and his wife came over to Jim’s (Metcalfe) and we played cards and drank beer. Had a great time. I visited for awhile with Albert Aubrey and Fred Waldron. Fred told me his brother Percy, was in the Army a year and spent 280 days of that time in the guard house. Albert is working in an electrical shop for at $10.00 per day and Fred works in a service station.”
Albert was known as Monk. Who knew his mother and step dad, Tom and Maggie (Aubrey) Cassidy? What a pair. Maggie and I had asthma together. We went to Bottineau one fateful day to see a new young dr. in town, Dr. Bray. An old lady and a kid. The dr. used a syringe that was designed for a draft horse….it was memorable!!
Gary Metcalfe
Reply from Lyle Olson (75) – Son of Lorraine Metcalfe: West Fargo, ND
Gary:
I read Bev Morinville-Azure’s e-mail the other day wherein she mentioned the band, “Tickled Pink”. She forgot to mention that Roberta Hagen (now Striker) was the drummer for that all girl band.
The band was formed in the mid-70’s. I was in the USAF at the time and literally made weekend trips home from Scott AFB in Illinois to see them play. They had an enormous following, young and old alike. I’ll never forget their biggest fans seemed to be Kenny and Nettie Tooke. In fact, Kenny and Nettie even developed “fan wear” for the band in the form of Black Windbreakers (to make Kenny look skinny) with the band’s name emblazoned on the back. They were quite the picture twirling around the dance floor, dancing two-steps to the Eagles and John Fogerty.
As many of you know, the lead singer for that band was Kathy Metcalfe. She was the best singer I have ever heard, as she could sing anything from Fleetwood Mac to Johnny Cash. Her voice was strong and pure, and she was great musician as well. I remember sitting on the porch at David Fugere’s house one summer night and we could hear Kathy singing all the way down the block. Her voiced filtered through the air as if delivered to one’s ears by angels. I really miss her.
Now, I want to take some credit for how the band got its name. You see Janice, Kathy, Elaine and Cheri Metcalfe and I were all driving around one night drinking a little wine in the winter of ’74, co-incidently named “Tickled Pink”, a delightful wine with no cork and less than $3.00 a bottle, and singing songs. It seems you can never get Metcalfes together without a little picking, grinning and drinking — but that is another story all by itself. The band “Pink Floyd” was popular at the time and we were all listening to them on the only radio we could get at the time, KFYR out of Bismarck. Well, lo and behold in the back of the car we were driving around in was a pink Frisbee and a pink scarf. Well to be funny, and after way too much wine, I used the scarf to tie the pink frisbee on my head and “PINK FLAUD” – the counry-bumpkin version of Pink Floyd – was born!! I couldn’t sing “Dark Side of the Moon,” but I was “Comfortably Numb” and having the time of my life with my favorite cousins.
Well we eventually made our way up to a party at Brian Fauske’s place in the hills. I remember it was a great party but it ended late. As we made our way back to Dunseith, I remember starting to get sick on the way down San Haven hill. How we made it to the little mobile home we lived in at the time without any regurgitation is beyond me. In any event, out of the car and into the house I bounded to get to the only bathroom in the house, which was right next to my mother’s bedroom. Well, she heard me get sick and she rushed in to see what was wrong. Well, I must have drank a beer with a cigarette put out inside as I brought up some tobacco with my wine. My mother screamed, “Oh my god, he is on marijuana!!!!!” I spent the rest of the night trying to convince her otherwise by incoherently telling her about Pink Flaud and Tickled Pink wine, and how it was those damn Metcalfe girls that led me astray!! Well, when I told the Janice and all about this story, they had no choice but to name the band “Tickled Pink.” Now you know the rest of the story.
{The above story as to the naming of the greatest band to ever come out of Dunseith is pure fiction and is not to be believed by any party, living or dying}
Lyle O.
Class of 1975 |
Reply from Bobby Slyter (70): Wichita, Kansas
to bev mornville: i truly do remember the tickled pick girls, they played for mom and dads 25th wedding anniversary party at the ac bar. good bunch of girls and great music
JUST LITTLE OLE ME FROM KANSAS
Bobby, Mel Kuhn just sent me a song from this group. I am going to send it to Bill Grimme to see if he can reduce the file size enough so we can post it with these daily messages. Gary
Reply from Vickie Hiatt LaFontaine (73): Grafton, ND
In reading todays stories it made me think of the dances dad and mom [ Norman and Irene Hiatt] use to have in the quensat [unsure of the spelling sorry] I was probably 5 years old. I remember the music, it was Norris and Bud Knutson and I believe Gary Olson. One of my fondest memories is doing the butterfly with Sharon and Jim Hansen. I remember mom making big kettles of sloppy joe and going to town to get the buns from the bakery. I also had a bed made for me under a counter. I remember dad telling a storie about my brother Jim and our cousin Clifford, apparently it was their job to pick up the beer cans and bottles the next morning, well I guess dad caught them poring all the cans together so theycould have a little refeshments after their work was done. I guess dad told them be careful drinking from those cans boys people could be peeing in them. I don’t remember if that stopped them or not. Vickie Hiatt LaFontaine
Vickie, I remember really well when your folks had those dances every Saturday night. We could see your house plain as day one mile to the east of our place. You guys sure drew the crowds and we could hear the music all the way to our house. Gary
Reply from Bob Lykins (mid 60’s DHS teacher): Germany & Hutto, TX
Gary,
Ah, the PI. You gotta love the place. I recall a time when I was working the schools at Subic Bay Naval Station. In the evening I went into Olangapo (where the sewer meets the sea) to have dinner at a reputable resturant that I knew. I was alone and sat down in a booth putting my camera bag beside me. I never went anywhere without my camera (the original OM-1). A fellow came up to me and starting talking. He was friendly and, as I recall, we had a great conversation. Unbeknownst to me, his accomplis while I was distracted, had reached over the back of the booth, unzipped my camera bag, took out the camera, removed the camera from it’s case and replaced the case back into the bag zipping it back up. Since I had other items in the bag and the camera didn’t weigh that much, I never missed it until I got back to my quarters on base. Slick as a whistle it was. Naturally I had to report it for insurance purposes. Needless to say, nothing came of the investigation and I can only hope that the sale of the camera brought some poor family additional food and clothes.
Fond memories.
Bob Lykins
Bob, Events that draw a lot of people here in the PI also draw a lot of professional pick picketers from other areas of the country. One has to be careful. When ever I’m in a crowded area, even in the malls at busy times, I always place my wallet in my front pocket. Living in the heart of a true Filipino community with many very poor neighbors, we have never had anything stolen from our place. Because we have folks (helpers and some relatives) living in our compound, we never lock the gate into our place. We feel very secure. On the other hand, if someone tried to take anything, they’d have to go past many folks to get out of our area and believe me, these folks would tackle and catch who ever was running. A month or so ago a large truck had an accident on the main road that caused serious injuries to several folks riding motor cycles. Before the police arrived, the bystanders beat up this poor truck driver so bad that he had to be admitted to the hospital. Gary
From Mel Kuhn (70): Saint John, ND
Gary,
Here’s one for Bev Morinville Azure from back in the OLD DAYS. To make a long story short, after a conversation with Shelly Fulsebakke Albertson a while back, she dropped me off a CD of Tickle Pink. Crank up the speakers.
Rolette County Historical Society will be holding its Fun Night on April 18th at the Senior Center in St. John. We had a real good turn out last year with lots of great music from area talent such as “Hwy 43” and lots more.
Mel Kuhn
Mel, I forwarded “Tickle Pink” to our computer expert, Bill Grimme, to see if he could reduce the file size for group sending. He was able to reduce the file size considerably, but I feel it’s still a tab bit large to be included with one of our daily messages.
Folks, if you’d like a copy of “Tickle Pink”, please request a copy from Mel or myself and we’ll gladly forward you an electronic copy. Gary
Bev Morinville Azure’s (72) reply to Bernard Morin (76): Dunseith, ND
WOW , Bernard I didn’t hear a thing I am sure if I would have heard it I would have been dancing in the street after all they were the best band to dance to if I remember right. Those were the days and if I remember right Bernard it was whiskey not beer lol seems like forever since those days . If anyone knows where I can get a cd of Pickled I mean Tickled Pink please call me and let me know my number is 244 0775. Bernard as I remember these were the day when u learned to park in my drive way back in those days we didn’t have DD.
