Time Flies When You're Having Fun

I guess the old saying is true, “time really does fly.” Forty years ago the greatest senior class ever (at least in my opinion) graduated from

The Class of 71 will be holding their 40^th reunion next month at Bowleys Quarters Fire Hall. For information on the reunion, please contact Nickie Coppinger at 443-691-7741 or ncopinger1@verizon.net. Thinking about this reunion started me to think about that year and some of the events that took place which were more or less memorable.

The single most important thing on the mind of graduating seniors that year was the war in Vietnam and the draft. Was our number in the draft lottery going to be a low one or high one? Were we going to be drafted and sent to Vietnam or not?

Personally, I had reservations about going to an overseas war but if I were to be drafted, I think I would have served proudly. I did however in 1973 volunteer to serve in the U.S. Air Force, but never saw service overseas.

Many different events happened in 1971. Some more memorable than others. Some happy, some sad, some good, some bad (aren’t those words in some song?). Let’s see if you can recall any of these.

In January of that year, Charles Manson and his co-conspirators were convicted of the brutal Tate-LoBianco murders. Manson was sentenced to life imprisonment (which he is still serving). Unfortunately, even from his prison cell Manson had mind control of his followers as witnessed by the assassination attempt on President Gerald Ford by Manson protégé Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme.

Also in January, a very young field goal kicker by the name of Jim O’Brien kicked a short field goal with five seconds left in the game to lead the Baltimore Colts to a 16-13 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V.

On March 10, another very significant event took place that was extremely important to graduating seniors. The 26^th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution was passed and ratified. This Amendment lowered the voting age to 18. That meant we could vote in the 1972 presidential election.

On March 22,  Lt. William Calley was found guilty in the murder of 22 Vietnamese at the My Lai massacre. He was later pardoned.

In June, The New York Time published the first installment of the “Pentagon Papers.” After the Nixon administration won an injunction to stop publication, the Washington Post picked up the story and resumed publishing the documents that were released by Daniel Ellsburg. Soon after, more papers across the nation published the papers too. Protests against the war intensified.

July brought us the sad news that the lead singer of the Doors, Jim Morrison had died of a suspected drug overdose. Despite his on stage antics, which led to several arrests, Morrison was an icon to the younger generation.

On Oct. 1, Julie (Mary Poppins) Andrews led a star-studded cast for the Grand Opening of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. Later that month we witnessed our beloved Baltimore Orioles lose a heartbreaking World Series to the Pittsburg Pirates, despite the fact that the Orioles had four 20-game winners on their roster.

I had the privilege of attending one of the games at Memorial Stadium. I saw one of the greatest plays I have ever seen in my life. I do not recall who hit the ball, but future Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente caught the ball in the deepest part of the field, swiveled on one foot and threw a perfect strike to home plate to get the runner out. The entire stadium was in awe.

In the entertainment arena, it seemed that the whole country was singing along to the TV commercial in which a very precocious young Andy Lambros was sitting on a pier holding a fishing pole. Come on now…you all know the words:

“My bologna has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R. My bologna has a second name. it’s M-E-Y-E-R. Oh, I love to eat it every day, and if you ask me why I’ll say. Cause Oscar Meyer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A…how’s that.”

From the Silver Screen we all paraphrased the quote uttered by Clint Eastwood as "Dirty Harry." “Well, do you feel lucky, punk.” Those words are immortal.

Finally, even though as seniors we were excessively old to play with them. One of the catch phrases of the year was attributed to a small little unassuming toy. Every time someone insulted us, we would say, “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down.”

What are your memories from that year? Please let us know. As always, keep reading Patch.