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Posted by Mike Swanberg Mike, Why don't you post this on the message board for others to see and comment Linda Mike - Mike Swanberg Mike From: Bill Cahill [mailto:billc@admin.stedwards.edu] Mike: Great job, other activities I recall from the Jamaica Road group (Shadrick, MacMilian, Carson, et al, included: Digging to great depths in wet unstable sand never being entirely buried alive Riding in boats for miles away from shore often at night, with nothing but the cutoffs and tennis shoes we had on. No food, no water, no PFDs, no lights, no GPS, no chart, no sense Riding skateboards in hurricane winds using bed sheets as sails for real speed. Being 12 and 13 years old, in a High School, playing tricks on grown men, who if discovered us in the act would have beat us to within an inch of our lives Making homemade Sake (rice wine) until the still was destroyed in an unfortunate explosion and fire. Oiling the brake pads on each others bikes and heading out to ride on A1A or the 520 to go to town. Going to see Adult films at the Barn Theater on Merritt Island, dropped off by our parents cause nobody checked the ratings The only adult we even paid any attention to was Ms. Jones who drove our Bus Being safety patrol officers at Cape View Elementary with no supervision or training. The only requirement was that the flag got raised. Playing on the sand dredges after they shut down walking over hundreds of yards of quicksand to walk the pipe. Waterskiing behind anything that floated never an observer or ski belts Brings back some memories, Thanks, Bill from: Mike Swanberg [mailto:MSwanberg@cityu.edu] I adapted this for Cocoa Beach from an email I received. Please feel free to add you own memories. Dont worry about the grammar
..I didnt! Those of us who were kids in the 40's, 50's, and 60s probably shouldn't have survived by todays standards. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets and would sit on the handlebars while our friends pedaled. (Not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking from one end of Cocoa Beach to the other during tourist season.) As children, we would ride in cars with no seatbelts or air bags. I have personally fallen out of Sonny Feathermans car in the parking lot of the old theater at least once in 1969. But I did not spill the beer. Riding in the back of a pickup truck 60 miles an hour down the beach was always a special treat as was Johnny Flanagans (God rest his soul) Honda motorcycle. We drank water from the garden hose or directly from the spigot (tasty Florida sulphur) and not from a bottle. Had BB gun wars in the Thousand islands never once thinking about gators, stingrays or water moccasins. We had grapefruit fights in the grove behind the Cape Colony. Nothing like a flying grapefruit in the face. Walked out to the end of the jetty in a storm and surfed in storms because the waves were finally over 3 feet. Surfed through the pylons at the pier because it was illegal. We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank pop with sugar in it, Burger Chef and Krystal hamburgers and Wolfies desserts but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this. Although you had to be careful drinking after a few people we knew. We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back before dark. No one was able to reach us all day. NO CELL PHONES!!!!! We did not have PlayStations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, vhs tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms. We had friends! We went outside and found them. We played football, track, surfed and sometimes we got hurt. Nothing like having a flying longboard hit you in the head to teach you to hug the bottom of the ocean until you heard the thump. We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us. Remember accidents? We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get over it. Ask anyone who ever went to a dance at Teen Town. We played with sharp sticks and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door, or rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them. Sports had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with Disappointment. Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade. Tests were not adjusted for any reason. Especially, anything by Ms Murtha or your not so favorite teacher. Our actions were our own and Dean Corley and Coach Hancock reminded us of this with a long wooden paddle. Donny Shadrick and I had a visit once that was actually written up in the Cocoa Beach paper. Why because we had just plastered the Principal of Roosevelt with dirt clogs and had paid for it with 5 whacks each. I still remember laughing as Donny stuffed notebook paper down his pants to absorb the blow. I wore extra underwear. I wish I had followed Donnys lead! Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law and then wanted to know if the school could give you some punishment too. Our generations have produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 55 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And you're one of them! Congratulations! There is not a week that passes that I dont think of you and our lives then and smile.
on 3/5/2004, 3:19 pm
209.221.168.249
From: Linda MacCleave [mailto:ljbm65@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 12:02 PM
To: Mike Swanberg
Subject: RE: FW: Cocoa Beach
on? I think it would be great.
How funny!!! This is hilarious.
I was telling someone the other day that as a kid we "skiied" on anything that we could stand on to be pulled behind a boat. We got hurt sometimes, but it was a blast.
A couple of additions........
Smoking pot behind the gym while wearing a cheerleading uniform
Advising the snowbirds shopping at Jim's Pharmacy to buy Tanning Oil
Thinking that if you have on a bathing suit you are dressed for anything and learning when you move away that others don't share that point of view
Getting kicked out of Coach Kelly's English Lit class.....with many of your friends, ah Heart of Darkness
Walking from Cocoa Beach Elementary to the beach to watch the launches from the Cape
Constance
I had forgotten about being safety patrol officers and I dont remember you sharing any SAKE!!! I do remember being a counselor at Cape View one summer and still have my paycheck stub of $150.00 for the summer. Good old Barn Theater. Procol Harem played there one summer and I helped carry equipment in for a free admission. How about hand feeding the Manatees in the canal?
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 3:57 PM
To: Mike Swanberg
Subject: RE: Cocoa Beach
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 3:58 PM
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Subject: Cocoa Beach
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