It seems that more often than I’d like to think, I say to Janet, my wife of forty-three years, “What were they thinking?”  Many of these reflections involve political issues or coaching decisions during professional or college athletic events.  (External photo attribution at the end of the post – #1).

My wife, however, reminds me that she is now making the same query about my actions more often!

And as I’ve gotten older, in moments of introspection, I think back on some of my younger escapades and based on what I hope is more maturity and better judgement, ask the same question. 

This and the next post are descriptions  of three such incidents that make me shake my head.  That said, I also laugh while contemplating each one and cherish the memories.

The Graduation Celebration

After college and the Navy, I moved back to Oregon City in 1972 and lived with my parents initially.  I had lettered in golf in high school, but had not played in six years. 

That changed when I started golfing every weekend – sometimes on both Saturday and Sunday mornings with three other guys – a group that lasted for about ten years.

Unfortunately, none of these wonderful gents is still with us, but here’s the group:

Chief Bob Chester – The Oregon City Police Chief and the step-father of my best friend in high school, Gary Kestler, who was killed while serving in the US Marine Corps in Viet Nam in 1967.  Bob was also the Best Man in our 1980 wedding and he and his family lived across the street.

Bob was admired and respected by fellow law enforcement professionals and was also a percussionist – often playing the drums on weekend gigs at various nightclubs.

Dr. Ed Gesley – An Oregon City dentist who lived with his wife and four kids, in the house behind ours and was my dentist from the time I was in seventh grade. 

Eddie was one of the brightest, most humorous and cordial people I’ve ever known.  He was also an excellent golfer who amazed us with how far he could hit his drives. 

Len McGarvey – a police equipment salesman who was a friend of the Chief’s – a cigar-smoking Irishman who loved whiskey and was also a good golfer.

I was obviously, the youngest of the group and when we started golfing, I kept score. Our home course was Arrowhead Golf Club – a picturesque rural public course along the Molalla River about fifteen miles south of Oregon City. 

We’d usually tee off at around 8:00 AM, play eighteen and then have lunch and beers. (#2 – #3)

I had not interacted with these guys as an adult and at age twenty-four, still initially viewed them as authority figures.  This was evident by our conversation after three holes the first time we golfed together:

Beerchaser:  Mr. Chester, what did you have on that hole?

Chester:  Williams, if you call me Mr. Chester, one more time, I’m going to throw your clubs in the river.

Gesley:  Don, unless we are drinking beer, I would prefer that you address me as Dr. Gesley…

We didn’t take the golf too seriously and had wonderful comradery for many years.   About twice each year, we’d take an overnight “field trip” to a golf resort and play two rounds with robust eating, drinking and card playing in between. 

Over the years these included a number of outings to Sun River and Black Butte in Central Oregon.

But our most memorable was the trip to Tumwater Golf Course – a beautiful course, at that time owned by the Olympia Brewery and adjacent to the historic brewery building.   

Olympia Beer’s motto was “It’s the Water,”  because the source of its water was purportedly artesian wells.  These same wells kept the fairways emerald green. (#4)

Although for weekend golf we always walked, on field trips we rented carts (both to save our energy and to accommodate the large jug of screw drivers Eddie fixed to quench our thirst along the way).  (#5)

Aside from the good doctor nearly capsizing the golf cart (and spilling the contents of the jug) when he was trying to refill our drinks, we had a raucous and entertaining round – typical of all of our outings as you can see from the montage below:

After finishing our round in the early evening, we returned to the motel to first, find its bar and then, eat dinner in its excellent restaurant.  The motel hosted events and we heard a clamor, of sorts, behind double-closed doors as we walked through the lobby.

Of course, the Chief barged in and we found ourselves standing at the back of a large banquet room with about 150 couples in casual business attire finishing what appeared to be a very nice banquet meal.

There was a stage in front with a podium and the guy who looked like he was in charge emerged and walked to the microphone. We asked a waiter about the occasion and he responded, “This is the graduation dinner for the apprentices in the Washington Electrician Union.” 

At that point, the emcee welcomed everyone and said that diplomas were now going to be awarded. So he began calling the names individually in groups of ten and the graduates proceeded to the stage, standing in a semi-circle, for the first round of diplomas.

Eddie, or I should say, “Dr. Gesley,” noticed that during the first two rounds, about 1/3 of each of the first two groups, didn’t respond when their names were called (non-attendees) and the emcee paused before going on. 

So as the four of us stood there, on the fourth name of third round, nobody initially walked up.  Eddie, without hesitation, confidently strode from the back of the room and joined the partial semi-circle on the stage!

I couldn’t believe it and was loose enough that when the eighth name of that group was called and Ronald Pearson, did not walk up, I found myself compelled to also head for the stage and stand in the semi-circle opposite Eddie Gesley waiting to receive my diploma. (Also trying not to look at Gesley, knowing both of us would crack up.)

I received Ron’s diploma as a Certified Motor Winder (“As a motor winder, your responsibilities entail taking steps to assemble, repair, and maintain electric motors.”) 

At the end of the third round, we both walked back, only then realizing that if one other person in the banquet room knew Ronald Pearson or the Gesley stand-in, we might have not exited the ceremony unscathed.

But that didn’t happen and we then proceeded to mingle and congratulate the other graduates.  The President of the Union with Chief Chester and yours truly is shown in the photo below.

I kept the diploma for a number of years, being too embarrassed to return it and feeling a bit sheepish about the entire episode, thankful that we didn’t get humiliated or beaten up. 

Also rationalizing with myself that in no way were we trying to demean or diminish the accomplishments of the people in that group.

We were just having a semi-intoxicated spur-of-the-moment “adventure” which was followed after dinner when we accompanied the female vocal group “Thunder Mama” in the Tumwater Lodge Lounge – but that’s another story……

Bob Chester passed away at the age of 93 in 2007, Eddie in 2019 at the age of 87 and Len in 2008 at the age of 90.  I attended the memorial services of both the Chief and Dr. Gesley,

Although I didn’t share any golf stories, I chuckled when memories of these two wonderful friends were related.   I lost track of Len after he retired.

Did We Really Do That? – Part II

When I look back, there are two more such incidents where I pose the same question.  Fortunately “The Tie That Binds?” and “Weekend Update” occurred after I was married and had matured in addition to having a wife with very good judgement who I knew would admonish me if I went over the edge.  Stay tuned.

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Question_mark_on_a_green_background.png) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  Author: Hjvds – 14 April 2022.

#2.  Arrowhead Golf Club Facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=483849037080935&set=a.483849023747603)

#3.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Molalla_River_Recreation_Area_(11327205466).jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  Author:  Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington  – 6 February 2010.

#4. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympia_Brewing_Company#/media/File:Olympia_Beer_label_1914.jpg)  This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1928, and if not then due to lack of notice or renewal. Author: Olympia Brewing Company.  Copyright 2014.

#5.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Screw_Driver_Cocktail.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  Author: Lillottama   10 May 2016.