Beth...the Beginning

Birthday Party - Seven Years Old
Originally uploaded by kristinafh

As I've stated previously, I don't have many photos from my childhood because most went up in flames when our house was struck by lightning (and subsequently, burnt to the ground). I mention this specifically, for this particular post, because it pains me not to have any other picture of me and Beth together. This is the one - one snapped at my seventh birthday party.

Pictured (from left): Me, Ericka Couch, Lisa Smith, Beth Fruechtenicht

But back to the beginning...

I don't remember the exact moment that I met Beth. This feels strange to me because my memory during this time is pretty vivid and detailed. Our first encounter though, had to be in Kindergarten - Miss Crouse's pm class at Indian Village Elementary School.

Beth was everything I was not - blond, perfectly proportioned, well-off, and she had the ideal parents. Her mom Sharon - I'm not sure what she did (I assumed she did something for a living) - was possibly, the nicest woman I have ever met in my entire life time. Her dad Tom - was a very important man. A state representative...involved in lots of local Fort Wayne important things...

And so having Beth as my friend should have seemed strange and out of place. But it wasn't. I can't explain it. She was like another world to me, but one that accepted and embraced me for who I was.

Beth and I did have lots of things in common.

First, we were competitive. Some of that had to do with physical co-location (we both had the same teachers K-4). But most of it had to do with me, wanting to be like Beth. She was smart, and every chance I got, I would go head to head with her in academic situations. That ranged from seeing who could get the higher grades on the spelling tests to seeing who could progress quicker through our reading books (i.e. Rainbows, Fiesta, Rewards, Panorama, Kaleidoscope, etc...)

Second, we were both Girl Scouts. We started out as Brownies and then we 'bridged' over to Juniors. Beth's mom, who was one of our leaders, was there the entire way - teaching us the Girl Scout Promise and helping us earn our badges (yes, I need an entire series - just on Girl Scouts!).

Third, we were both labeled as boy crazy. While I was a bit more forthcoming with who I had a crush on (Tom Stinson, Lewis Mastin), Beth was a bit more cautious about revealing who she liked since most of them seemed to live close to her.

Fourth, we were both fans (and active players of) tetherball, kickball, and four square. I could always count on her to play any of these at recess. Sometimes though (at recess), we would just hang together and talk about 'stuff'. Stuff could be - toys, dolls, boys, other girls, teachers, homework - basically nothing was off limits.

Beth and I were thicker than thieves for five years. In those five years - although I've said that we were very different from each other - we both ended up experiencing a lot of the same challenges (and heartbreaks).

Dance Recital Roster

There was more to the "Spotlight On Youth" program. Here are the other three pages. If you click on each thumbnail, it should be larger and therefore, more readable. Just in case, I decided to list the names of all of the people who were in this particular recital. Are you one of them? Do you know any of the folks listed?? If so, let me know!

Angela Holomes
Angela Lomont
Ann Menefee
Barbara Dixon
Bettina Beard
Bonnie Bectol
Bonnie Sherbon
Chris White
Connie Mitchell
Dawn Carboni
Dawn Rhoads
Debbie Lenniger
Dede Pittinger
Georgeanna Stuck
Heidi Lawrence
Heidi Schmitt
Jackie Snyder
Jane Prichard
Jill Ann Shaw
Jo Lynn Shaw
Julie Hacka
Karen Summers
Kathy Dixon
Kathy Johnson
Kelly Smith
Kim Booker
Kim Elam
Kim Gottfried
Kim Shroyer
Kim Underwood
Kim Vodde
Kristina Frazier
Leslie Cook
Lisa Booker
Lisa Carr
Lisa Knight
Lisa Russell
Lori Young
Machell Crist
Marsha Eckert
Maureen Moran
Meg Gottfried
Micca O'Connor
Michelle Cook
Michelle Wiedmann
Mike Burry
Mindi Salyer
Monica Quinn
Nancy Leullen
Patty Olson
Reed Oscott
Robert Oscott
Ronda Johnson
Rose Salyer
Sally Vodde
Sandy Pressler
Sheri Crist
Sheri Knight
Susan Gardner
Susan Huntley
Susan Mitchell
Tammy Browne
Tammy Perkins
Teresa Mitchell
Tina Le Compete
Toni Eckert
Tracie Pattee
Tracie Stabler
Tricia Elam
Tricia Zuber
Vicki Olson
Vicki Smith

Saturday Morning Cartoons - Speed Buggy (1973)

It's Saturday Morning. The one morning of the week which defied all kid logic. You wanted to get up as early as possible.

How come?

There were cartoons to watch! And as we all know - with only three real television stations (ABC=21, CBS=15, NBC=33) - we only had about four hours of real cartoon-watchin' time!

In honor of Saturday mornings, I pledge to feature here weekly - on Child of the Fort - one of those cartoons that we all used to watch back in the day.



First up - Speed Buggy. Note: Information from wikipedia

Speed Buggy was a Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from September 8, 1973 to August 30, 1975 on CBS.

Similar in style to Hanna-Barbera's successful Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Speed Buggy followed the adventures of an anthropomorphic, fiberglass Dune Buggy, Speed Buggy (voiced by Mel Blanc), his driver Tinker (voiced by Phil Luther, Jr.), and Tinker's friends, Mark (voiced by Michael Bell) and Debbie (voiced by Arlene Golonka). The three young adults and their car traveled from race to race, often encountering spy capers and mysteries along the way. Speed Buggy's trademark quotes were always "Roger-Dodger!" and "Vroom-a-zoom-zoom!"

Though Speed Buggy (nicknamed Speedy by his friends) had a mind of his own (which was based on Disney's Herbie the Love Bug), he was vulnerable to commands given through a communicator/remote control device made by Tinker when he first built Speed Buggy. Speedy's friends rarely used the device to control his actions, using it mainly for its communication function, but criminals and other ne'er-do-wells would sometimes steal or duplicate the device and manipulate Speedy for their own purposes.

Sixteen 30-minute installments of Speed Buggy were produced in 1973. The show was a such a huge success that it aired on all three major networks (CBS, NBC and ABC) until 1979, then was picked up for syndication until 1983.

Most likely due to the shows inspiration, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, the character Tinker shares many visual likenesses to Scooby's beatnik best friend, Norville "Shaggy" Rogers. Also, there are some similar character traits between Mark and Fred Jones, and Debbie appears to be very similar to Daphne in multiple ways.

Kristina's thoughts: Well duh!

What Did You Want To Be When You Grew Up?

When I was a little kid, I made myself a notebook out of scrap paper (mostly from "junk" mail). One section of my notebook was about what I wanted to be when I grew up.

Funny thing - no one ever asked me. I just decided it was important to write it down. Bullet points...well really they were stars. Side note: I think this explains a lot about my personality - I'm a dreamer...

Like all kids (and gee - even adults), I went through various phases and what I wanted to be when I grew up - well - it always changed.

With the exception of one thing.


I always wanted to be Miss America.





Yes, stop laughing. I know - Miss America. Who would have ever thought?

And mind you - not Miss USA, not Miss Universe, not Miss World, NO - it was only - ONLY Miss America.

So who is to blame for this? Well no one other than Kellogg's.

Here's the story. I was always a Barbie fan. I like cereal too.

One day, while at Maloley's, I begged my mother to buy Kellogg's Cornflakes.

She didn't. She wouldn't. It wasn't on sale. There was a cheaper brand. Something along those lines.

She was also probably suspicious because I usually used my bargaining chips for Sugar Smacks. But not this time.

So, what's a girl to do?

Tell Grandma of course. And the great thing about my Grandma (this is my mom's mom) is that I never had to pretend why I wanted something.

The conversation probably went something like this.

Grandma, I was at the store with mommy and I wanted her to buy me this cereal with the rooster on it cause you can send in for a Barbie. And Grandma, it's a Miss America Barbie and she has brown hair and you know they never have any barbie's with brown hair.

That's all I needed to say. She went to the A & P, probably forced my Grandpa to eat cornflakes every day for a week, and she sent away for my Miss America Doll.

It was a whole $3.00. In 1972, that would have bought 12 loaves of Maloley's Bread (4/$1.00). Still, nothing was too much for Grandma's first grandchild. Insert bat of eyelashes here.

Side Conversation: You'll notice here that I have two different back sides of Kellogg's Cornflakes boxes shown. Here's the thing - I don't remember which one was the one that I ordered. If you look closely, the first one features Miss America 1972 - Laurel Lea Schaefer. The second box looks to have the same exact doll however, it's being pimped out by Miss America 1973 - Terry Anne Meeuwsen.

I think both dolls were referred to as, "Miss America Walk Lively" although they both have different release numbers to them (but let's not get TOO technical - after all - what the heck does a 6/7 year old know about these things....NOTHING).

When my Miss America Doll arrived, it came in a brown, plain package, addressed to "Miss Kristina Michele Frazier" (my Grandmother has always taken credit for naming me - but more on this later). I remember tearing open the package and laying my eyes on the most exquisite, plastic, brunette chick, (in doll form), that I had ever seen.

She had brown hair that curled at the ends. The secret to the curl was that Miss America had hair made out of some kind of wiry crap. I didn't question it. It was just cool to use the pink comb they enclosed which allowed me to "re-curl" it whenever my heart so desired.

Atop her head was a silver, fabric/cloth-like crown - it was sown to her hair BUT - all of us talented Barbie owners could remove the crown via scissors without damaging her hair.

The issue here was that you could never get the crown to stay on quite right again. My sister did manage to show me how I could jimmie a bobby-pin in but hey - did you ever see the real Miss America walk down the aisle with a great big-ole bobby-pin sticking out the side of her head like a Steve Martin arrow?

Right. No. Okay - well, I forgave her for having blue eyes and I was quite pleased by her long, black eyelashes.

The very best part of the Miss America Doll was her gown. It was made out of a gold lame evening top which gave way to a white, flowing full, taffeta skirt. Her sash, gold scepter, red cape (with faux fur), bouquet of red roses, and white heeled shoes made me really want to be Miss America even MORE.

But for the record - no - I was never Miss America, nor did I ever participate in a pageant effort that would have led to Miss America-ness.

So here's Miss America 1972 - and a close-up of the Miss America Doll (oh what the heck - here's Miss America 1973 also). I believe that it was originally modeled after her and when Miss America 1973 came along, and had (more or less) the same physical attributes, Kellogg's and Mattel said - hey! let's squeeze more money out of the families of little girls! :)

Over time, I made sure to ask for OTHER Miss America items.

The bike was a NO. I guess having more than one banana-seated bike in the house was overkill.

The Colorforms Doll and Miss America Board Game passed the "Santa" test.

My very favorite Miss America item - after the Barbie - was the lunch box. One side showed her getting crowned, and the other was an up-close, shot of the chick I wanted to be.

As a closing treat, I'm including a "classic" moment from the 1976 Miss America pageant. It STILL cracks me up.

First Grade - Indian Village Elementary School

Say hello to my first grade class from Indian Village Elementary School. The year (according to the picture) is 1973 and Mrs. Marci Lawson is the inspirational teacher - keeping us all in check.

We were located in Room 19 (yes I know - scary that I remember this).

Our desks were simple, in a complicated way. They weren't the fancy ones that opened up on top. Oh no! They were the kind that opened up to your waist area.

Many things could get lost (and subsequently - GROW) in this area. Emptying these types of desks out at the end of the year was always an anxiety-filled moment because one never knew what people like Brian Blazer and Ralph Barva would pull out of the nooks and cranies of these wooden hothouses.

ANYWAY

If you attended Fort Wayne Community Schools (the elementary ones) in the early to mid 70's, I bet your class pictures looked just like this.

Every year, the photographer would come into our classroom and he would bellow out instructions to our teacher that went something like this.

Okay. Move dem desks to the middle. We gotta make this look like a real classroom

What he meant was that the lens was only so wide and therefore - if the desks were required to be in the picture (by the way - I'm still trying to figure out who made this rule) - then - in order to get everyone in, we had to move all of the people and desks into a small area, sit behind them, and smile for maybe 3-4 shots.

In other words, it took much more time to move the desks around then to actually take the frickin' picture.

The boys really liked to scrape the desk chairs as hard as they could across the concrete (but hey - it looks "tiled" - floor).

I have a ton of great memories from first grade. My first grade experience was extremely profound and I can't even begin to tell you how lucky I was. I think I was just in the right place, at the right time.

Anyway - there will be a lot more to write on this subject of first grade. But for now, let's get scary for a moment. I remember just about everybody's name.

So here it goes. And if I'm missing someone, or if I have spelled their name wrong - please let me know. By all means, if you know where any of these folks are today - let us know!

(Left to Right)

Row 1: Rusty Cramer, David Nelson, Melanie Davis, Kristina Frazier-Henry

Row 2: Skip Shock, Rita ?, Jody Ellis, Bruce ?, Chrissy Boner, Brian Rice, Kathleen Caldwell

Row 3: Ralph Barva, Wendy Shipley, Tracy Nimbles, Betsy Barrett, Kelly Miller, Billy ?, ?

Row 4: Eric Busenbaric, Brian Blazer, Kelly Biddle, Lisa Smith, Tom Stinson, ?

Row 5: Beth Fruechtenicht, Karen Brunette, Stuart Williams, Marla Magditch, Chris Starn, Mike Sharp

Row 6: Tom Malott, Brian Butcher, Janice Smith, Kim Spore