(tonights episode was made possible in part by Marnie who is kicking up memories like a bunch of schoolkids in a Bubble Ball Tent)
August 1978;
Summer is drawing to a close and the New Building Drive is going full swing. Parents are doing something strange at Wagon Wheel Flea Market every weekend, I hear wild tales of big winnings at BINGO from oldcomers, yet the magic is fading, the parents are getting burned out. I had been on first phase since June 16 and the fundraising had been going on since before I got there. How much does it take to convert another warehouse? Are they gonna have a petting zoo and roller coasters or some shit? It was another Monday Night Open Meeting and the parents filed in like they were part of the Bataan Death March. There had been an unusually high number of refreshers and set-backs. Not too many folks had graduated either, unless they were staff trainees. These parents were whooped. They had been put through the emotional wringer and squeezed of every dollar straight could get. Whatever stupid song we were singing had ended, and I was sitting on front row and my lips were still moving. I lip synched my whole first phase pretty much. I did not want to lose what precious water I still had on my breath due to the lack of proper fluids in that hellhole. Mrs Pete comes bounding up the middle of the Parents Side, trailing the microphone cord looking like a cross between Richard Dawson and Frau Blooker from Young Frankenstein. She was wearing this hideous sky blue pants suit like Disco Night at The Nursing Home. There was something in the air and for once, I was actually paying attention of my own free will. She dispensed with the usual Building Drive News and then announced that the 4th and 5th phasers along with staff were going to do their part in raising money by putting on a Gong Show and that tickets would be $5 dollars. Following this announcement, there was an unbelievable amount of murmuring throughout the whole building. It was such distracting news, that I seriously considered making a run for the doors. I don't know how she did it, but Mrs. Pete managed to take a bunch of broke down, discouraged parents and make them all look like kids the day before Christmas.
End Part 1
