Author Topic: St.Pete straight 1979  (Read 43297 times)

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Offline Anonymous

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #255 on: February 02, 2008, 06:27:50 PM »
Quote from: "Woof-a-Doof"
I was incarcerated during that same time period. A lil before and a lil after actually. I read your responce some time back and and have thought....no, I don't recall a Dorothy. I also understand the fascination with reading and rereading the pages, I think we can all relate to that. If ya can give a description of "Dorothy" and perhaps if there are any memorable instances, it may stir a memory.

Eric, did you have blond hair when at Straight Inc?

Woof

No - my hair was brown. Tall - thin. My time there was pretty uneventful compared to most. I went to Clearwater High as well. The only think memorable about Dorothy is that she spoke with a very high pitched voice in group - which I can't explain - because that was not her normal voice.

I have some small memory of 85day jerk as well.

Eric
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline 85 Day Jerk

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #256 on: February 14, 2008, 01:42:43 AM »
Eric Merkle?  That just popped into my head.  Were you friends with Mark Evans and some of them dudes from the West Largo/Seminole area and went on to mess around with a garage band around 1982?  Were you a part of the crowd that attended Monday Nite Live at First Baptist of Indian Rocks?  Just trying to connect a name with a very blurry face.  These names also popped into my head.  Alan Ober, Brian Marble, Bob Brusseau, George Edwards and Chuck Haig. 

Bob Brusseau had a bitchin car, but I can't remember what it was.  I think it was a Chevelle, or a souped up Nova, but he could drive that thing better than NASCAR along Gulf Boulevard when it was crowded on a Friday Night.  Jesus, back in them days, you could cruise the Gulf Beaches from Pass-a-Grille to the tip of Clearwater and back for less than 5 bucks worth of gas.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
Inside a warehouse behind Tyrone Mall
we walked in darkness, kept hitting the wall.
I took the time to feel for the door,
I had been \"treated\" but what the hell for?

Offline Anonymous

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #257 on: February 14, 2008, 09:14:44 PM »
You have the right Eric - but I don't recall any of those names. I did live in Clearwater - but never was in a band.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline seamus

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #258 on: February 15, 2008, 01:11:44 PM »
holy shit, alan ober,hadnt thought of him in years,didnt he live in largo?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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Offline 85 Day Jerk

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #259 on: February 17, 2008, 02:16:54 AM »
There was also Karen Ubanks.  She started dating Rick Humbert and they both faded from the scene.  They made a good couple at least.  There was also Kathy Morrison, Lisa Emmi, Bonnie Caraway, Chris Marsden, and one chick that just flat out disappeared real spooky like, Karen Widener, maybe she moved or something.

Please forgive me and try not to take offense, but when the names come I gotta post them or they just slip back into the fog.  There is a strange sense of hurt that I was actually a friend to people that I honestly have no recollection of at all.  I was going through so much in those days (we all were) and to keep up the act and keep from burning the fucking house down and just hitting the road to an uncertain future, I had to constantly bury things including memories of people.  Like this Dorothy girl, for instance, I remember she was a pet favorite of Dr. Ross for one reason or another in the RSA raps.  There was also this girl from Tampa that lived near Eisenhower and I took her, Mark Evans and Bonnie Caraway to Disney World and spent like a 16 hour day with them, and I can't remember her name for the life of me.  I was eighteen at the time, but everyone else was a minor so I was hauling ass to get them home before 4 am when the parents got up for work and wound up with a speeding ticket.  I was clocked doing 118 on I-4 and the cop magically reduced the speed to 68mph once we told him about Straight.  The tentacles of the program even reached as far as Haines City back in them days.

I guess that's enough for now..........
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
Inside a warehouse behind Tyrone Mall
we walked in darkness, kept hitting the wall.
I took the time to feel for the door,
I had been \"treated\" but what the hell for?

Offline Anonymous

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #260 on: February 18, 2008, 12:53:17 AM »
Yes - I have the same memories popping in and out of my head. I just stumbled onto this forum by accident. Saw a link from another article when I was reading some news of an unrelated topic.

Karen and I were good friends before Straight, and somewhat afterwards. Dorothy and I knew each other before, she lived down the street, and got very close afterwards.

I knew the father of the Monjello girls - but forget there names now ............ He had an auto body shop.

And Dallas Noe on the guitar - phewwwwwwwwww

My most vivid memory is of April Deshaun - took a crap in a bag in the middle of the night, stuffed it in a drawer and SPLIT out of the house !!! Crazy stuff............

Then were was Anthony Nicocia - the Tropicana guy. I was a newcomer at this house in Sarasota. SWEEEEETTTTT. Of course his 60's Corvette or something was hidden away in the garage- but you could just get a peek of it as we drove by sometimes. Fortunately I moved to another house in St Pete, days before the Skyway fell down.

I also ran into Liz Hamilton a few years afterwards. We worked together for a few months.

Now if I only had a copy of the morning role call. That would cement the memories I have - the good ones of some of the nice people I met there.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Anonymous

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #261 on: February 18, 2008, 04:15:56 AM »
Quote from: "anonstpete"
Yes - I have the same memories popping in and out of my head. I just stumbled onto this forum by accident. Saw a link from another article when I was reading some news of an unrelated topic.

Karen and I were good friends before Straight, and somewhat afterwards. Dorothy and I knew each other before, she lived down the street, and got very close afterwards.

I knew the father of the Monjello girls - but forget there names now ............ He had an auto body shop.

And Dallas Noe on the guitar - phewwwwwwwwww

My most vivid memory is of April Deshaun - took a crap in a bag in the middle of the night, stuffed it in a drawer and SPLIT out of the house !!! Crazy stuff............

Then were was Anthony Nicocia - the Tropicana guy. I was a newcomer at this house in Sarasota. SWEEEEETTTTT. Of course his 60's Corvette or something was hidden away in the garage- but you could just get a peek of it as we drove by sometimes. Fortunately I moved to another house in St Pete, days before the Skyway fell down.

I also ran into Liz Hamilton a few years afterwards. We worked together for a few months.

Now if I only had a copy of the morning role call. That would cement the memories I have - the good ones of some of the nice people I met there.


Oh man, as soon as I read what you wrote about Dallas Noe playing the guitar..a flood of memories about her came back. We were tight for quite a while after straight. Sadly, she died of cancer about 2 or 3 years ago but she played her music right up until then.

I was a newcomer in the Deshaun household and it was horrible. Bible thumping Dad saw it as his duty to beat his daughters with his leather belt on a regular basis. He also did the 60 second shower routine which left everyone of us going to bed with shampoo and soap still all over us.
When staff started noticing that the girls living at that house were all covered in a rash due to not being able to rinse that shit off for a solid week, they pulled all the newcomers from their house. I remember looking over at April and her sisters after that and thinking " well, we got out of that house...but what about THEM?"
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Anonymous

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #262 on: February 18, 2008, 05:41:50 PM »
Wow - sorry to hear about Dallas.

Glad you could join our discussion. What is your first name ?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline 85 Day Jerk

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #263 on: February 20, 2008, 02:22:30 AM »
Dominic Mongello was the father of "Big Gina" and "Little Gina."  They were stepsisters.  Big Gina had real curly dark hair, freckles and blue eyes and looked like an Italian 'Joanie' from Happy Days.  Little Gina was Gina Denares and had a bigger nose, dark eyes, and straight up Italian and skinny.  There was an older guy who's name was Dan Lee I think who came into the program from jail with his jaw wired shut from being broken in a jailhouse fight.  He started a window tinting business and did pretty good after the program.  He was dating Gina M. for a while, and was pretty close to Dominic.  Mr. Mongello was a really great parent who really tried to get involved and was a big part of alot of picnics and stuff.  Last time I saw him was at a big event we had down at Taylor Park in Largo.  Shortly after that event is when they had the illfated "Parents 7 Stepper Rap" at the Gandy building and Kathy Winn and her dad were damn near about to go at it with a couple of black fold up chairs.  Newton and his goons began to take over, Kathy Winn wound up on front row, and several of us 'oldcomers' were terminated and/or given trespass warnings for the most ridiculous of reasons.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
Inside a warehouse behind Tyrone Mall
we walked in darkness, kept hitting the wall.
I took the time to feel for the door,
I had been \"treated\" but what the hell for?

Offline seamus

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #264 on: February 21, 2008, 02:40:15 PM »
amazing.......I never knew about Dallas Noe,I remember the deshon house being fucked up but not why,what kinda shit were people banned for?????????
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
It\'d be sad if it wernt so funny,It\'d be funny if it wernt so sad

Offline Woof-a-Doof

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #265 on: February 22, 2008, 08:05:45 PM »
Quote from: "anonstpete"
Then were was Anthony Nicocia - the Tropicana guy. I was a newcomer at this house in Sarasota. SWEEEEETTTTT. Of course his 60's Corvette or something was hidden away in the garage- but you could just get a peek of it as we drove by sometimes. Fortunately I moved to another house in St Pete, days before the Skyway fell down.

Anthony was my newcomer for the first several weeks of his tenure of incarceration at Straight Inc. What a culture shock it was for him. My family lived well, we had a small lil place on St. Pete Beach…nice, but certainly not what he was accustomed to. (you remember Seamus, 85DJ…don’t ya?) We teased the hell out of him simply because of his wealth.

The car, (to the best of my memory,) was a 1963 Mercedes Coupe (2 Door, Powder Blue…convertible) 1963 was significant, because that was the year he was born…and Powder Blue…. because he was born a boy.

His wealth aside, he was good people. Yeah, he was a brat, a rich spoiled brat… but still at the end of the day he was good person. Who I believe/think, like myself and many many others….didn’t belong there. (I feel as if I am treading thin ice here) Absolutely, NO ONE deserved to be there…No One deserved to be “warehoused” there. Anthony like myself simply had no street smarts. I think Anthony more than myself was singled out because of his families $$$. And he might have been a bit quirky…but damn, well all were just teenagers…. kids.

But good did come from Anthony’s family’s involvement. Tropicana dumped 1000’s of gallons of Orange Juice on Straight Inc. There was one requirement or catch, refrigeration and freezers. The only freezers we had at the time held the frozen Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, which we called “swimmers”. I think the only other source of protein we received from Straight, or closer to the truth Parents donated to Straight. I don’t remember her name, but her father owned a meat packing plant. We had “donated” bologna…

Not just any ordinary bologna, but scraps. If it fell of the conveyer belt, we ate it. The slicer sometimes cut the meat into chunks and the wedged bologna was prized. And then the 2-3 cubes of ice in the milk to cap it off, and of course it was expected that we be grateful for anything we got. In fact I remember my own mom going to get the buns, rejected by Burger King and back to the baker… and she took them to the building.

So on buns, without sesame seeds and chunks wedged between them, they were passed down the rows. Condiments? Like ketchup, mustard or mayo? Nah…didn’t happen…wasn’t an option. During this assault on the senses “RULES” were being shouted…..

Yeah Anthony had a “Culture Shock”…We all had that “Culture Shock” ( I know I damn sure did) and that more than likely…in most possibility, no…..probability Anthony has been profoundly affected…or is it effected…

Either way…

It’s fascinating to see names. Of course, there is an immediate duplicity of “shouldn’t do that”….but damn, it’s part of human nature to wanna know “what became of_______?” or “Wonder what ever happened to____?”

Sometimes, I can recall the name, but not the information I read. Not that it’s false….I simply don’t recall, that kinda bums me out at times. It’s as if “I should know” but fact is, I simply don’t. There is however an opposite to that coin. I recall information and not the name…seems I shouldn’t know… but I do. That is probably most alarming and distressing to me.

I recall a guy mysteriously vanished…nothing was said….but rumor mill was that he had molested a child. Did it actually happen? I dunno… I heard that a guy made a dildo in wood shop at Dixie-Hollins. Nothing was said. Did it happen? I dunno. There was a guy we called the open meeting whacker, real name was Bill P*alimino…he also was my new comer…that incident actually happened, he wrote about it in his ”MI”.

A female name that comes to mind now and again is Debby or Deborah (last name escapes me at the moment) She was first girl I ever actually kissed or “made out” with. I had graduated at the time, so had she. We sat in front of her house getting busy…..it was 5:30am when I got home. My mom had read most of my MI’s and my journals…..She wigged the fuck out, contacted every law enforcement agency in tri county area, including FHP….She thought I Was gonna commit suicide…. The happiest night….the best night I had ever had was now reduced to shit. I was never allowed back to see Debby.

My “first” girlfriend (the kind ya never forget) was a Straightling. She actually wanted me to marry her….so I freaked out. I saw an advertisement for the submarine corp and figured, Straight, my parents or Mar*cine would never find me. I still speak with her mother from time to time. We don’t see eye to eye on many things, but she is still good to me and I do for her what I can.

Whoa, this response has gotten long, even for my standards…..Nuff said for now!

In Peace
Woof

   
OBTW...the Skyway fell after I graduated
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
What is right is not always popular...What is popular is not always right

Offline Anonymous

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #266 on: February 22, 2008, 08:26:02 PM »
so what happened to marcine?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Woof-a-Doof

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #267 on: February 23, 2008, 07:52:46 AM »
Quote from: "old man from st pete"
so what happened to marcine?

Married... three children. She teaches the fundamentally challenged at highschool level
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
What is right is not always popular...What is popular is not always right

Offline Anonymous

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #268 on: February 24, 2008, 03:57:48 PM »
Good for her....I wish her the best.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline 85 Day Jerk

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Re: St.Pete straight 1979
« Reply #269 on: February 25, 2008, 03:59:22 AM »
The Ward Family...............They did more for us all with so little, it was almost like a beam from God shined down on thier home.  I was friends with Robert, Marcine, and even Dorinda.  I think the mom's name was Shirley, but I cannot remember the fathers name at all.  They had a habit of leaving their door unlocked and their house open for anyone who may need to use the phone.  Cell phones were something that only Private Eyes had in their cars back then, hell beepers were even out of reach for most in those days.  They also kept the 7 step Treasury bank account for us for years.  Dad Ward was a skilled shade tree mechanic, and he helped fix several of our vehicles, saving us hundreds of dollars.  I remember one particular time he got burned real bad by Mike McCaan over his Camaro that he jumped Thrill Hill at Pasadena and Central and fucked up his ball joints.  I was in his car when it happened.  We were on our way back from a fishing expedition at the Skyway and he was down from Palm Harbor, or wherever the hell it was that he lived.  He just saw this hill coming up, and before I could say anything, he's like "Watch this shit man!." and he just floored it.  What he did'nt know was that the road abruptly curved right on the other side of the hill.  Anyone crazy enough to jump the hill ran the danger of winding up in the oncoming lanes of traffic. He hit the fucker doing about 80 and we went airborne.  His maniac grin quickly faded once he saw that we were gonna land on the wrong side of the road.  We hit the pavement so fucking hard my head brushed the ceiling, and Mike jerked the wheel hard left and we shot into the parking lot of a big ass church that was on the corner.  By the grace of God, there was no traffic, seeing how it was about 1 o'clock in the morning.  The guys that were following us could'nt believe what they had seen and had to turn around the median to pull up beside us.  Mikes car was Fu--ucked man!  It shimmied like a drunk on roller skates after that.  He stayed over at someones house and took it to Dad Ward the next day. 

With me, I had a '72 Gran Torino and needed new U-joints put in.  With great reluctance, Dad Ward agreed to help me out.  I even gave him a 20 dollar tip when it was over.  He was such a great guy, that he lended me this old '66 Cutlass Supreme to get around in while he worked on my car.  He really saved my ass, because a job like that would have cost a cool 300 bucks at a garage, and he only charged me 85 dollars. 

The Wards got a bad rap by alot of people who considered them "White Trash" and what not, but they were the most thoughtful, generous and goodhearted folks I ever knew from the program.  Robert was a good friend and had shacked up with Julie Ferron, but I dont think they lasted all that long.  I went in the Army in January of '83 and lost touch.

In May of '96, while working at the Fina at Central Ave and 49th Street, a robust woman with reddish brown hair, freckles, and one hell of a tan flew into the station, grabbed an Arizona Iced Tea, a pack of Virginia Slims, a Lotto ticket, and was gone in a flash, leaving the scent of Coconut Tanning Oil.  It was none other than Julie Ferron.  She looked the same as always, only a little bigger.  I never had the chance to say shit.... maybe it's for the best.

In 2003, while standing in line to pay for new wiper blades for my Celica Supra at Discount Auto Parts on 4th Street and 62nd, I saw a guy in line ahead of me who looked vaguely familiar.  It dawned on me that it was Robert Ward.  He glanced back at me in his checkout line state of boredom, and must have recognized me as well, because he just placed his merchandise on the counter and mumbled a lame excuse to the cashier, and simply hauled ass out of the store.  I was left standing there completely numb.  It really hit home right then, that there are some people that the program just left shattered, and it's best to just let sleeping dogs lie still.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
Inside a warehouse behind Tyrone Mall
we walked in darkness, kept hitting the wall.
I took the time to feel for the door,
I had been \"treated\" but what the hell for?