Joel's Pioneer and Bethel Chronicles Part 1

by joelbear69 8 Replies latest jw friends

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  joelbear69

  I had auxiliary pioneered the summers between 9th & 10th
  10th & 11th and 11th & 12th grades. Generally this was
  a miserable way to spend summer but it was mandatory in
  our congregation otherwise I would have been marked as
  bad association.
  
  Wednesdays were rural service days which were my favorite
  because you got like 5 or 6 hours and you only had to do
  maybe 5 houses all day because you got to count the time
  driving back and forth (I slept) and you got to count the
  time when you were waiting for someone on a long call (I
  slept in the car). My mother and the grandmother of my
  young pioneer pals were great. They could always be counted
  on for at least 1 hour long call sometime during the day
  sometimes 2. These were awesome.
  
  South Georgia near the Florida line where I grew up was loaded
  with huge oak trees with spanish moss hanging from almost every
  limb. We would park in the shade of these and snooze and
  watch the moss blow in the breeze and dream of, well dream of
  doing anything besides what we were doing. I usually dreamt
  of playing tennis with my worldly friend David, with whom I was
  in love.
  
  Lunch was usually a cold sandwich and Hostess Twinkies and Fritos
  bought from a Holiday Market, our local 7/11 chain. I always
  bought the raspberry ones with coconut sprinkles filled with
  creme. yum yum.
  
  The best summer was the year I went to the Georgia Governor's
  Honors Program. An accelerated summer program for honor
  students. I went and studied Math in the mornings and History
  in the afternoon. I even made a movie with a friend of mine.
  
  I was the only one of my friends to actually get a diploma from
  a high school. The year, 1976. Which explains why everyone
  else I knew dropped out in the 10th grade and got their GED.
  I was kind of marked for not dropping out, but didn't lose
  association with my friends.
  
  Part 2 - Joel's best friend goes to Bethel
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  watson

  Looking forward to this series!
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  daniel-p

  Thanks Joel, I enjoyed reading. Looking forward to part 2.
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  NewYork44M

  Looking forward to the story. I also graduated in the mid-70s. It will be interesting to see some similar memories.
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  pratt1

  Good to see you back on the board Joelbear.
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  still_in74

  thanks for posting,

  I will keep an eye out for part 2
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  Gopher

  I enjoyed the first installment.

  I was the only one of my friends to actually get a diploma from a high school. The year, 1976. Which explains why everyone else I knew dropped out in the 10th grade and got their GED.

  So everyone but you dropped out in '74 to be a pioneer in the magical year of 1975, the year the world ended? Nah, that's just an apostate exaggeration !!
• 

  AudeSapere

  I was the only one of my friends to actually get a diploma from a high school. The year, 1976. Which explains why everyone else I knew dropped out in the 10th grade and got their GED.

  So everyone but you dropped out in '74 to be a pioneer in the magical year of 1975, the year the world ended? Nah, that's just an apostate exaggeration !!

  Word!

  -Aude.
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  Undecided

  Those first two paragraphs was exactly my experience in the early 50's.

  Ken P.