'Good old days' are always worth remembering

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Feb 26, 2000 by CARL A. SEUFERT Capital-Journal

COMMENTARY

By CARL A. SEUFERT

Special to The Capital-Journal

Iwas born in Lawrence during the Depression years, but had the privilege of completing all my schooling in Topeka. I attended the old Potwin and Clay schools for elementary, Roosevelt Junior High and Topeka High School. I received two degrees while attending Washburn University for five years.

I met my wife, Fulva, at Washburn where she received her master of education degree. Our son, Scott, also received his BBA degree from Washburn, and our other son, Steven, graduated from the University of Kansas. I feel grateful that my whole family has received a fine education in Topeka and Lawrence. Education in Topeka has been a positive experience.

People living in Topeka are fortunate to live in a community where there is so much emphasis placed on wholesome family activities. Topeka has clean air and as many days of sunshine as Miami along with four seasons that transform our countryside each year. I personally deem it an honor to have the privilege of being a part of this fine community.

I am vice chairman of the Topeka YMCA Foundation and am a past president of the board. I believe the YMCA and the YWCA are two outstanding organizations. As a charter member of the Topeka South Rotary Club, I have served as chairman of community service. Years ago I was an active member of Topeka 20-30 Club. Serving on the vestry of St. David's Episcopal Church and belonging to the Washburn Alumni Association, Ichabod Club and Alpha Delta fraternity have also been important to me.

As a season ticket holder for both football and basketball, sporting events are attended at Washburn. In addition, cultural activities such as the Topeka Symphony, the Topeka Civic Theater, Topeka Performing Arts Center, the Community Concert Association and the Mulvane Art Museum have enriched my life. The Kansas Historical Museum and Gage Park and the World Famous Topeka Zoo are fine attractions. I was particularly proud of Topeka for hosting the wonderful Treasures of the Czars Exhibit and for building the Heartland race track, the Expocentre and the new airport.

Maybe some do not appreciate it as they should, but I want to go on record that I do appreciate the advantages of living in the Midwest in the beautiful capital city of Kansas with our good old American values.

Last October, I celebrated my 50-year Topeka High School reunion with about 270 of my classmates. I enjoyed being the master of ceremonies for an entertaining program. Here are some of my reflections presented to my class last fall:

We were born before television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen food, Xerox, plastic, contact lenses, Frisbees and the Pill. We were born before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams, water beds and ballpoint pens. We were born before panty hose, ice makers, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, automatic transmissions, air_ conditioning and drip-dry clothes.

We got married first and then lived together. How quaint were we? How odd we must have been.

A drug problem was trying to get medicine after the drug store closed, and an interstate was old US-24 to Kansas City.

When we were in high school, pizzas, Cheerios, frozen orange juice, instant coffee and McDonald's were unheard of. We thought "fast food" was what you ate during Lent, and outer space was the back balcony at the Jayhawk or Grand theater. We were born before coin vending machines, jet planes, and helicopters. In 1935 "made in Japan" meant junk, and the term "making out" referred to how you did on an exam.

We were before house-husbands, gay rights, computer dating, dual careers and commuter marriages. We were before day-care centers, group therapy and nursing homes. We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt and guys wearing earrings. For us time-sharing meant togetherness, not computers or condominiums. A chip meant a piece of wood, hardware was nails and such and software wasn't even a word. We'd have thought ERA, JFK, DDT, NRC, ESP, IUD, DIA and NATO were lovers' initials.

We hit the scene when there were 5 and 10 cent stores and you bought things for 5 and 10 cents. For a nickel you could ride a streetcar, make a phone call, buy a Coke or enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards. Mail was delivered twice a day, and you could buy a new Chevy coupe for $659, but who could afford one? That's the pity, too, because gas was only 11 cents a gallon. We were before Hawaii and Alaska became states, and almost no one flew across the country, and transatlantic flight belonged to Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. We were before man walked on the moon. Edeblute and Crown Drug Stores sold ice cream cones for a nickel and a dime.

In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable, grass was mowed, Coke was a cold drink and pot was something you cooked in. Break dancing was for popular girls at gym dances, rock music was a grandma's lullaby and AIDS were helpers in the cafeteria and in the principal's office.