Sometime between the 7th grade and the 12th, Bill had reached his full height of 6' 4". Of course he played on the basketball team. He lived on the corner of Cedar Ave and Chase Street. The Keadle's got a TV before we did, and they would let me come up and watch until the station went off at night. At that time TV was only on in the evenings. When the test pattern came on, it was over. I spent a lot of time there. Sometimes it was just listening to the radio to hear the latest pop songs. Other times, I found it amusing to watch Bill and his brother Mitch have arguments. I was an only child and this was new to me.

About 1956 the school built a concession stand on the south side of the football field. This was mainly for the football games, but they decided to keep it open during lunch hour during the week days. Bill and I were selected to run the stand on those days, and we had a lot of fun doing that, especially we got out of class early before lunch time to open up. Imagine leaving the period before lunch early because the Principle told us to. The elementary kids gave us lots of laughs. The counter was quite high, obviously for adults, sometimes you couldn't see anyone until this little hand would appear almost above the counter, and let loose about 6 cents. Then you hear a small voice, "I want a bottle of pop and a couple chuckers". There were also times when you wouldn't see anyone, just see the money appear from nowhere, or flying over the counter.

After we graduated in '57 Bill went to DC and worked for the FBI. There he met Dotty Harris and they were married. I had been playing in Burr Shafer's combo out of Lewisburg for a couple of years but I also made my way to DC and worked for an electronics company. Linda and I got married and we connected with Bill and Dotty. Bill was concerned about being drafted in the military, so he decided to pick his own branch of service and joined the National Guard. His training was servicing selected sections of jet fighters. Dotty stayed with the FBI and Linda and I helped her out when Bill was away.

A few years later Bill and Dotty had a son and moved back to Alderson and he went to work for the State Road. We lost touch, but saw them occasionally when we made the trip home. Again, we lost touch with them, and a few years later Bill appeared our house in Maryland. He didn't seem to be happy and told us they were divorced. More years passed and he showed up again at the house with his new wife. We chatted a while and they left. That was the last time I saw Bill. When I started the Aldersonian on the internet, Bill sent me a few emails and we exchanged emails for a short time and I never heard from him again.

If you have some memories of Bill and would like to share them, write them in the comment box. Please include your name.