Chapter Nineteen - The Brown County Players

Chapter Nineteen
The Brown County Players

While stationed at Indiana University I was able to get time away from air force duties to audition for a summer theatre group of the university. They performed in a small artsy town a few miles away from Bloomington. The group was called The Brown County Players. I had a small role in a play called “You Can’t Take It With You”. It was a great experience. The name of the theatre department head at IU was Lee Norvelle. Hmmm! Great last name.

I was able to associate and blend in with the university students. A unique experience was to go with a group of the students to a local rock quarry to go swimming.

One experience that I’m not fond of remembering but does say something about my past character had to do with food. We were given a monthly food allowance from the air force which we could pay to the grad students cafeteria to eat there or use it to eat on our own. I was always looking for ways to save money for my college education at the Pasadena Playhouse. One of my fellow airman convinced me we could save some money by shoplifting at a local grocery store. It actually was easy to do. Fortunately it didn’t take too long for me to come to my senses and realize that even though I might not get caught, it just was not right. I’ve never been tempted to shoplift since.

There was a small air force reserve air field about twenty miles from Bloomington. Since we were in the air force we were able to hitch rides with reserve officers that had to log in flight time monthly. One time four or five of us caught a ride to Tampa, Florida. One of our guys, his last name was Booth I believe, came from Tampa. He showed us around once we got there. What I remember most about Tampa was the soft, powdery white sand of Tampa Bay. They had great beaches. Another time we caught a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We rented a car and if I remember correctly Coral Gables was near by southwest of Miami. It’s a Beverly Hills type residential area – it was impressive. On one of the flights to Florida while flying over Tennessee in C47 (a cargo plane) we ran into a storm system. The flight was really rough hitting air pockets and suddenly dropping hundreds of feet instantly. But instead of really being afraid I was having fun. Oh, the invincible days of youth.

Another way we would make weekend trips was by hitchhiking. I definitely would not recommend it today, but back then we would hitchhike in our uniforms which gave us a better chance of getting a ride. One of my friends, Danny Alderman who originally was from Florida, had a girlfriend in Atlanta. So, we took off one weekend to visit her. I remember going through Tennessee we were picked up by a young couple and a father of one of them. They were riding in the front seat and as we were going along the highway a big, juicy insect splat on the windshield. The father chuckled and said “I bet he won’t do that again!” It probably loses a little in the translation, but it seemed terribly funny then. The thing I remember most about Atlanta was the red dirt.

Jim Barnes’, another friend, family lived in Waupun, Wisconsin. So, we hitchhiked there to visit their farm. Besides being a farmer, his father also worked as a guard at the nearby state prison. While on our visit there we went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The beautiful campus is located on the shores of Lake Mendota. Also, while there at Waupun, we went just across the state line into Minnesota to a barn dance. Yep, a good old fashion barn dance like you might see in a Reese Witherspoon or Sandra Bullock movie complete with dancing the polka. Another experience in Waupun was seeing a famous life-size sculptor called “The End of the Trail”. It depicts a defeated Cheyenne warrior on horseback representing the demise of the Cheyenne nation. I was aware of the sculptor from pictures of it and has been a favorite of mine. In fact, using it as my design I made a latch-hook pillow for my father back in one of my handicraft eras.

Editor’s Note: When searching for this picture of the statue I found that what I saw apparently was a replica not the original sculptor as I had thought. It was still impressive.

Later Jim joined me and we hitchhike to Topeka to visit my family. As I look back, it’s amazing how well we did at hitchhiking. We never had to wait very long to catch a ride, which again I credit to wearing our air force uniform. Also, I don’t remember ever getting a ride with any spooky or weird people. But as I said earlier, I wouldn’t do it today. I guess I’m a little wiser and there is a much bigger chance to catch a ride with a weirdo or a bad driver.

When we finished our training at Indiana University, I got a furlough and mom & Ginger drove from Kansas to pick me up. From Indiana we drove down into Kentucky and went to Mammoth Cave which was a very interesting experience. Then we went to Louisville where dad was attending a convention having to do with his job. After Louisville we headed back to Kansas stopping at some large man-made lake with a large dam. When my furlough was over I had to report to Manhattan Air Force Station in Brooklyn where we would be processed to ship overseas to Germany.

Next chapter – Spanish Harlem and Slick Air Lines.