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Some of us started drinking beer in high school, we
though of it as harmless fun, many did not think there was anything funny about it. Once my parents told Mr. Billy Spencer
that anytime he saw me drinking to put me in his squad car and bring me home. He did just that, and ruined more than one of
my friday nights. He was a respected veteran of the KWPD, the pay was not adaquate in those days and Mr. Spencer had a few
jobs, he dilivered milk and remember him at Mr. Tommy Dixon's skating rink on Southard St. There were many great men on the
KWPD, some are still among us, N.S.Sherlock would like to thank all of them for helping him survive these days.
It
was about the end of 1972 when Mr. Freddy Key's son hired me at The Key West Citizen as a paste-up artist and set headlines.
Mr. Percy Curry Sr. would come daily to watch his son do what he once did, print the paper. This was a dream job, meeting
people that I would never had known. Miss Rose Kushman taught me how to do my job and was also responsible for helping me
become composing room foreman. Actually my name first appeared on the pages of The Citizen January 1st, 1952, my birthday,
as a boy I delivered the paper and in high school journalism class, we would go there to compose the "Snapper".
Mr.
Willie Ward was one of my favorite co-workers, many people remember him for his Gospel Music Radio Show or his girl's softball
teams but when I think of him, one thing comes to mind "Soul Food", he would go to his church on saturdays and get lunch for
us, chicken or stew beef, what I liked the most was the pegion peas and rice. He was a Navy veteran and worked his entire
civilian life at the Citizen, attaining the position of Pressroom Foreman. A highly respected member of the community, he
also served many years on the board of the NAACP, he enriched the lives of many, including mine.
Others remembered
are Miss Dorthy Raymer, who wrote a unique column on the issues of the day, Miss Libby McLaughlin with her Palm Palm's, writer
Mr. Bud Jacobsen and Mr. Don Pinder who had one of the most extensive collection of photographs of Key West history that ever
existed. Mr. Earl R. Adams wrote the column "Did You Know" that appeared on the front page of the sunday edition, he insisted
on proof-reading his column just before deadline, some typo errors had slipped by a few times and he would get ribbed by some
of his friends. He was still writing his column well into his 90's and is best remembered as one of Monroe County's most honored
County Clerks.
Mr. Glynn R. Archer Jr. was principal of KWHS when I attended and graduated, he was one of those people
that did not think it was a good idea for students to be drinking beer. One day I was told that our very colorful sports editor,
Joe Ilsley was taking vacation and Mr. Archer was going to fill in, my duties included assisting the sports editor in composing
his pages. Because of our somewhat stormy past I though this was going to be very awkward. Mr. Archer assured me that those
days were in the past and he had no problem working with me. My opinon of him changed to that which was already evident to
most people. Mr. Archer will be remebered in Conch History as one of its most effective educators.
It was not unusual
to sit at Sloppy Joe's under the parachutes and drink a beer with no other people in the bar. Mr. Walter Perry owned it at
that time, Mr. Perry was my high school government teacher, a retired legislator from Alabama, he was one of the few that
could hold my attention. Bar-hopping was a hobby many of us shared, Tides Inn, Che Che's, White Inn, Mermaid Lounge, Indies
Inn, Chart Room, Gold Coast Lounge, Inner Circle,The Wreckers, Full Moon Saloon, Logans, Esquire, Nite Beat, Sea Witch, Sea
Fox, some were owned and operated by Mr. Stacy Harnish, Delmonico's, The Monster, Fitzgeralds, Big Daddy's, Boca Chica Bar,
where Papa Tony took a bullet so none of us got hurt, and my favorite at this time, Mr. Howie Rosenkoft's, Howie's Lounge,
it was right behind the Citizen. These were truely the wild days and nights .
Somedays when things weren't going well
at the paper, I would go to Howie's in a bad mood, there usually was someone there to pick me up, this was when Landy Munoz
became a long-time friend and confidant. Landy could make people laught even if they didn't want too, he was also very popular
with the women. Howie only employed female bar-tenders and it seemed that Landy had to approve them. He was one of those people
that God allowed to have two lives, there was this one, then he meets that right woman and lives another life. He was a master
carpenter and also had his own crawfish boat for awhile, he could turn an old run down conch house into a mansion, and did
so several times. As we grew older we would occasionally hook-up for a Sunday morning ride in his pick-up truck, his favorite
subject to talk about was his daughters, he was very proud of them. When remembering Landy, I think about how dull life would
have been without him in it, he is unforgetable.
Howie's attracted a wide viriety of people, from Sheriff Freeman to
Firechief Bum Farto, others were, Dennis Henson, Georgie Garcia, Lou Jackson and Pau Pau Mira, Chickading Hernandez, Jerri
Ann Richardson, Jimmy Sweeting, Brent White, Jimmy Steadman, and another unforgetable person Hillbilly Charles Moore, some
people remember him as Charleston Charley because of his southern drawl, he was from Atlanta, I once had an apartment above
his on Margret St., and can tell you that Charley was a firm believer in the Big Sunday Dinner, every Sunday he would plan
a cook-out, or cook a big pot of something, Charley also settled down with the right woman and had a son.
As children,
going to the Congregational Church, we would always walk around the corner on Flemming St. to Miss Yula Sawyer's little grocery
store, at this time in the 70's it had a new owner, many of us liked to sit on the wall next to it, to talk and carry-on.
The Hart brothers, Steve and Scott went to same church, and would also hang out at the wall sometimes, they were tuff guys
and I was happy they tolerated me, they had very different personalities and both were likeable. Dennis Henson would also
be here sometimes. Marc Rogowski was the type of guy that someone would want to watch there back, he worked on the ambulance,
we had many conversations on the wall and considered him a very good friend, I also knew his brother David who was married
to Charley Jackson's daughter. Miss Shirley (Ingraham, Pope) Guin, lived there and was one of the best cooks ever, she always
cooked extra and many of us got a chance to have some. Bo Red, the old lighthouse keeper, would offer some lighthearted questions,
like how long do you cook pancakes? You don't cook them long, you cook them round. A book could be written about this wall.
This
writer had a number of apartments and rooms all around old town, the most memoriable one was at Mr. and Mrs. Faulk's Cinderalla
Hotel, on Truman Ave. in front of St. Mary's. It was $25.00 a week and included linen service, we lived in the back, in a
three story cement block addition to the old beautiful wood structure. Ralphie Ogden had the top room, Jimmy Lowe in the middle
and me on the bottom, there was also 4 or 5 other Key West boys living there. We all had cars and 10 speed-bikes, with butterfly
handle bars that we used to go to sunset. Sometimes we would stop at the hippie bar The Trap, they had shots of teiqula for
.25 cents. Both guys remained my very good friends thru-out our lives. Jimmy Lowe was a muscian, he played the organ for several
bands, I sometimes referred to him as a professional teenager, he was a little older than us but seemed younger. One time
Jimmy's name appeared on the editorial page of the Citizen once as a Local Hero, he helped an elderly lady out of a burning
apartment. Ralph Ogden would become a Captain on the NAS crashcrew, as we grew older I would see and talk to Ralphie at events
our kids attended, he had two beautiful daughters, he was very proud of them. After sunset we would go back to the Cinderella
and usually jump in Jimmy's purple Firebird, "The Bird", Ralphie, Jimmy and me flying down White Street Pier.
We had
another hobby, diving for tropical fish, Tony Diamonde was an expert in this area, he would set-up and maintain the most beautiful
saltwater fishtanks ever seen. We partied together often and considered him a very good friend. The last time I saw Tony he
invited me to go out in the boat, he was driving a brand new truck, and he gave me his business card for Diamonde's Roofing
Company, he was a successful businessman with a loving family and loyal employees that admired him.
Back at the Citizen,
one of my duties was hiring typesetters, most applicants were female, who were willing to take a typing test. Jim Tucci took
the test one day and it turned out to be the best ever, about 75 words per minute with no mistakes, he started almost immediately.
The composingroom was not Jim's first choice, he was trying to get a job in the newsroom as a writer, he saw this as getting
his foot in the door, turned out great for both of us, I had the best typesetter ever for a while and Jim eventually got that
job in the newsroom and allowed me to say that I once hired the Editor of the Key West Citizen. Another time Luis Vega, a
young guy from Puerto Rico was hired to run the computers, he was well spoken and intellegent. We became good friends, and
would see him often around town for many years. He was a musician who specialized in latin tunes and brought sunshine to the
lives of many.
Politics may be considered a hobby by some, alot of the best parties in these days were around election
time. Mr. Johnny Hernandez was one of the great ones, Mr. Ralph Arnold, Mr. Lang Milian, of course Mr. Emory Majors and when
Mr. Joe Balbontin was a city commissioner, the televised meetings were the highest rated TV show on the island. Mr. Richard
Kerr was a natural leader, a successful businessman and body builder, the way he carried himself and spoke would inspire people
to work and vote for him. The sheriff election was usually a heated one, Mr. Louie Signorelli, originator of Louie's Backyard,
and Mr. Freeman were old friends, he was also a political advisor to him and came up with the idea that on election day someone
could pull the large billboard size sign on wheels around the island and especially polling places. I took the day off from
the Citizen and Mr. Henry Cabanas's son and myself drove that sign around for twelve hours. Mr. Freeman won the election,
the sign played a very small part, at the victory party Mr. Raul (Reily) Carbonell was on the piano playing and singing the
old song "Who's Sorry Now", I picked it up as a theme song for that night, going to the Tides Inn where many of the oponents
friends hung out. The next day I was sitting at the Tides early, my friend came in and asked why I was there, I told him that
I had just been given 7 weeks serverance pay from the Citizen, my newspaper career was over. My friend's reply was "Who's
Sorry Now".
This was the end of the best job I ever had, but fortunatly not the end of this story. Somepeople might
think that the greatest people that were encountered by this writer has passed, many are still walking amongst you. Mr. Freeman's
oponent in the election mentioned is one of them. He forgave me, and would become a close friend and advisor, and one of the
greatest men of the day.
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In
December of 1979 something occured that would bend the path of my life. I became a brother in the Loyal Order of the Moose.
It was not my first encounter with the Moose Lodge, Mr. Sleepy had taken Billy and me there on numerous occassions, and my
sister was once a Miss Mooseheart.
When you take an oath to God,
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