Planes, Trains, and Sailing Ships: Living in the Philippines

Wagner High School

When school started in August of 1970, I was attending my third high school in as many years. The first was Highland Falls High School outside of West Point New York. Other than band, I was not involved with anything special here. I do remember advanced placement biology was a good class. After talking with friends that stayed at West Point, I am pretty happy that I left when I did.

My second high school was Moapa Valley HS in Overton, Nevada. This one changed everything. I was in band, but also was convinced by my mom to take chorus. And the great friends I made there got me involved in the school musical, a Shakespeare play, going to basketball and football games, and running track. I discovered that there was a lot of great things you could do if you made the effort.

So, here I am at Clark AB, getting ready for school to start at Wagner HS. There are some expectations thanks to MVHS.

Band - ✔
Chorus - ✔
Musicals - ✔
Advanced math classes - ✔
Advanced science classes - ✔
Vocal Ensemble (Select small singing group) - NO ........ Wait, what?

At Moapa Valley they had a select small singing group called Vocal Ensemble. From feedback I had while I was there I think I had a pretty good chance of getting in if I had stayed. No Vocal Ensemble? This is unacceptable, soldier!

Starting off on the right foot, the first day of school was canceled. We had 21 inches of rain in three days. Many of the kids lived off base and the roads were impassable. So we started a day late. The school had about 1000 students. It was open campus so if you didn't have classes you didn't have to hang around. This made lunch easy for me. We lived withing walking distance so I went home for lunch, and about once a month we could use dad's club card to go through the sandwich line at the Offices club. (Pastrami and Swiss on rye with German mustard!!!)

I remember taking Band, Chorus, Chemistry, American History, Geometry, and American Lit my junior year. Miss Osborne (we were not into the politically correct MS stuff yet) was the band director. It was her first year at Wagner. I was 1st clarinet, 2nd chair until Laurel Salter showed up and took 1st clarinet, 1st chair pushing me to 3rd chair, or 2nd clarinet 1st chair. I don't remember for sure. I was fine with that. Chorus was my first love. Miss Osborne had us play some challenging music - don't ask me what at this point.

I know we did go to Sangley Point NAS on April 16, 1971 to do a concert. We were supposed to do another at Faith Academy in Manila, but one of the busses broke down and we had to cancel.

Miss Osborne
Band Director

Getting clothes made was cheap in the PI, so we had our custom made "gas station attendant" uniform for band, and long dresses for the girls and suites for the guys in chorus.

Chorus 1970/71

Miss Susan Bischke was the new chorus director. She was actually the middle school music teacher but taught the high school chorus. We had about 40 kids signed up, but only 8 male voices. Second setback - not enough men to sing SATB music. Argh. By stealing some altos that could sing low as tenors we were able to do a little SATB but mostly Soprano, Alto, Baritone. As I recall, we kind of started off with music that was not real tough to sing. That would change! I do remember singing Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring in German at Christmas.

I don't recall what song precipitated it, but Miss Bischke took her 12 strongest voices and create a small group, and that is what we did. And the group never disbanded while we were there. The kids selected loved singing, we loved singing together, and we got to do some fun popular and broadway type songs over time. Only thing we could not do was agree on a name for the group, so for the whole time we were there, it was The Small Group.

Vocal Ensemble (Select small singing group) - ✔

At Christmas time, we did the one-act opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors. I had the part of the page, and Mike was a shepherd.

Mike and me in our Amahl costumes

The annual musical review was called "Enter the Young." It ran April 1-2. Mike was in it but I wasn't.

The musical we did that spring was the 1956 broadway musical Li'l Abner based on the satirical comic strip of the same name that ran from 1934-1977. The lead called for large, buff guy (think Jethro Bodine in Beverly Hillbillies) played by a student. Some of the other primary parts were given to faculty. But there were two men's quartets - Abner's cronies, and the secretaries to Gen Bullmoose. There were only about 5 guys that could carry 4-part harmony in a quartet, and I was one of them. So there was a fair amount of changing between costumes as we went back and forth during the show, with only minor dressing room oopses with other cast member changing at the same time. The orchestra was a combination of WHS and 13th Air Force bands. The set came in handy the next year. WHS always did a Sadie Hawkins Day reverse dance - and Sadie Hawkins day originated with this comic strip. We dragged out the stage scenery (including the statue of Jubilation T. Cornpone) from the play and used them decorations for the dance. Some of the costumes showed up at the dance, too.

Program cover

For American history, we had to write a term paper. I chose to write about the liberation of Luzon Island in the Philippines by the American forces. I really got to into it. We had to turn in our note/reference cards. I had 102. (This was the days before the internet, and you actually had to go to the library to find this stuff. And no cutting a pasting either! Fortunately the library on a military base had a fair about of information for my chosen topic.) My interest may be understandable. I lived on the battlefield. Our house had been occupied by the Japanese during the war. Farmers outside the fence would still bring up Japanese helmets and other items they had found in the mountains around the base. When we would drive up to Lingayen Gulf to go snorkeling and down to Manila, we were following the invasion route. When they broke ground for the new commissary, they found 6 unexploded bombs from the war. I think I got a B+ because it was too long. 😊

Li'l Abner Pictures

Li'l Abner

Romeo Scragg (Rick Wall), Clem Scragg (Jon McCracken), Marryin' Sam (Mr Wood), back - Hairless Joe (Tim Culbreth), Earthquake McGoon (Bull Durham ), Daisy Mae (Vickie Hollandsworth)