Blue Rapids,
Kansas
My Hometown
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The Baptist Church |
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Way back when this was Brake's Furniture Store |
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The Broky's lived in this house that was built in the 1870s |
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I lived here until I was 14. |
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My parents built this house when I was a freshman in high school |
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My best friend, George, lived here |
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Raymond lived here. He was a mean and ornery devil but also the star of our basketball team and quarterback |
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The only city square around a circle park in Kansas |
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The library on the left is the oldest library in continuous use west of the Mississippi |
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The Methodist church |
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Larry lived here across the street from me |
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Phil, Don and Dennis grew up here |
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Larry grew up here in another 1870s house. He owns a railroad now |
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The Presbyterian Church, one of the prettiest churches I have ever been in |
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Bob grew up here. He was killed in a car wreck when he was 21. |
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This is where my first girlfriend, Pat, lived |
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The Blue Rapids State Bank has been run by the same family for over 60 years. |
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I played in the first basketball game ever played in this gym and for many years it was the best basketball gym in a school of this size in Kansas |
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The old US Post Office building |
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Raymond lived here with his older sister after his father passed away |
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History of
Blue Rapids
Blue Rapids
High School Class of 1958
Back Row - Ross Fritz, Gary McClain, Larry Wichman, Larry
Parsons, John Crowder, Jim Kraft, John Brown
Middle Row - Larry Nider, Paul Bjorling, Jon Brake, Phil
Osborne, Bob Radford, Neil Broky, George Callison
Front Row - Ed Brychta, Linda Miller, Mary Ann Nider Craft,
Beth Vaught, Mary Grace Toburen, Barbara Brenner, Donna Osborne, Edgar Mikow
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Some of the members of BRHS Class of 1958 at our 45th reunion |
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Gary (Bearcat) McClain- a successful artist and author of American Indian history and lore |
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John (Raymond) Crowder |
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Crowder and Neil Broky |
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Jon Brake |
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Linda Miller Brake, Phil Osborne and Larry Parsons. |
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Mike and Jerry Brown and George Callison. Mike and Jerry didn't graduate from BR but Mike was with us from 1st to 6th grade. |
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Pat Southerland Osborne and Mike. Pat is a retired school teacher and a member of the BR city council |
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Shirley and John Crowder |
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We rented a B&B for the day as a gathering place |
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Donna Osborne on the left |
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We didn't
have a large class but it is a group of over-achievers. Almost everyone
who started together in the first grade stays in contact with one another.
In a couple of years we will have our 60th 1st grade reunion. Our
1st Grade Class:
Back Row - Marie Newman, Mike Brown, Larry Parsons, John
Crowder, John Brown
Middle Row - George Callison, Treva Poague, Donald Sabin, Bob
Radford, Larry Wichman, Neil Broky
Front Row - Helen Worthington, Sonja Mayhew, Jon Brake, Linda
Miller, Larry Nider, Miss Marvin
Of the
sixteen who started school together, ten have maintained a lifelong friendship
and bond. They and their accomplishments are:
Jon Brake -
Founder, Owner and Publisher of the Manhattan Free Press
Neil Broky -
Retired as a Graphics Artist for Hercules Corporation
Mike Brown -
Retired as Chairman of the Board of Litton Industries
George
Callison - Retired Professor of Paleontology and an Artist of Nature
John Crowder
- Successful Homebuilder
Linda Miller
Brake - Retired Owner of a Hair Salon in Manhattan
Larry Nider -
Retired as Chief Welder of the Santa Fe Railroad
Larry Parsons
- Chairman of the Board of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad
Larry Wichman
- Stockman and Farmer
Me - Army
Officer, International Businessman, Owner of Investment Management Company
Hits on this page since 5/14/2004
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