Cleaning out some old storage boxes and doing some Spring Cleaning...yes, it's soon to be spring...in deep South America....Uruguay for instance. Which leads to this photo...which is actually a large black and white poster. You see, Dave Challis served his mission in Uruguay.
This poster is likely to mean nothing to all three of my readers. But to me, it conjures up memories of great, great times. These young boys are...Macs. Not "the Macs", just Macs. It's a long story with roots in Saturday night dances, teen aged boys with "girl" trouble, and nicknames. There were 6 official Macs, but we often designated "honorary Macs", if one of our other terrific friends needed some special attention, or was wrestling with a particularly vexing issue with the opposite sex. I won't bore you with other details. Back to the poster....
Summer of 1976, I think. Our young men's Ygnacio Valley Ward superactivity at Edward's AFB in Southern California had gone well. We'd been camping, and exploring, and touring the rocket launchers, and having the times of our lives. I think this was the activity that Tom Ellenburg, now bishop of the singles ward here in Rocklin, had drunk a small fish on a wager. One of the younger members had started daring us to drink raw eggs, like Rocky Balboa, of course. Tom, never to be outdone, upped the ante, and downed a small two inch minnow...live!
But I keep getting distracted from the poster...Pictured left to right....Dave Challis, Geoff Pingree, Greg Pingree, Tim Pingree and myself. Who's missing you ask...Rick Hutchins, of course. The 6th Mac brother. Rick had moved with his family to New Jersey I think, and this was the first Super Activity without him. To remember him, we snapped this photo with a clear space betwixt us for "Huuuuuuutch". Hutch, a nickname you didn't simply utter. When you said it, you had to kind of shout it, locate the vibrato in the back of your throat, and simultaneously kind of cough up whatever you had stored in your superior larynx/esophagus. (It was common to have to spit after calling for "Hutch", at least, if you did it right!)
Alas, I stumbled upon this poster print of the photo yesterday, and it brought back unbelievable memories. In order to preserve it perfectly, its now here on the knechtions blog.
I've seen that, and I could've sworn it's clearer than this in real life, but I could be wrong.
ReplyDeleteOh, what wonderful times! I love that phrase, "Brothers from other mothers." I don't remember hearing that before. I've always felt that you and your siblings were raised with "benign neglect", with just a mom in the household, and this group, along with their parents, had at least a little bit of influence in your life. And think, now that I'm reminded by this, that the phrase I was looking for is, 'Very outstanding young ladies!" Right?
ReplyDeleteLove, Mom