A couple of weeks ago I watched a special tribute to Mary Tyler Moore on WFYI. I learned some things, and the show brought back great memories.

I spent a couple of years working in Southern California and lived about about 12 blocks from Disneyland. I returned to Indianapolis couple of times during that period.

Once when catching my flight from Indy to Los Angeles, I was surprised to encounter Joe Spitznagel behind the counter at the TWA check-in area. Joe had been a good friend of mine for years. I handed him my ticket; he grabbed a boarding pass, smiled, stamped it first class and handed it to me.

This was an overnight flight, and I needed to change planes in St. Louis, where I had a two-hour layover. I noticed a couple of large groups near the boarding area. It looked like a person or two were allowed to board early.

When the flight was finally called, a uniformed soldier and I were the only passengers to enter the plane when first class was called. His seat was in the first row, and I think he was asleep before I found my seat.

I walked back a couple of rows and noticed another sleeping passenger: daytime television star Art Linkletter. Once situated in my seat, I looked across the aisle and was surprised to see Mary Tyler Moore smiling at me.
It clicked in my mind that they were the passengers who boarded early.

Moore and I began chatting. She was returning from Minneapolis, where she had filmed the opening credits for her new television show, which wouldn’t premier for about six months.

As soon as the seat belt light went off, she scampered forward to wake up Linkletter. Soon the three of us were looking out the windows trying to guess what city we might be flying over. She would then knock on the flight crew’s door to get the answer.

We ate, drank and laughed until told to sit down for the landing. After landing we laughingly walked arm in arm (me in the middle) through the airport. We grabbed our luggage and walked out the door, where two limos were waiting. My new friends climbed in them and vanished into the night. I waited about 20 minutes for a shuttle to my car.  

Watching the tribute to Mary Tyler Moore brought back those memories. We had so much fun on that flight. It was amazing to watch them on television after that evening. 
Oh, I’ve already ordered a copy of the tribute to Moore.

​The WNBA season is over, and my wife, Lyn, and I once again enjoyed our season tickets.
 
The Indiana Fever had a great year, and rookie coach Stephanie White did a wonderful job. It was really fun to watch the team follow her leadership while implementing new offensive and defensive strategies. We are already looking forward to next season.

The final game of the best-of-five championship series was between the Fever and Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis. We watched the game on TV, and it was a long evening for the Fever, but they never gave up in the 69-52 loss.

Lyn and I enjoy the camaraderie that we have developed with the season tickets holders who sit near us. Our seats are close to the Fever’s bench, and I enjoy watching coach White interact with her team. Several of her family members have seats just across the aisle from us.
 
One of our favorite benefits is the ability to use unused tickets at a later date during the season. Although Lyn missed a few games while visiting her brother and his family in Colorado, we were able to invite some friends to later games. 

It was announced that there was going to be a rally at Indianapolis  International Airport for the team when it returned from Minneapolis. Lyn and I decided to be a part of that celebration. We arrived at the terminal and found that it had been decorated for the team’s return.

As we were waiting for the team plane to arrive, I noticed some people entering the terminal from one of the arrival areas. It didn’t take me long to recognize that quite a few of these folks were wearing New England Patriots shirts and hats. I was surprised at their early arrival as the game was several days away. I think some of them were startled to see a large group of folks gathering in the terminal. It would have been a lot of fun if several of us had small hand-operated air pumps to hold up and display as they came through the terminal.
Not long after the Patriots fans cleared the terminal, we were informed that the Fever’s plane had landed and that the team was on its way to the terminal. Many of the fans made a path for the team to walk through and be recognized. We saw several members of coach White’s family coming through the line and the team’s coaches and support personnel.

White and Tamika Catchings spoke briefly. You could tell that they were proud of the team and all they had accomplished during the season. 
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Once the team exited the small stage where they had been honored, many of the players hung around to sign autographs and have pictures taken with fans ... instead of heading to their cars in the parking lot.

It is amazing how something that I see or hear can trigger thoughts that take me back to my early school days. That is one of the reasons I find it so enjoyable to stay acquainted with former classmates and employees.

When I was young we lived in a three-bedroom home on Madison Avenue. Life was great and extremely simple. Our main and probably only source of entertainment was a large radio that stood on its own in the living room. This was before a television was in our home.

There were four or five AM stations, and their newsmen and disc jockeys were well-known. The stations were connected to networks like television stations are today. Local news and music were aired during the daytime, network shows in the evenings and weekends along with sporting events.

I listened to show like “The Lone Ranger,” “Superman” and “Roy Rogers.” I sat on the couch near the radio, closed my eyes and listened to my heroes save the day. Their voices were locked into my brain. I remember my folks telling stories about me altering my voice to sound like Roy Rogers, my hero.

Soap operas also got their start on radio and were aired in the early afternoon before children were home from school. I remember my grandmother having an afternoon break to listen to her shows. 

Comedy, drama, detective, music, quiz and adventure shows dominated the evening schedule. One of my parents’ favorite was “The Jack Benny Show.” The show also featured Rochester, Dennis Day, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris and Don Wilson.

Many of these wonderful shows were transformed into television programs a few years later. It was so cool to see Clark Kent dash into a phone booth and in a few seconds emerge and fly away as Superman. I often wondered about the business suit he left behind in his rush to save Lois lane. 

I think we had a 16-inch black-and-white console television with some interesting rabbit ears sitting on top of the set. Things went along smoothly until the invention of color television. Then it seemed to start all over again.

I remember my mother directing her friends to the newly opened Recommended TV Sales and Service at Thompson Road and Madison. We were friends of the Ake family, and Joe Ake had just started the business. He sold a colored TV to my folks at cost because of the amount of business my mom sent his way.

A few months ago I discovered “The Jack Benny” television show being broadcast over JLTV. I have been recording it and watching it when I have time. Just last week I watched an episode that featured Nat King Cole. It was wonderful.

I also record “The Lone Ranger” and “Roy Rogers” and occasionally watch them. I might just go watch an episode.
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Shonk is a 1960 graduate of Southport High School, a ’63 grad of Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) and a retired bus driver from Beech Grove Schools. 

A group of us guys who graduated from Southport High in 1960 meets for breakfast the last Wednesday of each month at Hotcakes Emporium, 6845 Bluff Road.

Our server, Joyce, takes good care of us, and she usually remembers most of our orders without writing them down.

Last week 10 guys attended, and we were all telling stories when I noticed a couple in deep conversation at the counter. When I glanced back up the gentleman was gone. The lady was still there, and it looked like she was eating a big breakfast.

A little later she hopped off her stool and walked over to our table. She addressed Ed Tenholder and told him that she remembered him from a golf course. She also said Ed was with his father, who had wet, messy hair.
Ed smiled and informed her that she might have him mixed up with someone else because he doesn’t play golf and his father is deceased. The lady explained that she was sure of her memory and went back to her seat.

She returned in a couple of minutes to tell us that she had gone to a liquor store earlier to purchase some pickles, but the clerk was rude to her. The lady let us know that she would never return to that store.
Her physical appearance led us to believe that she might have an oriental background. When one of the guys asked what country she was from, she replied Michigan. This banter went on for several minutes before she returned to her breakfast.

She then started chatting with other customers. They appeared to be polite to her but were pleased when she moved on. She returned to our group several times.

One of the guys asked her where her parents lived. She answered northern Indiana, Carmel, Fishers or maybe South Bend.

She passed out business cards, but none were hers. She explained that the people identified on the cards were her relatives or friends. A couple of times when a guy from our group got up to use the rest room, she took his seat until he returned.

The lady was there before we arrived and after we left – at which time I think everyone there was ready for her to move on. I was told that her breakfast had been reheated three times.

All of my former classmates thought the employees were professional and polite under some difficult conditions.

I returned to the restaurant the next morning and was told she was there for more than three hours. None of the staff members knew how she arrived or departed, but they were relieved when she paid her bill and left.

I’m pretty sure that none of my buddies will forget that breakfast. Neither will most of the other customers. I imagine that Joyce, Tracy, Kathy and Reluca, the gals working, will have the best or worst memories.