Sweet Home Alabama (for 1-5 years)



Coach Birmingham (on right)

Coach Bill Anderson, Gary "Herkimer" Presley, Doug Reece

My wife and I took a leisurely drive to Springfield on Saturday. The hard-working class reunion committee of Hillcrest High School's "class of '66" had planned a little get-together. Doling Park, once home to an amusement park and a roller rink on Springfield's north side, now boasts a first-class senior center. That was the site of Saturday's luncheon/reunion.

One of the first people I ran into was legendary baseball coach, Dick Birmingham. Six players from Hillcrest's "class of '66" were drafted in Major League's Baseball draft, a national record. Coach Birmingham is in multiple hall's of fame, including the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. In 1966, I took my yearbook and my then-girlfriend's yearbook to Coach Birmingham's desk for him to autograph. When I picked them up after class, my yearbook said "To a very sweet girl - Coach B". Though I never looked, my girlfriend's yearbook probably said something like "You should do OK in college if you cut out the grab-ass - Coach B."

I also ran into Gary Presley, a pioneer of Branson from when Presley's Mountain Music Theater and the Baldknobber's were the only two shows to choose from in Branson. Now there are a couple of hundred shows to choose from each year, from Acrobats of China to Yakov's Dinner Adventure. Presley's Music Theater is still my favorite.  Here is a link to Gary explaining how he came to be Herkimer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaZvMz-_L-4

One person I did not run into was our class president, Herschel Breig. Though he attended last year's reunion, Herschel had a previous commitment that conflicted with this year's reunion. The Federal Prison System has requested the honor of his presence for the next 5 years at it's minimum security facility in Montgomery, Alabama. Herschel is now inmate 43441-177. According to the newspaper article I found, Herschel was sentenced to 5 years in prison on June 15 after he pled guilty to diverting a million dollars in employee payroll taxes (give or take) from the Highland Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas. 

Will Rogers once said "Everybody is on a trip somewhere if they work for the Government. I wonder when the taxpayers take their trip."   Note to Will: You also get to go on a trip if you don't pay your taxes.

The Federal Prison Camp in Montgomery, Alabama is located on Maxwell Air Force Base. In 2009, the Montgomery Prison Camp made the list of the "Top 10 Cushiest Prisons in the U.S", where it was described as follows: "E-mail and on-site substance abuse treatment are available, as is a wide variety of occupational programs.  Montgomery's prisoners can, among other pursuits, study to become dog trainers or earn commercial driver's licenses."

To heck with being a dog trainer - after serving as our class president and now also serving time in a Federal prison camp, Herschel will have all the qualifications he needs to serve as Governor of Illinois!   Good luck to Herschel.   We missed you Saturday. 

With time off for good behavior Herschel may just make it to our 50 year class reunion.

Hillcrest High School Class of '66 Attendees at 2012 Reunion - Faculty and Spouses in Front Row