A Pertinent Announcement

Last fall while in Roch I was talking to Mr.Wittig's daughter.She knows Mrs B. from girl scouts and I had sent in a memory of Mr.Wittig she was going to use as one of many from students along with my pic in a room at PMHS in his honor.We were talking and she mentioned that she thought she was imagining things but when she went back to the school for the first time she noticed that the stairway in the library was gone.I don't know why they did this and forgot to ask how one can access both floors of the Library now but I always thought that stairway was cool.For one thing it offered a third escape route off the balcony in case something went awry in one of our many pranks.I have heard the Balcony became off limits to students not long after we left and I can certainly see why.Besides the ease it offered to rain water balloons down into the commons area en masse it was just a great place to launch mayhem.Who can forget when the person every one thought was the "Masked Maurader" Mike Q. appeared on the balcony like the Pope proclaiming his innocence as the patsy we had hired to play the part ran across the commons and was caught by Mr.Sherman.I forgot what we gave the younger Foos but it probably involved herb.As his brother would say though he was a "Lowly Sophomore"How many times Foos used that line before launching a tray of food at a Sophomore table starting yet another commons clearing food fight.Our trips to the Liquor store on Fri mornings so we could hacve Vodka Slushies and how long it took the food ladies to catch on when we ordered an Orange Juice Slushie and two empty cups.Highball sipping bourbon from a Choc milk container.In winter sticking beers in the snow in the courtyard at the edge of the commons area.Kerry taping the thumbtacks to the back of the door handles leading out the library into the commons and us watching as folks opened the door.A good loud"OH MURPHY!!" as we all cleared away from the table leaving the Murph turning beet red and sputtering curses or picking the lock to the second floor room at the back of the auditorium with a credit card and smokin doobs.How we did it the night of the Choral Society or whatever that Kenny was in onstage while we were flipping the bird and waving to him from up in the room. The metal window sills at the edge of the commons where L.A. and T.L. scratched in with a knife such gems as "SLA Join today","We Love you Tania" and "Lebanese Red Hash 8 dollars a gram" And of course"The Bomb!" It's a wonder we got any learning done.