On-Stage Culture, 1962

The choice for the Senior Class Play was "The Egg and I," a humorous memoir of the adventures and travails of the newlywed author on a chicken farm in Washington State. According to Wikipedia it turns into an anecdotal accounting of a "fish out of water" as the Seattle native attempts to make a go of it on this farm.

Apparently there is no real plot for the play given the nature of anecdotes, but we're sure all turned out well in the end - including the fate of the person (Julie Nelson?) shown in this posting receiving a corset fitting from Serena Shields. The caption under the yearbook photo says, "Everyone is wearing one, Lady!"

Norma Zimmer was the teacher who was also Drama Coach for the play, and is pictured here receiving flowers for a job well done. Miss Zimmer was a good sport, with a world of good intentions, and when her cast of characters preparing for their junior class performance acted out a little more than she could handle one night, she expressed

her anger and sent everyone home. For a few days there was a question whether there would indeed be a production or not, until she relented and the show, as they say, "went on."

She also was a benefactor for the Junior Class when fund-raising came along in the form of a Slave Auction. She unfortunately had made a commitment to Larry Holstad and Phil Johnson to "buy their services" to clean her apartment, and when the bidding turned strong, she felt she had to hang in there, ultimately paying a pretty good price. In those days a teacher probably grossed about $350/month, so whatever she paid was likely a substantial portion of her income.

We leave it open to Phil and Larry to update on us on how much cleaning they actually did and for how long they worked, but we never heard anything negative from Miss Zimmer. Like the newlywed chicken farmer, she was, after all, just trying to be a good sport.