7th grade (1966-1967)

As a brand-new, wet-behind-the-ears McDonogh cadet, the memories of this year are burnished into my brain. Where do I start? Day 1 - Arrive on the hill with all the other new kids, dressed in a uniform that I had never worn before. Find out that I'm in Room 21, the little wing of Alan Building. Paul Ellis was my room officer. Chris Illardi was a fellow newbie, but he seemed to have it more together than I did. I was from the Eastern Shore (Princess Anne) and had a typical Eastern Shore accent. My classmates thought I was from North Carolina or someplace so deep in the woods that electricity hadn't yet been installed. In 1966, the drill was that boarders did not go home for the first two weekends. The purpose of keeping us at McDonogh was to let the homesick boys adjust. It also allowed us to spend our time polishing our belt buckles, brass on our dress cap, and spit-shining our shoes (for those of us not fortunate enough to be able to afford Corfam shoes). Reveille was at 6:45 am (and remained at 6:45 for all six years). A cannon was fired on the quad and was usually pointed at Room 21. A bugler was assigned to blow the Reveille call while the flag was being raised. If the weather was sketchy, you looked out your window to see if the red flag was up instead of the American flag. We formed in our platoons and companies on the bus parking lot behind Lyle building. Company C was the Middle School boarders. Company A was the Upper School Boarders. The Cavalry and The Band were separate groups at breakfast and were the only organizations that consisted of boarders and dayhops. Formation was called at 7:00am and we marched to Lamborn Hall, the dining facility, just 200 feet away.

The military had its unique terms: Blitz cloth, caddy cloth, spit-shine, spiffy, four-in-hand, Windsor, campus jacket, overcoat, dress jacket, etc. Our meals were served family style and that meant that there were two biddies at every table. The first biddy had the responsibility of waiting in line by the double doors at parade rest until after the officer-of-the day said a prayer. If you were good, you were in line first and that meant your table received its food first. The second biddy had the job of clearing the dishes and getting seconds once the food ran out. If you had the misfortune of drawing a table of seniors for your first biddy assignment as a Middle Schooler (as I did), you had to get used to remaining at the table forever and cleaning up everything and anything. I still remember my breakfast table head, Mike Weiland. A lot of the guys at his table were in the Cavalry.

After breakfast was morning work detail. In the seventh grade, I drew the worst work detail of all. I had policing duty around Finney Building. Near the playground area, there were usually popsicle sticks to pick up. Near the back corner where Mr. White's classroom was, there were usually cigarette butts to pick up. Middle Schoolers didn't seem to observe Major Levy's rules of picking up trash whenever you walked past it.

If you were unfortunate enough to draw a tough morning work assignment, you couldn't work after the bell rang at 8:15. From that point until 8:35, you had to change clothes and prepare your room for morning inspection. Usually, the Teacher in Charge (TIC) came by and inspected your room. Unless they happened to be McDonogh graduates, they were usually fairly lenient. Sometimes the officer of the day (OID) would come by. They weren't as lenient.

Classes began at 9:00am and ended around 2:35. Activities period was after class and most Middle Schoolers were required to sign up for a couple of activities. I signed up for the fishing club with Mr. Diehl (Lee "Pop" Diehl). I also signed up for the Drama Club with Mrs. Coblentz.

I think this post is about long enough for now. If you care to comment or add to it, feel free.