A while back, I spent four segments of From the Vaults reminiscing about my high school years.  Having discovered my old high school annuals (called The Tatler), it was rather fun thinking back to the things that kept me busy and off the street.  The vast majority of these memories revolved around both high school […]

Raisanen, I have run two carnivals so now it is your turn.”  So said my Junior High Student Council co-advisor and field trip taking buddy Bruce Johanson back in October of 1980.  I am not totally sure what makes Finlanders sign up for the long haul on every project that they get involved with, but […]

    Foghorn Leghorn, the animated rooster, was given some of the pithiest lines in cartoondom.  Things like, “The boy’s got a mouth like a cannon, always shootin’ it off” regularly flowed from his beak.  His take on common sense was equally blunt: “The boy is about as sharp as a bowling ball” and “That boy is […]

There are two schools of thought when it comes to actor William Shatner: people either love him or they hate him. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground and I am not sure where this attitude comes from. He certainly isn’t shy about sharing his opinions on various subjects and he has never had […]

      Parts 1 and 2 of this series covered how former Marquette educator Fred Rydholm came up with his theories as to the likely identity of the ancient copper miners and why I have been a disciple of this train of thought (a ‘Rydholmite’ if you will humor me here) since the early 1980s.  Even […]

      A quick recap is in order.  We began this series by introducing readers to two gentleman who managed to upset those who choose to believe that the history of North America began with the voyage of Christopher Columbus.  Retired Royale Navy navigator Gavin Menzies and former Marquette junior high science teacher Fred Rydholm have […]

      By the time you read this article, I will be unemployed for only the second time since 1970.  Okay, being retired isn’t exactly like being unemployed, but it probably will feel like it for at least a little while.  I actually began putting together my thoughts about ‘tomorrow’ well in advance of my actual […]

    Warning:  If you are able to identify the person named in the title above,  you are about to confront an age old conundrum. (or perhaps it is an old age conundrum).  It goes like this: If you make a cultural reference and no one else in the room has any idea what you are talking […]