By: Ken Glanister, Class of ‘65

It was a long time ago, as fate would have it. We found ourselves on a little pearl of an Island, situated in the western Atlantic Ocean, nearly 600 nautical miles off the coast of North Carolina. An Island of tidy pastel cottages, where Bermuda Shorts and swimsuits are standard dress of the day, with crystal clear turquoise blue water, pink-sand beaches and quintessential British traditions, like soccer and cricket matches and afternoon tea, an Island where the main mode of transportation was a motorbike, scooter or public transportation and only allowed one car to a household. Many of us were fortunate enough to have spent our formative years growing up on that beautiful Island. Then there were those that transferred in from other bases and spent just a few months, a year or two or three; depending on their dad’s tour of duty.

Before the base offered the dependants schooling on base, the military and civilian dependants went to the local schools on the Island; such as, Whitney Institute, Mount Saint Agnes or Warwick Academy. This offered a foundation for many of us to lay deep roots, which grew into a deep affection for the Island and it’s people.

In the early 60’s, Kindley High School was established and offered classes for the eighth grade through the twelfth grade, with the first graduating class, the Class of 1962. All of us “Cheese-Heads,” as the local kids called us Americans at Whitney, were transferred to Kindley High School and now when the kids transferred in from other bases, they attended Kindley High school and no longer were schooled off base.

We became very good at making friends on the fly, as some attended Kindley High for only a very short period. It seemed when we just got to know some of their names, they were transferring out. I know that was very hard on some of the kids. We lived hard and for the moment. Friendships became deep very quickly. I think this is why even today it is so important to many of us, that we dream the “Impossible Dream,” to try and find those lost friends we all thought it would be impossible to find and rekindle those long lost friendships of so long ago.

Attending Kindley High was not like attending high schools in The States. Being that the school was so small, there was a lot in interaction between the kids in different grade levels. The Soccer Team, the Rugby Team and the other extra curricular activities had participation from mixed grade levels. There just were not enough students in the senior, junior, sophomore or the freshman class, for that matter, to make up a team without going to lower grades. There were very few clicks. For the most part, everyone got along very well. It was a great school to attend.

The main mode of transportation for us “Diddly-Bops” were the Cyrus, Zundapp, Moped, Velo Solex and the Motom, of course modified with the gooseneck handlebars, the long buddy seat and with the modified sprocket ratio of a 14 tooth sprocket on the front and a 28 tooth sprocket on the rear wheel. We can’t forget the illegal gears and the ingenious ways we rigged the “pin” to avoid detection, if chased by a “Cheese-Sandwich” and finally stopped by the Bobbies.

We had our beach parties out at Clearwater Beach. I know many had a wonderful time, with many fond memories of Clearwater Beach. We had many clubs, like the St. George’s Rummy Association, with those weekend meetings up at the old fort in St. George. Then there were those daredevil kids, Sandy Thiessen and Virgil Allen, who made it their mission to skateboard down knapton Hill. It was rumored that Virgil Allen did make it down the hill successfully. We would be amiss if we did not mention those times that some hid behind the base theater, when they should have been in school. If my memory serves me right, Tom Byrge taught Adrianne Jenkins how to kiss behind the base theater.

We have fond memories of Teen Town of Friday and Saturday nights, of all the parties both on base and locally. Of course, we can’t forget the famous Senior Class of 1964 Boat Cruise to Hawkins Island. It was the biggest, best organized party ever organized in the history of Kindley High School, that was done in the name of the school, yet the school nor did teachers ever know anything about it. We had some of the girls that worked in the school office run invitations off on the school mimeograph machine, so, our parents would think that it was a school sponsored event.

The organizing committee was Dennis Leahy, my brother Eugene (Mike) and I. Dennis and Mike were responsible for acquiring the boat, the band and Island. I was responsible for collecting the money, procuring the soda, booze and food and then getting all that to the boat. I got my mother to make potato salad, tuna salad and form the hamburgers and a friend of ours to load everything up and get it to the boat. I put Dave Byrge in charge to procure all the booze. He took orders from those that wanted booze, (which was everyone), collected the money and brought it to the boat. You won’t believe this, but Dave kept the booze list and brought it with him to one of our get-togethers. That was the one event that everyone from that time remembers, even to this day, how we got away with it, without our parents ever finding out; the school did not sponsor the cruise. One of the girls, I think it was Carol DeBois or Paula Emerick, I could be way off on this…it has been so long, had a sister that was visiting from college, she was in her early twenties and volunteered to chaperone with her boyfriend. My brother and I were talking about the Senior Cruise a few years back and my mother and father were shocked when we told them that the Senior Boat Cruise was not school sponsored. Thirty plus years and they never knew….

We were inspired by and have the fondest memories of many of the teachers at Kindley High. Such as Coach Baird, Miss Ivey (smiles), Miss Ryan, Mr. Willis, Coach Johnson and so many others. There are so many memories that bind us together.

Upon graduation, everyone set out on his or her own individual paths, which would take him or her through their life’s journey. Many went off to college, many went off to war and many just dispersed throughout this great land of ours and started down their individual roads of life.

The years passed, 30 plus years; when that little flicker of a spark started to rekindle thoughts of those days, when we were carefree kids on that beautiful Bermuda Isle. The spark grew into a flame, to find those long-lost Kindley friends, for Dennis Wright, Class of 1963. He started searching for the impossible dream. He found a few Kindley Alumni and formed a core group. The spark also was flickering for Jon Dorrough, Bill Smales, Nancy Czeiner and Norah Glover (Mix). Norah started searching the Internet, compiling the names of possible Kindley High Alumni and started contacting them. Norah made it her mission to find as many of the Kindley Alumni as possible, organized and get everyone back together again. Norah had done just an unbelievable job. When she started the search, our group of “found” Alumni was just a few. The list of “found” Alumni and teachers has grown into hundreds now and is still continuing to grow.

I, Ken Glanister, class of 1965, organized the first Stateside “Mini Reunion” in the spring of 1998 at the Airport Marriott, Philadelphia, where 16 of us gathered for two days of memories and partying. I and others have and continue to organize mini reunions throughout the years. We learned from some of the attendees of the Philadelphia Mine, that Dal Tucker and Mrs. Bates in Bermuda, started searching for Kindley and Chaffee Alumni in 1989. They originated the first original alumni list, a newsletter and organized two reunions of found Alumni at that time. The reunions were held in Bermuda. This was years before the Kindley Alumni Association was actually founded. So, Dal Tucker and Mrs. Bates deserve a great deal of credit for sowing the seeds and kindling the fires of the “Impossible Dream” and starting the process in Bermuda, of searching for and finding long lost Kindley/Chaffee friends, (in the 1970’s, Kindley High School changed to Chaffee High School, when the base was turned over to the Navy).

In the year 1998, Norah took on the job of organizing the first full Alumni reunion, which was held that June in Orlando, Florida. We decided to make this a tradition and have a full Alumni Reunion every three years or so, for those Alumni wishing to attend.

. In the year 2000, the full Alumni Reunion was held in Las Vegas.

. In 2002, Jon Dorrough organized a Bermuda Boat Cruise for the Alumni and their families.

. In 2003, the full Alumni Reunion was held in Austin, Texas.

. The last full Alumni Kindley High Reunion, Washington DC, June 24^th-26^th, 2005.

For all those that kept that little flicker of hope glowing and allowed that little flicker of hope to grow into a burning desire to “Dream the Impossible Dream” and do the impossible. You have our gratitude.

Ken