Fall Quarter, Fifth Year (1999)

Suzanne's brother Bill and his friend from Kent at Cedar Point on what I like to call a spin-n-puke, for obvious reasons.

Action shot of Jeff and Suzanne, taken while spinning at dizzying speeds.

Suzanne next to her favorite ride.

And of course the bumper cars, an amusement park staple.

This is looking up a ride called the Power Tower at Cedar Point, as we get shot up to the top of it.

The folks came down to OU for an awards ceremony.  Here's sister Jenn, Mom, and Jeff.

Actually got the paps to smile:  Jenn, Dad, and Jeff.

Huss and Caruso on the couch.  If my memory serves me correctly, this picture was taken either to commemorate one of Caruso's dates that just took place, or was about to take place.  Look at him, fresh out of the catalog.

I wouldn't believe it if I didn't have a picture:  Dan actually camera shy.  In the foreground sits one of his potential victims.  More on that later down this page.....

Throwing a little shin-dig at 10 S. High:  the annual wrestling party.  Chilling in the front porch:  Jason, Amy, Mike, Dan, and a few of Amy's friends from John Carroll.

And the scene in the backyard, as the fracas reaches critical proportions.  Busy quarter, we actually threw parties three weekends in a row.  Damage was minimal, though someone did decide to discharge a fire extinguisher all over the downstairs.  That's what you get for supplying free beer, I guess.

A shot of the backyard.  Can't really see anything, so don't bother looking at this one.

Jill and Tom dancing at 10 S. High during a little after hours celebration.  For some reason we had a lot of after hours parties this quarter.  Usually I'm not any good much past three, but we hung in there.

Hanging out at Pawpurr's with Rick Steele visiting from D.C.  From left to right:  Steiny, Dan, Rick, Jason, and Eleanor.

Homecoming 1999.  Jeff and Missy tailgating before the football game, tired and cold.

Party at 10 S. High the Saturday night of Homecoming weekend:  Ryan, Jeff, and Nicole.  This was the second in the three weekend marathon that quarter. 

Homecoming weekend at 10 S. High:  Jeff and Elyse.  On the door behind them you can see some of the Halloween decor.  In the spirit of the occasion, Dan always insisted on decorating for the holidays, Christmas trees even.  There was an entire closet devoted to such things.

Later that night at 10 S. High:  Wervey talking to an unknown.  For some reason, dancing seemed to take place primarily in the kitchen.

More after hours:  Autumn (visiting from Kansas City), Eleanor, Jason, and Josh (visiting from Vail) on the couch.

Two of Dan's exquisitely carved pumpkins:  portrait of the OU attack cat on the left, and two of the school

Okay, seven people lived in our house, and seven pumpkins were carved.  Sounds about right, right?  Thing is, Dan carved all seven.  The kid was a machine.  Here he is seen posing with his entire collection.

Halloween weekend we had another party:  Jeff and Ryan in the kitchen.  Now, most of you know that OU's marching band is called the Marching 110.  So, that year for Halloween we decided to be the Marching 111-126:  the members that didn't make the cut.

Understand this was not small task.  To truly capture the spirit of the OU marching band, we practiced our routine repeatedly, interrupted constantly for beer and bathroom breaks.  Here we are in our driveway Saturday night going over the moves.

Dan put quite a bit of time into coming up with our dance.  He's good at such things.  And we didn't mess around.  Brad, the Weasel, was our drum major and carried an authentic sceptre.  He was followed by the horns section.  Following that was a four piece percussion section that was the backbone of the group, laying down the beat to which we'd dance.  Luckily, Johnny's friend Zac, from home, could play some vicious drums and kept us afloat all night.  Following the drum section was our hula hoop section, essential in any serious marching band.

Jeff, Matt, and Matt's buddy as we prepare to march on to Court St., to where the action is.

Getting ready to roll uptown. *

Big John and Neal gettin' down. *

On our way........ *

I don't know why I posted this picture, but I really wish it had turned out.  The Marching 111-126 before heading to Court St.

A view of Court St. that night.  Complete mayhem.

A shot of our percussion section.  Johnny Minerva laying down the beat.

Another shot of the crowd that consumed Court St. that night.

And our front line, just behind the drum major.  Neal's playing the cymbals while Big John's twirling the baton.  Luckily, we had a couple big guys in the front to "deter" people from interfering.  This included blocking one guy in a runaway shopping cart.  Big John decided to go commando while wearing a skirt he made out of felt.

Marching down Court St. Halloween weekend:  Jeff was playing the kazoo and spoons, Mike a makeshift trumpet, and Neal the cymbals.  We got comments from numerous authentic band members that weren't too happy.  Veiled threats, even, as they stood there in their letter jackets.  One guy was actually heard saying "Man, they don't know who they're messing with."  I kid you not, it was pretty funny.

Again, here we are trying to keep things together.  You can see the hula hoop section going to town in the background.  No bones about it, by the end of the night we were sweating pretty good.

And here we are in the heart of the routine.  In keeping with Marching 110 tradition, the performance included some of us dancing on the ground while other band members danced over us.  Very tiring.

Neal and John leading the way.

And the beginning of the routine.

* contributed by Dan Bendar