The Prophecy of the Father Ryan Senior Class of 1969--Part I

In the weeks just before we graduated from Father Ryan, we put together (or someone did) our Class Prophecy.

It was done in two sections: One is a look ahead to predict what some members of the Class of 1969 would be doing in the year 2000. I guess we thought that was a long time away.

Now we know better. :)

The second section involved imagining what would happen to other members of the class being put in certain situations or positions.

Does anyone remember how this was put together? Who put it together? Some of the meanings of what is being said in the Prophecies may be a little obscure now, especially to those who were not in our class.

In some cases, I think it helps to remember who people were dating or they were friends with, or situations they had gotten involved in when this was written, especially in the IMAGINE: section, which we will look at in Part II.

And so, without further ado, here is Part I of the Prophecy of FRHS Senior Class of 1969 concerning:

The Year 2000

On what I thought was going to be just another routine business trip to Nashville, many interesting things occurred. As I pulled in to the Wiseway service station, I encountered Father Daugherty who said he had just finished speaking with Congressman Carter over an important matter. It seems rich business tycoon Guy Brewer was claiming the property on which Father Daugherty's parish stood belonged to him and Brewer's assistants, Bill Carver and Phil Bennett, were having trouble collecting the payments.

As I begin to drive away, I decided to stop and buy a paper at Henrich's Drug Store. "Admiral Belcher Wants More Ships" the headline read. Secretary of Defense Don Carnes and Secretary of State Steve Conquest are both against appropriating any more money to the Navy. Senator Pat Cook from Tennessee supported the Admiral, saying that the ships could be built cheaply since Felts Enterprises merged with The Watson Corporation.

I decided to check in to the newly constructed, Ayers Hotel and finish reading the paper. The desk clerk, Andy Cantrell, told me how the doorman,Steve Beasley, had to throw out two men who were trying to sell advice on how to miss trees and live longer. The two men, as it turned out, were John Connors and John Bevington.

I saw where Bob Brown and Bob Curtiss had just bought Old Hickory Lake and had to sell to the Grant-Grant-Goins-Davis Interprises so they could flood the state with their ideas. I decided to take a drive and I was stopped by Chief of Police Charlie Rosa and his Assistant Chief Bubba Thurman. By mistake, I went the wrong way down Plemons Avenue. I knew that Judge Eric Thomas was tough, so I mailed in the money.

The next day I found out that two Grand Ole Opry stars, Donnie Winters and Pat Nolan, were trying to make Minnie Pearl Day a National holiday. The Mighty 8, a special branch of the police force, led by Bernie Werrbach and Bill Stone was called in to investigate a crime at Woodside's Department Store.

As I got on my way to my conference, I passed the Curley Institute of Higher Learning and saw Bob Campbell giving judo demonstrations outside the building. As I reached my destination, I found that the building my meeting was supposed to be in was being torn down to make room for Mayor Wyman's Urban Renewal Project. Confused, I started back to Bryd's Railway Station and got the next train back to Saint Louis. The Conductor, Carlton Crutchfield took my ticket and I sat down. Just as I was about to go to sleep, someone tapped me on the shoulder. As I looked up, there stood a Fuller Brush Salesman, Henry Swider, giving me his sales pitch.

The only way to get out of this mad house was to jump in a rented car and drive.

(Well, somebody sure had an active, if not very accurate imagination, about what the future held for some of us in the Year 2000.)

There's more to come. You can just IMAGINE: in the next segment of the Prophecy of the FRHS Senior Class of 1969.