Mischief and More Serious Pranks

Like lots of kids, I managed to get into all kinds of mischief when I was a teen.  My brother, Gary, who was only eleven months younger than me, was involved in most of these as well.  In almost every case, there were others involved as well who shall remain nameless.  They may not feel the need to repent of their sins!

I can't begin to get these in chronological order since they all happened in a two to three year period when I was between 15 and 18 years of age.  After that, I began to settle down and grow up a bit.  Fortunately, none of these pranks involved any serious physical harm although they certainly could have.

I'll start with the worst, at least from a financial point.  It was Halloween in either 1961 or 1962.  The new bridge over Salt Creek had been completed but the highway was not yet paved.  A bunch of us young bucks were out prowling and looking for ways to cause havoc.  After tipping over a few outhouses (yes, we really did that), we decided to build a bonfire on the new bridge.  We rounded up a few old tires and carried them out to the middle of the bridge where we lit them on fire.  It was a spectacular sight!  What we didn't consider was that the tire fire would burn so hot that would actually damage the concrete on the new bridge.  The next day, Mother asked if we were involved in building the fire.  Although we assured her that we weren't, I'm sure she knew the truth.  We heard later that the cost of repairs was substantial.

There was a railroad underpass on the east side of Mannford, just east of Glen Tate's Phillips station.  It was a perfect place for kids to get into trouble and we did.  Our favorite occupation here was to drop water balloons off the railroad tracks onto cars passing underneath.  One night we were engaged in this pastime when a convertible approached!  This was beyond our wildest dreams so we let a balloon go just as he went under the bridge.  It was a direct hit!  The only problem was that, even though the driver was soaked, he was mad enough that he stopped the car and started chasing us through the woods.  If it hadn't been dark, he could have easily run this short fat kid down.  As it was, we got away.

As we got older, Gary and I became less concerned about what time we got home after going out to town.  One early morning as we were attempting to sneak in the back door at home, we met Dad coming out on his way to milk the cow.  He gave us a disgusting look and, in his most stern voice, told us to get our clothes changed because we were going to the hay field in an hour.  I know that he worked us harder that day than he ever had before.

Then there was the time we were practicing our fast draws.  I know its hard to believe today, but we all had firearms as teenagers back then.  On the other hand, there weren't any school shootings or other tragic events back then.  At any rate, two of us had revolvers (good to practice fast draw with) and one had a semi-auto pistol (NOT good to practice fast draw with).  The guy with the semi-auto made a mistake and pulled the trigger before the pistol had cleared the holster.  The bullet traveled down the leg just under the skin and lodged just above the knee.  It didn't even bleed, although when his mother found out, she was panic stricken!

My initiation into the FFA (Future Farmers of America) was interesting, to say the least.  We all met up at the school and the new kids were given their assignments.  Mine was to steal the hubcaps off the local Marshall's 1957 Chevy.  The Marshall was Lee White and back then, he was the perfect man for that job.  The kids all respected him and he didn't try to scare them to death.  I didn't relish my assignment but I left the school and walked the two blocks to his house.  I was kneeling down trying to get the first hubcap off when a deep, loud voice behind me asked what I thought I was doing!  Yep, it was Lee White.  Come to find out, the FFA officers had called him and warned him that I was coming.  Apparently, this was an annual prank.

OK, now the truth is out.  Please remember that this was 50 years ago and I don't do things like that today!   Fortunately, I think most kids today are better behaved than I was!