This thread is to honor Custer County colorful characters past and present. I recall Leota Heinrichs on the city council in the 70's. She was a strong advocate for her issues and would constantly call radio KATL's party line and rant and rave. When it was time for reelection she would win. I can't remember her issues...can anyone? Does she have any descendents in Miles?

I worked with Leota on many things up until her death. Her lasting legacies are numerous, but I think the most visible now are the flower pots on main. She was always planting and watering the flowers. Now there was someone who didn't believe that there should be secrets in government!

One of her big issues was keeping the Harmony Hangout open so kids would have something to do.

Another one was John Stone. He was a harmless man that supported the Cowboys at all their home games. Yes he had his issues but he was still someone that was always interesting.

I remember Leota very well, I worked with her as a teen in the hangout and we even had a "teen issues" radio show for a while on KATL Saturday mornings until we realized no one cared.

Do you remember the Anderson family (I think that was the name, forgive me if I'm wrong) that drove around town in these home made crates pulled by a rototiller. The folks had a coupe complete with roof and windshield while Junior had a custom convertible model. They looked like something out of the Beverly Hill Billies, very strange indeed. One time junior took the corner at main and 7th too tight and high centered his on the curb. He was suck there for some time so he just took out his guitar, put one foot up on his disabled crate and strum and sang at the top of his lings until some of us teens helped him down. We had to help it sounded like he was killing cats.

Before I get chastised for making fun, I am aware that there was a mental handicap involve with this family, but Damn me to hell they still cracked me up.

[This message has been edited by Chuck Schott (edited 9/18/2007).]

I remember Leota with great respect and affection. When I spent several weeks here doing research in the summer of 1980, there were a few officials who initially denied me access to public records. Some friendly phone calls from Leota solved the problem. She was the first person to tell me about the Glendive Incident and the aftermath. It was one of the most painful incidents in my husband's young life, but he never spoken of it until after Leota told me the story.


Johnnie Lockett Thomas

What was the Glendive incident and aftermath?

This may be a bit of an understatement, but I would say that both Cory "the cutnut" Cutting and Jeff "new-butt" Newby were colorful characters of Miles City's past.

Brad you made me laugh out loud. "Colorful character" is the nicest thing I've been called in a long time!

DAMN BRAD! I aint seen or heard from you since you left town back in the 80's! Where you at now?

Cory and Jeff:

You guys certainly were (and likely still are) full of personality. When I think back, I still crack-up about some of your childhood antics. I remember when Cory went through his Dukes of Hazzard period--it was about all he talked about for like a year!

Me? I've had quite a journey so far. Kept myself out of jail and have been married to a great gal for almost 18 years. We have 2 girls, Bree is 15 and Olivia is 6. I currently work as an internal auditor for a cellular phone company in Omaha. Who ever thought I would be working with numbers all the time, considering I was lucky to get a D- in junior high math class?

I took up gourmet cooking while I was in graduate school, and now I've gotten rather chubby and having a teenage daughter made my hair gray quite a bit.

Although I haven't any family left in Miles City, I still feel like it is home. I'm really happy that you guys are doing well. It's fun to hear Jeff talk about retiring from the Army. Retirement? Isn't that for old people? Last time I saw Jeff it was in the mid 80s, he was stumbling around the Custer County fairgrounds after 2 beers or something.

I did four years in the NAVY (1988-1992) and thought when I got out I was going to make myself a millionaire--yeah, still waiting for that to come through.

Great hearing from you guys. I'll check in now and again to see how you're doing.

-Brad

Isn't it ironic that the Harmony Hangout is now the senior center??

You know Tom, I never thought about that. That's funny!

I know it has been mentioned in a forum before, but for those of us that attended what was then CCHS, Howard Letke, now deceased, rates a 10/10 for colorful character. He arrived from Chicago in maybe 1970. Mr. Letke was not the traditional Montana teacher we were accustomed to having. I remember he would 'tell' us not to cheat. During a test he would act like he 'accidently' left the answers on his desk and leave the room. My desk was by the door. I could see him hiding in the stairwell across from the room peeking thru the top and watching to see if anyone went to his desk. He looked so funny crouched down on the top step so he could peer thru the grate. He would wave at me and put his finger to his lips 'shhhh'. The only time I saw him angry was when Jerry Lund (sadly deceased) put a bottle of mouthwash on his desk. Other teachers smoked in the lounge. He smoked right in the classroom. It was never a boring class. I'm sure other people have a lot more stories about him....

Oh, Howard. He was my most favorite teacher ever! I cried a lot when he died. I had only been out of school a year. He was a great family man and a great educator.

I always remember my senior year in his World History class. I didn't need the credits to graduate, but I wanted to get into his class. So when I got my schedule, I had been put in Heidi Healey's class. I went to Jack Regan and said that I only took the class to be in Howard's class (not to say anything bad about Heidi, she was my neighbor!). I was moved into Howard's class.

On the first day in class, he was doing his "requirements" for class. Me and one of my best friends, Jason Banfield, were the only two seniors in the class. Howard says to the class "You are expected to study, pay attention, and pass the tests. Except for Mr. Cutting. He's here for my lectures and my movies." I flunked 3 of 4 quarters. But I loved the class. And I really did learn even though my grades didn't show it.

We would be watching a movie and a scene where some enemy army guy was about to get bayonetted and he'd say "Here it comes Cory!" Then when the guy would get stabbed, Howard would yell "OOOHHHHH he got him!"

Plus who can forget the ice cream?

Gosh I miss him. He really was a true "Miles City Character"!

Mr. Letke ended up being one of my favorite teachers ever -- even though at the time he scared the crap out of me. I attended his History class around 1983 or 1984, give or take. He frequently wore a camouflaged jacket or something.

It seemed as if he had a sixth sense -- such as if he was lecturing and you weren't paying attention -- or if you had not done the homework -- he would hone right in on you and ask a direct question in front of everyone. You had to remain alert. (I tended to be the slacker slopping my homework together the last 5 minutes before class, and didn't pay much attention during class -- so attending his was traumatic towards my lifestyle at the time).

On one particular occasion, there was a midday pep rally type thing that featured "Up With People" (???) or something like that (if that was not what they were called, then I have no idea what the correct name was). My friends and I attended the first few minutes, then slipped out and snuck a beer over the remaining time... after it was over, we went back to classes... and my next one was History.

When the class started, Mr. Letke kind of stood there with a strange expression on his face, then looked around and started strolling around the room, up and down each isle... saying that he smelled the aroma of alcohol... it was a very tense experience... I held my breath as much as I could, but I knew there were a few of us in the room who had been up to it. He made his point, scared the guilty parties, but didn't single anyone out -- although I think he figured out who the guilty parties were. He didn't reprimand us other than his actions of strolling around sniffing out the culprits, and giving a very stern lecture. That scared me enough to never do it again.

I also remember Mr. Letke specifically ranting:

A) The most dangerous person in the world, is a religious radical -- as they are capable of anything -- since "God told them to do it". He delivered the speech shouting points with emphasis, veins popping out of his forehead, and perhaps spittle flying across the room.

B) The most strategic portion of the world to control was the Middle-East, as it had all the oil. And oil controls the world. (This was back in the days of the USSR vs. USA).

C) Lecturing about how the USSR (although evil) was not going to be the ones who nuked us, terrorists would do it instead -- and painted a scenario of what would happen -- and it was this -- that one day a barge from overseas would float into New York harbor then ... BOOM!!! ... and there was nothing in place to prevent it from happening.

I'm not sure when Howard passed, but I assume it was before 9/11. It is not fair for me to say this, but in my own opinion, given his passion, I'm glad he never had to experience that.

Ironically, the 3 major things I remember from his class (mentioned above) -- are still very real in the world today, if not more so than when he lectured about the issues almost 25 years ago.

Any way, he ended up being one of my favorite teachers. His intensity scared me into paying attention and becoming interested in History -- so you can thank him in part for the History area here on MilesCity.com.

Oh, and also... I just remembered James K. Polk was the greatest president ever. Howard used to lecture about that as well.

Regards, Larry
MilesCity.com Webmaster

After reading your Howard 'sniffing' story, I remember him doing that once! I was so 'naive' I thought 'oh, he didn't figure out who it was!'. I can't even remember now who the culprit(s)were, but now we realize that was a Howard strategy. How funny and what a great teaching tool. He was brilliant.

I still smile thinking of John Stone giving his all during football games. Nobody could claim he lacked spirit or enthusiasm. He certainly put me to shame in that area.


Watch out Brad... I'd count you as a character too along with those two yahoos Cory and Jeff. Yup - trouble always comes in threes.

Cory, I think you left your Matchbox General Lee car over at my house... it's probably in a box now with to all my Daisy Duke posters.

Howard Letke - hands down one of my favorites (and I have a great deal of fondness for several of my teachers over the years) but since we're talking about "characters" - Howard wins the title by a first round knockout.

I also cried when I heard he passed away. I was in the hospital having an emergency tonsillectomy with some severe complications - turned into a lengthy stay. I couldn't attend his funeral services. I really wish I could have paid my respects.

I was also one of the students that didn't require his class for credits but for one year. I signed up for the lectures and movies afterwards, though, for free - two year's worth. I got permission to to ditch study hall as well to come back to sit in the back of his class during the day on many occasions. It was great how he and the faculty would allow that. It took years later - but all of it eventually sunk into my head.

I also was with a group that would attend the "Historical Film Club" regularly. We'd either give up our lunch hour or order pizza and watch films like Zulu Dawn, Tora Tora Tora, or Midway and then Howard would pause during the videos to emphasize other historical points. He figured if we cared enough to learn in unusual ways and give up our time - he'd do the same.



...his alumni photo with the Napoleon Bonaparte getup is still a classic:

http://yearbooks.milescit...PageID=363

[This message has been edited by Dan Mowry (edited 9/21/2007).]

I would like to reiterate Fred South's question before it gets buried too far into the discussion...

What was the Glendive incident and aftermath?

It sounds like it made a profound impact on the life of another. I am reminded of the saying, "Those who choose to ignore history are destined to repeat it".

You are right about my Uncle John. He certainly had his quirks, but he was definately full of spirit. Sadly he died 2 yrs. ago of lung cancer. Pretty bizarre as he never smoked in his life. He was a very colorful character. Thanks for remembering him. Cheri(Stone)Howard.

When we were kids one bitterly cold winter night John Stone was out on Main Street delivering the word of God and doing his best to stay warm. He literally had icicles hanging from his beard. I don't recall how cold it was but it was almost certainly sub-zero Fahrenheit. Cold.

We pulled over to talk to John and offered to let him get in the car and warm up. We took him to the Hardees drive thru and bought him a 49-cent cheeseburger and after a while we stopped by his home. He lived in a mobile home which was just off of North 7th Street. He had no heat, the home was relatively barren, and there was virtually no food in the house. He had a banana sitting on the kitchen counter that was frozen solid. You could've driven a nail with that banana.

As much as we liked to tease John for his "crazy ways" (and believe me, we did) there was no doubt we all felt quite bad that he lived under such circumstances.

In better times I believe John was a milk delivery man (milkman) for the Sanitary Dairy.

- Dave

Yes, he used to deliver milk to the schools. Me and Dawn Scofield used to get rides to school from him all the time in his milk truck when when we were kids. I too am guilty of teasing and talking behind his back. He got involved with a local church. I believe it was called The Word Of Life Fellowship. My dad,Jim, also got involved with them. I don't know what it was about that church, but it sent both of them over the edge. Neither were the same again. I appreciate your kindness towards him. Not many people would have been so nice. Cheri

I remember John Stone being a 1-man cheerleading squad at our rural track meets. The kids all called him "God" because of his beard.

Another one who wasn't really from MC but visited occaisionally was Tommy the Leprechaun. Also, Spike Grenz driving his tractor to the bars. MC has no shortage of colorful characters.

I remember that John used to live across the street from Quick Silver and his folks on I believe it was FELTON ST. He was a good man. Sorry to hear he passed away. As many others in Miles City I too am guilty of teasing him. Not one of my more proud times.

How about a guy we called Iron Man, no idea of his real name but he used to carry a bicycle all over town in one hand shoulder high. He was a big man and walked robot stiff, never did I see him ride that bike. Or Red Cryer(sp) a Miles City fixture on his red Honda 90.

Current Miles City odd ball little Bobby Kenny will hold his place in Miles City history, the little ghoul is first on the scene of any disaster. I was certain he was responsible for some of the late 70's & early 80's fires in Miles City, but those all turned out to be accidental.

No disrespect intended, gang, but much of this has already been talked about on other threads...specifically the one called "you know you're from Miles City when..." and maybe a couple others.

I recall that Mr. Letke, John Stone, Terry the Leprechan (lived in Missoula, but made his way to a few other places other than Miles City...Hal has a few good stories about him), Iron B**ls, Ms. Gackle aka "the green lady" and others were talked about on there....they were, indeed, colorful people.

For what it's worth, I envy anyone who had the pleasure of taking one of Mr. Letke's classes as I always heard about how much fun his class was and I never heard a single former student of his ever say a bad thing about him. I didn't attend that school, so I didn't get to. The only times I encountered him was when I got ice creams from his truck in the summers a time or 2. I also seem to recall that the football team wore "HL" stickers on their helmets that year in tribute to him.

Whatever happened to Scoop?

David Schott said:

> When we were kids one bitterly cold winter night John Stone was out on Main Street delivering the word of God and doing his best to stay warm. He literally had icicles hanging from his beard. I don't recall how cold it was but it was almost certainly sub-zero Fahrenheit. Cold.

I was there too, and was hoping you would chime in to recount the story -- as your memory is probably better than mine.

It seemed to me like it was 30 below that night, perhaps not quite that cold, but possibly so -- in any case, it was a very, very cold evening.

> He had no heat, the home was relatively barren, and there was virtually no food in the house. He had a banana sitting on the kitchen counter that was frozen solid. You could've driven a nail with that banana.

I remember him speaking of the frozen banana, and either he (or one of our other friends in the car) commenting as to how you could perhaps pound a nail with it.

We all had a good time that night riding around with Mr. Stone (as he was quite the character, and we were laughing with him, not against him) -- but like David, I felt bad about the circumstances he was living under. I assume it was completely by his choice however.

This was back in the mid-1980's.

Regards, Larry
MilesCity.com Webmaster

In regards to "Iron Balls" (who I shall refer to as "IB") -- I don't know what his real name was, or if he had family in the area, however I remember he used to frequently walk around town carrying his bicycle on his shoulder instead of riding it. Like Chuck, I don't think I ever recall seeing him riding the bike.

I was working at the News Nook (I beleive Kafe Utza may be in the same location now, not sure?) back around 1983 (give or take) -- which at the time was a ragmag stand owned by my aunt and uncle. It sold magazines, newspapers, paperback books -- and porn mags. (I shall protect the innocent businessmen and officials who came in to purchase Juggs and other such publications).

Anyway, IB frequented the place on occasion, and came in one day while I was working, and purchased what I recall as being a comic book. When he approached the counter he said "I would like to make a business transaction", in a deep almost robotic like voice, and set the comic book on the counter. It was sold to him and he continued speaking by saying something along the lines "That the world was going to be sorry. He was building a machine and it was almost complete".

I think there was a bit more to the conversation, and from what I remember I took it to be some sort of doomsday device, in that once he completed it, he would push the button and we would all go *poof*.

I think we used to all make fun of him as kids, and as an adult I'm sorry about that. I don't know if he had any family in the area, what happened to him, or if he's still around.

He scared the heck out of me at the time, but it kind of seemed like he was a bit of a gentle giant.

Regards, Larry
MilesCity.com Webmaster

"IB" -- I think his last name was Barch or Barsch, something like that.

He spent as much time holding his bicycle up in the air like a muscle man as he did riding his bicycle.

One time while riding my bicycle down 10th Street rounding the curve onto Pearl Street IB rode up alongside of me on his bike. He turned and looked at me and said something to the effect of, "My grandmother rides horses." That was all.

I think I was in a state of shock that he could actually speak.

"IB" of course got his name because of his tendency to walk with his legs spread out straight, wide, and stiff at the knees. Let's just say that with that wide stance if he visited a certain bathroom at the Minneapolis airport he would be at risk for being arrested.

- Dave

[This message has been edited by Crash (edited 9/22/2007).]

I went to school with John Stone. He was quiet, smart, and a good student. He was a nice unassuming good guy, a little on the shy side as I remember. Later on he was our milkman when Sanitary Dairy used to do door to door home delivery. I'm sure he had a young family at the time and it looked like things were going good for him. Then he fell off the edge. A Helluva waste of a good, intelligent man.

I don't ever recall seeing "IB" around town. The only reason I am aware of him at all was because a girl I knew from Plevna accidentally hit him with her car once. That was the first I had heard of him, and the last as far as I know. I don't recall the details but I don't think he was seriously hurt. Don't know if he was riding or carrying the bike at the time.

The man you are all refering to as "IB" is named Richard Barch (not sure if I have the last name spelled correct)and lived one house down from me growing up. He lived there with his father until his father passed away at home one day and then he stayed there all alone. He was a very interesting character and would always say hello to us kids when we were outside playing. I do remember that every once in awhile he would pop off an odd comment but knowing of him I never thought twice, I would just smile and say "Oh I see". My parents told me that he was a veteran of our country and was shot in the head at one time and that is why he was handicapped. My dad said he was a very intelligent man before the accident and I recall my father stopping in to check in on him from time to time and make sure he was ok. I remember one time that my dad went to check on him and had to call an ambulance for his father and poor
Richard was so confused, he just didn't understand why they had to take his dad. Eventually he was unable to care for himself and his home so he was required to move into an assisted living situation. His home was demolished and a new home was built in its place. He called the corner known as 505 S Sewell home. Richard was quite a character and is no longer with us.

I don't know if this fits in this thread, but I always smile when I remember listening to KATL radio and around Thanksgiving and they would have people call in and supposedly try to shoot a turkey. You would hear some gunshots and then wither a turkey gobble and/or a cow or chicken, etc.

I guess the colorful characters would be some of the announcers...hmmm..Terry Virag, Fred (party line) Hunnis(sp?), Skip Walters....

Bang! Bang! <gobble-gobble-gobble>

Does anyone know if the above KATL announcers are still around. I remember Fred Hunnis passing. How about Terry Virag?

I remember the president/owner of the Miles City Bank in for sure the 70's would go into his carpeted immaculate fancy bank in his muddy boots with his favorite pal, his dog. The bank staff would run behind him sweeping, trying not to let him see.

Pete:

I believe the dog's name was "Bruce," but I could be mistaken.

Did you witness Bruce entering 'his' bank?

Maybe

Remember when they had THE ADVENTURES OF CHICKEN MAN on KATL??? Then the Friday night request line that lasted till the shut down for the night.

In regard to Brian Reed's inquiry - Who is "Scoop?"

What about Robert Schmidt, aka "The Whistleblower"? If only he could have had a web site.

I remember when Hal Anderson was "Lander HI" on a program sponsored by Hightlander Beer. When he would call you at random you would have to answer the phone by saying "Hi Lander" - if you did you would win dinner for two at the Crossroads. I believe this was around 1955 or 1956. I'm not sure how long Hal worked at KATL but know he has now passed on too.

Whatever happened to Iron Balls? seriously...

I believe he has passed away but I will have to check with my parents for sure.

I just thought about this guy for no particular reason:

Anybody remember "Pooky" the pimp?

Hmm, for some reason I thought the Whistleblower was written by Larry of "Larry's Video" and the Sagebrush Inn. I'm positive that I didn't have that from a reliable source though hehe. That said, Larry probably qualifies as a "colorful character" himself. Is it true that he was murdered? And did they ever find out who did it?

Rick Schultz is/was Scoop - he thought of himself as an intrepid reporter. More of an annoyance than anything.

I'm bumping this so Nancy Letke can find it. I am sure that she know Howard was a colorful character but would enjoy what some of his old students have to say.

Howard, did anyone tell the super fly story? When Howard fell backwards off the mezzanine in the gym and landed on his feet, like a cat, looked up at the students and yelled, "SUPERFLY"! He was an avid wrestling fan and love the Super fly Jimmie Schnooka. He is a legend and my generation will never forget him.

Brady Stone class of "88"

Brady, what about when he wrestled in the gym with the travelling show? He talked for weeks about "Bringing the hammer down!" making the motion putting his elbow into his hand. I hope that he knew when he was alive that he touched everyone's life like he did.

The Whistleblower was Robert Schmidt.

...I'd rather not go into all the reasons I came to know this fact. lol

Mr. Letke was great! I had him my sophomore year and took another history class just to get him as a teacher again. With 2 weeks left of my senior year, kids were talking about taking the afternoon off the next day. Mr. Letke had heard about it and asked if I was going to 'miss his class'. I said my folks wouldn't excuse it (they wouldn't) but I might anyway. He egged me on and said the punishment could be BIG. He kept at it, so of course, I decided to miss his class. I came in the following day, and before I made it to my desk, he marched up to me and asked where my pass was. I said I didn't have one. He got that d*mn twinkle in his eye. He paused, then went to his desk, paused again (for dramatic purposes) and proceeded to fill out a detension slip. whew. I thought I had gotten off easy. When he handed me the slip, he had given me detention for 1 hour after school FOR EVERY SINGLE DAY WE HAD LEFT TIL THE YEAR WAS DONE. He was extremely proud of himself. All he said was, "good thing you didn't skip my class earlier in the school year." So every day after school, I had to go to his classroom for an hour and listen to him tell history stories about whatever he liked. Usually, the bloodier or gorier the better! Anyway, I always acted like it was horrible punishment and he always acted like he really pulled one over on me. He sure was a fantastic story teller! Usually, it was the best hour of the school day.

There were some great (and terrible) teachers in Miles City when I was growing up, but one thing that stands out as being really special were the guests that showed up to perform at the assemblies at Washington school. One year there was a guy who juggled flaming torches and bowling balls; a terrific bird trainer; an archeologist who brought a real Egyptian mummy and a rather-unique Irish/Celtic-New-Wave band that performed "Devil Come Down to Georgia".

I don't know how the school ever got these people to come to my school, but I really appreciated it. I think the Principal was named Mr. Anderson and he was later replaced by Chuck Strand if my memory serves me.

OK, Here's one that just passed away, Ernie "Sony" Strid. There is No question he's one of Miles City's colorful characters. 51% gangster and 49% scholar he haunted the Miles City area for most of the 70's and 80's at one time owning the Montana Bar with wife Dixie.

If you ever met Ernie you would remember him.

I personally like "Mother and Son" the bodyguard/rock band/profanity using pair that seems to share a knee brace, one wearing it one day, the other the next.

One night back in the early '70's, a friend and I wandered into the Range Riders Lounge (upstairs) for a beer. It was a week night during the late fall and there was virtually nothing going on in old Milestown but Dave and Ella doing the "news". When we walked into the Lounge, we saw a couple necking at a back table but other than those two sitting in the dark and the bartender watching TV, there was nobody in the place.

We ordered a beer and after a few minutes my friend says "Holy s**t! That's Sonny Strid!" Refering to the couple at the table. Strid had been away for several years, but his reputation for being a brawler back in the '60's was alive and well.

Not two minutes later, the door to the stairwell opened and a couple of drunken hunters rolled in and started up the stairs. They were both firmly in the tank and loudly bitching about what a dump Miles City was any more since the Tongue River Clinic was closed, no women to hit on, nothing going on, etc, etc.

Strid jumped up and walked over to the top of the stairs. He stood there in silence, waiting for the two men to come up. When they finally crawled up to the last few stairs, Strid said "You boys from back east?" They looked at him and said "Yeah, Minnesota".

Sonny then planted a boot firmly on the chest of the first one and shoved both of them backward where the ended up in a pile at the bottom of the stairs. Strid continued to stand there watching to see what they would do when they got untangled.

When they go to their feet, they looked back up at Sonny. He said in a loud voice, "Well, NOW how do you fellers like it out west?."

The two hunters didn't say a word. They opened the door and staggered back into the night. Strid went back to the table and got back to necking.

We finished our beers, told the bartender "Good Luck" and left before the cops showed up.


Nothing like getting a quiet beer in Miles City.

My favorite "bourbon" legend about Strid goes something like this:
The bartender at one of Circle's watering holes had repeatedly announced last call for alcohol.When Strid ordered yet another round,the frustrated bartender told him"Sonny,when the little dial on the clock reads two and the big dial reads twelve,you WILL be outta here."Strid calmly procured a pistol,shot the clock and ordered another round.When the lawman showed up,his first question was"Sonny,what the hell is goin' on here?" Strid's answer"Just killin' time,lad."

[This message has been edited by Ken Minow (edited 12/4/2007).]

My favorite Strid story happened at the Range Riders bar back in the late seventies. A big tough cowboy on a week drunk came into the bar one afternoon looking for trouble. He was proclaiming at the top of his drunken voice that he was the toughest man in the bar and was asking everyone if they had a problem with that. Strid took out his buck knife and promptly ran it though his own hand into the bar, without a hint of pain he looked at the cowboy and asked "are you that tough"? The cowboy replied "no sir I am not" and left the bar without another word, story has it he left town.

The story goes that Ernie turned to the boys he was with after the cowboy left and proclaimed "that hurt like a SOB" but I couldn't let him know that.

Fact or fiction? Knowing Ernie I lean towards Fact.

How about Dr. Carl Luther...Teacher at CCHS for many years..."a penny for your thoughts Miss Hagen"....and the infamous staredowns....(he always won)