"I Am the Walrus"

 I use to be a Tiger and now I am the Walrus.

Just recently I found out that my friend Randy Quesnel had passed away. Although it happened back in March, I just found out on Facebook. I had not kept in touch with Randy but I did have some fond memories of him. One connection we had was playing football together at MUHS. My Senior year, Randy was a Junior. I knew I had a photo of him but all I could find was this scan from the Addison Independent. Tigers of the Week! This was 1974, 50 years ago.

That is Randy on the left, and my classmate Bob Shaw on the right. Randy played fullback but he also spent time as defensive end. I was the defensive halfback on the same side of the field and Coach Wagner had a verbal call for me to let the DE know I was rushing and the DE had to contain. Whenever I made the call, Randy would give me a look, he liked to rush the backfield and I was messing him up. Of course, he knows the call was from either Hubie or Coach Chuck Martin or Coach K. But he was a great teammate.

After I graduated college and moved to Florida, my parents and I would come up for the Annual Clam Bake at the Middlebury Legion during the 1980s. I started sitting with the Quesnel brothers  Randy, Terry, and older brother Lorenzo during dinner. Dairy farmers you did not want to mess with. No one was stealing my lobster or the 15 they ate.

Sad to say, Bob "Shawzer" died of a heart attack in 2021. He played safety to my DB. He also won the New England Championship in wrestling our senior year, I think he had a perfect 37-0 record that year. Both Bob and Randy will be missed.

As I started to go through the scans I had, I realized that most of the Tigers of the Week recipients were people I had connections with. BTW, I did get named with Bob Cunningham, a current Facebook friend. This was 1974.

The other thing I noticed that the sponsors for the Tigers of the Week are a great history of businesses in Middlebury. Some I do not remember though, I guess I did not go to these businesses. But the next one, with Gary and Steve, was where my dad worked while I was in High School. This was 1974.

I have not seen Gary much since graduation but we are Facebook friends. Steve was my roommate at University of Vermont our Freshmen year, and then he went on a search for his calling. I hear he is a minister now.

1972, Mike is a Facebook friend and Lorenzo was my lobster body guard.

1972, Dave and Rodney, I have seen them plenty on the golf course through the years.

1971, Bob and my brother Tom.

1971, Steve and Lorenzo, husband to Amy, a friend on Facebook.

1971, Rodney again and Joe whose Dad taught me HS Math.

1972, Brother Tom again and Ron aka Squint who passed in 2021.

1072, Bill and great friend Jim who now lives in Florida with his wife Sharon.

1973, Paul and old neighbor David who was a Facebook friend.

1973, Joey and Jeff who passed way too young in 1979.

1973, Brian who died young from cancer and Rocky, a Hobart Engineer who lives in the Philippines and is a Facebook friend.

1973, Steve a Facebook friend and Jerry, classmate of mine since Saint Mary's, unknown location now.

1973, Dennis, husband to Cheryl and Gary "Rita", who died tragically in 1983.

Gary was living on Route 7 south of Middlebury when there was an accident out front of his home. He went out to lend aid and the Sheriff showed up when another driver, drunk, ran into the previous accident, killing Gary and Sheriff Munson. I have a football story with Gary. I was the safety on kickoffs which mean I stayed back to make sure the return was not for a TD. One game at home, a big lineman took a cheap block shot at me. Rita came over and said he saw what happened and he would take care of it. Not too much later, Gary had laid the guy out with a block. I knew I was safe with guys like Rita on your team.

About Title

"I Am the Walrus" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 television film Magical Mystery Tour. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released as the B-side to the single "Hello, Goodbye" and on the Magical Mystery Tour EP and album. In the film, the song underscores a segment in which the band mime to the recording at a deserted airfield.

Lennon wrote the song to confound listeners who had been affording serious scholarly interpretations of the Beatles' lyrics. He was partly inspired by two LSD trips and Lewis Carroll's 1871 poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter". Producer George Martin arranged and added orchestral accompaniment that included violins, cellos, horns, and clarinet. The Mike Sammes Singers, a 16-voice choir of professional studio vocalists, also joined the recording, variously singing nonsense lines and shrill whooping noises.

Since the "Hello, Goodbye" single and the Magical Mystery Tour EP both reached the top two slots on the British singles chart in December, "I Am the Walrus" holds the distinction of reaching numbers one and two simultaneously. Shortly after release, the song was banned by the BBC for the line "Boy, you've been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down".