1991 Camp SPdL

Back in the day at Camp SPdL, I somehow was forced on stage to perform top ten lists. At first they were the top ten t-shirts worn that day by campers. Long before the internet and Amazon, David Hurt had a bad habit of ordering obscure t-shirts from the backs of magazines: Underdog, Mighty Mouse, and the like. 

 

That morphed into top tens of topical events trending during camp. Some of the guys would help me write the lists during shower power hour.

 

In 1991 to get to know the big new batch of 7th graders, upperclassmen interviewed each kid, asking each the same questions, like favorite toothpaste and TV show. The previous year's 7th grade class had been the hit of camp - "Stooges" David Hall, Rich Morris, Thomas Hinson, along with Elizabeth Smith, Jennifer Giraldeau, Audra Mullen, big Mark Weeks, and the irrepressible Tommy Statham. How could the next class follow that?

The new class included Marissa Goodwin, Michelle Brady, Jay Shippen, Jeffrey Elam, John Thomas Gray, and others. Later Melanie Sheffield and I would discover we were related. Her uncle Charlie Brooks' brother was my uncle Bill.  

For the Thursday night talent show the girls acted out the classic Coasters’ song “Along Came Jones” with Lyndsey Tanner saving damsel in distress Melanie Sheffield from the oncoming train conducted by Catharine Sanders, and lassoing bad gal Kate MacKenzie (you better behave kids, or I might just post video footage of this, plus the Doo Rites, and Lauren White roller skating to the oldie "I Wanna Be Loved by You").

 

We wrote a Doogie Houser skit to star Clark Wisenbaker, which inexplicably ended with John Flack throwing a pie in Lauren White's face. The 7th graders were the hit of camp that year. Like the then current 11th grade class before it (Alms, Boyd, Cox, Flack, Goldsmith, Howard, Irwin, Johnston, Lientz, Mandy, Simms, Snipes, Traver, Watson, Whitaker, and Whitney attended that year), these 7th graders would be the class to carry the SPdL youth department deep into the 1990’s. Or so we thought.

According to my notes (above), at least six of the ten 7th grade girls named Beverly Hills 90210 as their favorite. I’d barely heard of the show, which had just completed its first season. That settled it, the rest of the week would be filled with Beverly Hills 90210 humor. Lang and I got to work. Well, mostly Lang, since I didn’t know the characters.

 

This week while de-cluttering I dug out papers from this very time, including this iconic top ten list.  

 

Top Ten Upcoming Storylines for Future Beverly Hills 90210 Episodes.

 

10. In a bizarre plot twist, Steve gets handfuls of sand dumped down his crotch from ex-girlfriend Kelly.

 

9. Fox Network programming geniuses switch 90210 time slot to go up against perennial ABC powerhouse shows Amen and The Golden Girls.

 

8. Kids perform Doo Rite Family song at school talent show. Get booed off stage.

 

7. Camp preacher Bill Jones guest stars, convincing girls in PE lecture to dump their boyfriends.

 

6. Dillon, at his summer job at the Fun Time Balloon Factory, accidentally gets locked inside the helium chamber. Giving him a high, squeaky, Mickey Mouse voice for the rest of the season.

 

5. Corey Hooper (actually in 1991 number 5 was changed to adorable 7th graders Ben & Andy Pope).

 

4. In a case of art imitating life, entire 90210 cast quits after mid-season cast addition Lauren White dominates every episode.

 

3. Brandon lands in slammer after bribery fraud conviction, for giving three liter bottles of Mountain Dew to surf contest judge Ricky Glover.

 

2. In an episode highlighting environmental awareness, all the kids attend the Mark Cable Save the Whales concert.

 

1. Tragedy strikes during filming of season-ending cliffhanger when studio bus containing entire cast on West Coast promotional swing, plunges into a ravine, effectively ending the run of the show, breaking the hearts of 7th grade girls all around the country.

 

 

I also stumbled across these and other old treasures: a 1982 Joe Suggs for Camp President flyer, several versions of The Name Game, and the following note, scribbled on the back of a piece of paper: "Never gets old: whenever a camper comes in late, counselors ALWAYS give them a standing ovation." Cracked me up just reading it.

Also rediscovered perhaps my ultimate creative endeavor: rewriting the Sound of Music classic Do Re Mi into a “responsive singing” called “A B C.” With little experience as a songleader, the camp performance started slow. Then Christy Choice hopped onstage to help, turning it into an admirable rendition.