Visitors to this page since Nov. 29, 2008

He truly was a good hunter.

The two photos below are a little arty, but we were clowning around that day and having a good time.

That gun under Anthony's arm was not for show. We plunked some very large icicles at McConnells Mills that day.

Faded photographs

revive memories

We were pretty close in high school, especially in our senior year -- Dennis Must from Croton, the late Anthony Ryan from the East Side and Bob Melder from the South Side (who is telling this story).

We all hung out together and at times just two of us.

One of those times was a trip to McConnells Mills and the photos we took there prompted this web page and story about a short part of our lives. It began when Anthony's wife, the former Beverly Carr (Class of 55), sent a note and the photos. On Nov. 18, 2008, she wrote:

"Dear Bob:

Here are three pictures of you at McConnells Mills with Anthony. Denny Must was there, sending his to him. My daughter Anne just celebrated her 50th birthday and I was going through some old pictures and came across these. Enjoy. Beverly Ryan Shober."

The trip to McConnells Mills was more than just picture-taking.

While walking around that cold day (I think it was over the Christmas holidays) we were clowning around, getting arty and posing for some of our photos and, in general, just having a good time when we decided to hang from a bridge over the Slippery Rock Creek, which is very treacherous and in which several lives have been lost from drowning. Of course we didn't consider the danger at the time. We still haven't located pictures of those stunts.

Then Anthony, the avid hunter, got out his rifle (from the trunk of his dad's maroon Plymouth which he and I used to wash in a low part of  Big Run Creek and then wax under a shady tree) and we took turns shooting off the large icicles that hung from the wall of rock along the creek. Anthony hit just about everything he aimed at. Dennis and I weren't that good. Nevertheless, we had a great time. I don't think we were supposed to be doing that, but, there was no one around and no one was in harm's way.

I have to tell you this about Anthony. He truly was a good hunter and very knowledgeable about guns. He usually  got his limit every hunting season no matter what he was after, rabbit, pheasant, deer, turkey etc.

One time, there was a store, I don't remember which one (Dennis thinks it might have been Westell's), which had many bullets in its showroom window and the owner offered a prize if anyone could name them. He almost fell over when Anthony did. Another time he took over a class from an Army instructor who was giving the nomenclature of the M-1 rifle.

***

Another time, Dennis and I decided to write a song together. Dennis had a saxophone -- which he couldn't play very well -- so he was assigned to writing the music and Bob the lyrics.

After a night of tooting and crossing out words we gave it up. The paper went in the trash can and the sax went back to the store. So much for trying to be another Rodgers and Hammerstein. As it turned out, we both ended up in the writing field, he doing fiction (short stories, novels etc.) and me in journalism.

***

After Anthony and I got out of the service he came to my house on the East Side and asked me to be the Best Man in his wedding, which I did.

My future wife and I visited Anthony and Beverly shortly after their wedding and I ran into him only a few times after that, mainly because we lived out of town for a long period of time, in Delaware and North Carolina. A few months before our 45th Reunion in 1997, just after I moved back from North Carolina, Anthony died.

As for Dennis, he and I never met up again until our 50th Reunion, the first reunion either one of us attended. We remain friends, but correspond now by email, from Salem, Mass. to New Castle and back again.