Bill Bailey's Cranbrook Memories
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My 2013 Cranbrook Comments
When asked to talk about the significance of Cranbrook, I first talked about the Wombat/Wonnberger incident when blocks were put under his car keeping the rear tires from making contact with the ground. I would like to apologize for not finishing my comments on this subject. Anyone who was there to see the incident knows that the story I told did not actually happen. The story I told is essentially factual, but it is the story of what I was thinking in addition to what was actually happening back then.
I told how I was surprised by how fast the Wombat revved his engine. It seemed really fast – scary. He did it again and again – in forward and in reverse. The car wobbled on the blocks when he did it. I said Matt Friedmann pushed the car off the blocks and it lurched forward out of control. Luckily no one was hurt. I added that it was a good thing that the car was in a forward gear. If it had been in reverse, Matt would have been wiped out. As I was figuring out how to mention the fire and the explosion, I was interrupted. I should have anticipated that someone would verbally object to my version of the story. I did not. I was taken completely by surprise. When I regained the floor, still somewhat shocked, I did not handle things the way I should have. I just ended my discussion of the prank.
I want to take this opportunity to complete my story properly. I never made it absolutely clear that the scary parts of the story came from my imagination as I watched. Focused on the engine revving and the car wobbling I imagined the worst. I think I did this because Peter Schoen and I witnessed an explosive fire resulting from a car related prank when we were in grade school. Peter and I saw flames thirty feet long shooting out the back of a building. Maybe this was on my mind because I was watching with Pete from his room. In my mind, I connected our grade school experience to the chemistry lab just ahead of Wonnberger's car. I was going to mention the big rocks on the right and how the car careened off the rocks into the building causing the explosion. After telling about the explosion (which would guarantee that no one believed this rendition to be true), I planned to describe what actually happened. As I remember it, a little time passed with Wonnberger getting out of the car and yelling at kids he couldn't find. Then the car was pushed off the blocks safely and uneventfully. (I talked with Matt again today. Matt is a dentist here in East Tawas Michigan where our Summer home is. Matt said he did push the car off the blocks while Wonnberger was standing safely away from the car. He told me Wonnberger never thanked him or said anything. Wonnberger just got in and drove away. In fact, demonstrating his renown lack of perspicacity, The Bat wound up blaming Matt for the prank. Back to the story.) I wanted to conclude by saying that after all I imagined the actual ending was a bit disappointing.
Nonetheless, the event did trigger the creation of an indelible memory – a small but significant part of my experience at Cranbrook.
This reunion is now another indelible memory. A very good one. I hope everyone who attended had a good time. I hope that those who could not attend for health reasons have the best possible outcomes. And thank you all for making this reunion such a good one.
What really distinguished Cranbrook for me was the difference from Culver where I spent my first two years of high school. At Culver, being a military academy, the tradition of treating plebes as lesser beings was alive and well. Being a plebe (all of freshman year), there was a lot of hazing that came from upperclassmen in what seemed an in-prompt-to way; but the practice was built into the school's culture. You were asked, or coerced if necessary, to do silly unpleasant things just because an upperclassman happened to see you and wanted to have some fun. Harassment was condoned and accepted. I remember that I was surprised, when returning as a sophomore, to see my fellow classmates dish out the same kind of abuse that so irritated them just months before. This evidently was something that happened every year. The school wanted the former plebes to believe that the harsh treatment they received was designed to help them develop courage and fortitude. So they should help the next round of plebes in the same way. I radically disagreed with the way Culver operated. I decided that I would not continue at Culver as a Junior. I started applying for admission to other schools even though starting at a new school was not necessarily going to be a good thing. The tough years at Culver were done. I could have cruised through the last two years, but I really didn't like the philosphy there. I think it was due to luck with my timing that I got into Cranbrook. My father had already paid for Culver when I told him about being accepted to Cranbrook. I told him to get his money back. I wasn't going to Culver any more. I was planning to go to Cranbrook. I don't know if he got his money back from Culver. Never asked.
At Cranbrook I found no signs of student hazing as part of the culture. I found that there was a sense of equality for all. I found that the school fostered respect among the students for one another. I found that Cranbrook aimed at helping individuals do well. I thought Cranbrook provided an environment for students to acquire humanitarian values via enculturation. I am basing a life time of decisions on the value of such a culture. I continue to appreciate the difference between my first two years of high school and my last two years of high school. I suspect for me, even more than for others, Cranbrook was what I was seeking.
Bill Bailey - Class of '63
