The Good Old Days

Today's Youth benefits from the events of the past

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The 60’s were a different time ... neighborhoods were established, everyone knew the kids playing in the yards, and their parents. Kids knew to return home when the street-lights came on, and young lovers walked hand-in-hand on sidewalks after dark. Most people didn’t even lock their doors at night.

The 60’s were also dynamic. The Civil Rights Movement, the assassination of a President, and school bussing provided the impetus for a divided society.

Schools adopted a “New Math” and a BSCS Reading System” “Middle Schools” began to appear changing the long held 6-4-4 educational system to a 4-4-4 system or at times a 4-4-2-2 system. In many communities grades were replaced with a pass-fail or satisfactory-unsatisfactory merit system. Scores were not kept in sporting events, and every participant received a trophy.

The military draft was eliminated; an all voluntary armed forces was founded. Jet planes were common with strange sky writing. America put a man on the moon. Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) was discovered, and Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) was popular and legal as a recreational drug.

Education evolved new world geography. Vietnam, Cambodia, the 38th parallel, and Korea became common points of discussion. Alaska and Hawaii joined the United States of America as the 49th and 50th States of the Union. Though several of these events occurred in the 1950’s school textbooks didn’t reference them until the 60’s.

In 1960 my life changed dramatically. I was a new husband and father. Within a year I had a second daughter. During the 60’s two more children, both boys, were born. During those years I earned a BA Degree in Biology and Chemistry, taught in a fifth grade self-contained classroom, taught in a sixth and seventh grade science classroom, and taught high school biology both at the first-year and advanced levels. I have often jested that I learned more teaching than during my entire 12 years of college classroom studies. History, a subject of limited interest had a new value; Environmental Biology took on a new interest and had an impact on my life.

By the mid 70’s my life was fairly well laid out. With a Ph.D. in Biology I began a career in Clinical Medicine. Twenty-two years later I focused on my major doctorate studies and began evaluating the mycological impacts on the environment following catastrophic events.

By the mid 1990’s the effects of fungal development on the environment became of such importance the evaluations warranted the establishment of a corporation dedicated to those studies; Rogina, Inc. became such an entity.

Originally the efforts of Rogina, Inc. were the responsibility of Regina and Robert Scarry (note the name Rogina was a condensation of Robert and Regina). Eventually the corporation employed four people and reached an annual income of $1M.

I retired in 2008, 49 years after marrying Regina Ann Vandeventer. We moved to Texas to be closer to our two daughters who by now blessed us with three granddaughters and a grandson.

Unfortunately, none of our ten grandchildren or the three great grandchildren will ever experience the joys of the 60’s, but their lives continue to be rewarded by the effects of those times.

By Robert L. Scarry

From: United States

Twitter: usnavy1990bob

Facebook URL: https://www. facebook.com/Robert.Scarry.3