Richard Munn’s Senior Ball?

Two Christmases ago my daughter, Kirsty, gave me a book she had created. My daughter has her own design business in Portland, Oregon and loves to do art projects about our family. She took all the family photos from my birth until my graduation from Acalanes High School and digitized them. She then worked to enhance those photos she wanted to use. She then arranged them in a book that told my early life story. It was a wonderful present.
As we were reviewing it together that Christmas morning she asked me why I did not have a picture of my Senior Ball. I did not know why. Later I looked through all the family photo albums we have and I could not find any photo record of my Senior Ball.
Thus I started to think who would have a picture of me and my date at the Senior Ball. I called my sister to see if she could remember such a picture in the family album. She only scoffed at me for even asking since she had given me all of my family pictures after the passing of our parents. I then thought well why not write to my date and see if she had a picture of us at the Senior Ball.
So I sat at my computer and typed up a very pleasant letter about all the wonderful things I remembered about my date to the Ball that year. I asked if maybe I was too broke to afford a picture that night. I also asked if maybe her family had taken a picture before I picked her up that night. I was seeking any photo record of that final formal high school dance event.
I then looked in the reunion directory for Jane Rogers Sturgeon’s address. I had not seen or talked with Jane for twenty five or thirty years at least. I assumed she was happily married playing with her grandchildren while living in Moraga, California over these many years.
So with not a single qualm in my heart I sent my letter to Jane.
I waited and I waited for a reply. I received no answer. What happened? Is Jane mad at me for some reason? Did I do something inappropriate that night at the Ball? As I recall I only saw Jane once after high school. Did I hurt her feels that summer we met a couple of years after high school? I was getting paranoid about why no response.
As you can tell I can over analyze these things. Well I was finally able to let it go. Jane was not going to respond and there would be no photo of me and my date at the Senior Ball.
Then something unexpected happened. John Sullivan and his wife had planned a river cruise on the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. They emailed about seeing if they could drop by and see us before the cruise. So John and his wife came and stayed a few days with us at Black Butte Ranch in Central Oregon where we have a second home. We of course talked about old times in Walnut Creek. Grade school, Boy Scouts, Acalanes were part of our conversation for the entire visit.
Upon returning to Minnesota John, unbeknownst to me, continued his search for old friends from these early days of his life. We would call each other once in awhile and on one of these calls John mentioned that he had finally found Jane Rogers Sturgeon. Well what a surprise.
John explained what had transpired in her life over the past twenty five or thirty years. As it turned out she had not lived in Moraga, California for many years. So I asked John if he would share her phone number and street address with me so I could contact her about the Senior Ball. After checking with Jane to be sure it was alright he emailed me the information.
I called Jane and we had a very pleasant conversation as we compared life stories. At one point I asked if she had ever received my letter. She said that she had not. Since I had written this wonderful letter about the Senior Ball I did not want to discuss it over the phone. I wanted her to receive the letter as I had originally planned and read it. So I told her I would resend the letter. No, I would not discuss the contents of the letter until she received it and read it.
So after sending the letter I waited about four days and I then got an email from Jane. It succinctly read “Richard we did not go to the Senior Ball together”.
Oh no, that cannot be true I thought. How could Jane have forgotten? I so clearly remember going to the gym late that afternoon to see if I could help with the decorations. I can remember asking one of my classmates if I could spike the punch that was being made. (My dad was a general contractor and he received gifts of liquor from subcontractors but my family never drank alcohol so we had lots of bottles of booze in a kitchen cabinet going to waste.) I then drove home and asked my dad if it was alright and he agreed. I grabbed a couple of bottles of some kind of liquor and headed back to school and spiked the punch. In addition I remember being invited to two parties after the Senior Ball. One party was at Ann Rowland’s home and the other was at Faye Davis’ home. After the dance I went to both parties.
Jane has to be wrong. I then picked up the phone and called Jane. Jane, I said, how can that be that we did not go to the Senior Ball together. I have all these specific memories of the event. She responded “but Richard I have a picture of me and my date Bob Eberhart at the Senior Ball”. Did Jane doctor a photo so she did not have to admit that we went to the Senior Ball together? Knowing a little of Jane’s computer skills that seemed very unlikely. Thus there was hard evidence that I did not take Jane Rogers Sturgeon to the Senior Ball. What an embarrassment. I am standing there with the phone in my hand not knowing what to say. I had to admit defeat and gracefully hung up the phone.
Since confronted with this evidence I have tried and tried to recollect that Senior Ball so I could remember who I took to the dance. I have looked at every girl in our yearbook. Nothing strikes a bell in my memory that says that was the one. In fact most of the time my memory is saying who is that person.
So here is the deal. I need your help. Please look though your photos and your memorabilia from Acalanes and see if you can remember who I took to the Senior Ball. I will be forever grateful and Jane will be relieved.


(Since I have discovered my memory lapse I have been doing an unscientific survey of our classmates. I have found that males overwhelmingly do not remember who they took to the Senior Ball unless they were going steady. Women seem to be just the opposite. Jane Rogers Sturgeon thinks that women remember their Senior Ball because of their beautiful dresses. My wife, Lylas Lynn Munn, thinks it is because women are just smarter.)