More Rat Pack Memories & Video

Some of my fondest memories are with my circle of friends "back in the day". We called ourselves the "Rat Pack"...Some folks may wonder where the name came from so I'll tell you now. When I, my bro. Kip, Mark Richter (AKA Monkey), Mark Liszewski (AKA Goose) and Jay Reed (AKA Stinky) were 12, 13, 14 years old or so, we were getting into mischief like boys do. Jay and I both had minibikes and we would tear up the dirt roads of Sandy Pond with them. We screamed around the water in our boats and did a lot of water skiing, racing, fishin' etc. as boys do. We stole cigarrettes and beer from our parents and stuff like that too...

Well, we all enjoyed a weekly show on TV in the 60's that was called "Rat Patrol" about a squad of WWII American soldiers in jeeps with machine guns that screamed around the North African desert bravely fighting the German Army. For some sporadic reason we started calling ourselves the "Rat Pack", inspired by this TV show. That's it...

Fast forward so I can set up this Rat Pack movie clip. These segments are early ones I shot in 1971 - 72. The first one is when a few of us visited Salmon River Falls during the winter 0f '71-72 for no particular reason. If you have never been there in the winter let me tell you it's majestic with all the huge icicles. Also a great place to goof around. The next segment a short one of a fishing excursion to Mad River Falls, summer of '72. At the end Mac and I are filming the sunset at Sandy Island Beach.

Appearing in these video segments are Goose, Dugan, Airplane, Squirrel, Franzy, Pads, and Mac...

Rat Pack Party at THE FARM

A few miles south of Lacona on the road to Richland there existed Sharon's place, "The Farm", complete with a big barn and livestock. The place was pretty much old and rundown. From time to time there'd be a party for no better reason than to have some more fun.



One Halloween they had a big beer bust - 3 kegs of Genny and all the munchies you could eat. We cranked up the 8-track tape player and blasted out all the best music of the day: Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Led Zeppelin, Kansas, Eagles, Cat Stevens, Lynard Skynard, Grateful Dead, and many others. Some wore costumes, some didn’t have to. I don’t remember much of that party, but I know it was FUN! I think there was fireworks later, or maybe it was just shotgun competition again.



In the early fall of ‘74 Mark (aka GOOSE) Liszewski’s older sister, Marianne, organized a wonderful old-fashioned box-lunch party. Live music was provided by the band “FRESH”, a local rock band (from the Fulton area I think) who Joe Hammond sporadically hired to play at The Lodge at Sandy Pond in those days. Marianne’s husband Joe Hart even sat in and played the drums. He’s a talented drummer, and played in several local bands. FRESH, especially the crazy-cool lead singer Jimmy, had some solid talent, and played a great collection of tunes… everybody liked them.






In the course of the day we threw frisbee, wrestled hogs, and ate and drank heartily. I remember there were a lot of girls there, probably drawn to the live music. I composed a long song on the spot about everybody there and the band backed me up when I sang it. In those days I played a Hummingbird 6-string guitar with a Humbucking electronic pickup clamped in the sound-hole. That guitar had the a deep clear sound I'll never forget.





I brought my trusty Kodak M30 Super 8mm movie camera with me that day a shot about 3 minutes of footage.



People appearing in this footage include Dave Akkoul (Nozzle), Pete and Mrs. Basio, Sherry Greer (Sherry Gum-reer) , Bruce Archibee (Baron), Brenda Maas, Starr Hilliker, Mary Lou La Point, Debbie Riter (Critter), Sue McKown, Sue Blount, Chrissy Lapham, Don McDougal (Dugan), Wayne Kenyon (Wicked Wayne), Barry Rowe (Wildberry), Dick Samuels (Apache), Gary Chrisman (Tongue-man), Mike Clark, GRAT, Joe Hammond, Mary Ann Bagalonis, Terry Bentley, Gary Sheldon (GARR), and Jimmie Beach. There are several others of which the years have stolen my memory.



This footage was shot only a few hours before Jim Beach and his girlfriend Frankie Arquette crashed his motorcycle into the back of Clarence Stafford’s tractor just down the road. It was dusk and Jim and Frankie were traveling at a good clip but did not see Clarence heading home on his tractor, chugging along. Tractors didn’t require running lights, only a reflective orange triangle on the rear. Jim was in the hospital for many weeks recovering from very serious injuries, while Jackie was hurt but not as seriously. They eventually got married and moved to Connecticut. Jim and his siblings still keep their parents Ken and Anne Beach's beautiful cottage on the waterfront at The Pond, it's near the old Kappesser homestead.






Chrissy Lapham was only 17 years old in this film. Chrissy was taken from us in a freak water skiing accident on Sandy Pond a few years ago. Chrissy was bright, funny, and a trustworthy friend - - we miss her…
Hope you enjoy this video of "Rat Pack Party at THE FARM".

[Note: divided into Parts 1 & 2]

+++{RACING CARS}+++ …[AT THE BOAT BEACH]…

The people of the Nature Conservancy, that stalwart gatekeeper of the sand, might develop a little heartburn over this post.
In the fall of 1974, the Rat Pack (my youthful and mischievous circle of friends in those days) raced cars in organized competition at the Boat Beach.
The sand over there is usually frozen solid by December, resembling concrete, which affords great opportunities in racing.


This was not Daytona Beach, however most of us got to participate, not be a mere spectator. Now THIS was FUN!
Of course, a lot of guys love driving fast, proving our skill, satisfying our need for speed, and showing off for girls. I had just bought new Dodge Challenger with the 340 cubic inch motor, 4-Barrel Carter Thermoquad carburetor, dual exhaust, and the 3 speed Torqueflite 727 automatic tranny from Mike and Tom Savage’s Uncle “Huck” Hurley at his dealership on the East Side of Syracuse for $2500. I’m gonna have some fun with THAT,
Sweet.


On race day, a late-fall Saturday, it was about 25 degrees out, another gray day. Of course there was a fresh keg of Budweiser beer there (no problem keeping it cold!) and a couple of Hibachis to cook up some burgers and dogs. We organized both drag and slalom races in different classes. Unfortunately for me, nobody there ran a car in the same class as the Challenger, but I did do the slalom just for fun…


Most of the vehicles were medium-size 60’s vintage sedans with 6-bangers and 3 speed on-the-column transmissions. Squirrel (Harlon Bristol from Osceola) seemed to have the strongest one. One of the Rats had a new El Camino with a 454 cu.in. engine - way more horsepower than the Challenger’s 340. I didn’t even bother to run against him …waste of fuel- after all the price of gasoline had sky-rocketed to 69 cents per gallon that year!


I brought my Kodak M30 8mm movie camera with me that day, as usual. Last summer I converted all the old Rat Pack films to Blu ray-disc. Film does not last forever but discs last much longer. Hope you like the video...
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Rat Pack Movie Uncut 30th Anniversary Edition

Stinky on top, Apache, Skeeter...

That's me...

Beach fun...





Keg in van, back in the day....

Got my latest movie finished this morning. Project took 2 years. The soundtrack alone took 4 weeks.

The movie chronicles my circle of friends when I was a youth and our activities from 1971 through 1979. Hilarious.

It's called "Rat Pack Movie Uncut 30th Anniversary Edition" and runs about 90 minutes. Rated PG-13. It on it's way to Digital Transfer Systems Co. in IL for finalizing and conversion to Blu-Ray disk...

Stay tuned - looking for a place at near Sandy Pond to hold a gathering to show it in August...