September 1-2, 1990: Marching Band & Labor Day Weekend

George, Marianne, Kim, Wendy and Joy came to Muskegon for Labor Day weekend. They came to see me in the marching band at our football game. They were surprised how big our band and school was.    We lost to Catholic Central 18-0.    

On Sunday,  we all went to St. Francis de Sales church.   Then, we went to Lake Michigan to go swimming.   George went rollerblading along the channel.    Then, we took Grandpa and Grandma Gonyo to Lakeside Inn for their 50th Wedding Anniversary.  Grandpa and Grandma were married on August 9, 1940 on Grandma's 21st birthday.    Marianne gave me this beautiful sweet 16 bracelet for my birthday.    

July 22, 1990: Brusseles, Belgium

We spent some time in Brusseles, Belgium, before we had to be at the airport.    It was a chore checking in all of our baggage and instruments.   Security had to check everything, as they had a bomb threat at the airport.  

Jeff Grant liked Porsches, so he was found in one of the stores that carried them.   

I sat next to Dave Fox on the flight home.   I was so happy as I had a crush on him. He let me listen to his Aerosmith and Rush tapes on his sweet Sony cassette player.   He got the cassette player for $200.   He kept hiding his soda and peanuts, so he could get more from the stewardess. It was so funny.

One of my other memories I forgot to mention was of Nick Adams at dinner one night. He licked his fingers and went around the wine glasses to make the sound.  His mom yelled at him for that.  She also told him he had to finish eating his vegetables.    It was so funny.

We flew into Chicago and took a bus back to Muskegon.   When we got to Muskegon, we were welcomed with cheers and signs.   

I am very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to take this European tour with the band.  The band at Mona Shores only went to Europe once every 3 years.      We did some fundraisers before the trip, which helped offset the cost.

July 21, 1990: Netherlands

Today, we said goodbye to our Dutch parents.  Nick Adams exchanged addresses with the Dutch girl he danced with at the party.   Our host family had 4 grown children.   We went to Antwarp.   It happened to be their national holiday, so none of the stores were open.    We stayed at Novetel for the night.   I had a nice conversation with Stuart Grevel and Mandy Johnson down by the pool.   I played ping pong with Jamie.  He knew Dan Morse from Spring Lake which was a surprise.  

Jodi, Kris, Mandy, Michelle, Sarah, Jeannie, and Mr. and Mrs. Brink got stuck on the elevator that night.  

July 20, 1990: Netherlands

I finally was able to mail my postcards today.    At 10 a.m., we went to the Buitenpost Botanical Garden.   Then, we went to Leeuwarden and I found my mom a sweater. I got myself a jean jacket, an alarm clock for Grandpa Thomas, and a bath package for Grandma Gonyo from the Body Shop. 

We performed another concert tonight and surprised our bus driver, Yohon, with the song "Locomotion".    We were all laughing so hard.

July 19, 1990: Amsterdam

Our host mother had cheese and bread for us for breakfast.   It was very good.       

We left at 9:30 a.m. for our adventure in Amsterdam.   We took a boat ride under the canals through the Red Light District, which I remembered our friend, Karen Simons, talking about.  The Red Light District is an area where a man can pick up a prostitute.   The ladies dress in their lingerie and sit in the windows waiting for a customer.

We went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Amsterdam to get t-shirts.   Stopped at this small village to see this famous dike.  

Went back for the night at our host family's home.   Our host mom made us these huge meatballs, which were delicious. I will never forget how wonderful they were.   They also 

bought us Pepsi, as we Americans like our soda.  

There was a get together back in town with the rest of the band and their host families.   I had a nice conversation with Stacy Holmes.   Dave and Jamie were playing a game with coasters.   Nick Adams had the courage to dance with this Dutch girl.   We all thought it was so cute.

July 18, 1990: Amsterdam Bound

Left Cologne, Germany in the morning to go towards Amsterdam.    Mr. and Mrs. Fox left our group at this point, in order to spend more time in Amsterdam and get home earlier.   We got to Amsterdam and were assigned to a host family.   Susan Johnston and I stayed with an older couple a little outside town.    They had a beautiful home with a gorgeous garden in the backyard.    Our host father used to be a doctor.    We told the family about Michigan and showed them on the map where it was located.  
They were very nice to us.    We stayed in a room that was fixed up in their attic.   It was very nice.

July 17, 1990: Rothenburg to Cologne

We had some leisure time in Rothenburg.  I bought a crystal and went through this gorgeous Christmas store.   We did another concert at 11 a.m.    Then, we took our bus to St. Goar for a Rhine cruise to Koblenz.  Stayed at a Japanese styled hotel in Cologne, Germany.   

July 16, 1990: Rothenburg, West Germany

Today was Mrs. Wibalda's birthday.  We left for Rothenburg, West Germany.  We stopped in this town called Neuschwanstein.   I wasn't feeling very well today, so stayed on the bus.   Mrs. Fox stayed with me to make sure I was ok.  Jeff Grant asked if I had thrown up which made me laugh.

We had a tour of Rothenburg, then a Medieval dinner.   We all had to drink mineral water out of this big horn in order to see who could drink the most.   Chris Logan finished it.    Our meat had a whole jawbone still in it. Plus, we could see some hairs in the meat.  That freaked us all out.  Needless to say, we didn't eat the meat.      Dave Fox played with the jawbone.

July 15, 1990: Innsbruck, Austria

Today was a day of leisure which was nice.   We did some more shopping in Innsbruck.  I bought a leather wallet and a t-shirt of Innsbruck.    I walked with Susan and Mr. Christopher around the town.   I was holding Mr. Christopher's packages and I accidentally dropped one of them.   It was one of his steins he bought.  I felt so bad, as I knew he was collecting these different steins.   

Mr. Christopher was one of the many chaperones that went on this European trip with us.  He was one of our teachers at the high school.

Tonight, we performed a concert at Steinach's Community hall.

July 14, 1990: Brieg to Steinach, Austria

We left Brieg, Switzerland for our 9 hour trip to Steinach, Austria.   In Vaduz, Liechtenshein, I walked around with Mr. Christopher.  We went through at least 20 tunnels on our way to Austria. 

Went to a Tyrolean evening in Innsbruck, Austria.   The dancers did yodeling and German dancing.   

July 13, 1990: Alps Excursion

We left at 9 a.m. for an excursion of the Alps.   Mr. Fox is afraid of heights, so it was hard for him to go on the cable car we took to the top of the Alps.  He suggested that I wrap the camera cord around my wrist so I didn't lose it.   There was a nice lookout at the top.   I walked with Dina and Mr. Christopher through the Alps.  The mountains were spectacular.  They were lightly snow covered which made it so pretty.    I took several photos.   Nick Adams's glasses unscrewed and the lenses fell out.   Luckily, he could see without his glasses.   We saw some goats at the top of the mountains which was neat.  Of course, I was scared to get too close to them.  

In the afternoon, we went to this grocery store across the street.  

We did another concert at 8 p.m.   The crowds enjoyed it and wanted us to perform some more songs so we did.  

July 12, 1990: Castle de Chillon in Switzerland

Today was Matthew Tomasiewicz's birthday.     We went to the tour the Castle de Chillon in Montreux.   It had these sweet passageways you could walk through.   I had pizza and sprite with Susan and Mr. Christopher.   At 12:30, we left for Brig, Switzerland.  It took about 3 hours to get there.   The scenery on the way there was gorgeous. I had never seen anything like it in my life.

When we got to Brig, Mr. Fox hurt his foot when the wheel of our trailer went over his foot.   We went to the thermal baths.  One of the pools had a current that pushed you around so fast.  That scared me.  Mr. Holmen lost one of his lenses in the thermal bath, but luckily found it later on.  

I had a crush on Dave Fox the whole time I was on this trip.  

July 11, 1990: Montreux, Switzerland

I went shopping in Montreux with Dina, Susan, Dina's mother, Mr. Christopher, and Mrs. Fox.   Then, we went to the casino terrace to see our jazz band play in the Montreux Jazz Festival.  There was a pool down below with women swimming in the nude.    The boys on our trip were busy watching them, instead of the concert.   Jason and I had to go to the casino to pick up our t-shirts because they didn't have the black t-shirts that we wanted from the festival. 

In the afternoon, I went to Gruyeres to look around.  I bought Grandpa and Grandma Gonyo a souvenir.    The boys on our trip played soccer across the street from our hotel.  

The view of Montreux at night was gorgeous.   I had a nice conversation with Katie Gingras.   We also played the card game, "Bullshit".

July 10, 1990: Montreux, Switzerland

We left Rastatt, West Germany and headed to Montreux, Switzerland.    Our bus driver, Yohon, stopped us for a break at a rest stop and many of the band members played soccer.   It was quite funny.  I went shopping and got a Benetton sweater for $47.   We stayed at the Hotel Europe.   I walked by the water with Dina Wibalda and her mom, while some of the band members went to see the jazz concert at the casino.  

I missed my mom as she liked seeing places.   This was the first big trip without her.

July 9, 1990: Germany

We left our hotel for a tour of Trier.   I saw some of the sites that the Romans had built.   We went into this Catholic church that was constructed by the Romans.   The bridge by our hotel was built in 144 AD. It was still standing as it was back then.    Then, we left to Heidelberg, which was an old village.   We did alot of shopping there.  Dave Fox was trying to find the Hard Rock Cafe so he could get a t-shirt.  

We got to Rastatt, Germany and did some more shopping.  We had the greatest modern hotel room that had a hair dryer.  We did another concert here, which I think was enjoyed by the Germans.  Mrs. Adams and I talked a while. She said she is 5'11 and the shortest person in her family.   She said she met Mr. Adams in band.  She played the flute.

July 8, 1990: England to Trier, West Germany

We had breakfast on the boat.  It was pretty funny as our dishes were rattling as we were docking the boat.   At 7 a.m, we got to the Netherlands.  We drove in the rain towards Belgium, then to our destination in Trier, West Germany.   On our way to Trier, we stopped for lunch at this religious community that had a famous Virgin Mary statue.  We got to Trier and stayed at a hotel, which was not too nice.   Mrs. Adams's room was across the hall from us.  We talked to her for a while which was nice.   We were scheduled to do a concert at Brunnenhoff Trier, but thought it may be cancelled because Argentina and West Germany were playing in the World Cup. This concert was our first one on our tour.   It was nestled in a beautiful place with a waterfall.  The public would definitely be at the World Cup.  We did do the concert, but only a few people attended.   West Germany won the game.  While we were packing up our stuff, we heard cars driving by and honking all night.

July 7, 1990: London

We had 5 hours to spend in London today.   I traveled with Dina Wibalda, her parents, Susan Johnston, and the Holmens.   We went down to Oxford Street and went through the shops.    We found out how to get to Buckingham Palace, so we headed down there to see the changing of the guard ceremony.   We had lunch upstairs at the train depot.  I had delicious quiche.   We went shopping in Benettons. Dina found a sweatshirt there.   At 3 p.m., we took a bus to a tea room for hyde tea, which was about an hour away.  I sat next to Dina, Joel, and Stuart Grevel.

Our next stop was Sheerness, England, where we boarded this gigantic cruise ship for the night.  The boat took us across the water to the Netherlands.   I roomed with Jodi, Mandy, and Susan.   On the boat, I bought a Benetton watch for $42.  The deck was gorgeous.   It had a grocery store and many other shops to explore.   I got some motion sickness on the boat. The room was small for us, so it was hard for me to sleep. 

July 6, 1990: England

It's now 5 hours ahead in London.   We drove from Manchester, England to Stratford-Avon, then to Oxford.   We finally got to London around 5 p.m. and checked into the Novetel hotel.   It took forever to get checked into the rooms.   I sat next to Jodi Siegel and Mandy Johnson at dinner.  At 7 p.m., we took a sightseeing tour of London.  We went by all of the famous places such as Buckingham Palace, Harrods Department store, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben.   It was strange to see people driving on the opposite sides of the road.   There were signs all over telling drivers "Slow Down Now".

July 5, 1990: Band trip to Europe - England

I left for a 3 hour bus trip to O-hare.  I sat next to Dave Fox on the flight to England.  I met an English lady who told me all about.  I had a hard time sleeping with the noise and all of the food we got on the plane.   It was a 6 hour flight to Manchester, England.

June 8, 1990: Toilet Papered

Woke up this morning to our trees in the front yard all toilet papered.  It was funny, but such a mess to clean up.    My mom thinks she knew who did it.     Jessica, Allison, and Karen Ruthkowski came over to hang out.     Their grandparents, Tony and Anne Ruthkowski, lived across the street from us on Lawnel.   I hung out with them every time they came for a visit. It was so much fun.

May 26-27,1990: First Drive to Baldwin

Drove all the way to Baldwin with my mom. This was my first actual driving trip.      Kim Gonyo couldn't come for the weekend, as she was on her senior trip.     We went shopping in downtown Baldwin. Joy and I got water guns.    We had ice cream at Jones Ice Cream.    Took a canoe ride with George, Wendy, and Joy and had a water gun fight.    We went next door to the cabin to Pauline's cottage.       She always had good food over there.   

On Sunday, we went to church with Marianne, Wendy and Joy at the Catholic Church in Baldwin.   Helped Grandma and Grandpa clean the cabin before leaving for the anniversary party.  Then, we went to Elvina and Chuck's 25th wedding Anniversary in Twin Lake.   We stopped at Ken's place, too.  

May 15, 1990: Drivers Training

I took drivers education through Mosley's Driving School.     Mr. Mosley was a coach at Mona Shores and owned this business.    Today, Mr. Mosley's son, Brett, had me drive.    Eric Anderson and Sarah Erickson saw me driving.  She wanted to honk at me, but decided she better not.      The first time I got behind the wheel, my mom took me to practice down where Docker's was near Pere Marquette.  When a cop saw us practicing, we decided to go somewhere else.  So, I practiced driving in the parking lot at Mona Shores Junior High School.  I would drive around the circle drive over and over again.

May 13, 1990: Mother's Day

Today, our neighbor, Anne Kulikowski, came over to see our new paint job.   She was telling us about her husband, Tony.    Matthew helped me wash the car.    Grandpa and Grandma Gonyo, Grandpa and Grandma Thomas, Steve, Charlene, and Kelsey came over for Mother's Day dinner.  My mom always had them all over for Mother's Day.      Eric Anderson came over to meet Charlene.  We all watched "America's Funniest Home Videos".    Charlene brought over some delicious strawberry dessert.  

April 17, 1990: Eye Contacts

I got my first pair of eye contacts today.   They felt very weird.   I tried them on again and dropped one of them.  I thought I had lost it and started to cry.   It took me 2 tries to get it in.  They were gas permeable, as I had astigmatism, so I couldn't get the cheaper contacts.

March 13, 1990: Braces Off

I finally got my braces off my teeth today.   My teeth looked gorgeous.   One of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Vanderlaan, told the students in Science class that I got my braces off so they all wanted to see my teeth.   Now, I will have to wear a retainer at night so my teeth stay straight.

March 3, 1990: Valerie's Wedding

Mom and I went to her co-worker, Valerie's wedding today at 945 Houston.   I met some of her other co-workers, too.    Valerie's mom reminded me of Pauline, as she was so funny and sweet. 

March 1, 1990: Registering for Classes

Today, we got our sheet for scheduling our classes for next year.    I decided I would take Algebra, Advanced Grammar and Composition, Biology, Spanish I, and marching band, and band.   Unless something happened and I couldn't go to Europe later this year, I would quit the band after 10th grade.   I decided that I would take Accounting and Marketing in 11th grade.   Then, I would take typing in 11th or 12th grade.   

January 23, 1990: Bass Clarinet

I was in the marching band during the first few years of high school. I played the clarinet in marching band and the bass clarinet during the rest of the year.    I had my bass clarinet lesson at Bird's Music on Henry Street.   My instructor was Mr. Vandyke.    He has known my band instructor, Jack Adams, for 15 years. He worked with Mr. Adams in Newaygo.    Mr. Vandyke has taught music for 37 years and was in the West Shore Symphony.    

Went to Eric Anderson's house and watched "Ghostbusters" with him and Matthew.    

January 21, 1990: Grandma and Charlene's Birthdays

Went to a wonderful church service at Christ Community Church in Spring Lake.    Then, we watched the "Golden Globe" awards.   The song, "Under the Sea" won best song.    Mom and I went to Grandma Thomas's house at 1370 W Giles Rd in North Muskegon.     We celebrated Grandma and Charlene's birthdays.  Grandma made her famous chocolate cake with whipped frosting and coconut.  Kelsey got braces.  There was a fire in someone's garage across the street from Grandpa and Grandma's so we went out to see what was going on.  

January 17, 1990: Lynn Goerl's House

Took my last two final exams in Health and Math. In Science, I found out that I got a 'B' on the test and an 'A' for the semester.   Went over to Lynn Goerl's house at 1555 Cornell Rd.    We had pizza and watched 'General Hospital'.   Had dinner at Mike's Kro which is on Laketon Avenue.    They had some delicious pot roast.

January 1, 1990: New Years

I was able to watch Three's Company today.     Three's Company, All in the Family, Brady Bunch, and Little House on the Prairie were my favorite shows growing up.  
I helped my mom shovel Josie, Tony Ruthkowski, and Connie Daugherty's driveways.  
Watched the Rose Bowl parade which was hosted by Joan Lunden.   The Michigan Wolverines played against USC.  Michigan lost the game.     Went over Patty's house and played Nintendo with Matthew Tomasiewicz.    Also, looked at his book about bats which was quite interesting.  Spoke on the phone with Lynn Goerl.  I had to finish my cards for debate class.