Game Show Contestant

Houston Light and Power Prep Bowl, CE King Contestants, 1969-70 school year

Houston Light and Power Prep Bowl, CE King Contestants, 1969-70 school year

 It didn’t last long – just one show, where we we eliminated from the competition – but, hey, how many people can actually say they were on a television game show? Even though it was only a local TV station , KPRC-TV did – and does – serve one of the largest conventional television markets in the country. It was so long ago, though, – 46 years – that there is almost nothing on the internet related to the HL&P Prep Bowl.

While I don’t remember much of the specifics about the competition, I do remember a little.  I did provide some of the answers to questions and it was hot under the studio lights, which were so bright that I could hardly see the audience in the bleacher-like seating.

The competition was held during the 1969/70 school year when Peggy Bulanek, team captain, Paula Krumpelbeck and I were seniors, as I recall, and Pat Kotal and Jerrie Stahl were juniors. It was Peggy’s second time in the competition and the first for the rest of us. Our faculty sponsor, if that’s the right word for it, was history and social studies teacher, Earl Richardson.

I can’t say that we were really a team as I understand the concept today.  I don’t remember any sort of practicing or preparing for the competition.

I honestly do not know how I was selected to be on the team.  Academically, I certainly wasn’t a standout and actually got a “D” – barely passing, and my lowest grade while in high school – from Mr. Richardson one semester.  Up to that point, I had coasted my way through high school, and, during my senior year, I got out early each day so I could go to work under some sort of student-to-work program that they had at the time.  At graduation, I was barely in the top half of my class – as I recall, about 55 out of around 105.

I joined the Navy a couple of years later and never went back to the Houston area, other than three short visits in 1972 – 73 and a couple of days in 1986.  I heard that Mr. Richardson passed away sometime in the last few years, but know nothing of any of the others since I graduated from CE King High School.

(Update: I’ve since learned that, on the date this was first published, February 13, 2016, all of us except Mr. Richardson were still living. Pat Kotal and I exchanged information in a Facebook group. I later read on the Facebook group that Jerrie Stahl was ill with pancreatic cancer and passed away the next day, February 14.)

blast from the past, life, people

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Hilary Feb 14, 2016 Link

    Hi Mike – if you were selected I guess you didn’t put yourself up for the contest … well an interesting interlude! I too was ‘hopeless’ at school something happened in recent years, and you had the navy to guide you through to use your brain – which you’ve done …

    Oddly enough I’m going back to my school at the beginning of March – and we’re having lunch in the dining room, and then going over the road to our house, which is now the Junior School.

    That makes sense – as kids we had to cross the road to get back … and one pea-souper (lots of smelly fog) .. I managed to knock some old boy off his bike – and break his bottles he was returning to get some money back … those were the days – I was mortified, but I was only ten …

    Remembrances – the student-to-work programme stood you in good stead .. cheers Hilary
    Hilary recently posted…West Country Tour … Whistling Ghost, ‘Obby ‘Horse, South West Coastal Path at Minehead … part 19 …My Profile

    • Mike Feb 14, 2016 Link

      I can remember returning bottles to get the deposits – mostly bottles I would find along roads where people would toss them out of the window when done with them.
      Mike recently posted…MercuryMy Profile

  • Rummuser Feb 21, 2016 Link

    It is always nice to come across old photographs that kindle all kinds of memories and send us on quests for old colleagues and friends.
    Rummuser recently posted…Keep Them Doggies Movin’.My Profile

    • Mike Feb 27, 2016 Link

      I agree. It’s sad, though, to learn that so many are gone from so many different causes. The area where my high school is in was a largely undeveloped suburb of Houston, Texas. Since then, the area has been extensively developed and the school has been significantly enlarged, with the graduating class several times the size of mine, with a completely different racial mix.
      Mike recently posted…MercuryMy Profile

  • Cheerful Monk Feb 23, 2016 Link

    I love this post! Neat stuff.
    Cheerful Monk recently posted…Fallen TreesMy Profile

    • Mike Feb 27, 2016 Link

      Thanks. It was interesting trying to remember from so long ago.
      Mike recently posted…MercuryMy Profile

%d bloggers like this:

This site uses cookies for various nonintrusive purposes. See our <a href="https://exit78.com/privacy-policy/">Privacy Policy</a> for how they are used. By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

This notice is a European Union requirement for sites with advertising or sales. The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close