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MARK'S CHILDHOOD

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Circa 1925 - D. Paul and Cecile Frazier, my maternal Grammy and granddad
1944 - Grammy and mom
1945 - Mom (age 14) with some girlfriends
1949 - Mom and dad (seated on right) at the Kirksville State Teachers College Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority dance

1950 - Mom and dad on their wedding day
1950 - Uncle Burton co-managed the Jones family furniture store. Behind the truck is the Jones Funeral home. The Jones were a hard-working Welsh Presbyterian family!
1956 - Cecile "Grammy" Frazier, my maternal grandmother. She taught Kintergarden for 30 years in Williamsburg, Iowa.
1959 - Mark's first year

1958 - the hospital bill from Mark's birth - imagine that . . . a $103 birth!
1959 - more photos of baby Mark
1959 - here's a great photo of me with my brother Dan and sister Ruth, with our Grammy and Grandad Frazier. Isn't my sister Ruth so cute?
1959 - with dad and Ruth

1960 - with our maternal great-grandmother, Grandma Millie
1960 - the Reed family - looks like we're from the "Father Knows Best" era. Hey, we were!
1959 - mom and her kids
1959 - my first attempt at being a drooling idiot.

1960 - first steps!
1959 - first birthday
1959 - my fascination with toy jets led to my Air Force career. My mom loved this photo.
1959 - my brother Dan is smiling , not whincing, so I must have been yawning, not screaming.

1959 - the Reed kids
1958 - mom with her new little bundle of . . . uh . . . okay . . . Joy
1960 - my first introduction to the bearded one
1960 - newspaper ad about dad.

Easter 1960 - tiptoeing through the tulips in front of the Jones Funeral Home in Williamsburg, Iowa.
1961 - riding my trike.
1960 - the Reeds with the Fraziers in Williamsburg
1961 - at age three

1961 - I was very attached to my Casper the Friendly Ghost doll. When you pulled the string on the back of its neck it would talk, say 'boo' and play the Casper theme song.
1962 - the mischief-maker takes time out to play the good little boy
1962 - with mom and dad in front of our Randall Street house in Edwardsville, IL. I can't remember what I did last week, but I remember our telephone # there - 656-2229. I remember it because at age 6 I was told to memorize it and I repeated it to myself everyday while walking to school.
1962 - my nursery school pals (I'm second from the right on the front row)

1963 - family campout
1963 - the Reed kids
1963 - learning the fine art of pole-sitting
1963 - with Mom, Ruth, and Dan at the St. Louis Zoo

The first house I remember - 723 Randle Street in Edwardsville, IL. The backyard was huge and it emptied into a wooded area - an adventureland for us kids.
1964 - school picture. When this photo was taken, the Beatles were taking America by storm!
1964 - with my kintergarden class - watching a cow being milked... fascinating. The girl next to me, Joanie Neudecker, was the first girl I ever kissed, at age 8.
1965 - second grade class photo

1965 - Dad was Director of Student Activities at SIU-Edwardsville, so we were always attending dances, concerts, and other events. Here I am doing "the Monkey" while Ruth (L) does "the Jerk"
1965 - the musical Reed kids
1966 - my second grade class. I'm front and center. I had a major crush on my teacher Mrs. Suhre, who read "Charlotte's Web" to us. Isn't she gorgeous?
1966 - My 8th birthday party - after opening gifts, my guests and I went to see the movie "Batman" - what a thrill, I was a real "BatFan." We saw the film at the Wildey Theater in Edwardsville, IL. Now, 43 years later, I'm thrilled again that Edwardsville is restoring the old Wildey - here's the Wildey Theater web site.

1966 - feeding the goats at one of my favorite St. Louis landmarks - Grant's Farm.
1967 - Grandad Frazier with the Reed kids
1967 - I wasn't the most talented ballplayer, but baseball was my passion for several years. The year this photo was taken, the St Lous Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. My favorite baseball memories, though, were playing catch with my dad in our yard. No matter how tired he was, he always had time to "throw a few" in the evening.
1967 - looking sporty with Grammy and mom

1967 - my winter passion was sledding!
1967 - some of the happiest memories I have were in our house on 607 Lane Street in Edwardsville, IL.
1967 - the Lane Street Gang - my childhood friends - we shared many adventures, including many summer nights playing "kick the can." - little did I know at the time, the Summer of Love was flourishing that summer in San Fransisco
1968 - age 10

1969 - although I was sometimes a brat to her, I loved my big sister. 1969 was a magical year - I was glued to the TV, watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon and cheering on the Miracle Mets.
1970 - age 12. Despite the glasses, I was a big hit with the ladies. I was the first in my class to "make out" with a girl in the back row of the Illinois Theatre. Ah yes, I remember Tammy's lips like it was yesterday.
1973 - acting like the dork that I was.
1974 - age 16, the year I discovered my two favorite things - backseat sex and marijuana

1974 - opening gifts after Christmas Eve service at the Presbyterian church. Check out the plaid seventies suit.
1974 - going to the prom with Beth Barclay. I think I fell asleep while sunbathing earlier that day . . .
1974 - my Seventies Mod Mom
My second childhood home - 415 East Carroll Street in Macomb, IL. - though I loved it more during the summer

1975 - Ruth hates this photo because she thinks she looked so chunky - but this is one of the rare photos of all 3 Reed kids during that time period
1975 - Family photo with Grammy and our poodle Tina. I think Dan and I were both stoned. Hey, it was the 70s! This was the year I dyed my hair blonde - too blonde - Dan called me Ziggy Stardust
1976 - proud graduate of two very loving parents
1976 - my senior year picture - I was finally moving past that dork phase

1976 - I was free from high school and oh so happy!
1976 - my '72 Chevy Vega saw many happy times until a few weeks before graduation when someone broadsided me - I was lucky I walked away with a few lacerations
1977 - age 19 - kickin' back
My maternal great-grandparents, all born in the 1870s - imagine the things they saw and experienced, like seeing a motor car, moving picture show, or telephone for the first time in their 30s

My Junior High and High School I.D. cards
Stan Musial Statue Dedication Ceremony program - front cover - I was a huge St Louis Cardinals fan in the '60s - Stan the Man retired in 1963 - in 1968, our family attended his bronze statue dedication ceremony
Stan Musial Statue Dedication Ceremony program - inside cover
Stan Musial Statue Dedication Ceremony program - back cover

The house I lived in from 1970 until I left Macomb in 1979
Mark, 1959
Dan, Ruth, and Mark, 1959
Mark, 1959

Mark, 1960
My first Halloween costume, 1962, age 4. Thanks a lot mom!
1964: at the St Louis zoo with cousin Bronlyn and Aunt Ramona
Mark, 1964 (the year the Beatles arrived in America)

Mark, 1965
1964: with cousin Bronlyn at the zoo
1966: the neighborhood gang in Edwardsville, Illinois
Mark, 1966

With mom and Ruth, 1967
The Reeds, 1967
Must have been Easter, 1968
Mark, 1968

Mark's 10th birthday party, 1968
Mark, 1968
Mark, 1968
Mark, 1969 (the year we moved to Macomb)

Mark, 1970 ... all my hair was chopped off because I'd been a bad boy... :)
Mark and mom, 1972
MHS ID card, 1972
1973: summer music camp

1974: backstage during "Cheaper by the Dozen" -- my first speaking part on stage, see photo below
1974: backstage during "Cheaper by the Dozen"
Article from MHS Sentinel about "Cheaper by the Dozen"
Ruth, 1972

Senior photo, 1976
Pocket diploma, in case they ask to see proof of a high school education when applying for a job at McDonalds . . .
Mark, 1976 drawing
Mark, 1976

Mark, 1976
At a Cards game, 1976
With mom and dad, 1976
WIU ID card, 1976

With mom and Grammy in Biloxi, Mississippi, 1978. A year later I would drop out of college and be back in Biloxi in an Air Force training school
Mark, 1978
Summer of 1974: bit by the acting bug. Here's Don Norton and ??? from that summer in "Annie Get Your Gun"
Summer of 1975. I auditioned for and "made it" in WIU's Summer Music Theatre "company" of players. I was 16 that summer and had such a crush on 20-something Deb Carr, a theater major from South Dakota.

I loved Lake Argyle, near Macomb, Illinois
Lake Argyle
Lake Argyle
Lake Argyle

My fake ID from back in the day - just the day/month of my birthdate was altered, can you tell? It worked fine in dark taverns. :)

Starting at the age of 15 during the summer of 1974, and during subsequent summers in 1975, 1976, and 1977, I performed in Western Illinois University's Summer Music Theatre. I shunned speaking parts - all I wanted to do was sing and dance as part of the chorus - I played townspeople, cowpokes, a longshoreman, a 50s teenager, a junior executive, and a tap dancing sailor in shows like Annie Get Your Gun, Music Man, Bye Bye Birdie, Hello Dolly, Carousel, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Camelot, and Anything Goes.

These summers were some of the most fun and exciting periods of my life!

College parts led to an interest in high school dramatics and a university major in Theatre and later Dance. But alas, reality set in and life took me in other directions. Still, my few years of singing, dancing, acting, and being part of the summer stock "company" yielded many good times and memories. Here are a few photos from my previous life in the arts . . .

CLICK ON EACH PHOTO TO ENLARGE

1974 - I played a townsperson in "Annie Get Your Gun"
1974 - full cast and crew of "Annie Get Your Gun"
1975 - I played a townsperson in "The Music Man"
1975 - full cast and crew of "Annie"

1975 - "Bye Bye Birdie" - Kevin Carr (drunk) was such a gas. And look, there are four of my Facebook friends... the dapper John Green (wearing glasses), the handsome Phil Newsome (oh bearded one), the hilarious Navida Stein (fuzzy slippers), and the all-grown-up-now Ron Synovitz (kid in bathrobe). Good times!!
1974 - "Annie" was such a fun show, my first real production. God, it was such fun! Love the teddy bear Navida... man, you were so creative with your roles.
1975 - "Bye Bye Birdie" - John Green and Phil Newsome on the left, and Deb Carr, Shelly Rogers, and I on the right. Man, that was a fun show.
Close up of the previous photo

1975 - "Bye Bye Birdie" - Shelly and I were the best dancing teenagers of I do say so myself!
1975 - "Bye Bye Birdie" - We love you Conrad, oh yes we doooo. MHS Bombers: look, there's Tracy Egherman and Doug Schaedel on the right.
1975 - "Bye Bye Birdie" - "Oh One Last Kiss..." - Deb Carr, I and Shelly are playing it to the hilt. Check out Kevin Carr with the wide eyes. Fun!
1975 - "Bye Bye Birdie" - The Telephone Hour - loved this number. I once missed my cue and was caught off-stage when the song started. The stage manager said, "just walk out there like you're suppose to be there and no one will notice." No one did... except the director. :) There you are at the top Deb!

1975 - "Hello Dolly" - Deb Carr was great as Dolly, and there in front is the incomparable Navida Stein, the gorgeous and sweet-voiced Lisa Loacker Lauren, and in the back right is Phil the waiter and Mark the cop. Ron, isn't that your mother on the far left? Check out the great Paul Mackey on the extreme right rear. Some of you might remember him playing Jesus in "JC Superstar" at WIU in about 1975. He was fantastic!
1975 - "Music Man" - great shot of everyone's profile and back. Nice bald spot Phil !
1974 - The guys and girls of "Annie"
1974 - Just the guys of "Annie"

1974 - an article about "Annie"
1975 - I played Larry in the Macomb High School production of "Cheaper By the Dozen"
1975 - the large spread about "Cheaper" in Macomb High School's Sentinel
1976 - I directed and acted in a one-act play at MHS

1976 - article about the One Acts
1976 - playing a garrish salesman in "The Pajama Game" at MHS
1976 - the salesman in action - "The Pajama Game" - one night someone forgot their lines in this scene and we all stood their staring at each other until I started improvising lines to end the scene - we all had a laugh about it later but were scared stiff on stage
1976 - The big finish for the musical number "SSSSsteam Heat" in "Pajama Game"

BACK

Circa 1925 - D. Paul and Cecile Frazier, my maternal Grammy and granddad	1944 - Grammy and mom	1945 - Mom (age 14) with some girlfriends	1949 - Mom and dad (seated on right) at the Kirksville State Teachers College Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority dance
1950 - Mom and dad on their wedding day	1950 - Uncle Burton co-managed the Jones family furniture store. Behind the truck is the Jones Funeral home. The Jones were a hard-working Welsh Presbyterian family!	1956 - Cecile "Grammy" Frazier, my maternal grandmother. She taught Kintergarden for 30 years in Williamsburg, Iowa.	1959 - Mark's first year
1958 - the hospital bill from Mark's birth - imagine that . . . a $103 birth!	1959 - more photos of baby Mark	1959 - here's a great photo of me with my brother Dan and sister Ruth, with our Grammy and Grandad Frazier. Isn't my sister Ruth so cute?	1959 - with dad and Ruth
1960 - with our maternal great-grandmother, Grandma Millie	1960 - the Reed family - looks like we're from the "Father Knows Best" era. Hey, we were!	1959 - mom and her kids	1959 - my first attempt at being a drooling idiot.
1960 - first steps!	1959 - first birthday	1959 - my fascination with toy jets led to my Air Force career. My mom loved this photo.	1959 - my brother Dan is smiling , not whincing, so I must have been yawning, not screaming.
1959 - the Reed kids	1958 - mom with her new little bundle of . . . uh . . . okay . . . Joy	1960 - my first introduction to the bearded one	1960 - newspaper ad about dad.
Easter 1960 - tiptoeing through the tulips in front of the Jones Funeral Home in Williamsburg, Iowa.	1961 - riding my trike.	1960 - the Reeds with the Fraziers in Williamsburg	1961 - at age three
1961 - I was very attached to my Casper the Friendly Ghost doll. When you pulled the string on the back of its neck it would talk, say 'boo' and play the Casper theme song.	1962 - the mischief-maker takes time out to play the good little boy	1962 - with mom and dad in front of our Randall Street house in Edwardsville, IL. I can't remember what I did last week, but I remember our telephone # there - 656-2229. I remember it because at age 6 I was told to memorize it and I repeated it to myself everyday while walking to school.	1962 - my nursery school pals (I'm second from the right on the front row)
1963 - family campout	1963 - the Reed kids	1963 - learning the fine art of pole-sitting	1963 - with Mom, Ruth, and Dan at the St. Louis Zoo
The first house I remember - 723 Randle Street in Edwardsville, IL. The backyard was huge and it emptied into a wooded area - an adventureland for us kids.	1964 - school picture. When this photo was taken, the Beatles were taking America by storm!	1964 - with my kintergarden class - watching a cow being milked... fascinating. The girl next to me, Joanie Neudecker, was the first girl I ever kissed, at age 8.	1965 - second grade class photo
1965 - Dad was Director of Student Activities at SIU-Edwardsville, so we were always attending dances, concerts, and other events. Here I am doing "the Monkey" while Ruth (L) does "the Jerk"	1965 - the musical Reed kids	1966 - my second grade class. I'm front and center. I had a major crush on my teacher Mrs. Suhre, who read "Charlotte's Web" to us. Isn't she gorgeous?	1966 - My 8th birthday party - after opening gifts, my guests and I went to see the movie "Batman" - what a thrill, I was a real "BatFan." We saw the film at the Wildey Theater in Edwardsville, IL. Now, 43 years later, I'm thrilled again that Edwardsville is restoring the old Wildey - here's the Wildey Theater web site.
1966 - feeding the goats at one of my favorite St. Louis landmarks - Grant's Farm.	1967 - Grandad Frazier with the Reed kids	1967 - I wasn't the most talented ballplayer, but baseball was my passion for several years. The year this photo was taken, the St Lous Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. My favorite baseball memories, though, were playing catch with my dad in our yard. No matter how tired he was, he always had time to "throw a few" in the evening.	1967 - looking sporty with Grammy and mom
1967 - my winter passion was sledding!	1967 - some of the happiest memories I have were in our house on 607 Lane Street in Edwardsville, IL.	1967 - the Lane Street Gang - my childhood friends - we shared many adventures, including many summer nights playing "kick the can." - little did I know at the time, the Summer of Love was flourishing that summer in San Fransisco	1968 - age 10
1969 - although I was sometimes a brat to her, I loved my big sister. 1969 was a magical year - I was glued to the TV, watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon and cheering on the Miracle Mets.	1970 - age 12. Despite the glasses, I was a big hit with the ladies. I was the first in my class to "make out" with a girl in the back row of the Illinois Theatre. Ah yes, I remember Tammy's lips like it was yesterday.	1973 - acting like the dork that I was.	1974 - age 16, the year I discovered my two favorite things - backseat sex and marijuana
1974 - opening gifts after Christmas Eve service at the Presbyterian church. Check out the plaid seventies suit.	1974 - going to the prom with Beth Barclay. I think I fell asleep while sunbathing earlier that day . . .	1974 - my Seventies Mod Mom	My second childhood home - 415 East Carroll Street in Macomb, IL. - though I loved it more during the summer
1975 - Ruth hates this photo because she thinks she looked so chunky - but this is one of the rare photos of all 3 Reed kids during that time period	1975 - Family photo with Grammy and our poodle Tina. I think Dan and I were both stoned. Hey, it was the 70s! This was the year I dyed my hair blonde - too blonde - Dan called me Ziggy Stardust	1976 - proud graduate of two very loving parents	1976 - my senior year picture - I was finally moving past that dork phase
1976 - I was free from high school and oh so happy!	1976 - my '72 Chevy Vega saw many happy times until a few weeks before graduation when someone broadsided me - I was lucky I walked away with a few lacerations	1977 - age 19 - kickin' back	My maternal great-grandparents, all born in the 1870s - imagine the things they saw and experienced, like seeing a motor car, moving picture show, or telephone for the first time in their 30s
My Junior High and High School I.D. cards	Stan Musial Statue Dedication Ceremony program - front cover - I was a huge St Louis Cardinals fan in the '60s - Stan the Man retired in 1963 - in 1968, our family attended his bronze statue dedication ceremony	Stan Musial Statue Dedication Ceremony program - inside cover	Stan Musial Statue Dedication Ceremony program - back cover
The house I lived in from 1970 until I left Macomb in 1979	Mark, 1959	Dan, Ruth, and Mark, 1959	Mark, 1959
Mark, 1960	My first Halloween costume, 1962, age 4. Thanks a lot mom!	1964: at the St Louis zoo with cousin Bronlyn and Aunt Ramona	Mark, 1964 (the year the Beatles arrived in America)
Mark, 1965	1964: with cousin Bronlyn at the zoo	1966: the neighborhood gang in Edwardsville, Illinois	Mark, 1966
With mom and Ruth, 1967	The Reeds, 1967	Must have been Easter, 1968	Mark, 1968
Mark's 10th birthday party, 1968	Mark, 1968	Mark, 1968	Mark, 1969 (the year we moved to Macomb)
Mark, 1970 ... all my hair was chopped off because I'd been a bad boy... :)	Mark and mom, 1972	MHS ID card, 1972	1973: summer music camp
1974: backstage during "Cheaper by the Dozen" -- my first speaking part on stage, see photo below	1974: backstage during "Cheaper by the Dozen"	Article from MHS Sentinel about "Cheaper by the Dozen"	Ruth, 1972
Senior photo, 1976	Pocket diploma, in case they ask to see proof of a high school education when applying for a job at McDonalds . . .	Mark, 1976 drawing	Mark, 1976
Mark, 1976	At a Cards game, 1976	With mom and dad, 1976	WIU ID card, 1976
With mom and Grammy in Biloxi, Mississippi, 1978. A year later I would drop out of college and be back in Biloxi in an Air Force training school	Mark, 1978	Summer of 1974: bit by the acting bug. Here's Don Norton and ??? from that summer in "Annie Get Your Gun"	Summer of 1975. I auditioned for and "made it" in WIU's Summer Music Theatre "company" of players. I was 16 that summer and had such a crush on 20-something Deb Carr, a theater major from South Dakota.
I loved Lake Argyle, near Macomb, Illinois	Lake Argyle	Lake Argyle	Lake Argyle
My fake ID from back in the day - just the day/month of my birthdate was altered, can you tell? It worked fine in dark taverns. :)

1975 - "Bye Bye Birdie" - Shelly and I were the best dancing teenagers of I do say so myself!	1975 - "Bye Bye Birdie" - We love you Conrad, oh yes we doooo. MHS Bombers: look, there's Tracy Egherman and Doug Schaedel on the right.	1975 - "Bye Bye Birdie" - "Oh One Last Kiss..." - Deb Carr, I and Shelly are playing it to the hilt. Check out Kevin Carr with the wide eyes. Fun!	1975 - "Bye Bye Birdie" - The Telephone Hour - loved this number. I once missed my cue and was caught off-stage when the song started. The stage manager said, "just walk out there like you're suppose to be there and no one will notice." No one did... except the director. :) There you are at the top Deb!
1975 - "Hello Dolly" - Deb Carr was great as Dolly, and there in front is the incomparable Navida Stein, the gorgeous and sweet-voiced Lisa Loacker Lauren, and in the back right is Phil the waiter and Mark the cop. Ron, isn't that your mother on the far left? Check out the great Paul Mackey on the extreme right rear. Some of you might remember him playing Jesus in "JC Superstar" at WIU in about 1975. He was fantastic!	1975 - "Music Man" - great shot of everyone's profile and back. Nice bald spot Phil !	1974 - The guys and girls of "Annie"	1974 - Just the guys of "Annie"
1974 - an article about "Annie"	1975 - I played Larry in the Macomb High School production of "Cheaper By the Dozen"	1975 - the large spread about "Cheaper" in Macomb High School's Sentinel	1976 - I directed and acted in a one-act play at MHS
1976 - article about the One Acts	1976 - playing a garrish salesman in "The Pajama Game" at MHS	1976 - the salesman in action - "The Pajama Game" - one night someone forgot their lines in this scene and we all stood their staring at each other until I started improvising lines to end the scene - we all had a laugh about it later but were scared stiff on stage	1976 - The big finish for the musical number "SSSSsteam Heat" in "Pajama Game"