Andy Pleasant

My best friend in Craig was Andy Pleasant. His given name was Andrew Duncan Pleasant. Andy was really an unlikely match for me as a best friend. We were opposites in a lot of ways. Andy was the fearless, tough, boy who grew up on a ranch...I was the shy, quiet, city boy, who made chocolate chip cookies (and ate the cookie dough). Andy was the 'ride the calf' at the Tuesday Night Rodeo, and I was the kid who was scared of horses and dogs. Andy was the 'beat up the kid' on the playground. I was the 'kid that got beat up' on the playground. Nevertheless, we became very good friends.

I'm not sure how our friendship came to be. I believe my mother started attending Alanon (The local wives of alcoholics group)and it was there she met Ruth Pleasant. Ruth and my Mom became friends and Mom started attending the Lutheran Church. Maybe, Andy and I were spending a lot of time together in school and church and visits between Moms. Maybe, Andy's mom told him to befriend me whether he liked it or not. Regardless, we ended up spending a lot of time together and were truly 'good friends'.

We both attended Sunset Elementary School and also Breeze Elementary School. In the fourth and fifth grades we attended the same schools, but each had different teachers. In the fourth grade, I had Mrs Schmidt. A tiny little lady, not much bigger than us fourth graders, but she walloped a mean ping pong paddle as her 'spanker' of choice. Andy had the other fourth grade teacher...I can't remember her name, but she had a custom 'spanker'. A 2 foot piece of hard wood 1x4 with a handle cut to fit the hand on the end. The middle was drilled with half inch holes to cut down on the wind resistance. We all feared the the custom 'spanker' because it looked much more menacing. But, come to find out, and I did, the little ping pong 'spanker' was the one that hurt the most. In the fifth grade, we both ended up going to a different school by moving to Breeze Elementary. Andy got the easier teacher, and I got Mrs. Potter. Mrs Potter was old and mean. And hard. And I began my toughest year of elementary school. That was a tough year! Scholastically, I do have to admit, I think I learned more than I ever learned from that mean ole Mrs. Potter. She looked like Mr. Potter in "It's a Wonderful Life'...really!! I remember that they made us eat everything on our plate in the Breeze lunchroom. So, whenever they had peas...I stuffed them in my empty milk carton and secretly threw them in the trash. Also, it was at Breeze, that I held the hand of my fifth grade girlfriend on the last day of school while we walked in the springtime sun on the last day of school field trip. That was the last time I saw her, we ended up leaving Craig that summer.

Andy and I were bike fanatics. We both had little sting ray bikes with the banana seats and we rode them all over the town of Craig. From Sherwood Forest to the top of Green Street at the base of the Sandrocks. From the 'Ride and Tie' Fairgrounds all the way to Ralph White Reservoir several miles North of Craig. And everywhere in between. We could take the bikes apart and put them back together again. Including the bearing and gears on the inside of the wheels. Pretty good for our age.

We smoked cigarettes in the garage. We smoked cigarettes in Andy's house, inside the bathroom...while his Mom was home. We turned on the hot water to make steam and put a towel at the base of the door to conceal the smoke. We thought we were so clever. I never inhaled. Didn't really care for it, but I played along so I could be cool like Andy. Dumb kid! We would scrounge up (or steal, who knows) money and go down to the drug store and buy the cigarettes. We would tell the clerk they were for our Mom, and that she had sent us down to buy them. (In your best Yoda voice: "Liars we were"!)

I remember Andy took me into his older brothers room one time and rummaged in his dresser drawer and pulled out a condom. Of course, he called it a rubber. Innocent kid I was, I had no clue what it was, though I pretended I knew. I remember he told me that it had a pin hole through the middle of it. I guess his brother wanted to get his girlfriend pregnant. I didn't really understand it then, but 'goes to show', you can't trust us men.

Andy was my rooftop playmate. We climbed that old Yampa House roof on many an occasion. We climbed the Steele Street roof too...except I got up there and was too scared to come down. The only way off that roof was to hang your legs over the side of the house to the decorative wrought iron rails on the front of the porch. Then put your feet in the rail, and reach your hand(s) down and also grab the rail. Not so scary climbing up...but one doesn't think about what it will be like climbing down. I finally made it down, but it was very scary for me...piece of cake for 'rodeo boy'.

One time we got in a fight, and he held me down in that same bathroom where we smoked the cigarettes. He had a 'Water Pik' and was shooting water in my face and holding me down on the bathroom floor. That was in their house that was about 3-4 miles north of Craig. We were at home alone. I walked all the way to town (even past the Frank's house with all the dogs). I was about 2 blocks from home when Andy's parents drove by and spotted me walking. They stopped and talked to me. Not sure, but I bet Andy got in trouble for that little incident. I walked a long way on a public highway. And I was only in the 5th grade.

I moved away after the 5th grade. Andy's folks divorced and Andy also moved away to Denver. Not really sure what ever happened to him. But while I was in Craig,he was a good friend, my best friend.

From the Yampa House looking toward downtown Craig:


A Photo of the actual Yampa House I found:


My 5th Grade GF:


Andy Pleasant:
(note the hair...maybe bad hair was the style then??)