John Carter Forbes was one of my best friends in school. We were neighbors on the island and enjoyed many years of a very good friendship. We used to make it a weekend treat ordering Pizza and RC Colas, playing pool in their basement, lifting weights, or playing the newest 45’s that were popular at the time.

Pizza buddies were John and Ken Forbes, John Simon, Mike Lochrie, Rick McPartlin, the Carriers, Steve McCallum, Jerry Muhme, Mike Hammond, Jim Haviland now and again. And anyone that stopped by. I think Jerry’s parents owned the pizza parlor.

Ken Forbes and I used to have the best record collections around. And always kept up to date on the newest tunes. We were always invited to parties but had to bring our record collections. We watched over them like they were gold.

 
I sold my record collection to Peggy Turner when I left high school.

The Forbes Family. I enjoyed eating breakfast at their home, Johns mother used to cook up some kind of milk and bread thing that was really a breakfast treat. They had one huge family and there was always something going on.

Brother Walt Junior was a champion skier, first man in history to ski barefoot as he would tell us, and was the lady killer in the family, at the time, a brief time. John and Ken then took over that position.
Nancy, John, and Ron Tarlton. Many will remember the parties at John and Ken’s, great fun, food and we could easily sneak around in back of the furnace for a quick kiss. Our girl friends, that is, we kissed our girlfriends. John and I were great friends but not that kind of friends!

I had a secret crush on Nancy but she was Johns girlfriend.

Pictured to the left, Susan Forbes, the oldest daughter. Below Susan is the baby sister Linda. They had a very warm and friendly home and we all enjoyed swimming out to the raft from their dock and scooting around the lake in Mike Lochries’ little aluminum ‘Chris Craft’ yacht. John and I would take their canoe out for a spin around the island when we couldn’t find Mike.

Great neighbors.

Sometimes going fishing, sometimes just rowing across the lake to Mike Lochries house, or over to Mike Hammonds house. Lake Oakland was really a very interesting lake and had a lot of stories to go with it. At one end you could look down into the water and see the tops of trees where the lake now covered them. Great fishing spot.

  Nancy Ray. Girls were our big ‘thing’ at the time and we would spend hours at my house on the phone talking to that ‘special someone’. Sometimes John would sneak over for a quick call to Nancy while he took the garbage out. His mom and dad must have been so proud of him to be so willing to take the garbage out, and he was so thorough about it

To the left another foto of Nancy at Jons dock next to Mike Hammonds cruiser. The weekends were always busy with friends dropping by.I remember upsetting his mom once with one of those ‘rooting’ remarks I made at a baseball game. I said something to the umpire that just didn’t set right with her and I felt like I was going to be the next thing hit with a bat. I still feel a little disappointed in myself that I caused her to yell at me...

 I knew I was always on thin ice with her but she tolerated me. She was a great lady and had one heck of a task raising three boys two girls and a husband to boot. Funny how you remember some of these things and take them with you all through life.

Linda Tarlton. One special memory was the time we all got together with our dates and went to the movies. I don’t think I had a date at the time but still tagged along. When we got to the show, John found out he left his money at home and we only had enough for one more ticket. So I did the ‘Michael Thing’ and gave up the ticket money so he and his girl at the time could see the movie. I waited outside while they all enjoyed the movie but felt good about it. Must have been the longest movie in history at the time, but it was a nice feeling knowing that John got to sit there, ignoring the movie no doubt and necking in the balcony.

Next time we went to the movies, I made sure I asked him if he had his money and to show it to me. I think the girl was Linda Tarlton but there were so many, can’t remember all their names.

Pam Foote another of the pretty gals the brothers went with, first Ken then John.

Kathy Verbeck was in there somewhere too. She and I went steady for about an hour.

A special ‘friend’ of Johns was my dog Colonel. His dog was named Mable and was one heck of a cartoon character. This picture will only mean something to John and I. Colonel was a great watch dog. By this time I had named all my dogs Colonel after the very first one my parents gave me when I was about three.

I paid $5.00 for Colonel as a puppy and he was always there. Great companion and friend. One winter he did his ‘male thing’ and I later discovered that he was run over by a car.

This is a foto I took when I visited the island back in 95. My house is on the right, and Johns was on the left. They didn’t have the garage when we lived on the island. What I was trying to show was the lake, Lake Oakland. The next foto is a picture I took of my car on the road way going off the island. This hasn’t changed in all these years. I liked big flashy older cars as you can tell. This was my 74 Lincoln. It actually had a red velvet interior, and one of those 50 coat paint jobs. Better then a hot wax spit shine. Gave it to one of my daughters.
 
This next foto is Mike Lochrie, he had the neatest looking aluminum boat that John and I got to take out now and again. The next foto is of John Simon talking to Prudy Bird, another one of John Forbes

  girlfriends. If my memory is correct JCF could only visit Prudy on weekends And that was her real name, I think. Now that I think back she may have told us that to keep us at a distance. In the above foto, I know John is talking on the phone to Prudy, since I wisely noted that on the back of the foto. It was a Saturday morning, and a rather bleak looking day. I even remember what JCF was wearing that day, blue shirt tan pants, and I am almost sure he had on Penny Loafers.

We’ll have to ask John.
 

I took this from the bridge. Next foto is of the Balls. (from the top of the hill) They were a great help to me after my parents left Michigan. The other foto is another one of the island. There was a family that lived there that had a very tragic end to the mother and father. They had an unusually pretty home with birch bark as the paneling in various parts of the house, and a great view of the lake. Very nice people their lives ending tragically at a very young age.

Mr. Gurero had the second fastest boat on the island. Walt Junior had the fastest, of course. Very sleek looking boat with those Cadillac fins and two of the biggest engines at the time. Turquoise and White.

John sticking his head in our mail box reading my fan mail. Zilch! This was at 3828 Island Park Drive, Drayton Plains, Michigan way back in the 60’s. I think I had just come home from my latest surgery A back operation which was called the Harrington Fusion which was another breakthrough in medical history at the time. I had 6 surgeries by this time and all but one worked. The Lobotomy took...

John Carter Forbes Now!

His family!

And a few of the watch animals!

About John, Now!