Dave Perry by Kalena L. and Nichole C.
Dave Parry (1964-1968)
Dave Parry graduated from Cascade in 1968. He was born in Myrtle Point, Oregon in 1950. He grew up in Coquille, Oregon up to the 6th grade and then moved to Everett where he attended Evergreen Middle School. After graduating from Cascade he attended Everett Community College then on to Palmer College of Chiropractic where he earned his degree. Dave then decided to return to his home in Washington, ultimately Everett, where he set up his own practice, Silver Lake Chiropractic since the middle 70’s. Dave is now married to Lynne Parry for a happy 35 years.
At the time Dave was at Cascade it was very new school, but since that time he has said that it has changed a lot. The layout is quite different, and there have been updates to the buildings. We made sure to ask him about the famous “bear” that we have in front of the cafeteria, and he laughed saying that much has changed about the bear. First off, they moved it across campus and it used to actually look like a true bear, with more detail than today! Those layers of paint have definitely “disfigured” him!
Besides Cascade itself, Dave made sure to go in detail about student life at the time. “Generally I think teenagers are teenagers no matter what decade they have grown up in. We had the same dreams and concerns and issues to deal with in the 1960s that you have today”, Dave said. Just like today everyone wanted the coolest car and wanted to become more independent from his or her parents. The decade doesn’t change the mind of a teenager, as we all have the same brains, and Dave made sure to make that very clear. However, the culture of the time period truly was different compared to high school now. For instance, Dave recalled that if you were to get into trouble with a teacher, and most of the time it was the boys, you were sent in the hallways and were “hit” with a paddleboard on the rear end.
“……but it always did seem to bring things right back to center rather quickly. And you’re looking at me quizzically. Yes they did it to them and they hit them hard, it did get everybody’s attention”, Dave concludes. Nowadays, that would never be accepted at our schools, but it did seem to keep things in order, which we have problems with today.
In addition, student fashion varied according to Dave from then till now. Of course, like any teenager, girls and guys wanted to express their individuality. Yet, there were some famous trends of the time period. He often explained how the boys wanted to look like the Beatles, with their long hair and tight jeans. He laughed as he talked about how nowadays guys want a shaved head, and the baggier your jeans the better! For the girl side, you were required to wear dresses and skirts. Pants weren’t allowed unless it was a very cold or snowy day. Essentially, the same went for the teachers. They were expected to wear suits or sports coats and the women wore dresses. This all created a much more professional atmosphere at school than we have today. Anyone can get away with wearing their pajamas to school in this time period!
Moving on, spirit is a huge deal today at Cascade and seems to have always been. “We had the same prep rallies and assemblies they you have now before the big games. There was always the rivalry between Cascade and Everett High. They were always painting the bear some color other than the normal brown….” Dave said.
Not much has seemed to change in that way, but he made sure to talk about the fact that there wasn’t Kamiak, Mariner or Jackson at that time. Therefore, games against Everett were a huge deal. On a side note, Dave brought up the idea of girls participating in sports. They could play, but they were only to play intramural sports. He recalls only remembering having a girl’s basketball team, but other than that their options were very limited. Wow, have times have changed from then to now. Girls at Cascade, and almost every other high school, are given equal opportunities in everything done, including sports.
On the other hand, dating in the late 1960s was much different than now according to Dave. Of course there were the issues between couples that still go on today, but there were different ideas of “the cool things to do” then.
“We had the icon event in the area called Cruising Colby. And high school students would come from all around to partake in the event. It went on endlessly on Saturday nights even on Friday nights as well.” Instead of going to the mall to hang out with your boyfriend, they thought it was “cooler” to take your girlfriend to go cruising in your hot rod. On this note, drive-in movie theaters were always a source of entertainment. In those days you couldn’t just go to Redbox or Blockbuster to rent a movie because there were no VCR’s, DVD’s or DVR’s. Teenagers today couldn’t imagine life without any of those technologies. What would we do for fun today if we didn’t have technology?
On the note of technology, cell phones didn’t exist during Dave’s years at high school so you were somewhat more independent if you were out with your friends.
“If you needed to call someone or check in with your parents, you were sure to have a pocket full of dimes because a pay phone call was 10 cents,” Dave said.
Furthermore, drugs and alcohol are a problem in every high school, and today it is a big deal to be caught using any type of illegal substance. Dave didn’t really remember drugs particularly at Cascade, but recalled some new drugs being a big deal in San Francisco. “In those days Haight-Ashbury was the hippy hangout in San Francisco, and that seemed to be where all the new hype regarding LSD and all of the other mind altering drugs as they were called in the 60s was generated.” He said.
Dave didn’t think that much really happened at the actual school, as it does today. However, there were still the same group of guys who smoked and they would try to sneak out to the parking lot between classes for a quick smoke. Smoking doesn’t seem to be such a big deal today, and we agreed that it is due to the continuing education about its harmful effects. But, drugs at high school seem to becoming the new cigarettes of the 1960s. We all agreed that there needs to be more education about drugs.
Additionally, besides the school life itself, the world outside of Everett also was a huge factor of the time period. “I’m sure you look at the world as it is today and the economy that we are dealing with and wonder maybe if the world is coming undone at the seams. I think we wondered the same thing back in the 60s.”
Dave made sure to talk to us about how crazy his senior year was, in accord to the national affairs. There were demonstrations primarily in the south for race equality. Today blacks and whites are considered equal, but at the time Dave was in high school it was a huge issue. A huge deal at the time was the assassination of Martin Luther King Junior and Bobby Kennedy. This truly shocked the world, and he said high schoolers began to think what was happening in the world that you were growing up in. There were truly insecure moments. Also, there was the war in Vietnam, as like today we are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. The war was on the news every night and there were ongoing demonstrations opposing the war, once again just like today. Yet, there were differences. “When I was in high school, the military then was populated via the draft system. When you were a male and 18 years of age you had to register with the local draft board,” Dave recalled. What a difference compared to our generation. Now, people decide personally if they want to go to war. You aren’t “forced”, but are given the option to remain home while others fight for us.
“Enjoy your years at Cascade, you will make memories every day,” Dave concluded.
Dave Parry graduated from Cascade in 1968. He was born in Myrtle Point, Oregon in 1950. He grew up in Coquille, Oregon up to the 6th grade and then moved to Everett where he attended Evergreen Middle School. After graduating from Cascade he attended Everett Community College then on to Palmer College of Chiropractic where he earned his degree. Dave then decided to return to his home in Washington, ultimately Everett, where he set up his own practice, Silver Lake Chiropractic since the middle 70’s. Dave is now married to Lynne Parry for a happy 35 years.
At the time Dave was at Cascade it was very new school, but since that time he has said that it has changed a lot. The layout is quite different, and there have been updates to the buildings. We made sure to ask him about the famous “bear” that we have in front of the cafeteria, and he laughed saying that much has changed about the bear. First off, they moved it across campus and it used to actually look like a true bear, with more detail than today! Those layers of paint have definitely “disfigured” him!
Besides Cascade itself, Dave made sure to go in detail about student life at the time. “Generally I think teenagers are teenagers no matter what decade they have grown up in. We had the same dreams and concerns and issues to deal with in the 1960s that you have today”, Dave said. Just like today everyone wanted the coolest car and wanted to become more independent from his or her parents. The decade doesn’t change the mind of a teenager, as we all have the same brains, and Dave made sure to make that very clear. However, the culture of the time period truly was different compared to high school now. For instance, Dave recalled that if you were to get into trouble with a teacher, and most of the time it was the boys, you were sent in the hallways and were “hit” with a paddleboard on the rear end.
“……but it always did seem to bring things right back to center rather quickly. And you’re looking at me quizzically. Yes they did it to them and they hit them hard, it did get everybody’s attention”, Dave concludes. Nowadays, that would never be accepted at our schools, but it did seem to keep things in order, which we have problems with today.
In addition, student fashion varied according to Dave from then till now. Of course, like any teenager, girls and guys wanted to express their individuality. Yet, there were some famous trends of the time period. He often explained how the boys wanted to look like the Beatles, with their long hair and tight jeans. He laughed as he talked about how nowadays guys want a shaved head, and the baggier your jeans the better! For the girl side, you were required to wear dresses and skirts. Pants weren’t allowed unless it was a very cold or snowy day. Essentially, the same went for the teachers. They were expected to wear suits or sports coats and the women wore dresses. This all created a much more professional atmosphere at school than we have today. Anyone can get away with wearing their pajamas to school in this time period!
Moving on, spirit is a huge deal today at Cascade and seems to have always been. “We had the same prep rallies and assemblies they you have now before the big games. There was always the rivalry between Cascade and Everett High. They were always painting the bear some color other than the normal brown….” Dave said.
Not much has seemed to change in that way, but he made sure to talk about the fact that there wasn’t Kamiak, Mariner or Jackson at that time. Therefore, games against Everett were a huge deal. On a side note, Dave brought up the idea of girls participating in sports. They could play, but they were only to play intramural sports. He recalls only remembering having a girl’s basketball team, but other than that their options were very limited. Wow, have times have changed from then to now. Girls at Cascade, and almost every other high school, are given equal opportunities in everything done, including sports.
On the other hand, dating in the late 1960s was much different than now according to Dave. Of course there were the issues between couples that still go on today, but there were different ideas of “the cool things to do” then.
“We had the icon event in the area called Cruising Colby. And high school students would come from all around to partake in the event. It went on endlessly on Saturday nights even on Friday nights as well.” Instead of going to the mall to hang out with your boyfriend, they thought it was “cooler” to take your girlfriend to go cruising in your hot rod. On this note, drive-in movie theaters were always a source of entertainment. In those days you couldn’t just go to Redbox or Blockbuster to rent a movie because there were no VCR’s, DVD’s or DVR’s. Teenagers today couldn’t imagine life without any of those technologies. What would we do for fun today if we didn’t have technology?
On the note of technology, cell phones didn’t exist during Dave’s years at high school so you were somewhat more independent if you were out with your friends.
“If you needed to call someone or check in with your parents, you were sure to have a pocket full of dimes because a pay phone call was 10 cents,” Dave said.
Furthermore, drugs and alcohol are a problem in every high school, and today it is a big deal to be caught using any type of illegal substance. Dave didn’t really remember drugs particularly at Cascade, but recalled some new drugs being a big deal in San Francisco. “In those days Haight-Ashbury was the hippy hangout in San Francisco, and that seemed to be where all the new hype regarding LSD and all of the other mind altering drugs as they were called in the 60s was generated.” He said.
Dave didn’t think that much really happened at the actual school, as it does today. However, there were still the same group of guys who smoked and they would try to sneak out to the parking lot between classes for a quick smoke. Smoking doesn’t seem to be such a big deal today, and we agreed that it is due to the continuing education about its harmful effects. But, drugs at high school seem to becoming the new cigarettes of the 1960s. We all agreed that there needs to be more education about drugs.
Additionally, besides the school life itself, the world outside of Everett also was a huge factor of the time period. “I’m sure you look at the world as it is today and the economy that we are dealing with and wonder maybe if the world is coming undone at the seams. I think we wondered the same thing back in the 60s.”
Dave made sure to talk to us about how crazy his senior year was, in accord to the national affairs. There were demonstrations primarily in the south for race equality. Today blacks and whites are considered equal, but at the time Dave was in high school it was a huge issue. A huge deal at the time was the assassination of Martin Luther King Junior and Bobby Kennedy. This truly shocked the world, and he said high schoolers began to think what was happening in the world that you were growing up in. There were truly insecure moments. Also, there was the war in Vietnam, as like today we are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. The war was on the news every night and there were ongoing demonstrations opposing the war, once again just like today. Yet, there were differences. “When I was in high school, the military then was populated via the draft system. When you were a male and 18 years of age you had to register with the local draft board,” Dave recalled. What a difference compared to our generation. Now, people decide personally if they want to go to war. You aren’t “forced”, but are given the option to remain home while others fight for us.
“Enjoy your years at Cascade, you will make memories every day,” Dave concluded.