1967

In 1967 Rick was attending his first of four years at St. Joseph's Seminary, the Grand Rapids Diocese "future priest school" at 600 Burton St SE.
This minor seminary was a "college prep" school where we prepared for college by getting the required language and science credits to attend a major seminary. Boys only. Nearly all the professors were priests, and the cooks were Dominican nuns who lived in their own separate building on campus.

At St. Joe's Seminary, Rick spent many hours playing guitar, playing basketball & handball, going to chapel, and doing homework.
Not much else to do, because St. Joe's was a boarding school with 16.5 barbed-wire fenced-in acres.
A very studious atmosphere, with strict hours for chapel time, study time, and recreation time. Lights Out at 9:30pm. Except on Fri & Sat when we could stay up until 11pm.
Students had one weekend per month at home. Other than that, we could leave campus for only one Saturday afternoon per month. And 2 "shorts" leaves per month, when we could sign out and leave campus for one hour to make a quick trip to a local store or Miller's Ice Cream parlor, which was a block away on Burton & Eastern.

Rick was a serious Catholic, a serious Dean's List student with B+ average, a serious beginning guitar player, a serious future-priest studying the bible, catechism, and theology. Favorite music was the typical "around the campfire" type of folk songs of the 60s; Peter, Paul, & Mary, Simon & Garfunkel, Association, Bob Dylan, Mamas & Papas, Neil Diamond, . The Beatles had just released Interesting music on the horizon was The Who, Rolling Stones, Buffalo Springfield, Tommy James, Monkees, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Eric Burdon & the Animals,

Rick got a $10 electric guitar near the beginning of 1967. The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the summer of 1967 while Rick was home on summer break from seminary. That same summer, Rick was approached by Cal Schaeffer and Joe Schumaker, the guitarists of the Dorr band "The Sunn". I remember going out behind the store and playing a few songs for them. They were impressed that I could sorta play lead and rhythm at the same time during the song Little Black Egg" by The Nightcrawlers. I was hired as bass player to the Sunn. At first I de-tuned and played bass my cheap Geko 6-string. We rehearsed in various places, but most notably in Tony Rakowski's Antique Shop; the big red brick school house on the North side of Dorr. The same schoolhouse where Rick attended Kindergarten.

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