The Saga of Harold M. Snow

When I entered EHHS for the first time, Fall 1960, there was one particular football player who seemed to have the whole package…Kip Miller.  Even as a Junior in his first varsity season, Kip was already known as a star on the team.  As a 16-year old youngster, Kip was a self-confident, handsome kid who was dating one the beauties of his class, Carol Warkentin.

Kip had something of an entourage around him in the locker room and it was probably there that I first heard the name of the legendary, Harold M. Snow.  The coach would call Harold’s name during roll call and Kip would answer “here” for him and those around Kip would snicker.  That went on for a few days before it slowly died out.  Although it was clear that there was an inside joke going on, I never knew the story until recently.

In his 50^th reunion bio, William R. Kantz, a member of the EHHS first graduating Class of 1960 confessed his part in starting the gag.  It goes like this:

“I attended three schools in Arkansas, one in Commerce, TX and William James, Poly, Handley and EHHS -- Plus four years of summer school. This provided a large pool of girls to date. I also had a Rep. as a Bad Boy, a wild child and a little bit dangerous. This was a plus when dating girls from other schools. In 1957, Harold M. Snow was created as a protection while dating girls from other schools.

“The Saga of Harold M. Snow!  In the school year of 1958, Handley's last year as a high school, I made a motion at a Vulture's meeting that stated: It would be a good joke to have the school office girls slip Grade and Attendance cards into the school files.  This task was accomplished in the name of Harold M. Snow.  The whole thing was just for fun and to screw with EHHS new staff and teachers.  It really was funny to hear his name called out in every class and one of our club members answer for him.  By the third week the staff and teachers were going nuts trying to find him.  The school went serious, and we went silent. -- Until Now!

William R. Kantz  (2010)
P.S.  The M. stands for Melvin”

From a reunion questionnaire: What has surprised you about your life since leaving EHHS back in 1960?

That I have made it this far and that God has assigned angels to protect me.

Gus' note: This is one of those rare stories where a prank had marvelous "legs" reaching over 50-years now. Probably unknown to these perps, their prank became something of an urban legend for at least 3-classes that followed them at EHHS. For those who never heard of Harold M. Snow, know that the sense of humor and creativity shown in his design and execution is pure 1950s--carefree, exuberant, fearless, and creative. It was a great time to be a kid.

Adios