Mary's Electronic Swiss Army Knife

Mary has one of those super phones. You know the kind I mean, It does a lot more than a regular cell phone. It can take pictures and movies, send and receive email, connect to the Internet, watch live TV, download music and movies in HD, make microwave popcorn, it even has Crime Deterrent.

Mary grabbed a couple of videos of Judy and friends at the reunion doin' the Karaoke thing. So here are some videos for your enjoyment **Live (after a couple months delay) and in living Color straight from Mary's super phone.

Oh Yeah - one more thing... Sept 13 - Happy Birthday Judy!

Can't believe I didn't get a picture.

The day after the Wally World reunion, Judy and Mary came to visit me in the hospital. They stayed for a while and we had a nice visit. - Can you believe it - I didn't get a picture with them !

I did find a couple of pictures on Facebook which I swiped and am posting here now.

Go Google yourself!

Did you ever Google your own name? It turns out that lots of people do this. It’s a great way to see what kind of stuff is out on the ‘net about you.

It’s a good thing Darcie Googled herself. That’s how she found the Wally World blog. I got an email from Darcie with a bunch of great old photos. I added Darcies' photos to the slideshow on the right side of the blog - and a few here too.


Thanks for the photo's Darcie!

Photography all in the Family

I went to school with Karen Sherlock. Karen was an exceptional photography student. In her second year at MATC, she was hired by the Journal as a staff photographer. Over the years, I have always looked for the byline “Photo by Karen Sherlock” every time I got my hands on a newspaper.

It was about 1984 when those bylines stopped appearing. I wondered what happened to Karen. Brian Koshollek gave me the answer. Brian’s dad was also a photographer with the Journal. Turns out Karen was in Poland trying to get her family to move to America.

There are a lot of connections in the photo world – it’s a lot like a big extended family.
That was especially true in Brian’s family, with his dad at the Journal, and Brian working with us at Walgreens, and now it appears that there is another Koshollek on the staff at the Journal Sentinel.

Brian passed away in August of 1986 at the age of 29. I asked Bob Lehew about some of his memories of Brian.
Bob has graciously agreed to share his thoughts with us.
Below is Bob's email about Brian.

----- Original Message -----
From: Robert LeHew Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 12:37 AM To: Scott Sager; judy marino Subject: Re: Help me with Brian's Last name.

Hi Scott, Sure, Brian's last name was Koshollek. His dad was an award-winning news photographer for the Milwaukee Journal. There is another Koshollek on staff currently at the Journal. I don't know if they're related.

When Brian was younger he had a motorcycle accident, that is what was wrong with his right side. He had a scar that ran from his head right down his spine. The doctor who did the original surgery heard of a different surgery that he thought could restore some function for Brian. He [Brian] was apprehensive about having the surgery but his limited mobility really gave him grief, especially at work, so he had it. The way I heard it the doctor found a tumor or something in his neck at the C1/2 level. While trying to remove it something happened which left Brian paralyzed and ventilator dependent. He was in a orbiting bed for the last 12 months of his life. He shunned any visitors (although I do believe Kathy Gaulke saw him) except his parents and brother. He could only blink his eyes and move his tongue slightly.

He wanted to die [can't blame him] and almost succeeded. He developed a badly infected gall bladder and didn't tell the doctors about the pain. They discovered it anyway but he refused surgery. They couldn't operate until he was out [so he couldn't refuse and they could take life-saving measures] and did so but it was too late. His disabled body couldn't fight the infection and he died.

Brian was a very good friend of mine. The night before the surgery we had a couple beers in his van out behind WW. He told me he was scared. He also made me promise if things didn't work out not to visit him, to remember him as he was. I kept that promise.

Brian could drink, let me tell you! We would take off after work at 6am and hit The Filling Station up on Fon du Lac Ave where they had $1.00 pitchers until 10am. When it was finally time to go home he would stick his bad hand in his pocket and say "no worries, Cruiser knows the way home". He was so proud of that Toyota Land Cruiser of his. 1968 model with a Chevy 327 in it for an engine. Four speed stick (how he could drive, shift, turn that thing with only one good arm and no power steering is still a miracle to me).

He got stopped one night by the Cedarburg police for speeding. He told the cop his speedometer didn't work because the needle fell off. The cop bought the excuse but gave him a warning ticket for the defective equipment. He had 15 days to fix the speedometer needle. Brian figured the cops wouldn't test it so he glued a toothpick, which he painted blaze orange, to the speedometer face plate. It worked! The cop looked at his dash and tore up the ticket. Unbelievable.

He never confirmed nor denied any relationship with Kathy. They did everything together but that is no proof. He was quite a guy, always ready to help, always giving of himself.
He died at 29 and we're all poorer for it.

If you need anything else I'm here. Just ask; I remember lots of things about WW. After all, Donna Mack, Dan Knickelbien, and I were all hold-over's from the beginning of Photoland. That takes our experiences at 3712 W. Elm St. all the way back to 1976.
-Bob

----- Original Message ----- From: Scott Sager To: 'Big Bob LeHew' Cc: 'judy marino' Sent: Sunday, April 05, 2009 7:14 PMSubject: Help me with Brian's Last name.

Hey Bob,
For the life of me I can’t remember Brian’s last name. Can you help me? Do you have any other thoughts or stories or photos to share about Brian?
Thanks, Scott

Spelling - a family curse

My Dad had a pocket dictionary with him at all times. My older sister was so bad at spelling, that she had a story written about her in the newspaper. I would be lost with out spell – check. For me spelling is a family curse.

It helps to get the name right when you are trying to find long lost friends. Olsen or Olson is one example. Farrow or Farrell is another. I remember Rich telling us his name sounded like the ice cream parlor at Northridge – But It was spelled a little different.

Last night Judy and I were talking about this, and Judy said “Farrow – just like the ice cream place at Northridge."

Click for a story about Farrells

So I’m still confused… But then… I looked in my filing cabinet.

I found a file folder labeled Walgreens. In that folder I found some old copies of “Walgreen World”. That was the semi monthly company news magazine. It had articles about the company and other stuff… Like service awards. They printed your name in Walgreen World when you had reached an employment milestone… like 3, 5, 10 years of service.

In the March/April 1985 Issue I found this entry - "R. Fahrow 2600 Addison Chicago. "

It seems like that was the address of the Chicago lab.

I did more internet searching and I now feel reasonably sure I have located our "Fearless Leader."

“Yabutay, Chee-Chee Abutay!”

The spelling is probably wrong… I might have the phrase all wrong. I remember him telling us that there was no real direct translation.

Mike, Judy and Greg were trying to get the newest member of the film crew to teach them how to swear in his native language. “Vlado”, short for Vladimir was a student at UWM. I think Vlado lived in Elm Grove. Judy thinks Vlado was from Poland. Vlado taught me a very useful skill - how to tie up garbage bags with out using those silly little wire ties.

I not sure if any of us remember Vlado’s last name, and that makes it nearly impossible to locate him. I’m glad we have some pictures of him.

Why Photography is So Important.

I’m continuously surprised by all the things I have forgotten over the years.

I see that Donna and Darcie attended the first campout. I didn’t even remember them being there until I saw the pictures…. That is why photography is so important to me. Without old pictures we might never remember some of those things that happened a long time ago. We had such a great time on the first campout, that we had a second one a year later. Strangely, I don’t think I have any pictures from the second campout in the summer of 1983, only a very few memories.

Donna and Darcie were both holdovers from Photoland.

I first met Darcie at MATC when I was getting my associates degree in photography. Darcie graduated a year ahead of me I think. I seem to remember we both liked jazz singer Al Jarreau. The last time I saw Darcie I was in small claims court in 1997 I was sitting there, waiting for my case to be called and in walks Darcie. I’m sure she didn’t notice me. She was dropping off or picking up some paperwork. Darcie works with the clerk of courts office.

I think Donna ran one of the old Kodak printers at Photoland in the 70’s. I think her shift started at about 5-6 pm. I have lots of good memories of Donna. She gave me a ride in her old Gremlin once I always thought Gremlins’ were cool. She explained the meaning of Solidarnose to me. Donna had a Commodore 64 computer, the same model as I had. She set up a computer “get together” at her apartment and I got to meet her “hacker” friends. That was really cool. I remember going out a number of times with Bob, Brian, Kathy, and Donna in the early days of Walgreens. Donna was interested in relationship… and she found one… with Brad. My memory of Brad is a little vague. I think Brad may have had a day job working on cars or machinery. I remember there was a rumor around work that Brad and Donna were shackin’ up… For some reason I happened to go over to Donna’s apartment one day, and that rumor was… confirmed. I’m not sure exactly when Donna and Brad were married… ‘83 - ‘85 maybe… they are still together - must be around 25 years.


Up in the balcony of the “Gay 90’s bar in Dundee, a few miles north of Mauthe Lake.
From left to right - Donna Mack, Judy Steiner, Darcie Muckler, Scott Sager,Vlado ( I wish I could remember his last name) and Mike Olson. I had completely forgotten about this bar until I saw this picture from Mary Nowacki. (Thanks for another great memory Mary!)

The Party's On !

THE PARTY'S ON !!!

Judy has finalized the details with Sharon (could this be the same Sharon that used to tend bar back in the '80s ???) Mark Your calander, Set your alarm clock, Program your GPS.

WHAT: Reunion and informal get together.
WHO: Employees of Walgreens Photo Studio - Milwaukee
WHEN: Saturday July 18th 2009 3 p.m. till ???
WHERE: Rollies - 7751 N. Teutonia Ave. Milwaukee WI 53209 414-354-9827

Hope to see you there!!!

View Larger Map

Seeing this reminded me...

Seeing this picture reminded me of how much memory I have (apparently) lost over the years.

First off, this girl has her hand on my shoulder. That in itself is something I should remember... Getting touched by a girl was a rare and noteworthy experience for me back then. (OK I'll admit - still is a rare occurrence to this day)

So Who's that Girl? (cue Madonna)
I vaguely remember her.... or not.

I noticed that in these two shots she has on the same shirt - just barely visible above the coat zipper - so I'm guessing these were shot on the same day. I just don't seem to remember her at all.

But - straining my brain - has brought back another memory.

I remember someone else that worked with us for a short time on the film crew. I think she may have been a friend of Judy's. Her name was Char, short for Charleen.

Do you remember Char?

Networking via Picture Postcards

I've been kicking around the idea of sending out some post cards to let people know about the reunion and blog. For people that are harder to find - or where we don't have a phone or email - this could be a fun and practical way of contacting them.

I came up a few designs below - your thoughts, suggestions, comments, always welcome :)

Who Am I ?

I finally got my pictures digitized at Walgreens. They're not the best quality - but what do you expect from Walgreens anyway. So I'm looking through the pictures and there is someone I don't know. I should remember - he was on the film crew!!! Somebody please - clue me in!

One more question... Anybody remember Ron's last name?

Walgreen's screwed up my photos again.

Tonight at 8 p.m. I took a bunch of negatives over to Walgreens to get them printed and put on a CD. I got back 134 prints and 4 Cd's in about an hour and a half. That seems pretty speedy...

The 4 CD's contain a total of only 67 photos. Only half of the prints made it to the CD's. I'll go back tomorrow and straighten things out.

In the mean time, I have improved the little slide show over on the right side of the blog.

Captain Kodak Strikes Again!

Photo Lab Chemistry Lesson

Potassium ferracinaide, hydroquinone, acetic acid, sodium thiosulfate… We worked with these and many other toxic chemicals every day in the lab. But that’s not the type of “chemistry” I had in mind for this blog entry. I was thinking more along the lines of the way two individuals relate to each other. There was some really freaky strong chemistry going on at Photoland BW (Before Walgreens). I remember having to make some noise (jingle my keys, clear my throat, etc.) before entering certain rooms to avoid catching the unsuspecting couple in mid kissy-face.

When Tom and Terry first started working at Walgreens, they seemed to bring some chemistry with them. That quickly changed when Tom saw Mel and Terry met Vlado. I’m sure there were many other intimate relationships that you or I might not even have been aware of.
It’s interesting how it all works out sometimes. Many married couples meet for the first time at their school or workplace. This is also true for me. I met my wife at the job I had right after Walgreens.

There’s all ways some risk involved in relationships. Hearts can be broken, dreams can be crushed, and your psycho-crazed ex might just come after you with a chainsaw. But when it works, when you find the right one, or they find you: that’s when we get an A+ on our chemistry exam. And what does this post have to do with anything?

I have been searching for my old co-workers on the internet, and last night I found four of them. That in itself is exciting (in a Dick Tracy kind of way). What’s even better is that these folks met at Walgreens and have been married more than 20 years. Who did I find? Donna & Brad, and Kathy & David. Do you remember them?

Rich and his wife get their "freak on" at the campout.

I Miss You.

Today is Sunday. My two girls went to church today. Dad slept in- but I probably should have gone along. My oldest daughter Stephanie will turn 13 in June this year. She is an Acolyte at church. She lights the candles at the start of the service, and extinguishes them at the end. That’s the same job that I had - at the same church when I was 13. I was baptized at Bayshore Lutheran church more than 50 years ago, I was married there, been a member all my life. Some things never change… and some things do change.

I remember the first day Angie started working at Walgreens. Angie is short for Angelina. I thought she was cute. I had a bit of a crush on her. Over the few years we worked together, Angie was always nice to me, we were friends, but I can’t say we became close friends. When I got a new TV, Angie bought my old one. It was 25 inch model that had to weigh a hundred pounds or more. Angie, Mary, and I worked together to move it from my 2nd floor apartment, to Angie’s house. I think that was the first time I was at Angie’s house.

Angie was diagnosed with scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disease that affects the skin, connective tissue, and internal organs. There is no cure. Sometimes the disease is manageable, sometimes not.

I don’t remember when Angie called me. I think it was sometime after the start of 1986. I don’t remember if it was while I was still working at Walgreens or after I left. Angie wanted to meet with me. We had lunch together and talked for a while. Angie had an oxygen tank with her, the kind with a plastic hose that goes under the nose. Her disease was progressing. Angie was doing her best to fight back. Angie was a rare and unique person. She was gentle and kind, that’s what I remember most about Angie.

I took some pictures back when we worked at Walgreens – I haven’t looked at them in a long time. Those pictures bring back a lot of memories. We were a pretty close bunch of co-workers. We were all friends with each other to some extent. Some friendships were closer than others. I wish I had gotten to know Angie better. I wish I had more time to talk with Angie.

Angie lost her fight with her disease on September 2nd 1994, she was 37 years old.

I’ll remember you Angie,
And I miss you.

Judy Steiner Wants You!

I just spent about 90 minutes on the phone with Judy. What a great chat we had!!

Judy Stiener (now Marino) would like to put together a reunion this summer.

Date and Location are yet to be determined.

Did you work at Walgreens Photo Studio - at the photo lab on Elm Street in Milwaukee?

Would you be interested in attending a reunion?

Contact Judy at otherearth4@msn.com and check back here at this blog for additional details to come.

With a little help from my friends.

You remember the Beatles song.
Well that's just what I need now - your help.
I will "flip the switch" and go "public" with this blog in a few days. What concerns me most is that I don't freak anyone out. I want to be careful so that no one gets hurt feelings. Most of the stuff that I'll post here happened years, decades, lifetimes ago. If you see something here that troubles you - please let me know. You be my editor.

Please be a Contributor
This blog needs your thoughts, stories, photos, comments... et cetera and so forth. Please contribute if you can. Just remember to respect each others privacy. No posting confidential junk like cell phone numbers, bank account stuff, or the location of that certain tattoo - you know what I mean. I do reserve the right to edit your contributions if they are sick, twisted, or could get me arrested etc.

Help Jog my memory
I feel so dense lately. I really need your help to remember stuff. Clue me in if I get the dates, details, or the whole story bass akwards. I'll be happy to fix, correct, or re-write history as needed. I'm also having a little trouble with some last names. I could use your help with names via email. I'll give you an example... "Vlado" short for Vladamir -was great funny guy and valued member of our team - what was his last name?

I know some stuff that might help...
Thankfully the FBI and Homeland Security haven't figured out just how skilled I am... oops well not yet anyway. Give me a detail or two and I'll share a possible phone or address - which may help you connect with your long lost co-worker etc. Likewise if you are on the lam and don't want anyone to find your hideout - clue me in , and I won't squeal.

Here's a fun riddle to puzzle over.
Ok this is not really a puzzle - I just needed to dress up this post with some photos. It's amazing, the stuff you can dig up with Google.

Young man invests his life savings in doughnuts and orange juice... Older richer man donates five large and and is elected to the Red Cross board of directors.
Question - what does that have to do with anything?
Answer - Beats the heck out of me?!?
Just look at the pictures.
















Click here then Click here and do somthing nice.

Rip My Face Off Please...

Co-workers.
This is what made working at Walgreens so great. I don't think I've ever worked with a better bunch of people. We were a tight crew. Most everybody got along most of the time. (At least that's how I'd like to remember it.) If you had an itch - sombody was there to scratch. Freaked about worms - get a piggy-back ride. Neck a little stiff... you get the picture. :)

Hold still now - This won't hurt a bit.

Crummy Slide Show

What a coincidence.
One of the items on my to-do-list is digitizing my collection of BD photos. (BD = Before Digital) I dug the boxes out from under the basement stairs a few weeks ago, and they have been sitting next to my desk ever since. There's a lot of photos, I'm not sure how many, three big boxes weighing 150 pounds total. It's going to be a big project - maybe that's why I had trouble getting started - where/how to begin?

Judy the Motivator.
When I got Judy's letter, I decided this was a perfect time to figure out a work flow for digitizing those old photos. I scaned about 25 prints, but I'm not at all happy with the results thus far.

You can see the slide show on the right side of the blog.
I will have to come up with something better, but for now it's a start. Right now I'm just using my all-in-one-printer-scanner-fax thing, and I'm looking for a better way - suggestions? There is a great opportunity for improvement somewhere in this process.

Rich Fahrow had lots of ideas to make the operation more efficient.

Do you remember? - Greg Burson.

In the 80's Greg was a manager with the Walgreens lab in Chicago. Greg often came to Milwaukee to help ensure that everything was running smoothly with our new lab.

During one visit, Greg and Rich were working on either the cine film processor, or the paper processor (I forget which one ). Greg was working on the machine while it was running. He stuck his hand in where he shouldn't have and lost the tip of his finger. Ouch!

Later Greg became a Fuji rep and continued visiting Walgreens when we switched to Fuji paper.

I remember Greg as an incredibly friendly and personable guy. He used to tell me stories about photographing president Johnson when he worked as a Whitehouse photographer. Greg helped me obtain an autographed baseball from baseball legend Mickey Mantle at a PMA trade show in Chicago. Greg is retired now and living in Arizona.

You can read more about Greg at his website. http://www.gburson.com/Greg.html

Hookin' up with Tom & Mel

Do you remember Tom and Mel?
Of course you do. Tom and Mel were a couple. Mel always had a great hair-do. Tom had grey hair – which was kinda weird cause I don’t think it was grey when he started working at Wally World. (Wally World or Nightmare on Elm Street - i.e. Walgreens Photo Studio – movies played a big part in our vernacular back in the 80’s)

10:37 p.m. Beth and Mel have "Big 80's Hair"
While a bemused Scott Sehmer looks on.

Turn right at Taco Bell - ya can't miss it.
I remember Tom lived just a few blocks from work on Vera Av. I was at his house once for some reason or another. I ran into Tom a couple of times after he left Walgreens.

I had this Red Toyota GTS with a twin cam engine – sharp little car – and I’m driving down Teutonia. There’s a slick 68’ Camaro up ahead of me. I speed up to get a better look at the Camaro. The other guy speeds up, I speed up more, then he speeds up… now were racing! What the heck – I just wanted to get a better look at his car! There’s no way I can keep up with this guy. My car is fast, his car is serious fast – and then I realize he’s just playing with me. The Camaro slows down a bit and I pull alongside and look over at the driver – there’s Tom smiling back at me. Kinda hard to have a conversation at 95 mph!

The next time I ran into Tom was at Capitol Court. I don’t remember exactly what year it was – sometime between 1988 - 90 I think. We chatted for just a bit. He and Mel are splitsville. He tells me Mel was one of the nicest girls he’s ever met. I know he’s right; Mel was a very nice girl. Tom might not have been the right guy for her. Tom tells me she is dating “some IRS Attorney”.

Mel is short for Melanie.
I remember Mel had a weird phobia – rain. When it rains, worms come up out of the ground. Mel does not want to step on the worms. “That would be so gross!” When it rains, Beth gives Mel a piggy-back ride from her car in the parking lot – into the building.

My brother-in-law is opening his own business.
A decorative hardware store that sells fancy door knobs and artsy-fartsy cabinet hardware to people that are building or remodeling their home or kitchen. (Ok so actually he purchased an existing store... but that's just details and such - not part of the main story.) I put in all kinds of crazy hours whenever I can to help him get the business started. This is back in 2004 - 05. I build him a website, and set-up his computer based inventory system. I spend some time helping in the store - waiting on customers, takin’ out the trash, cleanin’ the toilets… anything and everything to help build up the business and get him off to a good start. The economy and the housing market killed his business and he’s closing his store this year… And what has that got to do with anything you ask…

I didn’t recognize her at first.
This middle aged woman is in the store to pick up her knob order. “Scott!” “Do you remember me?” “It’s Mel from Walgreens!” She says. My jaw drops. Mel looks exactly the same only slightly more middle aged. We chat for a bit. She tells me she’s married and has two kids. I show her pictures of my two girls. She says she lives in Whitefish Bay....

Just like that stupid song I can't get out of my head...
It is a small world after all... That night when I got home, I checked my Cougar Caller*. Sure enough; Mel’s kids are attending the same school as my girls. Just for fun I Googled Mel’s husbands name. – He’s all over the Internet, an easy find. -What do you know Tom… She married the IRS Attorney guy!!!

*Couger Caller - It's a "Bay" thing.

Before it was Walgreens - Boring Photoland History

Skip this part
Before it was Walgreens, the business located at 3712 W. Elm Street was called "Photoland", a photo lab started by Bob Wodushek and four partners in 1973. Before before 1973, a start-up company named Marquette Electronics had it's business here.

I'm giving you all this boring history, cause I think it's sorta important for backstory and background and junk. Besides, I can write what I want - so there - nanna nanna boo boo. You can just skip this part if you want to... however... You might find an interesting ironic twisty ending at the end of this post. Read on if you like... or not. Feel free to comment, correct, or flame me here in public, or at scott@s-sager.net.

In the beginning.
I first became interested in photography in 1970 when I watched my older brother develop some black & white prints in the darkroom he setup in our basement.
By 1976 I was taking photography classes at MATC Milwaukee Area Technical College. I received an Associates Degree in 1979, I was 21 years old. I was living at home and wasn’t getting along very well with my father. He wanted me out of the house, but that’s a whole-nuther' other story. ("nuther" poetic license - get used to it!)

A job finishing photos.
I answered an ad in the Milwaukee Journal for Photo Lab help. Bob Benson, the plant manager at Photoland interviewed me and I was hired in December 1979. My starting pay was $3.50 per hour which was 60 cents above the minimum wage. On my first day I ran out of gas on my way to work. Fortunately this happened right in front of the gas station at the intersection of Hampton and Green Bay. Unfortunately, I was penniless, so I walked the remaining 4 miles to work, arriving an hour late. A month or 2 later I was able to move into my own apartment on Teutonia Avenue about 2 miles from work.

A cool drivin' job. - An inside joke from Dennis.
My work day at Photoland started at Noon. I picked up 20 or so bags of photo orders and drove a company car dropping off finished photo orders and picking up new film to be developed from camera stores between the north side of Milwaukee out to Mayville and back. The route took about 4 hours to complete. The company car was a stick-shift Toyota. I had never driven stick before, but I understood the basic concept. I just got in and started driving. Everything worked out. (Ok, I' ll admit - I crashed it once on a snow slick highway - but that's another story for another time.) When I arrived back at Photoland , the work continued with sorting and processing the orders.

Very cool co-workers - doomed, but cool none the less.
I worked with Ian Simpson and a fellow named Dennis. Dennis was hired about the same time I was and had the exact same birthday as me. Ian Simpson was and still is a pretty interesting guy. To this day I'm honored to have known and worked with him for the short time that I did. He raced his Saab 99 in SCCA Rally events. Ian knew how to “hack” the timeclock at work, and we often padded our hours to get some un-earned overtime. Dennis also drove a route and assisted with the sort, splice, processing work. I would love to flesh this section out with more details - and maybe I will at some later point. There is a lot more dirt to dish...

Workin for a livin' - barely.
There were about 40 employees at Photoland. Most of us were getting paid something around $4 -$5 per hour. Not all that bad for an entry level job that required no special skills or training, yet not really enough even in 1979-80 to be considered a “Living wage”. Ian Simpson had a better idea.

Be your own boss - and give yourself a raise.
There was a camera store/photo lab for sale in Muskego. Ian was ready to buy the business and become his own boss. He needed a partner. I would have jumped at the chance, but I was living check-to-check and had nothing to invest. Dennis was able to come up with some cash. He and Ian opened Parkland Photo on Janesville road just across the street from the old Dandelion amusement park in late 1980 or 1981.

There must be a workaround.
Ian and Dennis continued to work at Photoland, while operating their store in Muskego. I’m not sure how they pulled this off, but they did. If my memory is correct, they were only open a few days or weeks before they had a problem. Their Pako cine film processor was very similar to the one at Photoland. One of the electric heaters on their machine stopped working. Ian contacted Rich Fahrow, the Pako service rep for Wisconsin, to order a new heater. Unfortunately the heater would have to be ordered, and would take a few days or a week to arrive. Since his machine was out of commission, Ian brought the film from his store to Photoland for processing. I’m not sure if he was caught or was questioned about this, but he came up with a different solution to the problem. With my assistance, we removed the dead heater from their machine in Muskego, and swapped it with a working heater from the Photoland machine.

Our machine continued operating on one of two heaters, and their machine was back in operation. When the new heater arrived from Pako, the plan was to install it in the Photoland machine.

Sorry Dudes - A little white lie - to keep my job!
The next day when I finished my camera store route at 4 pm, Bob Benson met me at the door. “Scott, I need to see you in my office” he said. “Do you know anything about a photo lab that Ian and Dennis are running?” I explained that I did know of their store, but was not involved with it in any way. Bob Wodushek, the president of Photoland was also in the office. “Good” he said “I knew my Scotty wouldn’t be mixed up in this mess”.

The low temp alarm went off on the film processor today. Bob Benson called Rich the Pako rep to order a new part. (what a coincidence) Rich told Bob he was the second person to order a new heater in just a few days. “Ian Simpson needed a heater for his machine in Muskego.” explained Rich.

"We had to let Ian and Dennis go. Their lab is a conflict of interest." explained Bob Wodushek. I was on my own sorting and processing the film orders that night. The next day Bob Wodushek hired his neighbor Kathy and his nephew Greg to replace Ian and Dennis.

Twisty ironic ending.
Rich Fahrow was the Pako rep for Wisconsin. Rich also ran a small store front photo lab on Main street in Menomonee Falls. Rich's store was one of the stops on my pick-up route. Unknowingly, the comment Rich made when Bob ordered the heater is what got Ian and Dennis fired. In a wacky twist of fate, Photoland was sold to Walgreens and the business expanded greatly. There was a need for a Film Crew Supervisor. That position would have gone to Ian Simpson, had he still been employed. After helping to install a bunch of new Pako processing equipment, Rich Fahrow quit his Pako rep job to become the Film Crew Supervisor at Walgreens.



Ironically, Bob Wodushek was workin' for a livin' at the GAF photo lab in the '60's and wasn't happy with the job or the pay - so he started Photoland, where he could be his own boss, and give himself a raise.

And for the final ironic twisty turn... Mike Wodushek, Bob's son, is now the president of Photoland/Pakor in Appleton Wisconsin.
(Photoland Milwaukee became Walgreens - but Photoland's Appleton Lab lives on to this day)
In 2002 Mike Wodushek promoted Ian Simpson to VP of Distribution for Photoland.

A BLAST from the PAST!

Coming Home (Homecoming)
My commute is just a short walk, I work two blocks from home.
Every day as soon as I get home, my dog runs up to greet me at the door, my youngest daughter screams “DADDY!” and drops whatever she is doing to give me a hug. My older daughter, if she's in the room, gives me a bland "Hey Dad", and my wife usually asks "How was work?"

Today something different.
My wife says “You got a letter… up there… from some Judy chick”. I look over the envelope, not recognizing the name or the address. Nevada? Who do I know from Nevada? I tear open the envelope and pull out the hand written letter. HAND WRITTEN!!! Man – that’s a lost art form! Does anybody really hand write letters anymore. I start to read the letter dated 3/17/09 … It begins with “Hey Scott!”… Whoever this Judy person is, she seems to know me.

AH-HAAA! - That Judy!
Judy from Walgreens – it’s been like Umpteen Jillion years since I’ve thought about Judy and the rest of the gang from Walgreens. What a crazy wacky fun time we all had back then in the early ‘80s. I sense my wife talking to me … calling my name… but I can’t really even hear her. My mind is overflowing with images, memories of that time… Whoa, the colors!!! The COLORS!!!!

Ya Got Me!
Judy’s coming back to Milwaukee for a visit this summer. She would like to see some of the old gang, and is trying to locate some of us. I spent the rest of the evening and part of the “wee” hours surfing FaceBook, Classmates, and Googling names and stuff till I’m bleary eyed. The next day at work I have a hard time concentrating. I find myself jotting down notes and names and stuff throughout the day.

This is your brain – This is your brain from the ‘80’s
I’m getting old. I can’t remember anything anymore. Maybe it was all the drinking I did in the ‘80’s. I stopped drinking in 1990 when I met my wife. Now I’m having trouble with names. There were a lot of people that came and went from Photoland/Walgreens during the years I worked there. I can see the faces, I hear their voices ( no, not that kind of hearing voices…) But I just can’t remember some of the names.

Blogger to the rescue
Judy has some people to find and contact. I have some thoughts and memories to share. I’m sure, if you are reading this - You have stories, pictures, memories and other things to share too. Is the internet the “big hook up”? Will we all connect? Is anybody out there? Let’s find out.

And so the blog begins.... :)

Judy points out her favorite fly.