MY MEMORIES

Charles Glenn Petersen

1960 - College Years II

Summer Job

Late in the afternoon of the 4th of June, 1961, Winnie and I headed toward Wisconsin in her 1956 Chevy to start what was in effect a three-month honeymoon in the Fox Cities. My brother and I owned our 1954 Chevy and since Winnie had a car, I sold my half of a 1954 Chevy to my brother. We found a small apartment in the upstairs of a house where the owners lived below.

I was assigned to work in the drafting department of the Central Plant Engineering office on the island which was part of Neenah and part of Menasha. I actually worked as a trainee in the Instrument Section. I didn’t have an office but spent my time on the drafting board learning about instrumentation in the pulp and paper industry. Of all the general engineering classes I had taken at Iowa State, Fluids was not required for Electrical Engineers. Unfortunately, the pulp and paper industry is all about fluids. Needless to say, it was a learning experience.

We made a trip back to Iowa that summer and somewhere along the way the rear end went out of the 1956 Chevy. Winnie’s father, Keith, came and got us. He apparently felt partially responsible since he had selected the car for Winnie originally. So, the next day he took me shopping for a different car. We ended up buying a 1959 Ford Galaxy, a rather sporty looking two-door hardtop.