RON L. PUETT:  

Looking back, it has been many years since attending Seaman High. In past, I played 2 to 3 seasons of fast pitch softball church league in city of Topeka, which I played centerfield position, with a decent batting average, and would have definitely gone out for baseball, had our school offered the sport back then. It is great to know Seaman has a baseball team now. Below are my accomplishments, over the last 40 years. To succeed, in life, I learned, you need to be versatile, always keep an open mind, and be ready to learn something new everyday, to increase your knowledge, and never, never, stop learning! While some of you went on to college, to achiever your goals, others got married, and settled down. I continued my education in offset printing after high school and received another diploma there, being placed for job at local printing firm for 2 years. But after that company closed their doors, I seeked new employment and learned a new job skill to carry on in life. In 1974, I operated stage and spot lights for a club in Topeka, where the rock band Kansas, first started, before the gang became recording artists. While working at club, I was visited by Rich Williams and Dave Hope, of Kansas several times, when they were not on the road in concert. I performed photoshoots for the club at rock concerts, in Kansas City, and Wichita, which my photography was shown above stage, while bands played, at the old Grandmothers and the Balcony club. Some of the big time groups I photographed were Kansas, after they asked me to perform photography, on stage, while the group played in concert live, at Memorial Hall, in Kansas City, Kansas, along with Head East, and Aerosmith in the early 70s. I sold the rights, of a concert photo shoot in Wichita, I performed, of the late Ronnie Van Zant, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, to their road manager. My first photo shoots were of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina at Memorial Hall in Kansas City. I also performed freelance photography of Paul McCartney, Journey, Styx, Brian Adams, Heart, Charlie Daniels Band, Lionel Ritchie, Christina Aguilera. Also from that year on, I took on a management responsibility for 4 seasons, setting up and supervising a firework stand in north Topeka, for Emery Brinkman of Fireworks Supermarket, whom owned 5 different businesses. In my second season, I went from a lean to stand, from the previous year, to a large tent, used my own approach in marketing and advertising, which I learned from experience in a retail department store, to set myself above my peers. My strategy and hard work, paid off. I achieved the highest in sales, over 100 firework tents and stands, which Mr Brinkman owned in northeast Kansas. In either 1975 or 76', I was approached by one of the Seaman High student council members, to see if I could help them put together their halftime festivities, at their homecoming football game, by volunteering the use of my 1973 Corvette, and to roundup some other Corvette drivers I knew, to escort the homecoming queen candidates, around the track at the football field. I first contacted Larry Shoaf (1971 Seaman alumni), whom also owned a Corvette, and a member of the Topeka Corvette Club, to round up some other owners. I, Larry Shoaf, and the other drivers, helped to assemble a convoy of different colored Corvettes, and escorted the homecoming queen candidates around the football field during halftime in Corvettes. We all felt honored, to help donate our time, and thank the student council of Seaman High, for letting us being a part of that event history. In 1975 I was employed for Richman Gordman department store, and was promoted from the audio department, to take over the pet department, which was in the red in sales, went to training seminars in Omaha, Nebraska, and after 2 months, our pet department which had 21 tropical fish aquariums and pet supplies,went out of the red, was number 1 in sales out of 8 stores, and stayed at the top, for a year and half until I left there to take on a new job offer. I seeked employment for the University of Kansas, in the printing departmen...Expand for more