Brief Background: A Dr. Pepper bottle in 1959 had a clock with three hands on it. One was pointed at 10am; one at 2pm; and one at 4pm. The Dr. Pepper slogan was "Have a Dr. Pepper at 10; 2; and 4."
I did not know any student who drank Dr. Pepper; maybe it was because the drink was rumored to contain prune juice. But there was one teacher who drank Dr. Pepper at PCHS, a lot of Dr. Pepper. That teacher was the iconic Nolan "Pete" Reece.
Mr. Reece was a legend at PCHS. In addition to teaching, he was the boys basketball coach off and on for many years. Mr. Reece also smoked and was often seen lighting up as he went down to the furnace room in the main building or into the equipment room in the basement of the gym. He often combined smoking with the Dr. Peppers.
My favorite Mr. Reece story happened in Health and Safety class. We had been studying pressure points to stop bleeding. He asked a classmate, now deceased, "If a person was bleeding from the temple what should you do?" He was looking for the student to reply, "Apply light pressure to a jugular vein in the neck."
Instead, my classmate said with the earliest of speed and greatest of confidence, "Put a tourniquet around his neck!" The expression on Mr. Reece's face was priceless.
I remember Mr. Reece wearing a lot of brown colored clothes. His hair always had a just combed look.
After his death, I had several conversations with his widow who lived in their house in Vernon. She seemed very pleased to hear me talk about her late husband and she would tell me how much she missed him.
Rest In Peace Mr. 10-2-4 Man.
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