Lincoln High School Alumni
Manitowoc, Wisconsin (WI)
Alumni Stories
Michael Lewis Wernecke
Class of 1962
On the trail of the unknown Classmate
That's me
You don't know me and few do but here's
My story and I'm sticking to it.
The day after graduating from Lincoln
In the summer of 62 myself and three
Others began our epic trip in a somewhat modified classic 40 Ford coupe.
We were heading for the city of many songs
New Orleans.
An unexpected stop overnight in Janesville
Left Bill Kramer and I on the street corner alone
and with s momentous decision to make.
Head back to Manitowoc without our friends and car or keep going towards New Orleans
With twenty bucks in our socks and a small
Bag of belongings .
Here it was a sunny day and our life scarily
Begging us forward .
Yes, New Orleans was our choice .
Never was there a scarier moment,
To hitch hike by thumb with strangers.
Two recent high school
Services . Don't try this at home .
About fourty and more years later
And I had made one of the great and most painful choices of my life .
We never made it to New Orleans.
Never made it was an incredible success .
What Bill Kramer and I did make was the greatest story of our early lives.
The greatest unintended experience we could
Ever have hoped for .
We hitched through Wisconsin and into
Illinois and headed home to certain failure
With no job offers and no pesos in the pocket
When a temporary job was given us in Wisconsin Dells at a motel spreading sod around a swimming pool.
A short reprieve from a failing summer trip the the South.
The bummer of 62 turned into lucks
Great day when a dropped hint of work sent Bill
And I to Baraboo to seek out that wonderful
Offer of a potential job with a circus ?
No circus job jumped up at us but a bellowing elephant did,
And there it was .
Not a job with a circus so much as a job
with destiny and rain and dirt and mosquitoes
and the greatest story one could ever tell.
And my future working on the Human Genome
Project or working on movies for Disney
or authoring many articles or getting awarded
Three college degrees ever got me further
Than walking on that Cole Brothers Circus
Lot that June morning with Bill in 1962.
Thanks for listening
Michael Wernecke
That's me
You don't know me and few do but here's
My story and I'm sticking to it.
The day after graduating from Lincoln
In the summer of 62 myself and three
Others began our epic trip in a somewhat modified classic 40 Ford coupe.
We were heading for the city of many songs
New Orleans.
An unexpected stop overnight in Janesville
Left Bill Kramer and I on the street corner alone
and with s momentous decision to make.
Head back to Manitowoc without our friends and car or keep going towards New Orleans
With twenty bucks in our socks and a small
Bag of belongings .
Here it was a sunny day and our life scarily
Begging us forward .
Yes, New Orleans was our choice .
Never was there a scarier moment,
To hitch hike by thumb with strangers.
Two recent high school
Services . Don't try this at home .
About fourty and more years later
And I had made one of the great and most painful choices of my life .
We never made it to New Orleans.
Never made it was an incredible success .
What Bill Kramer and I did make was the greatest story of our early lives.
The greatest unintended experience we could
Ever have hoped for .
We hitched through Wisconsin and into
Illinois and headed home to certain failure
With no job offers and no pesos in the pocket
When a temporary job was given us in Wisconsin Dells at a motel spreading sod around a swimming pool.
A short reprieve from a failing summer trip the the South.
The bummer of 62 turned into lucks
Great day when a dropped hint of work sent Bill
And I to Baraboo to seek out that wonderful
Offer of a potential job with a circus ?
No circus job jumped up at us but a bellowing elephant did,
And there it was .
Not a job with a circus so much as a job
with destiny and rain and dirt and mosquitoes
and the greatest story one could ever tell.
And my future working on the Human Genome
Project or working on movies for Disney
or authoring many articles or getting awarded
Three college degrees ever got me further
Than walking on that Cole Brothers Circus
Lot that June morning with Bill in 1962.
Thanks for listening
Michael Wernecke
Recent Members
| Bonnie Krueger | 1966 |
| Cecelia Cecelia Lewis | 1968 |
| Cindy Hack | 1976 |
| Donald Becker | 1964 |
| Gary Schlies | 1967 |
| Ken Kono | 1971 |
| Thomas Perry | 1970 |
| Will Behnke | 1971 |
Military Alumni
Honoring Our Heroes
This area is dedicated to our alumni that have served or are serving in our armed forces!
Lost Class Rings
Have you lost your Lincoln High School class ring? Have you found someone's class ring? Visit our Ships lost class ring page to search for your class ring or post information about a found ring.
Do you have a fun holiday story or a great family tradition? Share them with our fellow Lincoln High School alumni! Submit your own stories, achievements and photos in our Alumni Stories section. Read other classmate’s stories and see what they have been up to over the years.
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays!