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The Slice: Annual litter report indicates beer drinkers’ lack of diversity

Teresa Vanairsdale was late in filing her annual Priest Lake litter report.

But here, at last, is her 2014 audit of roadside garbage.

“Although we sold our Priest Lake place in June, I drove up to a section of East Shore Road again on Sunday to pick up trash. It was sunny, chilly, and leaves were falling as I started up the road.

“My first find was a Keystone Light can, and it would prove to be this year’s winner. Busch and Busch Light were a close second, then Coors Light, and there was one Guinness Extra Stout bottle.

“Budweiser had a weak performance with only one can (the former king of beer litter). Mountain Dew was top dog in nonalcoholic drinks, but other Pepsi products figured prominently also.

“There was one can of Arizona Mucho Mango tea, assorted granola bar wrappers, a slice of underwear, I think, and a tailpipe.

“I swear someone chain-smoked all the way to Canoe Point because I picked up about 35 Pall Mall cigarette butts in two miles. Or maybe someone emptied their ashtray slowly while going up the road?”

Slice answers: Marvin Armstrong, 85, still has his blue and white 1948 LaCrosse High School letter sweater. It hangs in his closet.

Randy Laird shared this. “In our school we didn’t have letterman jackets, we had sweaters. I didn’t have one because my parents thought they were too expensive. However, I do have a letterman’s jacket from junior college. When we won our conference in baseball the townspeople all chipped in and bought us jackets. That was in 1965 in Blythe, Calif., and yes, I still have it.”

Paul Ruch graduated from Bangor (Pennsylvania) High School in 1955 and still has his letter sweater. “It still looks decent. Hopefully people think I am doing as well.”

Wayne Sanders, Glenbard East (Illinois) High School class of ’73, “most definitely” still has his letter jacket. But he suspects it might not fit now.

To be continued.

Today’s Slice question: What’s the secret to getting used to driving on the other side of the road when abroad?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Sorry I didn’t use your submission back in 1992. Feel free to try again.

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