Mike Hastings, an alumni from the Class of 1975, has been living in Denmark for the past 18 years.  His travels have taken him from little old Charlestown to big old Texas and then out of the country in 1983.  He has lived in France, Spain and even Mozambique before settling in Denmark.  Please view the information about his upcoming visit and let's try to put together a dinner, lunch or something to give him a warm welcome home.   

Mike Writes:

"I’m coming to Floyd Knobs to see my niece get married June 28! I will be in the area from June 26 to July 1, so this means I will probably set foot in Charlestown one or more of those days. I would like to meet some of the people that were in Charlestown when I used to live there.

This is probably a tall order to ask since it’s been many years since I lived there:

1957-63 Arizona - Tucson, Casa Grande, Phoenix
1963-68 NY - Chappaqua (Hillary’s town!), Ossining, Peekskill
1968-69 Ava, Illinois (see if you can find this on a map!)
1969-76 Charlestown
1977-80 W. Lafayette (Purdue plus co-op work in Chicago)
1980-83 Texas – Wharton, Spring, Houston, Clear Lake
1983-85 France - Annecy, Clermont-Ferrand, Paris
1986-87 Malaga, Spain
1987-89 Mozambique – Maputo, Beira (Africa)
1990-2008 Denmark

6.5 years in Charlestown! Let’s see, that represents, uhhh, a little less than 13% of my life. 13%! That’s hardly enough to qualify me as a hometowner! In fact this makes me look more like a hobo transient or nomad. What justification do I have coming to Charlestown for a visit?

I’m just on the brink of changing my mind to visit Charlestown but my heart and soul tell me something different. The numbers don’t tell the whole story. You see those 6.5 years were precisely my formative adolescent years, just like they were for you guys. Sure, I have vivid memories from every other place I ever lived, but the Charlestown years have left their distinct, indelible impression upon me – for both better and worse – that no other influence or force can take away (short of a lobotomy). I would even be so bold as to say that those 6.5 years carry more weight than did the following 30 years!

A heck of a lot happened to me during that time, and many of you all were directly or indirectly involved.

Some of you who in class can probably remember I bicycled, bicycled and bicycled. Those of you that shared this passion with me form part of my fondest memories. I don’t think there was a single road within a 50 mile radius from Charlestown that wasn’t explored. (Incidentally, I still bicycle to work everyday  – 42km – so this is one passion that has lived on).

Others can probably remember I delivered newspapers every single day for several years (Louisville Times weekdays, Courier Journal on Sundays). This definitely put a damper on my social life but I really had no choice. I had no mother and my alcoholic father, as kind and good natured as he was, was dirt poor. The job actually helped prepare me for the outside world; my first clunker car, my first racing bike, a Honda 250, a pilot’s license, and savings for the university.

On the school front, some can probably remember that I was incredibly uncoordinated and never played sports at school (although I did amateur bike racing when I was 17). Some of my best classmate friendships were those of you who had the same experience. But a select few of you joined me in other physical activities that were not part of the CHS curriculum. This included hiking, ice skating, spelunking, and rafting. I still do a lot of these outdoor activities plus others such as kayaking, roller blading and skiing. I never get tired of this stuff, and I can talk your ears off recounting all my experiences!

There were other passions that played an important part of my growing years that I unfortunately never shared with the rest of you. This includes painting (which I still do from time to time) and super long overseas bike trips. Some of you can probably remember I flew small single-engine planes from 1972-81, but again I never shared this experience neither with my Charlestown classmates (though I think a couple of you followed me out to the airport a couple of times).

I was very fortunate be close to several classmates, teachers and neighbors during those formative years, and I would like the opportunity to meet you again during my short jaunt through Charlestown. There were also many I never got to know, but I want to meet you anyway! Some of you I admired greatly, others I was afraid of, some I was secretly infatuated with, others made me laugh, some made me sad, others helped me, some were mentors and role models, others were light years away.
But one thing we all have in common is that we shared the same Charlestown turf for 6.5 formative years. And as short as that was, it is one of the biggest chunks of our life."