The Power Of Vinyl!

Vinyl records reunite old sweethearts

By AP Press wire


GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- They fell in love in 1942 but lost touch after Don Spooner went to war.

Spooner, then 21, and Shirley Brown, then 17, spent a last day together on the shore of Lake Michigan and he took a photo of "Shirl" sitting on the sand.

"We talked about getting engaged before I went overseas, but if I came home without an arm or a leg, it wouldn't be fair to her," he said.

He was gone for three years. Brown married another man and the two never spoke for six decades. Until now.

Spooner's memories were revived last month when he found two 78 rpm records in his old army trunk. Spooner said his parents had decided the recordings would be a great way to send their voices to him.

But Spooner couldn't find a phonograph to play them while overseas. So he didn't listen to them.

But after finding the records again, he was curious to hear the sounds if only he could find a machine to play them.

Spooner, 87, a widower, mentioned his dilemma at the car dealership where he works as a part-time driver.

Co-worker Robb Szymik used a record player and computer to put them on a CD. Spooner could hear his parents, Brown and others talking and singing.

"I went through a half a box of Kleenex," Spooner said. "All the voices were just as I remembered them."

He figured Brown also would love to hear them. He used an alumni directory to track her down. The two plan to meet tomorrow.

"I can't believe all this," Spooner said. "It's all because of the records."