As the class began unpacking their picnic lunch, they noticed Tubby’s attention had been captured by an enormous hornets’ nest hanging high up in a nearby tree. The boys exchanged uneasy glances as Tubby took aim with a large stone, worried this might be the day he finally hit his mark. He missed. Instead, the sharp stone whizzed through the hive’s stem, severing it completely from the tree and sending the massive nest plummeting to earth.

A sinister swarm immediately materialized above the class and, for a moment, the giant, buzzing thundercloud blocked out the sun before raining murderous intent onto the panic-stricken group.

Chaos ensued.

Don Rigo couldn’t find traction in the sand and went down first, but his students didn’t have a second to spare him a glance. Screaming children took off in every direction. Several bodies hurtled up the path, shrieking and flailing in terror. My dad and his friends clambered wildly through the underbrush to a nearby river, plunging themselves underwater while being continuously pummeled by the hornets’ unmerciful stingers.

The boys remained in the water for nearly 8 hours, ducking and dodging the relentless barrage until nightfall finally lured away the swarm. They trudged home in the dark, feverish and covered in welts, some of the boys unable to see through their swollen eyes. Don Rigo was hospitalized for several days before ultimately resigning from the school. And the story and rumors surrounding the incident grew to such epic proportions that Tubby and his family moved away to escape the constant scrutiny and humiliation.

My dad still grimaces when describing the onslaught, but my brother and I grew up laughing and laughing every time he retold the tale (I’m still not sure what that says about us). Happy birthday dad! I hope I was able to capture this much-discussed memory for you, and I know you’ll enjoy biting the heads off all these hornets.