Est. March 31, 2000 18,674 Previous Hits December 10, 2001 Editor:Tommy Towery http://www.leealumni.com Class of 1964 Page Hits This Issue e-mail ttowery@memphis.edu Staff Writers : Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly , Joy Rubins Morris ,Terry "Moses" Preston Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders |
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The School Bus by Tommy Towery I only rode the school bus to Lee for one year. That was when I was in the 9th grade. I had moved to McCullough Avenue and for the first time since the first grade, was living too far away from a school to walk. I guess I could have walked, but when I had the opportunity to ride the bus, the idea of walking never again entered my mind. I remember that we didn't ride the familiar big yellow school buses that others rode. The bus I rode was a regular sea-green and white Huntsville city bus. Ray Walker's house backed up to my house, and the official bus stop for my area was in front of his house. That made me have to go to his house each morning and await the arrival of the bus. The bus came up the street from the south, and we usually waited on his front porch for it. On really cold days, we waited in his living room, taking turns going out onto the porch to see if the bus was coming. I remember thinking how great it would be to have a televison camera pointing down the street so that we could see it coming. There were several of us, but I don't remember who else caught the bus there with me. (Did any of you?) On days that I was running extremely late, I would run out the door and flag down the bus in front of my house. I do remember that each time that I did that, the driver would scold me, but he would still stop. On the days that I didn't make that cut, I would have to walk, which always made me late for school. I don't remember any bus driver's name or face, but I seem to recall that they were all male. One of my biggest memories of riding on the bus also is missing some names. There were two girls (one especially) that had a big crush on my brother, Don. This was when he had elected to go to Huntsville High instead of Lee. Anyway, one day on the way home from school, the girls realized that I was Don's brother, and that my brown eyes were like his I suppose. This one girl in particular keep sitting in the seat in front of me and wanting to look at my eyes. She then got up and sat in the seat with me and pulled my head back and starred deeply into my eyes, all the while screaming, "He's got Don's eyes!" This ritual went on for several weeks (or at least it seemed to) before she gave up on it. (If anyone is or knows who the mystery girls were, please let me know!) Another memory is a crazy one, but I still remember it. One day as we were heading home in a terrible rainstorm, I saw a big puddle right where I always got off the bus. I had an armload of books that day, and when I saw the puddle, I got worried about dropping my books in the puddle. The closer we got, the more psyched up about it I got. As I started off the bus I held tightly to the books and decided to jump the puddle instead of trying to go through it. Bad mistake! As I jumped it and cleared it, I hit the slippery mud on the other side, lost my balance, and plop, down went a book, right into the middle of the puddle. I often felt that if I had never once thought about it, then I never would have dropped it in the first place. Before I entered the 10th grade, I moved over to Webster Drive and was away from the school bus route. I missed it. I also missed a lot of school because I did not have the convenience of riding the bus (That's the reason I missed so much school, Skip!). I know they happened, but I don't remember any fights or real problems on the bus. When my daughter Tiffany started riding the bus and I would look out my front window and see here standing on the corner waiting, it brought back a lot of my own memories. I will always remember those bus rides fondly. Other Classmates Share Their Memories Subject: The School Bus Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2001 22:37:32 -0600 From: "SOLON JAMES" <glennj1500@msn.com> My memories of riding the school bus: Having to get up early to catch the bus. Saving a seat on the bus for a girl (I did end up getting a wife for that gentlemanly gesture). Being on the bus that ran off in the ditch at Hwy 72 & the street going down to Lee (I don't think anyone was hurt, but it sure scared everyone). Having to have your bus ticket punched to ride the bus. The buses being hot in the summer and cold in the winter. This was not really riding the bus to school, but maybe it applies anyway, the trip the band made to the Orange Bowl Parade. We got to walk down the backside of Monte Santo, because the highway was frozen over with ice. The buses slide down the mountain, with us walking (sliding) down behind them. I developed many friendships by riding the bus to school. It was a high point of my school days. Marie and I are looking forward to the Mini-reunion at Mullin's on the 8th. Hope to see you then. Glenn James (Editor's Note: We'll have photos from the Mini Reunion in next week's issue.) From Our Mailbag... Subject: YEARBOOK PHOTO Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001 20:06:55 EST From: CEB1947@aol.com Tommy, who are the girls in the yearbook photo? I remember all their faces but after 35 years the names are a little fuzzy. How about P.E. memories? You know coach Godsey and all that. This sure is fun. Thanks and keep up the great work. Eddie Burton Class of 66 (Editor's Note: Eddie, we'll put that out as a test for the other folks. If you don't get the answers by next week, I'll put them in.) ________________________________________ |
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Est. March 31, 2000 18,674 Previous Hits December 10, 2001 Editor:Tommy Towery http://www.leealumni.com Class of 1964 Page Hits This Issue e-mail ttowery@memphis.edu Staff Writers : Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly , Joy Rubins Morris ,Terry "Moses" Preston Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders |
Diary of a Yankee's First Summer in Charleston, South Carolina Submitted by Barbara Wilkerson Donnely April 30: Charleston is fantastic! Just got here and love it already. Now this is a state that knows how to live!! Beautifiul, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. What a place! Watched the sunset from waterfront park lying on a blanket. It was beautiful. I've finally found my home. I love it here. May 14: Really heating up. Got to 89 today. Not a problem -- live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I'm turning into a real sun worshipper. June 5: Had the backyard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing for me. NO MORE SHOVELING SNOW EITHER! Another scorcher today, but I love it here. July 1: The temperature hasn't been below 90 all week, not even at night. Where are those ocean breezes we heard about? Still seems HOT. Getting used to it will take a while, I guess. I sure miss my LP collection, though. I'll have to remember not to leave anything made out of plastic in my car. Got one of those fuzzy steering wheel covers. Cheaper than the burn ointment for my hands. I always wondered what burnt flesh smelled like. July 15: Fell asleep on the beach. (Got 3rd degrees burns over 60% of my body.) Missed two days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though: Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this. July 20: I miss our cat, Tabby. He snuck into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got out to the hot car for lunch, he'd swollen up to the size of a shopping bag, and just as I opened the door, he exploded all over $2,000 worth of leather upholstery. I told the kids he ran away. The car now smells like Kibbles and poop. No more pets in this heat! July 25: Ocean breezes, my a--! Hot is hot!! The home air-conditioner is on the fritz and the AC repairman charged $200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts. Only hope for a break in the heat would be a hurricane. July 30: Been sleeping outside by the pool for three nights now. Swatting the swamp mosquitoes that are as big as B-52's. $1,500 in darn house payments and we can't even go inside. Why did I ever come here? August 4: 100 degrees today. Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today. It cost $500 and gets the temperature down to about 90. The electric bill is almost as much as the house payment. And two SUV lady drivers almost ran me off the road. I hate this state. August 8: If another jerk cracks, "Hot enough for you today?" I'm going to tear his head off. Damn heat. By the time I get to work, the radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like roasted Garfield!! August 10: The weather report might as well be a damn recording: Hot and sunny. It's been too hot for two #@*& months, and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. And whoever came up with the statement "It may be hot, but at least you don't have to shovel it" should die from heat exhaustion! August 14: Welcome to HELL!!!! Temperature got to 102 today. Forgot to crack the window and blew the windshield out of the Lincoln. The installer came to fix it and said, "Hot enough for you today?" My wife had to spend the $1,500 house payment to bail me out of jail. August 30: Worst day of the summer. I'm not leaving the house. The monsoon rains finally came and all they did is to make it muggier than hell and drove the damned roaches out of the ground. I wasn't even aware that they could fly! The Lincoln is now floating somewhere in the Atlantic with its new $500 windshield. That does it -- we're moving back to New Jersey where all you have to worry about is getting mugged. I hope this state breaks in half and floats down to Georgia! |
