Do You Remember Summer Camp? by Tommy Towery Class of '64 As I have been sitting around awaiting the arrival of summer, I began reminiscing about the times when I was growing up in Huntsville, and what I looked forward to as we walked away from school to begin our summer vacations. What would most of us today give for summer vacations like that again? When I lived on East Clinton, I used to love to go up to the playground and join in with the summer activities that were held in all those places then. I remember playing softball each summer, and the only one who I can remember playing with that went to Lee with me was Connie Mullins. We would hop on our bicycles and travel to the other places and play games, and I never was very good, but had a great time. But, the one big thing that summer always held for me was summer camp. Now that is what I miss. Wouldn't it be great to go to camp again like we did back then? Hop on a bus or pile into cars with a bunch of your friends and go off for a week of swimming, campfires, archery, basket weaving, and just good fun. You get up each morning and someone has your breakfast waiting for you. For that matter, all your meals are fixed, and you don't have to do dishes. If it rains you sit in a cabin or tent and read or tell stories. No telephone, no pagers, no television or radio. Each night you have a special activity at least one watermelon feast and one raid on another group's cabin per week. I don't know which camp I liked the best, church or Scout. I used to go to both of them each summer. They each had their own merits. If you went to church camp, it was co-ed, and even though we didn't know what to do with members of the opposite sex, there were always summer romances or crushes. The activities were clean and fun, and we always felt a special place in our hearts for our counselors. I remember doing "spatter painting" as one of the activites, where you took a piece of screen wire and held it over a leaf placed on a white paper and you ran the brush over the screen and it left an impression of the leaf. We had campfires in the evenings when we would tell ghost stories and sing all the campfire songs. I used to go to Camp Ovoca in Tullahoma, Tennessee when I went to Central Presbyterian Church. It was typical of many camps I have seen since, consisting of a big dinning hall/recreation hall at the top of the hill and rows of cabins which held about eight campers lining the road away from it. The cabins were only one room and had bunk beds, and the latrine was down the hill. I usually stayed in a cabin with the same friends each year, since we were grouped by age. Of course most of those friends eventually went to Huntsville High, but I do remember that Mrs. Graham from the Lee music department was our organist at Central. There may have been a few of you who went there with me, and even if you didn't, other churches went to Ovoca too. I fondly remember that the older counselors were called Aunt and Uncle plus their first name and the younger ones were Cousin Bob or Sue or whatever their name was. In the Boy Scouts, we went each summer to Camp Westmoreland. Bob and Jim Ramsey were in my troop, along with Don Cornelius, Jack Barkley, and others I think. I recently found that I was in Explorer Post 66 with Bobby Cochran, Butch Adcock, and Bill Coffey. The Scout camp, as might be imagined, was nothing but campsites of tents. We took our packs and had to hike back into the woods to get to them. We did have a dining hall to eat in, but on some nights we were given food to cook ourselves. The activities there were more outdoorsy, with hiking, canoeing, rowing, and even a rifle range. We also had set activities, and always a big campfire, when the Order of the Arrow would "tap" new members into service. I remeber the skits each troop put on at the campfires, such as the medical operation with the white sheet with the bright light behind it and the "German Vinder Viper" is another one that stands out in my memory. While there we could earn merit badges, and that was always a goal. There was also contests between the different troops so some kind o f prize but there were no girls. The only time girls came was for the final campfire when some of the boys' families came and their sisters would show up too. That was a big deal for the thirteen-year-olds and up. Two weeks after I graduated from Lee and moved to Memphis, I started working as a counselor at their YMCA summer camp on Pickwick Lake. I worked there that whole summer, and every summer after while I was in college. It was an honorable (and fun) summer job, which allowed water skiing, swimming, sailing, and all those types activities with room and board included, and was a healthy way to spend the summer. The big drawback is that it too was not co-ed, so I didn't date very much during the summers. My first year up there, I kept up with my fellow classmates through letters from Dianne Hughey and Bob Walker. It was while I was at camp that summer that I learned that my old girlfriend had married, which was a shock. As we remember those days of innocence, the summer camps will always have a special place in my heart. If any of you can add to the summer camp memories, please share your thoughts with the rest of your classmates. ______________________________________________________ The First Campfire Sing-Along Trivia Contest If there is one thing we offer in our Trivia Contests, it's variety. This week we take the lyrics of some of our favorite campfire songs as the source for our questions. Please remember to "validate" your entry with a personal note about either the songs, or campfire programs in general and include your Graduation Class Year with your e-mail. Here are the really hard questions for this week - I hope you went to camp at least once. Since there are many versions of these songs around, we will not count off for spelling. We've include a few easy ones, and some real tough ones as well. 1. What does "Kum By Ya" mean in English? (Click on song to hear it!) 2. Why should you "Be kind to your web-footed friends"? 3. Who "...had two hairs on the top of her head, One was alive and the other was dead"? 4. What are you singing about when you sing "Do they wobble to and fro, Can you tie 'em in a knot, Can you tie 'em in a bow"? 5. "If you miss the train I'm on, You will know that I am gone, You can hear the whistle blow" for how far? 6. If you argue that "The food at the camp, They say is mighty fine, A roll fell off the table, and killed a friend of mine" what is your request? 7. What's the first thing you do you do "If you're happy and you know it"? 8. If "His name is my name too, Whenever I go out, The people always shout, There goes...", what do they shout? 9. Who do we sing about that "go marching one by one. hurrah, hurrah"? 10. Who do we want to "row your boat ashore, Alleluia"? ______________________________________________________ |
Est. March 31, 2000 24.320 Previous Hits June 3, 2002 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 Collins Wynn Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
Est. March 31, 2000 24.320 Previous Hits June 3, 2002 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 Collins Wynn Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
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Do You Remember Summer Camp? by Tommy Towery Class of '64 As I have been sitting around awaiting the arrival of summer, I began reminiscing about the times when I was growing up in Huntsville, and what I looked forward to as we walked away from school to begin our summer vacations. What would most of us today give for summer vacations like that again? When I lived on East Clinton, I used to love to go up to the playground and join in with the summer activities that were held in all those places then. I remember playing softball each summer, and the only one who I can remember playing with that went to Lee with me was Connie Mullins. We would hop on our bicycles and travel to the other places and play games, and I never was very good, but had a great time. But, the one big thing that summer always held for me was summer camp. Now that is what I miss. Wouldn't it be great to go to camp again like we did back then? Hop on a bus or pile into cars with a bunch of your friends and go off for a week of swimming, campfires, archery, basket weaving, and just good fun. You get up each morning and someone has your breakfast waiting for you. For that matter, all your meals are fixed, and you don't have to do dishes. If it rains you sit in a cabin or tent and read or tell stories. No telephone, no pagers, no television or radio. Each night you have a special activity at least one watermelon feast and one raid on another group's cabin per week. I don't know which camp I liked the best, church or Scout. I used to go to both of them each summer. They each had their own merits. If you went to church camp, it was co-ed, and even though we didn't know what to do with members of the opposite sex, there were always summer romances or crushes. The activities were clean and fun, and we always felt a special place in our hearts for our counselors. I remember doing "spatter painting" as one of the activites, where you took a piece of screen wire and held it over a leaf placed on a white paper and you ran the brush over the screen and it left an impression of the leaf. We had campfires in the evenings when we would tell ghost stories and sing all the campfire songs. I used to go to Camp Ovoca in Tullahoma, Tennessee when I went to Central Presbyterian Church. It was typical of many camps I have seen since, consisting of a big dinning hall/recreation hall at the top of the hill and rows of cabins which held about eight campers lining the road away from it. The cabins were only one room and had bunk beds, and the latrine was down the hill. I usually stayed in a cabin with the same friends each year, since we were grouped by age. Of course most of those friends eventually went to Huntsville High, but I do remember that Mrs. Graham from the Lee music department was our organist at Central. There may have been a few of you who went there with me, and even if you didn't, other churches went to Ovoca too. I fondly remember that the older counselors were called Aunt and Uncle plus their first name and the younger ones were Cousin Bob or Sue or whatever their name was. In the Boy Scouts, we went each summer to Camp Westmoreland. Bob and Jim Ramsey were in my troop, along with Don Cornelius, Jack Barkley, and others I think. I recently found that I was in Explorer Post 66 with Bobby Cochran, Butch Adcock, and Bill Coffey. The Scout camp, as might be imagined, was nothing but campsites of tents. We took our packs and had to hike back into the woods to get to them. We did have a dining hall to eat in, but on some nights we were given food to cook ourselves. The activities there were more outdoorsy, with hiking, canoeing, rowing, and even a rifle range. We also had set activities, and always a big campfire, when the Order of the Arrow would "tap" new members into service. I remeber the skits each troop put on at the campfires, such as the medical operation with the white sheet with the bright light behind it and the "German Vinder Viper" is another one that stands out in my memory. While there we could earn merit badges, and that was always a goal. There was also contests between the different troops so some kind o f prize but there were no girls. The only time girls came was for the final campfire when some of the boys' families came and their sisters would show up too. That was a big deal for the thirteen-year-olds and up. Two weeks after I graduated from Lee and moved to Memphis, I started working as a counselor at their YMCA summer camp on Pickwick Lake. I worked there that whole summer, and every summer after while I was in college. It was an honorable (and fun) summer job, which allowed water skiing, swimming, sailing, and all those types activities with room and board included, and was a healthy way to spend the summer. The big drawback is that it too was not co-ed, so I didn't date very much during the summers. My first year up there, I kept up with my fellow classmates through letters from Dianne Hughey and Bob Walker. It was while I was at camp that summer that I learned that my old girlfriend had married, which was a shock. As we remember those days of innocence, the summer camps will always have a special place in my heart. If any of you can add to the summer camp memories, please share your thoughts with the rest of your classmates. ______________________________________________________ The First Campfire Sing-Along Trivia Contest If there is one thing we offer in our Trivia Contests, it's variety. This week we take the lyrics of some of our favorite campfire songs as the source for our questions. Please remember to "validate" your entry with a personal note about either the songs, or campfire programs in general and include your Graduation Class Year with your e-mail. Here are the really hard questions for this week - I hope you went to camp at least once. Since there are many versions of these songs around, we will not count off for spelling. We've include a few easy ones, and some real tough ones as well. 1. What does "Kum By Ya" mean in English? (Click on song to hear it!) 2. Why should you "Be kind to your web-footed friends"? 3. Who "...had two hairs on the top of her head, One was alive and the other was dead"? 4. What are you singing about when you sing "Do they wobble to and fro, Can you tie 'em in a knot, Can you tie 'em in a bow"? 5. "If you miss the train I'm on, You will know that I am gone, You can hear the whistle blow" for how far? 6. If you argue that "The food at the camp, They say is mighty fine, A roll fell off the table, and killed a friend of mine" what is your request? 7. What's the first thing you do you do "If you're happy and you know it"? 8. If "His name is my name too, Whenever I go out, The people always shout, There goes...", what do they shout? 9. Who do we sing about that "go marching one by one. hurrah, hurrah"? 10. Who do we want to "row your boat ashore, Alleluia"? ______________________________________________________ |
From Our Mailbox Subject: California Speedway Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 10:48:42 -0700 From: George Williams <georgewilliams@afcjiffylube.com> I just wanted to clarify Terry's report. I've actually been in 6 head-on collisions, thrown through the windshield 3 of those times, and rolled a car at 120 mph, all by the time I was 29. My wife and I just celebrated our 28th and I feel very lucky to be alive. The race was great and spending time with Terry brought back a lot of memories from 1964. What a great time to have been in high school. I wouldn't change a thing. George Lehman Williams Drummer for the "Tempest" Class of 1964 ______________________________________ Subject: Senior moments Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 14:12:58 -0400 From: Julius.Smoak@sba.gov The only senior moments that I admit to having are when I remember something that occurred in my senior year. Pay attention to the young people (teens) of today. You will find that they forget as often if not more than we do. I find that our "senior moments" are rich in our heritage. We certainly had a wider and better selection of music. We were more inventive at finding good clean fun things to occupy our interest and time, and our pranks were good natured, not destructive or harmful. There is a subject for going down memory lane. What were some of the pranks pulled then, whether it was your idea or you just participated? Chip Smoak ______________________________________ Subject: Re: New format Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 From: "Cheryl Massey" <cherylmassey@attbi.com> Tommy, I think maybe the blue background was easier on the eyes. What about a background in a white that is not quite as bright? I think most of us are just so greatful to you for devoting so much of your time to this endeavor that it could be purple with pink polka dots and we would be happy! Cherri Polly Massey Class of '66 (Editor's Note: We're trying a few different backgrounds to see if we can find one that satisfies most of our classmates.) ______________________________________ Subject: survey Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 07:33:01 -0500 From: "Lynn VanPelt" <bamayaya@knology.net> Tommy, I wonder if anyone watched Jay Leno one night recently when he made a vry degrading comment about Alabama? There has been a lot of reaction to it here in Huntsville but I have never been able to find out exactly what he said......did anyone of you Lee alumni see it or hear about it that can shed some light on it? Lynn Bozeman VanPelt Class of '66 ______________________________________ |
Still Crazy After All These Years |
Riding The "Lehman Express" by Craig Bannecke Class of 1965 I enjoyed very much Terry Preston's story about attending the race with "George" Lehman. I always assumed Lehman died at an early age as he was a real character and had an insatiable desire to squeeze every available moment out of life. Glad to hear he is alive and well living in California under the name of George. I remember Lehman...err George from Lee but my real memories of George are from my freshman years at Florence State College, later Florence State University, and later University of North Alabama. A number of Lee High grads have attended Florence and when I arrived in the fall of 1965 there was a large contingency of Lee High's 1964 class: David Mullins, Wayne Deason, Don Cornelius and the infamous Lehman Williams to name but a few. If you were a freshman at Florence you spent the better part of your Fridays cutting afternoon classes so you could either go to the Line (Alabama-Tennessee) to drink beer on the Natchez Trace or catch a ride home for the weekend. Florence was situated in a dry county, had no fraternities, wins for the football team were few and far between, and where to spend your weekend (Huntsville or Florence) was a no brainier - even for a two-year freshman like myself. (I was a little slow picking up the college concept). Catching a ride home was sometimes hard to come by and Lehman Williams was known to go home every weekend. He had a job or girl friend or both back in Huntsville. He would scheduled his Friday classes early so he could get away early and if you couldn't get a ride with anyone else you cut class and took the "Lehman Express". It was a common understanding that Lehman was always your last resort for a ride. Lehman had a 1964 or '65 Chevy Chevelle SS and he knew how to use it. The fact that Terry wrote a story about being with George at a raceway seems somehow appropriate since riding with Lehman... err George was like riding with a suicide bomber looking for a target. The distance between Huntsville and Florence was right at or about 70 miles. The road between Athens and Huntsville was a straight 4 lane, but from Athens to Florence was 50 miles of two-lane road, interspersed with curves, dips, short straight-aways, narrow bridges and an occasional dairy cow or slow moving tractor. The average individual following all known Alabama driving laws, obeying traffic signs and solid yellow lines (no passing) who was driving the speed limit and demonstrating competent driving skills could make the trip in a little over one hour. Or you could take life and limb in hand and ride with Lehman "Fireball" Williams for a dollar and make it in 25 to 31 minutes....city limit to city limit....or die. You were never quiet sure which. But you could always be sure it would be a life altering experience that would add two years to your life (each way). Lehman saw passing 4 cars on a blind hill as no obstacle. Passing a tractor trailer on a curve with a cow ahead in the road only made him put his cigarette in his mouth long enough to steer with both hands. There would often be 4 or 5 of us in the car with all our luggage and dirty laundry chatting about our big plans for the weekend ahead as George Lehman blew the doors off lesser traffic headed in the same direction. We would all be fully engaged in loud boisterous conversation till Lehman would swing left into the on coming lane at the bottom of a hill as he had decided to pass all 9 cars ahead. Patience wasn't George Lehman's strong suit. A deafening silence would fall on the crowded occupants of the car as we all did a collective inhale. The silence was exceeded only by the roar of the engine from Lehman's Maroon colored Chevelle as she once again responded to the whip and his demand for more power and speed. Well Classmates, since I'm writing this to you some 30 years later I must have survived those harrowing rides more times than not. But in closing I can only say that though my mother was her proudest the day her eldest son finally graduated from that greater Florence, Alabama institute of higher learning. My proudest and most memorable accomplishment to this day has always been those rides home with George Lehman "Fireball" Williams. Guess maybe that might be the reason I always found "Survivors" on CBS as kind of boring. ______________________________________ The Foundation Is Set For a July Mini-Reunion by TERRY 'Moses' PRESTON Class of 1964 Jan and I will be flying into Huntsville in July, and we have this crazy idea that a lot of people are ready for another fun get together. We might be pushing the envelope a little, but here is what I am proposing: 1. That our out of town Generals make an attempt to return to Huntsville especially for the occasion. 2. There are several of our Classmates that live in or near Huntsville that never seem to make it to the reunions. Perhaps if this is not a formal reunion but just a get together or a party they would feel more comfortable coming. I think that we need to make an extra special attempt to get you Huntsville area Generals to talk it up, mark your calendars, and plan an afternoon gathering and an evening party somewhere for Saturday night. Perhaps some really fun people like Lynn Bozeman, Sheila Carroll Jandebeur, Joe Barran, David France, Camella France Woody, Judy Scarborough, Sonny Turner, or others would like to step up and plan and coordinate the festivities. Some possible activities might include Karaoke, roasting the Traveller Web Site staff, videos from Craig and Jennifer's recent honeymoon(!), music, and lots of conversation. Anyone have a house with a pool? Is this a preposterous idea? Absolutely. Can we do it? Absolutely!! Why don't we put it on the web page and go for it? We can have a bundle of golden moments, and a lot of fun! ______________________________________ |
Advice For Lehman - Things You Probably Should Not Say To A Cop (Since we all seem to be picking on Lehman this week, I thought we might add this advice.) 1. I can't reach my license unless you hold my beer. 2. Sorry, Officer, I didn't realize my radar detector wasn't plugged in. 3.Aren't you the guy from the Village People? 4. Hey, you must've been doin' about 125 mph to keep up with me. Good job! 5. Are You Andy or Barney? 6. I thought you had to be in relatively good physical condition to be a police officer. 7. You're not gonna check the trunk, are you? 8. I pay your salary! 9. Gee, Officer! That's terrific. The last officer only gave me a warning, too! 10. Do you know why you pulled me over? Okay, just so one of us does. 11. I was trying to keep up with traffic. Yes, I know there are no other cars around. That's how far ahead of me they are. 12. When the Officer says "Gee Son....Your eyes look red, have you been drinking?" You probably shouldn't respond with,"Gee Officer your eyes look glazed, have you been eating doughnuts?" ______________________________________ |
