Cruising home the other day I was listening to the radio when the sounds of the Beach Boys filled my head. I started singing along with them to "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)" and for once I listened and thought about the words to that song rather than just sing along with the melody. For a clip of this song click on this link "When I Grow Up To Be A Man." This song came out in 1964, the year Lee became a "full fledged high school" and the year that we, the graduating seniors of the Class of '64, made our first real giant steps of growing up to be men and women. The Classes of '65 and '66 were not far behind and the clock was ticking for them as well. For those not familiar with the song, it walks the listener through many ages of growing up (starting at 14 and working up to 32) and while doing so, poses questions about what our lives will be when we grow up. I wish that back when I was 17 and first heard that song I would have taken a moment to sit down with pencil and paper and write down the answers to the questions then, so that today I could compare my thoughts with what I thought back then. It would have been a great addition to my journal. Instead, this week I decided to find all the words to the lyrics and answer them now. So I surfed the web and found the song and sat down and analyzed the questions. I sat at my computer and came up with my own answers to what the Beach Boys were asking me back when I was 17. I would love for some other classmates to share their own thoughts about it. As you follow my thoughts in this article, put yourself back to when you were 17, and see how you would answer the questions they posed. The song lyrics are Bold and Italic. When I grow up to be a man Will I dig the same things that turn me on as a kid? I would have to say that the answer to this is yes. I still love music, dancing, writing, and hanging out with my friends (even if the hanging out might be just e-mails on the computer and reunions when we get the chance). I still like ball games and going to concerts and airplanes. After going to see the first Mustang at Woody Anderson's Ford, and vowing to own one, I finally bought a Mustang convertible a few years ago, and would still have it, had it not been for that guy that ran the stop sign. Yea, I dig those things. Will I look back and say that I wish I hadn't done what I did? I think we must all have some small things in our past that we did that we now look back on and wish we hadn't done. Many of us look back and wish that we had done more while we were young and unaccountable. But those are small things. To me it's like seeing a movie or reading a book and not liking one part, but still loving the film or book as a whole. So I can't say that I would never look back at the life I was living when this song came out and saying that I wish I hadn't done the things I was doing then. In the great scheme of things, I loved doing them and they are some of my life's fondest memories. Will I joke around and still dig those sounds Those of you who know me well know that I joke around. I always have and I guess always will. I been known to keep the lunch table in stitches some days at lunchtime, relating the things we did and my Air Force adventures. As for the sounds, sure I still dig the old sounds. I listen to the Oldie Goldie station on the radio and when some really rocking song comes on, I've been known to turn up the volume and sing along in my loudest voice. I have over 2,000 Oldie Goldie MP3 tunes on my computer, complete with a Juke Box program that lets me play them at will, just like the old juke box. I also have a collection of 2,500 45RPM records of Oldie Goldies in storage which I used to play when I DJ'ed parties. Music was and still is important to me, and the sounds of our times at LHS are still my kind of music. When I grow up to be a man? Will I look for the same things in a woman that I dig in a girl? This is not a fair question for some of us. But for me, I'd have to answer that although I have quit looking, the last time that I did look for a woman I still looked for the same things that I dug in a girl. I wanted someone to share my life with me, do the same crazy things I wanted to do, and have a passion for life and love. Enough said. (fourteen fifteen) Will I settle down fast or will I first wanna travel the world? I knew sitting in those classrooms at Lee that I wanted to travel the world and didn't want to settle down fast. So what did I do? Thanks to the Air Force, I have been to Mexico, Thailand, Guam, Saipan, Okinawa, Japan, Greece, Scotland, Egypt, Canada, Italy, Spain, Crete, France, Germany, Holland, and Belgium. I've made it to Alaska and Hawaii probably 47 of the 50 states. I lived in England for four years. I flew over the North Pole (several times). I think that sums up the past, but I still want to travel more and see more before I have to settle down. (sixteen seventeen) Now I'm young and free, but how will it be When I grow up to be a man? Oooooo Ooooooo Oooooooo Will my kids be proud or think their old man is really a square? This is an important question for me, a great yardstick for our lives in whole. It measures the important things. It wasn't so important back when I was 17 and first heard the song, but today it means a lot. I have to give myself a pat on the back for this one. I think my daughter is proud of me. Of course a daughter doesn't care much about my military record (like a son might) but she is proud to call herself a military brat. She is happy that I work for the university where she graduated, and that I still cherish life the way that I do. The fact that she worked for the same YMCA when she was in college that I did and that she earned her degree in Journalism just as I did meant a lot to me. She still seeks my advice, and on her wedding night, she was proud to do the Tango with me during the Father/Daughter dance. All her friends thought that was way cool. (eighteen nineteen) When they're out having fun yeah, will I still wanna have my share? I have to say that I still wanna have my share, and I do. Sometimes I think that I have more fun that either my daughter, or my two step-daughters and their families. It's a lot easier to have fun when you have a military retirement check coming in along with a good job and a working wife. We have gotten all the kids married and through college, and the cars are paid for. It's amazing how much more money you have. As empty-nesters we can go out and stay out late and not have to get home to check on the kids. We go on weekend get-aways to some Bed and Breakfast and take week-long vacations at a timeshare. We go to concerts, plays, casinos, and visit our friends' cabin in the Rocky Mountains. Sometimes we go down to Beale Street here in Memphis and just walk around and listen to all the bands in the clubs. Yea, we have fun. (twenty twenty-one) Will I love my wife for the rest of my life When I grow up to be a man? This question stumped me. This is another one of those very hard questions to answer. The Beach Boys didn't specify "which" wife. If they assume you would get married and live with the same person forever, then I fail on this one. I was married and loved my "first" wife for 26 years, and we still communicate, even after the divorce. After all she is the mother of my child and someone that I took care of and who took care of me for all those years. Some of us still have high school sweethearts that we still have strong feeling for, but didn't marry nor ever live with at all. But the song doesn't say "Will I live with my wife, for the rest of my life". Nor, did it actually ask which wife. And as anyone who ever went through a divorce knows, it takes two to make a marriage work, but only one to break it up. But I have a new wife, and I love her, and plan to for the rest of my life, so I will love whichever wife I'm with for the rest of my life I guess. What will I be when I grow up to be a man? If you had asked me this back when I was 17, I could never have known. I think I would have told you that I really wanted to be a "scientist". When I try to analyze today what a "scientist" is or does, I don't know. I know many of you are "rocket scientists" and I guess that is what I really wanted to do. It said in the Silver Sabre that I wanted to be a Technical Writer. Did I do that? In a way I did. I wrote manuals for the Air Force and for computer programs I created. More importantly to me is not what I am today, a computer specialist, but what have I been. I was a private pilot and owned my own plane for a while. I am an author and wrote a book. I have two bachelor degrees and a master's degree. I have 5,000 hours flight time as a US Air Force crewmember. I was a warrior and a spy, a teacher and a writer, a computer technician and an artist, a husband and a father, a friend and a comrade. I am now a content person who treasures the things that have happened to me throughout the time that it took me to grow up to be a man. I am not bragging but just explaining what I look back on as being important things that I did on my way to where I am. But what am I really? I am still just a 17-year-old kid, in a man's body! (twenty-two twenty-three) Won't last forever (twenty-four twenty-five) It's kind of sad No, it won't last forever. We all know that. But as long as there is one of you left alive that every once in a while takes down my book and laughs about the things we did, we are immortal. As long as there is one Silver Sabre sitting on a shelf somewhere that someone can open up and see our funny hairdos and laugh at the clothes we wore, we are immortal. As long as there is one class ring passed down from one generation to another, we are immortal. As long as any of our kids tell their kids about the crazy things we did when we were kids, we are immortal. We'll make it last forever the best we can. (twenty-six twenty-seven) Won't last forever (twenty-eight twenty-nine) It's kind of sad (thirty thirty-one) Won't last forever (thirty-two . . .) _________________________________________________ |
Est. March 31, 2000 29,632 Previous Hits October 14, 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 Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
From Our Mailbox Subject: Thanks Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2002 23:29:56 -0400 From: "Rainer Klauss" <rglklauss@mindspring.com> Tommy, please post this message in next week's issue. I want to thank Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly, Annette McCraney Gallagher, and Sherry Adcock White for their kind words of condolence at my mother's death. Thanks, too, to Lynn Bozeman Van Pelt for helping to get the obituary posted. A special thanks to Judy Kincaid for coming to the visitation in the midst of trying times with her own mother. All of you helped me through a tough time. Rainer Klauss Class of '64 _____________________________________ Subject: Don Cornelius Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 11:04:13 -0500 From: "Linda B. Walker" <lbwalker@usit.net> I knew your message was referring to Don Cornelius before I accessed the website. I did not know him personally, of course, but he was one of Lee's best athletes. We had several through the 64-66 years. I did see him on TV once advertising a clinic, I think. I called my step-children in to see "someone I went to school with" on television. Still enjoying the website. I don't think you have ever thrown anything away. It continues to amaze me at all the things you can remember. Keep up the good work. Linda Beal Walker Class of '66 ________________________________________ Subject: Miscellany Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 09:34:48 -0400 From: "Smoak, Julius B." <Julius.Smoak@sba.gov> First, I offer my woefully inadequate sympathy and condolences to Rainer and anyone else who has lost a parent or worse, a child. Nothing we can say is adequate. Fortunately, God comforts and strengthens us in times of such great loss. So, for each of us who has experienced the loss of a loved one, including class mates, I pray that God makes his love, strength, and solace known. Tommy there was nothing wrong with your eyesight. As for Ginger, it must have been the tie that caused her to have sympathy on you. I'm sure that you remember that occasion fondly, particularly after receiving the picture. I'm sure that all of us have a similar memory that we cherish. Count me in on the scholarship. Just let me know where to send the check. I can think of no more fitting tribute to and by the 64-65-66 LHS classes than this scholarship. We get to make a meaningful contribution to Lee for what we received in a manner that furthers the purpose of Lee for a few of its students in the future. I certainly agree that sending the money to the appropriate college or university is the wise course. You have probably already thought of this, but I suggest that you publish the winning essay on the Lee's Traveller website. I spent 10 years in Maryland and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. I wish that I had known the Barb Knott was that close. It would have been nice to have reminisced with another General on a face-to-face basis. I was in and around Emmitsburg on numerous occasions. It is indeed a small world. We never know when chance meetings of old friends will occur as Tommy, Moses, Annette, and others have already shared with us. Chip Smoak Class of '66 _______________________________________ Subject: Re: Lee's Traveller Update Date: Mon, 07 Oct 2002 10:39:03 -0500 From: "JOY MORRIS" <MORRIJA@ATHENS.EDU> Leave to Lehman to re-enforce our decision regarding sending the scholarship directly to the university/ college. Also, Judy Rubins Allard wanted me to tell you that she also supports the scholarship fund. Keep up the good work. If you need people to help with the scholarship fund, count me in. Thanks, Joy Rubins Morris Class of '64 ________________________________________ Subject: Traveller Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2002 00:07:35 EDT From: Spmclm69@cs.com Hi Tommy! Another GREAT issue, as usual. Please count me in on the scholarship. Re the photograph: I know my eyes aren't that good anymore, but I don't think the person second from the left is Wayne Deason. Wayne's taller than that - I think it's Gary Metzger. As for the person on the right, could it be David Bess? Bobby Cochran Class of '64 St. Louis, MO (Editor's Note: Sorry Bobby, it is Wayne Deason and not Gary Metzger. And as you will see below, it's not David Bess either? Got those glasses checked lately Bobby?) ______________________________________ Subject: Lee's Traveller Update Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 00:24:00 -0500 From: "Richard Simmons" <frsimmons@earthlink.net> Tommy, I always look forward to these. Regards, Richard "Ricky" Simmons Class of '64 _______________________________________ Subject: Picture Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 15:59:48 EDT From: Ranger4u7@aol.com Dear Tommy: Regarding your Editor's Note: "I think it is Jim Storm, so who can tell us for sure. I've blown up the photo to give you a bigger look" You were correct in that the blown up photo is of "Jim Storm," Class of 64 I'm Michael Storm, Class of 65, Jim's bother. Jim passed away in 1990 following a massive heart attack, at the age of 44. Mike Storm Class of '65 Tuscaloosa Al. _________________________________________ Subject: Holiday Mini-Reunion Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 13:58:43 -0700 From: Jennifer Bannecke <jbannecke@yahoo.com> Could we take a vote on when to have the mini reunion over the holidays? Thanksgiving or Christmas? Craig and I will be in town for Thanksgiving but will stay home at Christmas and have our kids and grandkids come to our house. The last two years we have gathered at Carol Jean's. We might could come up with a place. Thanks! Jennifer and Craig Bannecke Classes of '65 - '66 _______________________________________ Subject: Re: Scholarship Application Date: Tue, 08 Oct 2002 10:06:34 -0500 From: "JOY MORRIS" <MORRIJA@ATHENS.EDU> Are we still planning a Christmas mini-reunion in Huntsville? Joy Rubins Morris Class of '64 ___________________________________ |
Est. March 31, 2000 29,632 Previous Hits October 14, 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 Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
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Cruising home the other day I was listening to the radio when the sounds of the Beach Boys filled my head. I started singing along with them to "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)" and for once I listened and thought about the words to that song rather than just sing along with the melody. For a clip of this song click on this link "When I Grow Up To Be A Man." This song came out in 1964, the year Lee became a "full fledged high school" and the year that we, the graduating seniors of the Class of '64, made our first real giant steps of growing up to be men and women. The Classes of '65 and '66 were not far behind and the clock was ticking for them as well. For those not familiar with the song, it walks the listener through many ages of growing up (starting at 14 and working up to 32) and while doing so, poses questions about what our lives will be when we grow up. I wish that back when I was 17 and first heard that song I would have taken a moment to sit down with pencil and paper and write down the answers to the questions then, so that today I could compare my thoughts with what I thought back then. It would have been a great addition to my journal. Instead, this week I decided to find all the words to the lyrics and answer them now. So I surfed the web and found the song and sat down and analyzed the questions. I sat at my computer and came up with my own answers to what the Beach Boys were asking me back when I was 17. I would love for some other classmates to share their own thoughts about it. As you follow my thoughts in this article, put yourself back to when you were 17, and see how you would answer the questions they posed. The song lyrics are Bold and Italic. When I grow up to be a man Will I dig the same things that turn me on as a kid? I would have to say that the answer to this is yes. I still love music, dancing, writing, and hanging out with my friends (even if the hanging out might be just e-mails on the computer and reunions when we get the chance). I still like ball games and going to concerts and airplanes. After going to see the first Mustang at Woody Anderson's Ford, and vowing to own one, I finally bought a Mustang convertible a few years ago, and would still have it, had it not been for that guy that ran the stop sign. Yea, I dig those things. Will I look back and say that I wish I hadn't done what I did? I think we must all have some small things in our past that we did that we now look back on and wish we hadn't done. Many of us look back and wish that we had done more while we were young and unaccountable. But those are small things. To me it's like seeing a movie or reading a book and not liking one part, but still loving the film or book as a whole. So I can't say that I would never look back at the life I was living when this song came out and saying that I wish I hadn't done the things I was doing then. In the great scheme of things, I loved doing them and they are some of my life's fondest memories. Will I joke around and still dig those sounds Those of you who know me well know that I joke around. I always have and I guess always will. I been known to keep the lunch table in stitches some days at lunchtime, relating the things we did and my Air Force adventures. As for the sounds, sure I still dig the old sounds. I listen to the Oldie Goldie station on the radio and when some really rocking song comes on, I've been known to turn up the volume and sing along in my loudest voice. I have over 2,000 Oldie Goldie MP3 tunes on my computer, complete with a Juke Box program that lets me play them at will, just like the old juke box. I also have a collection of 2,500 45RPM records of Oldie Goldies in storage which I used to play when I DJ'ed parties. Music was and still is important to me, and the sounds of our times at LHS are still my kind of music. When I grow up to be a man? Will I look for the same things in a woman that I dig in a girl? This is not a fair question for some of us. But for me, I'd have to answer that although I have quit looking, the last time that I did look for a woman I still looked for the same things that I dug in a girl. I wanted someone to share my life with me, do the same crazy things I wanted to do, and have a passion for life and love. Enough said. (fourteen fifteen) Will I settle down fast or will I first wanna travel the world? I knew sitting in those classrooms at Lee that I wanted to travel the world and didn't want to settle down fast. So what did I do? Thanks to the Air Force, I have been to Mexico, Thailand, Guam, Saipan, Okinawa, Japan, Greece, Scotland, Egypt, Canada, Italy, Spain, Crete, France, Germany, Holland, and Belgium. I've made it to Alaska and Hawaii probably 47 of the 50 states. I lived in England for four years. I flew over the North Pole (several times). I think that sums up the past, but I still want to travel more and see more before I have to settle down. (sixteen seventeen) Now I'm young and free, but how will it be When I grow up to be a man? Oooooo Ooooooo Oooooooo Will my kids be proud or think their old man is really a square? This is an important question for me, a great yardstick for our lives in whole. It measures the important things. It wasn't so important back when I was 17 and first heard the song, but today it means a lot. I have to give myself a pat on the back for this one. I think my daughter is proud of me. Of course a daughter doesn't care much about my military record (like a son might) but she is proud to call herself a military brat. She is happy that I work for the university where she graduated, and that I still cherish life the way that I do. The fact that she worked for the same YMCA when she was in college that I did and that she earned her degree in Journalism just as I did meant a lot to me. She still seeks my advice, and on her wedding night, she was proud to do the Tango with me during the Father/Daughter dance. All her friends thought that was way cool. (eighteen nineteen) When they're out having fun yeah, will I still wanna have my share? I have to say that I still wanna have my share, and I do. Sometimes I think that I have more fun that either my daughter, or my two step-daughters and their families. It's a lot easier to have fun when you have a military retirement check coming in along with a good job and a working wife. We have gotten all the kids married and through college, and the cars are paid for. It's amazing how much more money you have. As empty-nesters we can go out and stay out late and not have to get home to check on the kids. We go on weekend get-aways to some Bed and Breakfast and take week-long vacations at a timeshare. We go to concerts, plays, casinos, and visit our friends' cabin in the Rocky Mountains. Sometimes we go down to Beale Street here in Memphis and just walk around and listen to all the bands in the clubs. Yea, we have fun. (twenty twenty-one) Will I love my wife for the rest of my life When I grow up to be a man? This question stumped me. This is another one of those very hard questions to answer. The Beach Boys didn't specify "which" wife. If they assume you would get married and live with the same person forever, then I fail on this one. I was married and loved my "first" wife for 26 years, and we still communicate, even after the divorce. After all she is the mother of my child and someone that I took care of and who took care of me for all those years. Some of us still have high school sweethearts that we still have strong feeling for, but didn't marry nor ever live with at all. But the song doesn't say "Will I live with my wife, for the rest of my life". Nor, did it actually ask which wife. And as anyone who ever went through a divorce knows, it takes two to make a marriage work, but only one to break it up. But I have a new wife, and I love her, and plan to for the rest of my life, so I will love whichever wife I'm with for the rest of my life I guess. What will I be when I grow up to be a man? If you had asked me this back when I was 17, I could never have known. I think I would have told you that I really wanted to be a "scientist". When I try to analyze today what a "scientist" is or does, I don't know. I know many of you are "rocket scientists" and I guess that is what I really wanted to do. It said in the Silver Sabre that I wanted to be a Technical Writer. Did I do that? In a way I did. I wrote manuals for the Air Force and for computer programs I created. More importantly to me is not what I am today, a computer specialist, but what have I been. I was a private pilot and owned my own plane for a while. I am an author and wrote a book. I have two bachelor degrees and a master's degree. I have 5,000 hours flight time as a US Air Force crewmember. I was a warrior and a spy, a teacher and a writer, a computer technician and an artist, a husband and a father, a friend and a comrade. I am now a content person who treasures the things that have happened to me throughout the time that it took me to grow up to be a man. I am not bragging but just explaining what I look back on as being important things that I did on my way to where I am. But what am I really? I am still just a 17-year-old kid, in a man's body! (twenty-two twenty-three) Won't last forever (twenty-four twenty-five) It's kind of sad No, it won't last forever. We all know that. But as long as there is one of you left alive that every once in a while takes down my book and laughs about the things we did, we are immortal. As long as there is one Silver Sabre sitting on a shelf somewhere that someone can open up and see our funny hairdos and laugh at the clothes we wore, we are immortal. As long as there is one class ring passed down from one generation to another, we are immortal. As long as any of our kids tell their kids about the crazy things we did when we were kids, we are immortal. We'll make it last forever the best we can. (twenty-six twenty-seven) Won't last forever (twenty-eight twenty-nine) It's kind of sad (thirty thirty-one) Won't last forever (thirty-two . . .) _________________________________________________ |
When I Grow Up To Be A Man by Tommy Towery Class of '64 |
This week's feature story is by the editor again and although it might seem self-serving, I hope you understand what I was trying to express when I wrote it. If you want to know, there are three ways you can quit having to read about me. One - you can start your own website; two - you can fire me as editor; or three - you can send me stuff about you or one of our other classmates. I would prefer that you elect door three. Anyway, I hope you find the article thought provoking. Don't tell me that I am the only one who spent money on a brick. I expected to hear from some of you who thought that the idea was a good one. Here's that opportunity to let future generations know who we were and to honor or remember some of our classmates. I'm going to leave the links to the bricks page on the site to give you an opportunity to still participate. Did I mention that the PTA president wants some of us to attend the opening of the memorial walk? The scholarship program is very much active, but there's not much to report right now. We are finishing up the application form and the announcement letter, and trying to establish a firm contact person at Lee. I have a hard time making myself understand that not everyone uses e-mail the way I do. In my job, and with this hobby, I probably check my mail 25 times a day, and have to answer most of them the same day, so I do have difficulty with people that only check their's once a week or less. __________________________________________ |
Craig and Jennifer Celebrate 1st Anniversary Just wanted to drop a note to you and all the other Generals and let you know that Jennifer and I just celebrated our first wedding anniversary ( 29 September). Hard to believe its been a year but as they say "time flies when your having fun". It's been a wonderful year for both of us and the Lord has really blessed us. This web page and it's ability to keep us in touch with all of our wonderful classmates and the 2000 reunion will always have a special place in our hearts. We've attached a photo taken of us in front of the Guntersville Bed & Breakfast. Of all the places we could have gone to celebrate we decided that since Alabama is where our heart is and where we one day hope to soon retire that would be the place to spend our anniversary. Had a wonderful time sitting out on the veranda overlooking the city, Guntersville Lake and the foothills of the Appalachians. The mountains reminds me of the inside cover of our 1965 Lee High Year Book that has the fall picture of tree lined HWY 72 going out of town just above where the school is. Always liked that picture. Jennifer and I just wanted to drop everyone a line let you know that we continue to be very happy and look forward to seeing every one in 2005. Craig & Jennifer Bannecke Classes of '65 & '66 _________________________________________ |
Okay, Round two for the girls this time. Remember this was taken back in 1981. _______________________________________ |
