Est. March 31, 2000 32,596 Previous Hits December 16, 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 Cherri Polly Massey, Paula Spencer Kephart Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
Christmas Surprises by Paula Kephart Class of '65 When you're younger, half of the fun of Christmas is the surprise of the gift you were dying to get. What makes up the rest of the fun is trying to find out exactly what that surprise present contains. Who can forget turning their house upside down looking for that ever elusive closet that had the shelf just a little bit too tall for you. Then the fun of grabbing a chair, ladder or whatever else was close and looking for that ever elusive present. The memory of looking for Christmas presents takes me back to my first memorable Christmas. I remember looking around the house trying to find out exactly what "Santa" was going to leave under the tree. I made my way to the closet and finally was able to see what was at the top of the closet....a large black and white teddy bear. Needless to say, I was very excited. However, not too long after that, I went back to investigate the scene again. I was shocked to find...there was nothing there. Christmas approached and my concern and confusion grew. But like a good "Santa" always does, Christmas morning there was a teddy bear under the tree. The only thing is, it was now a brown and yellow one. It wasn't until later that my grandparents showed up and had the black and white teddy bear for me. My parents had known my plans and had pulled the switch on me. Other gifts that stick out in my mind include a white gold ring with three diamond chips that Dwight gave me for Christmas in 1964. That one I still have and treasure very dearly. The one that still gets to me is a 78 record player and a certain record. Oh what I wouldn't give to still have that 78 record, and what it would be worth today. It was only an original pressing of Elvis Presley's Don't Be Cruel. Trying to remember specific toys is very tough as many of them run together. What I do and always will remember is the joy, wonder, love and happiness that every Christmas brought with it. That is worth more than all of the toys I could ever remember or have received. _______________________________________ |
A Very Special E-Mail Subject: Remembering Lee Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2002 10:09:21 -0600 From: Paulette Turner <pturner@us.ibm.com> To: ttowery@memphis.edu Dear Classmates, It's December 9, 2002 and I'm home today because my husband insisted that I take some time for myself away from my hectic job. Actually, I'm blessed to work for one of the best companies in the world, IBM, where I have a job about which I'm extremely passionate. I manage the sales training in the Americas. My daughter Jennifer, 29 and married two years, is also an IBMer. But today I'm taking the day off to appease my husband, Herb, and to spend some time with him. He knew I needed the time off and I'm now glad he insisted, because it gives me an opportunity to spend time writing this note. Let me begin with how I first heard about this fabulous website (what a super job!). While visiting my parents, Lawrence and Elizabeth Reddick, in Huntsville at Thanksgiving, Daddy handed me an envelope addressed to him from a Cheryl Massey. To my surprise the short note from Cheryl expressed her desire to locate a former classmate, me! To my delight Cheryl was located in Arlington, Texas, within minutes of my home in Grapevine, Texas. Cherri and I talked via telephone yesterday. Thanks to being away from work today, when I awakened at 5:30 am (not unusal for me), my first thought was to explore the webite of the Lee alumni. It's taken me almost four hours to devour much of the information. Cherri had expressed how happy she was to have found me...I replied, "but I wasn't lost." I truly know there is a time and a place for everything and now is the time for me to re-emerge into your lives. I read a comment from someone wanting to know my perspective on Lee High School. Over the next few weeks, I hope to shed some light on that and provide my insights. Reading through the website has already begun to bring back memories I'd long ago tucked away, like arriving at Lee High as an aspiring physician and discovering that "separate but equal" meant at my former school, Council Training High School, one big empty room called "The Science Lab", which I recall had a few bunson burners and not much else. At Lee High it meant 5 different fully equipped labs including a Biology Lab, a Physics Lab, a Physiology Lab, a Chemistry Lab and I can't remember the other one. It also brought back some pleasant memories about a small but special group who befriended me and protected me when others chose to slander me. I guess the good thing about being the only black at Lee High was that most chose just to ignore me. And that was fine with me...and probably why most people thought I was shy. Actually, I laughed at the notion of being characterized as shy...I've never thought of myself that way. Think back to 1964...everyone of you would probably have appeared shy if you were suddenly moved into an all African-American environment or an all Chinese-American environment or anything besides a majority white environment. I once worked for a brilliant manager at IBM, who was transferred to China to start IBM's business there. He has told me how my comments to him really put into perspective for him what his position in China would be: for the first time in his life, a true minority. Was I shy? Maybe. Guarded? Absolutely...I wanted to live through this experience and get on with my life. And so begins my saga. I want to share so much, including the obstacles that I faced like not being enrolled in a College Prep English class when I first arrived at Lee because "she couldn't possibly keep up with the course work"...the triumphs I experienced, like blowing the curve in the General English class with perfect 100% tests and being transferred, quickly, to the College Prep English course (You go, Girl!!) ...and much more. I hope to write again soon. Please feel free to write me at anytime. God bless, Paulette Reddick Turner Class of '66 Manager, Americas Sales Force Transformation (817) 870-4020 or 8/393-4020 FAX: (817) 870-4588 or 8/393-4588 201 Main Street, Suite 1200 Fort Worth, TX 76102 pturner@us.ibm.com Home address: 3801 Hillside Trail, Grapevine, TX 76051 Home phone: (817) 329-4981 __________________________________________ |
Musical Memories This week's song was another big Christmas hit when we were youngsters in Huntsville. Click on the record player below to continue. The music should play automatically so if you are at work, you might want to turn down your speakers a little. When you get to the song, record your comments for your other classmates. _________________________________ |
Still Crazy After All These Years |
Est. March 31, 2000 32,596 Previous Hits December 16, 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 Cherri Polly Massey, Paula Spencer Kephart Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
Click on the record player to hear the song. |
Classmates Share Their Own Toy Stories Your classmates have been bad this week. They do not want to play nice and share their memories and Santa is making a list. __________________________________________ |
Musical Memories of "The Chipmunk's Christmas Song" This goes back before Lee High when J.R.Brooks and I were attending Meridianville Elementary School. At Christmas time we were having a little Christmas party and we pushed all of our chairs back and our teacher (Not really sure, but I think her name was Mrs Smith) taught us to waltz to the strains of Simon, Theodore and Alvin singing "Christmas, Christmas, don't be late..." "Okay, children, One-two-three, One-two-three" How 'bout it J.R.? Do your remember??? Annette McCraney Gallagher ____________________________________ This song holds a very special memory for me especially since my Dad died the last of October this year. I had been asking for a record player and my dad came home from work on Christmas Eve with me a huge stereo record player and the Chipmuck Song. That was the only record I got for Christmas and I played it so many times, my family finally gave me money for more records. Tommy, thanks for prompting me to remember such a wonderful memory. Thanks also for the site. I check it every Monday morning as soon as I get to work. Hope everyone has a safe, happy holiday! Carol Bailey Olson ('65) ______________________________________ I remember this song from the old "Your Hit Parade" TV show and how it stayed in the Top 10, even after Christmas was over. And most of you should remember that we could make any song be sung by the Chipmunks back in our days by just changing the speed on the record players. Sometimes that happened even when we did not mean for it to. __________________________________________ |
From Our Mailbox Subject: Question raised in last week's issue Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 13:43:02 -0600 From: JEFF FUSSELL <jeff.fussell@adtran.com> Last week Cecilia LeVan Watson had expressed a desire to know what became of Dickie Michael. Dickie was the best friend of my younger brother (Class of 68). Regrettably, Dickie passed away many years ago due to complications of hepatitis picked up during a stint in Viet Nam. She would undoubtedly know my brother, Steve, and would probably be interested in contacting him, however there was no indication of her e-mail address. Although I knew several members of the class of '68, I do not remember her. Perhaps you could pass the message back to her. She can contact Steve at ssfussell@mindspring.com. Rgds, Jeff Fussell __________________________________________ Larry M. Seaver Thursday, 12/12/02, 9:50 AM In 1965 I quit school and join the U.S. Army.I served 3yrs. From 1966-1967. I served in Viet Nam with the 1st First Field Artillery. From: Huntsville, Al. Year of Graduation: 1965 _______________________________________ Subject: ROBERT ROBOT STORY Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 13:54:55 -0800 From: "Brian J. Pfeiffer" <brian@woodcraftsman.com> Hey Tommy. You say toward the end, in your story, that it is silly for a man (your age) to pay so much for a toy. My Ducati is my toy and it hit the streets for $9,300 with tax and licensing. Personal perspective I would say. Sure wish I could get the Duc for $73. Plus shipping of course. Brian Pfeiffer Class of '64 ___________________________________________ Subject: Please add me to the Traveller mailing list Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 08:46:45 -0600 From: "Nancy Eckhardt" <nancy.eckhardt@qualis-corp.com> Thank you for the work you do on the website. I only recently became aware of it so I haven't read all the back issues. I was born and grew up in Huntsville, lived on Lee High Dr. during my school years, so lots of the memories in your articles are also my memories. It is such fun to read. Nancy (Jean) Eckhardt Class of '67 mapresario@aol.com nancyeckhardt@knology.net ______________________________________________ |
Last Week's Mystery Classmate? _________________________________ |
Click on The Christmas Book to share your own Toy Story. |
We had no correct guesses for the name this Toy of Christmas Past? They are - Krazy Ikes ____________________________________ |
Memories of Christmases Past by Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly Class of '64 There were actually four Christmases that stand out in my mind above all others. I was five years old when I received my Toni doll -- complete with Tonette perm! I really loved that old doll. She had black hair and a plaid pinafore dress over a white blouse. Santa also brought the same doll with reddish-blonde hair to my grandmother (Who knew?), which I later inherited. The real enigma was that I had been allowed to sleep in the room with the tree that year, and somehow Santa managed to get everything under the tree without waking me! When I was nine, I had to have an electric train! It was really great, too, even though it smelled like rubber burning when it ran. I loved the little trees, benches, and lampposts that came with the set. This was the same Christmas (I promise I'm not making this up!) that I heard the sleigh bells on the roof before I fell asleep. I never could find anyone else who heard them, so I felt really special. Then the plot thickened. The following year, I received a doll buggy, a doll bath, and a highchair. Unfortunately, I tipped over the highchair and found a Woolworth's price sticker! Mother explained that sometimes Santa just doesn't have time to make everything. I was cool with that. The following year I decided that the only thing I wanted Santa to bring me was a piano! Mother tried and tried to talk me into something else. I really needed him to bring that piano to erase the memory of that price tag. Mother explained that she and Daddy wanted to buy the piano for me. Still no go. Then she said that it sure would be awful if Santa got a hernia like my grandfather's from lifting that heavy piano. Being a practical kid, I had to concur, of course. I still think Santa could have pulled it off -- miracle though it would have been. After all, we see miracles every day, don't we? Especially at Christmas. Yes, Virginia, I still believe that there really is a Santa Claus. You can all thank me later for protecting him from the hernia the year of the piano!! ______________________________________________ |
Okay, girls, your time... Can any of you name this Toy of Christmas Past? (We need more than doll...we want her name!) ____________________________________ |
Subject: Mystery classmate identification Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 20:55:50 -0500 From: "Rainer Klauss" <rglklauss@mindspring.com> The Mystery Classmate is obviously an academic of some kind. The books behind him are...hmmm...full of things like...uh... tables and statistics? Can that be right? I don't know--that's what my psychic powers are telling me. Sometimes one only receives fuzzy images, you understand. Hold it--now I'm also getting phrases like "ethnic competition" and "negative binomial regression." Wow, I'm sensing strong vibes of the color orange, but it seems that's connected with the past of our mystery classmate. OK, now the orange is deepening into a wonderful bright red. Suddenly I'm hearing a cacophony of music and singing, catchy but confusing- something about "losing my religion" and then a very lively "love shack." Now I hear barking-- woofwoofwoof woofwoof woof. What could this all mean? Give me a moment; I must gather myself, concentrate my powers. Ahhh, the veils of mystery are parting. My mojo is working now. I know who it is. It's Dr. Elwood "Woody" Beck, professor of sociology at the University of Georgia! Welcome to the website, man. So good to hear from you. Rainer Klauss Father of Lucas Klauss, UGA, 2005 ___________________________________________ Subject: Mystery picture Date: Sat, 07 Dec 2002 10:43:39 -0500 From: "Sarajane Tarter" <starter@HiWAAY.net> The mystery person is Woody Beck. I received an email from him in October and he is presently Director of a study abroad program in Avignon, France.For the last nine years he was head of the Sociology Dept. at the University of Georgia. Dr. Beck received an award from LHS at one of our reunions. It was something silly Niles made up and Woody was a good sport about it. I'm glad he is doing so well. Sarajane Tarter Class of '65 PS I tried to go to the skating rink but didn't make it. I bet you were the best 56 year old on the rink. Were you sore the next day? _____________________________________ |
The Sounds of Christmas - Christmas 1959 by Tommy Towery Class of '64 I am sure that I played with toys longer than some of my peers. I loved toys at Christmas. Some years, my Aunt Helen was a great aunt when Christmas time rolled around. Long before the big day she would ask me what I wanted and I would have already picked out the toy of my dreams. I remember the Christmas of 1959 especially.That was the year I picked out the Tudor Electric Sports Car Race set that I had seen in the hobby shop that was on North Washington, a little north of Belk-Hudson's and on the same side of the street. I can't remember the name of the shop but it specialized in models and hobbies, unlike the Grand News Stand on Clinton that was primarily a news stand with some hobby stuff in the back. The Tudor Tru-Action Electric Sports Car Race set with "Tru-action sports cars in an exciting rally over country roads, sharp curves and twisting turns keep you cheering to the finish. Fascinating fun for ages six and up" was built on the same principal as the electric football games of our times. The cars had little clear tabs of plastic that they were mounted on, and when you turned on the vibrator of the set, the vibration would cause the cars to move. The speed of the race depended on how you adjusted the vibrator. In this set, the four different colored cars would start off at the starting line and would move through mazes to the finish line. Sometimes they would get stuck in loops, sometimes cut each other off, and sometimes even turn around. The winner of course, was the one that made it to the finish line first. This usually took several minutes, since the cars did not move at the same speeds as the races that Terry and Lehman attend in California these days. The year I got mine, my Aunt Helen gave me a dollar to go put it in lay-away. Each week, for eight weeks she gave me a dollar to go pay on it. That ritual lasted for two months since the set cost $8.00. You can imagine the excitement that built up inside of me as each week I got closer and closer to actually owning the race set. Then came the big day when it was finally paid off, about a week before Christmas, and I had to take it home and give it to my aunt, who promptly wrapped it up and stuck it under the tree. Oh, the agony of seeing it sitting there all wrapped up, knowing what it was, and knowing that I could not play with it until Christmas day. Then came Christmas morning and I was finally allowed to open up the present. I tore the paper off the box, took it out, plugged it in, positioned the cars at the start line and fired up the vibrator. The noise of the vibration of the race set and electric football sets is a sound that I will always associate with Christmas. It must have driven my family crazy for most of the day I raced the cars through the molded plastic curves and turns. I can't think of any computer game today with its pops, buzzes, and explosions that could ever compare to the racket that the vibrator on that metal board could emit. The Christmas of 1959 is long in my past, but even now, every once in a while I go to e-bay and look at the bids on the Tudor Electric Sports Car Race sets, in mint condition, and I am only a mouse click away from "Gentlemen - Start your engines!" |
Give Some Memories For Christmas This Year by Tommy Towery Class of '64 In my e-bay searches one night, I found a book that caught my attention. On my trip to Huntsville for the Thanksgiving Mini-Reunion, I bought one and I would recommend it to any of you who want to help preserve the memories of our old Huntsville. I think it would make a great Christmas present for your children or friends who no longer live in the Huntsville area. It was listed with the following description: A Walk Through Downtown Huntsville Then and Now, by attorney Fred Simpson, was created to present a historical photographic display of how downtown Huntsville looked years ago as compared to the way it looked at the turn of the 21st century. Instead of treating the old scenes as separate illustrations they are presented in a way that will show their relationship to each other. The guidebook takes you on a visual photographic journal through the downtown area comparing the original views with present day photographs, street by street. There are 337 original photographs of Historic Downtown Huntsville with a total of 674 photographs including the current views of Downtown Huntsville, along with descriptions of the view. There are maps to lead you on a walking tour of Historic Downtown Huntsville, Alabama. The enjoyment that you will have looking through photographs from the past would delight anyone and they make great Holiday gifts. This is a 357 page, perfect bound book. buy it now, we will begin shipping November 15th, 2002. Need more than one? Write me; we can furnish you with more to fill all of those on your Christmas Shopping list. The cost is $29.95. I met Gay Campbell when I picked my copy up. She was working at S&R Sewing (across the street from Mullins to the right - in front of Advance Auto Parts) and the books are available on the counter there. I don't have a deal worked up with her for any discounts, but if you do buy one, tell her that you saw it on the leealumni.com website. |
Well, we're back from our trip to Denver. Spent five days up in the Rockies and in South Park and no snow; get back to Memphis and two days later it starts snowing. Go figure it. I think we have a good issue this week. Lots of musical and Christmas memories and a letter from a "lost" classmate who says she really wasn't lost she knew where she was the whole time. Another change in the Sitebuilder software has changed some features and now the lines and boxes don't show up for the Internet Explorer users. I've submitted a bug report to them and maybe they'll fix it before too long. With each week that passes we seem to pick up a few more strays. A lot of the Class of '67 seems to be finding their way here and we welcome all of them. Their memories are about the same as ours, and many of you spent a lot of Lee time with them. We're getting a good collection of stories to bring to you in future issues, and we encourage all of you to share your thoughts with us. It's fun reading all the memories of days gone past. You only have one more issue before Christmas if you have a story about Christmas to share with us. Ya'll be safe out there, ya' hear? T. Tommy ________________________________ |
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