In spite of, or because of, all that has happened last week, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Chrsitmas and Happy Holidays. We have created a special Memorial Page for Terry Preston this week. The Traveller staff elected to do so because Terry was a member of the staff and a driving force that helped Lee's Traveller get to where it is today. The e-mail response to the notice of Terry's death was so strong that all the comments would not fit on the main page.. Anyone wanting to see the Christmas Letter (like get real Tommy!) that I sent out this year can click here to read it TOMMY'S CHRISTMAS LETTER. There's not much left to say for this issue, except for one thing. If you need an idea for a last minute gift try this - call one of your classmates that you have not talked to in a while and let him or her know that you are thinking of them. Last week proved that we never know what will happen in our or their lives. Merry Christmas. T. Tommy ____________________________________ |
Sad News Received About Gene Bryson's Mother We had another loss to our extended family reported this week. Our prayers go out to our Classmate Gene Bryson, Class of '64, on the loss of his mother. Mrs. Bryson was a familiar face to most of us at Lee until Gene graduated. I remember that she was one of the mothers that went with us to our trip to the Alabama High School Press Association and was always around when the teachers needed help. We will morn Gene's loss. Below is the obituary that was printed in the Huntsville Times. You may e-mail Gene at brysong@email.uah.edu Edna B. Bryson Apr. 7, 1915 - Dec. 9, 2002 Edna Bryson, 87, died Monday at Sardis Oaks Nursing Home in Charlotte, N.C. The only daughter among Docia and William Brown's six children, she was born in Smithdale, Miss. on April 7, 1915. Edna graduated in 1936 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education from Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss. Afterward she worked as a public school teacher in Ruleville, Miss. where she met a fellow educator Roscoe E. Bryson; the man she would later marry in 1941. After pursuing a second career in Medicine and completing a residency in Radiology, Roscoe moved to Huntsville in 1959 with his wife and two sons. After working at Lee High School for a year, Edna retired from teaching in order to devote time to her family and such civic organizations as the PTA in her children's respective schools. Edna Bryson was preceded in death by her husband Roscoe in 1981. She is survived by her two sons Roscoe E. Bryson Jr. of Huntsville and Jerry L. Bryson of Charlotte, N.C.; and a brother, Russell Brown of Pensacola, Fla. _______________________________________ |
Est. March 31, 2000 33,082 Previous Hits December 23, 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, Cherri Polly Massey, Paula Spencer Kephart Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
Still Crazy After All These Years |
Est. March 31, 2000 33,082 Previous Hits December 23, 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, Cherri Polly Massey, Paula Spencer Kephart Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
Musical Memories of "White Christmas" I was always dreaming of a White Christmas growing up in Alabama. I now live in Indiana and A White Christmas is now a reality. I wish everyone in Huntsville, a happy, white Christmas. ______________________________________ I can't remember the year but it had snowed and my friend down the street had called for me to come down to see what she had gotten for Christmas. This had become a tradition for us since we were "only" children. This gave us a chance to share in each others joy. I remember walking to the street light to cross over to her side of the block and stopped in my tracks at the sight I saw. The snow had not been disturbed since everyone was at home and under the light the snow looked like a million diamonds sparkling pure and bright! Now every time I hear Bing Crosby sing White Christmas I just close my eyes and drift back to that street corner and those days of joy and happiness. __________________________________ Memories of WWII, which always held my interest. Bing Crosby had such a smooth, pleasing voice. ___________________________________ The year was 1954 and my grandmother and I walked from our house to The Lyric Theatre to see the movie that got its name from this song. We sat there just the two of us and were captured by the emotions of the movie. Of course, whenever I hear the song these days, my thoughts go back to that time and to the grandmother that helped raise me. Its hard to believe that my grandmother was 51 then, and I am five years older now than she was then. I have another memory of this song also. It's a memory of singing "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas..." along with 8,000 other voices as a gentle, warm breeze swayed the palm trees as we sat on the ground in short sleeve shirts. The song was being led by Bob Hope's wife and the rest of the cast of the USO show that entertained the troops in Guam. It was two weeks past Christmas, but they had messed up and needed another take of the song to film for a TV special so we were the singers. If ever in my life I really "dreamed" of a white Christmas - that was the time. I think we should all remember all the current US Armed Forces that are now sitting in places around the world, dreaming of being home with their own families instead of being off in a foreign country - defending our freedoms. Tommy Towery Class of '64 _____________________________________ |
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For the Christmastime, here are photos of a Huntsville snow in days gone by that were submitted by Terry Preston. |
Terry Preston 1945-2002 |
In Loving Memory of TERRY LEE PRESTON by Jimmy Preston Around 10:30 Riverside California time, 14 Dec 2002, your friend and my beloved brother Terry, passed from this world and entered into heaven. Terry had just completed singing a song for a restaurant crowd and had returned to his table. He was doing one of the things that he did well and was enjoying another special California evening with friends and his beloved Jan Kostin. In as much time as it takes for a smile Terry suffered a massive heart attack. Terry's passing is a terrific shock and a terrific loss to us. Our loss is heaven's gain. Terry was a loving brother to each of his siblings and a loving father/ grandfather to his children/grand children. His passing has left a large hole in his families heart. Everyone who knew and associated with Terry will miss him, he always made us smile. Terry left us way too soon, only 57 years and 32 days young. Terry's love for his family and his friends was most evident to each us, he always made an effort to greet acquaintances. Terry always spoke highly and excitedly about each of you. May God bless each and every one of you in the path ahead? ____________________________________________ |
Terry had just finished singing "You Say it's Your Birthday," by popular audience request. He sat down at his table and died instantly of a heart attack. Terry left this life as he had lived it -- laughing and singing his music among friends and, as always, enjoying himself to the max.Terry was instrumental in arranging a mini- reunion this past summer for our classes and renewing and maintaining friendships were very important to him. He was the epitome of a true friend to our classes, and his passing will leave a void in our lives. Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly |
Click on the photo above to go to the Memorial Page for Terry. |
Two Peas in a Pod By Terry "Moses" Preston (This is the last article Terry submitted to Lee's Traveller) Our Most Illustrious Editor has a gift for conjuring relevant topics for his staff to write about. Some of those topics appear to be simple and easy at first glance, but when you are staring at the monitor, confidently ready to begin, it suddenly becomes complicated and difficult. This one was like that. Oh I'm sure that the topic "How I Met My Best Friend at Lee" would be easy as pie for many of you (and I hope that many of you will take a moment to tell us about how you met your best friend at Lee). My 'problem' is that I had so many 'best friends' during my six years at Lee that it is difficult to narrow it to just one. They are all wonderful people, and we had some really special and fun times. And who wouldn't, with the likes of Milton Shelton, Johnny Harbin, Dale Thompson, Walter Thomas, C.E. Wynn, Jim McBride, Sonny Turner, Joe Barran, Tommy Thompson, David Mullins, and David France? And how about my very special female friend Barbara Wilkerson? But an assignment is an assignment, and Generals just don't cop out. So how do I determine what constitutes a 'best' friend? Well, first you have to like them. (Hmmm. That didn't narrow the list). Then you have to be happy when you're around them. (That didn't help either). This won't be easy. What else? Oh yeah. What if you are of the same mind, having similar purposes, similar interests, and similar thought processes? And what if you are both a little different from other people, but different in the same ways? And what if you not only understand that difference, but you also embrace and celebrate it? And what if you have a deep, genuine love for one another, and your friendship endures for years and just grows stronger? That does narrow it down to one person. My very best friend from Lee, Jim McBride. I first met Jim on a hot day in early June of 1959 at Optimist Park. We were both there to try out for the baseball team that was coached by Kenny Daniel. Jim had a quality called genuineness (still has) and everyone liked him (still do). Being one year younger than me he was somewhat smaller then, but on the baseball diamond he had the intensity and the heart of a lion. And he loved the game! After baseball practice we liked to drink a Double Cola, sometimes at Baltimore's Grocery and other times at Carroll's Grocery, which was only a block from Jim's house on Rison Avenue. I met his daddy (Alvin), his mama (Helen), and his sister Teresa, and enjoyed spending many mornings and afternoons on their front porch, drinking his mother's tea and talking. The view from his front porch was the big ditch and the Fifth Street Baptist Church, off to the right was the moving traffic on the two-lane Fifth Street (Andrew Jackson Way), and down the street to the left the old Dallas Street YMCA and the Dallas Mill building. Jim later immortalized the setting in his autobiographical song Dixie Boy: "I was raised in the shadows of an old cotton mill, Back when believing was the style. Small town heaven and a big-eyed boy Make sweet music for a while. My daddy worked hard down at the factory At nights he went to G.I. school. He didn't know nothing 'bout the silver spoon, But he lived by the golden rule. Summer nights he was gone, me and mama stayed home, Out on the front porch swing, Wishing on the stars in the southern skies And sometimes we used to sing. We were leaning, leaning on The everlasting arms of love! Living all the simple joys this Dixie boy's made of!" We spent many evenings at Optimist Park, watching fast-pitch softball games, singing songs, and talking major league baseball. I loved the Dodgers, and Jim loved the Giants. I can still hear the way he pronounced Willie "McCuvie" in his laid-back southern drawl, and how he loved Willie Mays. He captured that in his song, too: "Got my real education from the TV station And good old boys down at the park. Sey-hey Willie and those rock-a-billies Made their way into my heart." Jim is fond of telling people that he mentioned me in this song. I am one of the "good old boys down at the park". I plan to return the favor by naming one of the characters in my new novel after him. Scary thought, isn't it? Don't worry, it won't be Goober McBride. I said that we genuinely love one another. Besides, he has a much larger audience than I do, and payback is hell. Jim and I have so very much in common that it is easy to counsel one another. The parallels in our lives are striking. We are both sensitive (probably too sensitive) men that God has blessed with a gift for writing. I won't reveal the areas in our separate lives in which we share virtually identical experiences, because they are too personal, for both of us. But when Jim and I talk, we both understand what the other is saying, where he is coming from and why it is important to him. The similarity of our experiences enables us to empathize with one another, and usually to impart some jewel of wisdom that genuinely helps the other. And when we are together, we have a blast! We are still the small-town big-eyed boys that we've always been, but now we are in a larger playground. I enjoy showing him all of the wonderful places in my world, and he can't wait to return the favor. All of our moments together are full, because we fill in the gaps with guitars, songs, stories, jokes, hours of reminiscing about our mutual friends, celebrating our successes, and talking about writing. We are truly two peas in a pod! I'll talk at you later, Jimmy Mack! __________________________________________ |
The doll pictured is a Betsy McCall doll. I got one in the fourth grade by saving pennies!!! Can you believe that? I can't remember how many pennies it took but it must have cost $4 or $5! I remember I thought she was the most beautiful doll in the whole world! I still have her and I pulled her out to take a picture to send you and her arms had fallen off! I think they must have been connected with a rubber band and it rotted. She must be 42 years old!!! I am going to have her repaired and then maybe I can send you a picture. I also have a Ginny doll and if I can get a picture of her I will send it to you. She may be older. Jennifer Bannecke Class of '65 ___________________________________ This really looks like the "Sweet Sue" doll I recieved for Christmas one year. It was probably the last Christmas doll I got. She was so grown-up and pretty. I can remember my grandmother making clothes for her and trying to teach me to sew also. Somehow, I just can't imagine grandmothers teaching their grandaughters to make "Barbie" clothes today. Linda Taylor Class of '64 ________________________________ |
Sad News Received About Gene Bryson's Mother We had another loss to our extended family reported this week. Our prayers go out to our Classmate Gene Bryson, Class of '64, on the loss of his mother. Mrs. Bryson was a familiar face to most of us at Lee until Gene graduated. I remember that she was one of the mothers that went with us to our trip to the Alabama High School Press Association and was always around when the teachers needed help. We will morn Gene's loss. Below is the obituary that was printed in the Huntsville Times. You may e-mail Gene at brysong@email.uah.edu Edna B. Bryson Apr. 7, 1915 - Dec. 9, 2002 Edna Bryson, 87, died Monday at Sardis Oaks Nursing Home in Charlotte, N.C. The only daughter among Docia and William Brown's six children, she was born in Smithdale, Miss. on April 7, 1915. Edna graduated in 1936 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education from Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss. Afterward she worked as a public school teacher in Ruleville, Miss. where she met a fellow educator Roscoe E. Bryson; the man she would later marry in 1941. After pursuing a second career in Medicine and completing a residency in Radiology, Roscoe moved to Huntsville in 1959 with his wife and two sons. After working at Lee High School for a year, Edna retired from teaching in order to devote time to her family and such civic organizations as the PTA in her children's respective schools. Edna Bryson was preceded in death by her husband Roscoe in 1981. She is survived by her two sons Roscoe E. Bryson Jr. of Huntsville and Jerry L. Bryson of Charlotte, N.C.; and a brother, Russell Brown of Pensacola, Fla. _______________________________________ |
What Santa Can Do For You Submitted by Cherri Polly Massey If I were ol' Santa, you know what I'd do, I'd dump silly gifts that are given to you And deliver some things just inside your front door, Things you have lost, but treasured before. I'd give you back all your maidenly vigor, And to go along with it, a neat tiny figure. Then restore the old color that once graced your hair Before rinses and bleaches took residence there. I'd bring back the shape with which you were gifted, So things now suspended need not be uplifted. I'd draw in your tummy and smooth down your back Till you'd be a dream in those tight fitting slacks. I'd remove all your wrinkles and leave only one chin, So you wouldn't spend hours rubbing grease on your skin, You'd never have flashes or queer dizzy spells, And you wouldn't hear noises like ringing of bells. No sore aching feet and no corns on your toes, No searching for spectacles when they're right on your nose, Not a shot would you take in your arm, hip or fanny, From a doctor who thinks you're a nervous old granny. You'd never have a headache, so no pills would you take, And no heating pad needed since your muscles won't ache, Yes, if I were Santa you'd never look stupid, You'd be a cute little chick with the romance of a cupid. I'd give a lift to your heart when those wolves start to whistle And the joys of your heart would be light as a thistle. But alas! I'm not Santa, I'm simply just me, The matronest of matrons you ever did see, I wish I could tell you all the symptoms I've got But I'm due at my doctor's for an estrogen shot. Even though we've grown older this wish is sincere, Merry Christmas to you all and Happy New Year! ______________________________________ |
Confession time....After writing the story about the race set last week, I made the click of the mouse button and actually bought one on e-bay. TT _________________________________________ |
In spite of, or because of, all that has happened last week, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Chrsitmas and Happy Holidays. We have created a special Memorial Page for Terry Preston this week. The Traveller staff elected to do so because Terry was a member of the staff and a driving force that helped Lee's Traveller get to where it is today. The e-mail response to the notice of Terry's death was so strong that all the comments would not fit on the main page.. Anyone wanting to see the Christmas Letter (like get real Tommy!) that I sent out this year can click here to read it TOMMY'S CHRISTMAS LETTER. There's not much left to say for this issue, except for one thing. If you need an idea for a last minute gift try this - call one of your classmates that you have not talked to in a while and let him or her know that you are thinking of them. Last week proved that we never know what will happen in our or their lives. Merry Christmas. T. Tommy ____________________________________ |
Lehman Williams sent us this from the memorial service for Terry that he attended in California. ___________________________________________________ |
From Our Mailbox Subject: Re: The Passing of Terry Lee Preston - Class of '64 Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 20:06:42 -0600 From: "Lynn VanPelt" <bamayaya@knology.net> Tommy, what a range of emotions between Sat. and Sun. Sat. night I was just elated to read the submission from Paulette Reddick. Thank you to Cheri Polly for finding the way to get in touch with her. And then Sunday the sudden and shocking news about Terry. I've been checking the paper every day for the obit so I can pay my respects at the services. Terry was at the heart of both the website and our gatherings, he will be missed and remembered. Lynn Bozeman VanPelt Class of '66 ___________________________________ Subject: Thank you for the article Date: Sat, 21 Dec 2002 14:49:57 EST From: KYLEAGLE02@aol.com Dear Tommy and staff, I want to personally thank each of you for writing this article about Mom. GrandDad sent it to me to read, and though it made me cry some, it really touched my heart and soul to see it, and to see the good and spiritual impact that Mom had on people's lives growing up. She taught me many things in life, but mostly how to love others, and to love the Lord, and I am so thankful for that. Best wishes and success to all of you at the Traveller, and to those of you who shared your friendship and your hearts with Mom (Sandy), my prayers are with you. Sincerely, Kyle R. Ray ____________________________________ Subject: Suggestion Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 21:39:24 -0600 From: "Ronald Swaim" <ron80rc@hotmail.com> I was just going thru 'In Memory'....pictures of our classmates are in the 'year books' can you not scan their picture out of the year book into the 'In Memory' section... instead of 'no picture available' or whatever....? Beverly Taylor Swaim 'Class of 66' (Editor's Note: When I first created the "In Memory" section I only had the 1964 yearbook. Now that I have scanned the '65 and '66 the plans are to go back and add the photos. We're going to have to redesign that section soon, so that will be added then.) |
Betsy McCall |
Terry Lee Preston Nov. 12, 1945 Dec. 14, 2002 Terry Lee Preston, 57, of Wildomar, Calif. died Saturday. Mr. Preston was a native of Huntsville, a Lee High and Athens College graduate, former member of the ALNG, and a 20 year S.E. Electronics Project Manager. Survivors include two daughters, Missy Head of Tuscaloosa and Regina May of Washington State; six grandchildren, Zachary, Katy, and Kelsey Head, Ryan and Brittney Van Cleave and Ashlynn Swaney; two brothers, Jimmy Preston and Stanley Preston; two sisters, Roberta Posey and Dot Hicks and a host of nephews and nieces. The funeral service will be at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Spry Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Alan Head officiating. Burial will be at Maple Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be from 12:30 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Published in The Huntsville Times on 12/20/2002. ______________________________________ |
