Est. March 31, 2000 39,758 Previous Hits May 19, 2003 Editor:Tommy Towery http://www.leealumni.com Class of 1964 Page Hits This Issue e-mail ttowery@memphis.edu Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly , Joy Rubins Morris, Cherri Polly Massey, Paula Spencer Kephart, Rainer Klauss, Bobby Cochran, Collins (CE) Wynn Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
Photo submitted to us by Nancy Taylor Sherrod, Class of '64 Huntsville Flooded by May 6th Rainfall Just as we were working on the Big Springs article, we got an e-mail with the photo above from Nancy, who got it from someone, who got it from someone else. Anyway, there was a flood in Huntsville and here is what we have found. Excerpts from several Huntsville Times articles Tuesday, drenching rains buried some downtown streets in several feet of water. Sewer lines - even major ones - aren't designed to handle that much runoff. So, dirty water came gurgling to the surface in places. The flooding damaged scattered culverts, bridges and buildings and drove nearly 100 residents from their homes, Russell told the City Council on Thursday night. Red Cross officials identified 91 people displaced by flooding creeks and rivers. "A lot of those were in Huntsville,'' he said. A U.S. Geological Survey flow gauge at the Adams Street bridge over Fagan Creek showed the creek rising more than 5 feet between 8 and 10 a.m. Tuesday. Watts Drive resident Ann Bailey said the creek rose so fast residents barely had time to move belongings. "I'm in awe something could be this powerful,'' she said. The raging creek uprooted trees, smashed fences, soaked furniture and carpets, and turned smartly landscaped lawns into mud bogs. It has been called the worst general flood in Huntsville since 1973. With the exception of Aldridge Creek, most of the city's major creeks and drainageways had problems, including Broglan Branch and McDonald, Pinhook and Fagan creeks. Flooding downtown sent 4 feet of water in the Von Braun Center parking garage and nearly covered some downtown parking meters. ________________________________________ |
I went to work for Southern Bell (later changed to South Central Bell) in Huntsville, in July, 1966, shortly after graduation. My continuing education was "on the job". I learned by work ethic from a tiny, dynamo of a worman, Miladean (Dean) Slaughter. She later said I was one of the reasons her hair turned gray early. Working for SCB, I managed to overcome my shyness, managed to "move up" a bit, Service Order Clerk,Service Order Typist, Commercial Clerk, relieving Supervisor, etc. I was offered a management position a couple of times, but did not take it. I never wanted to be management. I transferred to Birmingham in 1981 when my job title was moved to Birmingham. I had a choice of B'ham, Dallas, or some place in New Jersey. I've never been real adventureous so I chose B'ham. In 1984, when the phone company split, I went with AT&T. I worked with AT&T until Dec. 20, 1991, when I took an early out, buy out that is. I had divorced my second husband in July, 1991 and since I never really liked Birmingham, I moved back to Milan, Tennessee to be with my mother. Milan is my home town. I do have to say that moving from Birmingham, Alabama to Milan, Tennessee was a bit of a "culture shock", life is a bit slower here, but I've grown accustomed to it. I began working for a law firm in Jackson, Tennessee in May, 1992 and am still with the same law firm. Things I miss about Huntsville: The Gates family Monte Sano Mountain Green Mountain Mullins Drive-In Mary Cornelison Gail Brady Ayers Betty Smith Nelson Things I miss about Birmingham: My stepchildren, Dusten and Wendy My friends at AT&T Milo's Sneaky Pete's _______________________________________ |
We Are FamiLEE! |
Est. March 31, 2000 39,758 Previous Hits May 19, 2003 Editor:Tommy Towery http://www.leealumni.com Class of 1964 Page Hits This Issue e-mail ttowery@memphis.edu Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly , Joy Rubins Morris, Cherri Polly Massey, Paula Spencer Kephart, Rainer Klauss, Bobby Cochran, Collins (CE) Wynn Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
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How I Ended Up In Milan, Tennessee by Linda Beal Walker Class of '66 |
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Last Week's Mystery Building Also on West Clinton and across from Meadow Gold, this building is the Coca Cola Bottling Company. I was doing an article on what all happened to Coke bottles from the time the Coke was consumed until they went back into the plant to get refilled and one of the things that I said happened to them was that little boys peed in them, sometimes out of necessity and sometimes for the fun or challenge. Now I know that sounds crude, but we're adults now and things were different when we were young. Now before Barbara, who seems oblivious to the minds and deeds of little boys, says it did not happen, I would like to take an anonymous poll of my male classmates. Your name will not be recorded, but I need your help in this research. Would you guys please answer the question below as to whether or not at anytime in your life, in any amount, you ever peed into a Coke bottle for any reason? I need the statistics for my research on this subject and I need your help in getting it. If you have stories to accompany your answer, then you can send them as e-mail. ______________________________________ |
As a few of you know already, my Angel In Waiting's wait is finally over. My mother passed away quietly with me and family standing by her side on Friday afternoon. I am doing fine I think and she is finally at rest. She had turned 80 last month. Her funeral will be on Monday, here in Memphis. We sent the writeup to the Huntsville Times as well as the Memphis paper. Whenever we would have her over the house for a visit, one of her favorite things to say to me would be "Now don't let me interfere with anything you need to do." And with that desire that she always had for me, I have elected to make sure that this issue gets out. I was working on it earlier in the week, and only have to even up the columns to finish. Any missing parts will be made up next week. Thanks so much for the thoughts and kind world from all of you that I hold so dear. T. Tommy _____________________________________ |
I continue to be amazed at the memorabilia Tommy can come up with. To me the photo of Big Spring Park is priceless - it is exactly how I remember it. Being a native Huntsvillian, some of my earliest memories are of family outings there at the park. That swimming pool was a welcome refuge on many hot summer days - without it my brothers and I would have been reduced to swimming in Pin Hook Creek (more often). Did any of ya'll ever attend one of the Fishing Rodeos at the lagoon? I believe they were sponsored by the City (or maybe the Boy's Club or the Boy Scouts) during the summer where, for one time each year, kids could camp out all night and fish in the lagoon. I remember catching a lot of fish but I don't remember keeping any. Our bait was not exotic - rolled up bits of sandwich bread called, appropriately enough, "dough balls". Our tents were primitive affairs made of whatever we could find and the bedding was old blankets our Mom's would let us have. Really great fun! Big Spring and the surrounding park has always been a special place and I have many warm, happy, and fond memories of experiences there. Now that it has been completely rennovated and turned into a 'city center', it is much nicer but it doesn't seem quite the same - just doesn't have the old panache. I can vaguely remember mental snapshots of the 1955 sesquicentennial and they are all of activities in and around Big Spring Park and the Farmers Market that was located there. Weeping Willow Trees and dirt foot paths; what a wondrous place. And, speaking of the spring itself, there was a kind of a trail following an outcrop that went up into the rock face of the cliff directly under 1st National Bank which could take one all the way around the back side of the Spring and come down on the north side - you could even get out onto the rock promontory that held the spray fountain if you were reckless enough. Although I have no direct evidence I am absolutely certain that Jesse James once robbed the 1st National Bank and leapt out the door in the wall above the Spring breaking his leg during his escape attempt - I know this is true because Mike Smith told me so. Many times I have read the historic marker near Big Spring about the 'cotton canal' and still don't quite believe it - hey, where were they shipping cotton to? I mean, Big Spring Canal drains into Pin Hook Creek near Governors and the Parkway and the Creek has never appeared to me to be navigable - at least, I have never seen any commercial shipping there much less any ski boats. Perhaps someone knows - it has been a lifelong mystery to me. But, there really was such a place as Cotton Row - it was a series of buildings built on the west side of Courthouse Square running from Sprague Street to the 1st National Bank covering the space where Compass Bank? and the walkway down to Big Spring are now located. The buildings were larger than the small space they were built on so they were constructed on what amounted to stilts hanging out over the rock cliff. The buildings all had these stair step looking fire escapes on the back walls which made great places to play - we would climb up the fire escapes from the ground near Big Spring and clamber around all inside the old, empty (by then their heyday had passed) warehouses using the elevators and everything - pretty much just exploring. One day up near the top of the northern most warehouse on the Spring side Mike Smith got to antagonizing Walt Thomas by holding his jacket our over the ledge of the highest fire escape and threatening to drop it if Walt didn't beg him not to or something similar (kind of like Michael Jackson did with his child in London). Well, what do you know, Mike lost his grip and Walt's jacket went fluttering down into the breeze and hung up on a piece of metal two floors down just out of reach. If the building had not been demolished remnants of that jacket would still be fluttering there today - I have no idea what Walt told his Mom. You know, Huntsville, really was a small place up until the late 1950's when the serious expansion started. When I was a one-year-old child, our house was on Vanderbilt drive near what is now currently the intersection of the Parkway and Governor's Drive (on the south side of Governors Drive and several hundred yards east of the intersection). I remember my Mom telling me that it was a new 'subdivision' at the time and way, way out in the country (this would have been 1947 or so). I may have mentioned this before but I swear I can remember, as clearly as if it were yesterday, riding with my Grandpa in a buckboard wagon behind two mules in downtown Huntsville at the intersection of East Clinton and Washington Street probably around 1952. Whoa, I just had a memory flashback. Pat Grubis once told me when she came to Huntsville in about 1962 she was amazed to find that the city still had a 'downtown' and it was where everyone went on Saturday. One of the big teen hangouts was the downstairs lunch counter at a variety (drug?) store on Washington Street between Holmes and East Clinton (just down the street from my buckboard recollection - the connection) but it could have been one more block north. And Barbara is absolutely right, during all my childhood, adolescent, and teenage adventures I never once felt frightened or threatened by anyone or anything. As I have mentioned previously, my brothers Don (Lee, '67) and Tony (Lee, '71) and I have talked of this many times. Based on horror stories from other places, it was a wonderful time and place to grow up. One of the things that made Huntsville (before the suburbs) a kid's town was the bus system. The buses ran everywhere and a kid could roam all over town so long as they had a few pennies for the fare (maybe $.10?). If I am real quiet and have a sufficient quantity of mind expanding Merlot, I can still recall some of the routes - out Meridian Street, take a right on Oakwood, then a right on 5th Street back to 5 Points, then a right on Holmes Avenue and downtown. One of the routes went by the corner of George (Lehman) Williams house on McCullough(?) up near the mountain and on into Darwin Downs and back by our house on Oakwood Ave. It seems I knew where the bus yard was but I can't recall now (oooops, got to go - out of Merlot). The following information was found on the web about the canal: "It was vital for the town's economic survival to ship its cotton down the Tennessee River to New Orleans. Therefore, in 1831, the Indian Creek canal was opened from Hunt's Spring to Triana on the Tennessee River. Transportation over land was possible along the Meridan Road which connects the city to Ditto's Landing, a point on the river where John Dito had established a trading post and ferry service in 1802. Around 1823, James White and other Huntsville businessmen established here a southern salt monopoly, and the area also became known as Whitesburg. Today, the Landing is a convenient yacht harbor. A nine-foot navigable channel makes the Tennessee River an important part of the Southern transport system. The port of Mobile can now be reached by the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway." __________________________________________ |
Big Thoughts About The Big Spring by Collins (CE) Wynn Class of '64 |
Photos by Fred and Lynn Sanders |
Point your mouse at the bilding to see the name. |
(Editor's Note: I went to the website that has satellite photos, and I was able to trace a potential water route from the Big Spring to the Tennessee, so I guess it was so. As far as the Fishing Rodeo, I do remember it and I remember using dough balls as well. I never caught any of the fish, but I love to see the big carp and goldfish or coi swim in the clear water among the green plant life. I think the name of the eating place on Washington and Holmes that Collins is referring to was Twickenham Rexall Drug. Dianne Hughey McClure's, Class of '64, dad ran that downstairs place. I remember spending a lot of time there, and it was one of the big "targets" during the sit-in era.) |
This Week's Mystery Building Okay, it's located on the square, but who knows the real complete name of this landmark? ____________________________________ |
From Our Mailbox Subject: Mystery building - Old Meadow Gold David Lemaster ,PE Class of '66 How I remember that building! I worked there in the summers from 1966 until 1968. ___________________________________ Subject: Mystery Bldg. Pat Torzillo Stolz Class of '66 I think this weeks mystery building is the old Coke plant, i do remember going on a trip there. Can't remember the street it is on, but is not far from the Meadow Gold Dairy building. For a short time they had a store there that sold Coke items, didn't go over well and closed soon after opening. But short of a good cold glass of Meadow Gold milk there is nothing like a good cold Coke. __________________________________ |
