Est. March 31, 2000 45,550 Previous Hits September 15, 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, Paula Spencer Kephart, Rainer Klauss, Bobby Cochran, Collins (CE) Wynn, Eddie Sykes Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
From Our Mailbox |
We Are Fami-LEE! |
Est. March 31, 2000 45,550 Previous Hits September 15, 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, Paula Spencer Kephart, Rainer Klauss, Bobby Cochran, Collins (CE) Wynn, Eddie Sykes Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
">
">
">
">
I received word from Linda McAdams Johnson, Class of '64, that thanks to donations by various classmates from the various classes of LHS, the breakfast at the school cafeterian will not have a charge. Several have donated enough to pay for the Continental Breakfast that starts at 8am on October 4th. We have elected to cancel the golf outing, due to the lack of classmates that want to participate. As of this time, only two have signed up for golf, but if you still want to play, bring your clubs to the breakfast and perhaps a game can be organized there. Carol Jean needs the names of those wanting to order Homecoming Mums (approximately $12.50) so click on the link below to order yours. These have to be ordered and paid for a week in advance so we need a count. Also, there is a link below to make a request for the dance. Even if you are not coming but want to request a special song for an old classmate, you can do so. Just click on the link below. Please also remember the cruise that Eddie Sykes, Class of '66, has organized for all you classmates, regardless of class year. T. Tommy _____________________________________ |
">
">
">
">
Click On The Ship Above For Information About Lee High School's 4-Day Cruise Leaves February 19, 2004 From New Orleans ___________________________ |
Click On The Logo Above For Information About Homecoming 2003 October 3-4-5, 2003 _____________________ |
Click On The Logo Above For Information About Buy A Book For Lee In 2003 _____________________ |
Last Week's Mystery Building Cecilia LeVan Watson, Class of '68 I think the mystery building this week is the Greyhound Station. I think we have all at one time took a luxury trip on the Greyhound. I went to camp in Jackson, Mississippi on the bus and it took forever. We stopped at every little town and some places I didn't think could be classified as a town. They lost my luggage somewhere and the first 2 days of church camp included wearing borrowed clothes. ________________________________________ J. Whitt Singleton, Class of '67 I saw the mystery photo and felt compelled to write a brief note concerning this place. The picture shows the old Continental Trailways bus station. I was employed there for a couple of years during high school and for a few months following graduation from college. During my senior year at Lee High School ('67) I worked the evening shift and recall spending long hours with my "mentor" Wayne Deason ('64) who was also employed for a time during his college years. Many nights I listened to him extoll the virtues of being in the Navy Reserve. I am sure he has some stories to tell about the bus station and his experiences. I learned to give bus calls early in my career as a ticket agent and to this day can rattle off all the major cities from Huntsville and points north, south, east and west. We saw our share of passengers, drunks, and people of different and unusual sexual orientation-for some reason the bathroom facilities were frequented by this segment of society and at that time the bus station had one of the few bathrooms open all night. On many occasions we saw ladies seeking employment via their charms. Of course none of us working at the bus station purchased any of their services. I was once mugged and subsequently saved by one of the porters (6' 4" and 240 lbs) who scared the perpetrator by threatening to "break his body." I arrived for work one day at the bus station just as a crazed woman threatened to shoot someone working at the ticket counter. She did fire at one of the policemen who arrived to subdue her. They managed to arrest her without anyone being injured. I recall the cafe located in the front of the station and the jukebox that was played constantly. For some reason the most popular song played over and over by the patrons at that time was "Tracks of my Tears" by Johnny Rivers. It has been over 30 years since I was employed there but even now when I smell diesel fuel from a truck or bus, I still ponder memories of the bus station and can visualize "the black smoke a rolling up around the tail lights" as sung by Roy Clark in his song "Thank God and Greyhound your Gone." Lastly I will mention others from Lee High School that I recall worked at the bus station: Ray Walker ('64) whose father was the manager, Richard Flurnoy ('64), and Stanley Preston ('67). Tommy, thanks for helping to keep the LHS memory alive! __________________________________________ |
Bobby and Joe Cochran You Can't Go Home Again by Bobby Cochran Class of '64 There's an old saying, "You can't go home again." I suppose the root of the question is, what is "home?" In my case, the only "home" that my Mom and Dad owned together was our house at 3209 Pulaski Pike in Huntsville. My parents lived in apartments from the time I was born. When we came to Huntsville from Birmingham over the Labor Day weekend in 1956, we moved into the upstairs of a house at 612 1/2 Harrison Avenue, about a block and a half east of California Street. My Dad had actually been living and working in Huntsville for almost six months: he stayed at a Motel called the Park Valley (or Park View) , located six miles south of town. He'd come back to Birmingham on Friday night and head back to Huntsville on Sunday afternoon. There were quite a few folks like my Dad, staying in rented rooms in Huntsville waiting for apartments to open up', or 'for the opportunity to buy a house. I remember how proud my folks were of the house on Pulaski Pike. They bought the house from the builder, Glenn Wright -interestingly, the Wright's son, Taylor (also known as Billy) attended Lee. I believe the Wrights moved into the Lakewood area, but I'm not sure. The mortgage was for 20 years, but my folks took out a second mortgage so they could pay off the house quicker. I believe they paid it off in 13 years. My Dad passed away in 1978, and my Mom sold the house and moved to North Carolina. The house changed hands at least two more times. My Mom moved back to Huntsville a couple of years ago, and purchased a house near my brother and sister-in-law in the old Montdale Subdivision at the foot of Monte Sano. While my wife Sandy and I were visiting Huntsville recently, my brother Joe said he had something to show me. Sandy and I rode with him as he headed north on the Parkway, and turned left on Oakwood Avenue. When we turned north onto Pulaski Pike. I asked him if we were going by the old house. He just smiled. When we got to the house and turned into the driveway. I was really shocked. Our old house is now a CHURCH! A banner was hanging on the front porch which read. - "Mankind is One, The Baha'i Faith of Huntsville. Madison County." The front yard was now a gravel parking lot. My brother said that he had stopped by the house recently when he saw a car parked there. The man working there graciously showed Joe through the house. Joe said it looked "pretty much" the same as the last time he had seen it. except that there was no furniture. and that the garage had been completely finished and served as the "chapel." Sandy took the photo above. (Doesn.t my brother Joe look like Rainer will in a few years? (ha) _____________________________________________ |
Subject: MAILING LIST Jimmy L. Durham. Should have been Class of '66 This is a great site. I didn't graduate from Lee but I spent a lot of years there. I started there in the eighth grade. I played basketball and football for Lee. In fact I was the quarterback for our perfect season in 1965; we lost all nine games. Ha! You know that there were two of us at Lee but I am the athlete. I played with all of the players that were on the '64, '65 and the '66 teams, such as Billy Byrom, Larry Wiggins and so on. I transferred. We moved to Hazel Green . I would have been in the Class of '66, so I still feel like I'm a General. I am living in Jacksonville Beach, FL. Good luck on this great web site. ____________________________________ Subject: Hi! William Dale Meyer Should Have Been Class of '66 Tommy...just a note to commend the work you and the staff do on the Traveller. I read Greg Dixon's and Barbara Seely Cooper's recollection of Lakewood. I moved into Lakewood on Norris Road in 1961. I remember it fondly and all the corner lots I cut the grass (whew...what a way to earn three bucks). The "lake" was a great place to camp and go for a swim (except for the snakes). They forgot to mention the gravesites of some revolutionary soldiers which I visited several years later and was pleased that someone had at least constructed a fence around. They were the topic of many a campfire ghost story. I attended Lakewood for the 7th grade (part of the mighty Lakewood Lakers Little League team) and then to Lee as it dropped a grade each year, becoming a high school. Alas, my Dad being a civil servant followed the yellow brick road to Michigan. in 1963. I came close to attending GRANT junior high. Fortunately we moved to spare this Southerner the embarrassment and humiliation. I don't think I would have survived with my southern drawl. For those of us who started Lee in the 8th grade, 1966 must have been a special class. I will always appreciate the enduring memories of what now is 40 years ago. I don't recall all the names I see but if you see Linda Collingsworth tease her about the Chubby Checker sweatshirt with "Let's Twist Again" on the front. Somthings you never forget. God bless all the Generals! _________________________________ Edward Zachary Class of '69 Alcoa,Tn Isa61v1@aol.com This site has helped me more than any on finding out about my old school. My family basically moved from Huntsville in 1978 so I ahve lost contact. If it was not for the fact I have to work the weekend of homecoming I would come home for the weekend. I would love to hear from old class mates and maybe in 2004 all of us that can get together for a 35 year reunion _______________________________ Susie Clay Durham Class of '73 dansnurse@yahoo.com Great site. I recently attended my 30 year reunion and am so happy that I did. It was so good to reaquaint with old friends and discover new ones. I Love your website. Thanks for the memories.....Go Generals! ________________________________ |
The Hill That Went Down Into Darwin Downs by Eddie Sykes Class of '66 Darwin Downs was a unique area in Huntsville to grow-up. There was only one (main) way in and that was Oakwood Ave. It dead-ended into Oak Park at the foot of the mountain. We were in sort of a valley with mountains(or hills) on three sides. The park was a nightly meeting place. A place we walked to or drove by regularly to see who was there. At night during baseball season (Spring and Summer) you could get a drink or snack at the concession stand and hook-up with others who had nothing better to do either. This was also the place of origin for many yard-rolling events. Chambers Road was called "suicide hill" and it led up to the mountain road, now Bankhead Parkway. This hill was so steep that some cars could not make it up without taking a running start. However, if you tried to go up it too fast the car would scrape. The pavement had many scars and groves from those who tried. I used to tell people that you could actually have a head-on collision with "suicide hill". But, on the rare occasion of a big snow it served as the best hill in town to sled on. At the bottom of the hill the road dead-end into Giles which required you had to make a hard right or left. The curb in this turn claimed the life of many good sleds and garbage can lids. You could not ride a skate board down it because the concrete was poured rough to give cars better traction. However, half way up Chambers you could turn left onto Oak Park Rd. That was the skate board hill. The skateboards of the Sixties were much more narrow and less navigable than today's version. It was fast and dangerous to ride down Oak Park requiring a lot of practice to keep from killing yourself. I learned by going part way up and skating down. As I got better and more sure of myself, I moved up higher on the hill. It took me weeks before I made it down from the top. I nearly killed one of my friends, Lamar Robinson, by making a dare with him. I told him that I would try it if he would.. He didn't know that I had been practicing so he took my skateboard and gave it his best shot. He fell near the bottom of the hill going about 30 miles an hour. I thought it was so funny until I saw what it did to his legs and arm. I'm not sure if I ever skateboarded down from the top again after that. Another favorite pass time was to drive up the mountain to the first overlook. From there you could look down and see Darwin Downs and Oakwood Drive. This was also a favorite parking place for light make-out sessions which was often our intentions when we drove up there with girls from the neighborhood. Of course we told them that we were going up to see the lights or to see if we could pick out our house. Since we already knew how to find our house, it gave us the excuse to get cheek to cheek in order to point them in the right direction. The cops would come by on a regular basis and break up any serious petting. There were other parking places for that. The overlook was also a great place to go to view the fall leaves after they turned. There were so many kids our age (Lee students) that you never had to leave Darwin Downs to hookup with someone or to play sandlot football, basketball, or baseball. During school most of us would car pool with a driving student. I use to ride with Dwight Kaphart. He was really a "man" trapped in a teenager's body. He would never scratch-off or drive over the speed limit. I remember CE Wynn riding with us some of the time. One day we were coming home from afternoon football practice and Dwight got pulled over by a motorcycle policeman. The officer said that Dwight had just slowed down at the stop sign , shifted into second gear (standard transmissions - remember them) and never came to a complete stop. Then he said, "Dwight, I'm going to tell your mother the next time I pull you over." It was CE's dad. Dwight was actually the last person to deserve a ticket. He was the most respectful teenager that I had ever met. He was a clean cut "Yes Sir / No Sir" kind of person that respected his parents and adults. I was saddened to read of his passing. There are so many memories. But, reflecting back we can be proud of some of the many traditions that our generation started. Skateboards, yard rolling, hula hoops, slinkys, and hanging out are just a few of the fads that we started and still fashionable today. Back then we depended on socialization for fun. Today, kids depend on things for entertainment. They have the nerve to wine, "I don't have anything to do." We need to teach our children's children the values of spending more time with friends and family. We spent a lot of time together sometimes (like yard-rolling) not for the right reasons. But, maybe that is why after all those years we still fill like "Fami-LEE!". I did not write about rolling yards because I am hoping that several of you will write in and share your best yard rolling story with us. Maybe you'll find out who rolled your yard. ___________________________________ |
Mystery Photo of the Week Can you identify the female Classmate holding the "fish" she caught? The car should give you an idea of the time frame. The male here was a Carter's Skateland regular, but he went to Huntsville High and has spent many years as a fireman. ___________________________________ |
