Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly , Joy Rubins Morris, Paula Spencer Kephart,
Rainer Klauss, Bobby Cochran, Collins (CE) Wynn, Eddie Sykes, Cherri Polly
Massey
Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders
Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66
Many of you classmates started being Jimmy Olsen early on Friday with the breaking news of the story on the Lee principal below. I elected to save room for the updates, so a few things got positioned in an odd place this week, or saved for a future issue.
We are continuing the candy story, as you can see, and next week will address bagged candy and invite you to send in e-mail addressing your own favorite bagged or bulk candies.
By the way...with the upcoming national elections, the Traveller staff wants to remind you that we will not address current political issues in this website. We will be neither pro nor con on either party or candidate, so please do not send any e-mails on political issues expecting them to be published. I hope you understand our reasons for this policy.
T. Tommy
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Click here to add text.
Today We Start An Investigation:
Our Own Lee High School
"Cold Case"
by Tommy Towery
Class of '64
A hit TV show this season is "Cold Case." It centers on unsolved mysteries that have gone unsolved for many years. This week the editor received the following e-mail which offers us as a group an opportunity to solve our own "Cold Case Mystery".
Subject: Found Class Ring - Looking for Owner
Anna Raebel
raebela@bellsouth.net
I hope you can help me. I found a 1971 Lee ring two years ago while digging around up at Monte Sano playground with my kids. I have tried to locate the owner several different ways but had no luck. I found your site on yet another web search, so maybe you
have some idea of how to locate the rightful owner.
I will tell you all I know about the ring:
This is a woman's ring, very small - probably a size four or five, Lee High 1971, light blue stone, with a crest on one side, and an image of Gen. Lee astride a horse above the confederate flag on the other side. Inside the ring are the initials "S N S" , and the marks: +BALFOUR 10K (I think just a manufacturer's marking) The lower band shows some wear - but this ring is in very good condition considering it's age.
My attempts to locate someone from Lee in that timeframe with those initials turned up the names Sherry Seymour (Clark?), Suzanne Sanders, and Sondra Suns. I did not have much luck contacting them, though. (Probably because they married and
changed names.) Thanks in advance for any assistance!
E-mails were sent to a few readers who were in or close to the Class of '71, and to Janice Titsworth Barnett, one of our classmates still working at Lee.
I think we should take on this mystery as a group and help find the owner. How can you help us do that? Try to find out who might have lost a 1971 LHS ring and e-mail us with your thoughts. We'll keep you posted of events.
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Last Week's Mystery Items
Name Cecilia LeVan Watson
Class Year 1968
That candy sure looks like Sugar Babies. They were in the shapes of little babies. I remember buying them at the Lyric Theater and at Kresses across the street where my Mom worked.
Good guess Cecilia, but not quite correct. Actually, these were not Sugar Babies. Sugar Babies were rounded, in the same family as Sugar Daddies. These are actually a candy called "Chocolate Babies." The only place I ever remember seening them sold was in the theatres. I also remember them having a slang (politically incorrect) name.
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Candy Bars
That I Have Known
by Tommy Towery
Class of '64
The photo above will always make me think of Carol Jean Williams Carroll, and the Christmas Eve night that Bob Walker and I left a whole box of Snickers on her front porch, with a note saying it was from Santa. That is a major candy memory, but I think my memories of candy that cost more than the Penny Candy did are associated with the candy that was sold at the picture shows. Sure all the dime stores and newsstands and grocery stores sold that type of candy too, but I guess the fact that the movies had all the candy centralized in one glass case, without any other merchandise to distract from it, is a major factor in the memories. Get to the movies early, or leave in the middle of the show, you always walked past the concession stands and saw the candy. It was usually a nickel back in the early days, but it never got the name Nickel Candy like the Penny Candy did. Things were wrapped in paper, or boxed in small individual boxes.
If I concentrate on the Grand Theater, I can remember one of my favorite “bang-for-the-buck” candies. I often looked for that type of candy, and many times the quantity was the bigger factor over the purchase than the quality. I wanted the most candy I could get for the money spent. That was one reason that I like the Long Boy Kraut, which most of you do not remember. It was about 12 inches long and maybe ¾ inch wide and was a caramel and coconut type mixture. It was wrapped in a yellow see through cellophane wrapper with red lettering on it, and featured a drawing of a tin soldier that ran the whole length of the wrapper. I could make one of those last for most of a movie – but not a double feature. I would have to bite off a chuck, like the cowboys biting off a piece of tobacco, and chew on it for several minutes or more to make it go away. The basic Tootsie Roll was in that same class, but was more like tobacco, since I could chew on it for a while and then “spit” out the same way the cowboy on the screen did. But I didn’t spit in the theatre, which was for playing cowboy out in the playground. A Slow Poke or Sugar Daddy could last at least half a movie, and usually longer than your jaw mussels could. Necco Wafers were also a cheap candy that could last a long time. They were like Valentine Heart mints only round like a nickel and packed in a wrapper.
Milk Duds and Sugar Babies were also a lot of chewing for the nickel price. But the problem with them was that they were individual pieces, and they were easier to share, even if you didn’t want to. They could sure glob up your mouth though. Speaking of sharing, there was one candy bar that always seemed larger than the others, even if the quality was not as good. The old “Three Musketeers” bar was made for sharing. I read that it originally started out as three different candy bars in one wrapper. The ole’ “All for one and one for all” game I guess. By the time I started buying them, there was only one bar, but it had dents in it to make it easy to break into three bars. I probably shared more Three Musketeers with Bob David and Buddy Crabtree than I ever ate all by myself. Once Bob Davis moved away, Mickey Drake took his place in the sharing of the candy bar. None of that group went to Lee, but were my classmates at East Clinton.
I also wrote earlier about my other favorite, the Surprise Box. It had a toy surprise inside and several pieces of salt water taffy. I just liked the thrill of the toys of course, which was more important than the taste of the candy. But those candies made you chew a long time too, and gave you a lot of gum action for the nickel. Chewy candy did seem to go far. I remember the Butternut Candy Bar was a real chewy caramel candy. My favorite for taste was another candy bar that is no longer made. It was a Royal Flush, which was a chewy and crunchy bar with the crunch that came from ground nuts in the milk chocolate covering.
Other odd memories of nickel candy was that Bit-O-Honeys came as individual pieces, but were all tied together with waxy paper on both sides. It was not difficult to tear off the individual pieces, unless it was really hot and they all kind of melted together. Mallow Cups were like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, only they had marshmallows in the center instead of peanut butter. Seven Up candy bars had seven different flavored candies, some good and some not so good. I liked Clark Bars but I loved the toasted coconut on the Zagnuts too. I think the white chocolate on the Zero Bar was just a marketing tool to make it different.
In the odd candy category were bubble gum cigars and candy cigarettes. As much as I disliked cigarette smoke back then, I still would pull out my box of candy cigarettes and try to be the tough guy. Now my memories of the taste of them makes me think I was actually taking a draw off of an antacid. At least that’s the way I remember them.
I could go on and on, but we have neither the time nor the space to address each individual candy that was available as we were growing up. Instead, I decided to try to make a list of those candies that we had back then and which we may or may not still have around. No wonder we all had cavities and have put on a few pounds. Below is the list. Can you believe we had so much candy available? Next week, we’ll look at candy in bags and boxes that cost more than a nickel.
Lee Principal Resigns
After Cocaine Arrest
02/13/04
By Challen Stephens and Wendy Reeves
Huntsville Times Staff Writers
Less than two hours after being charged Thursday afternoon with possession of cocaine, Harry Smith resigned as principal of Lee High School in northeast Huntsville.
Smith, 49, was released from the Huntsville-Madison County Jail on a $10,500 bond.
"He was doing a great job. He got the school going," said PTA President Brian Lombardino. "When he got here the school was way down. In two years, he gave it a new face."
Smith, who took charge of Lee in the summer of 2002, was charged at 3:46 p.m. Thursday during a traffic stop at U.S. 72 East and Mastin Lake Road. The arrest followed a two-month investigation by the sheriff's Vice and Narcotics Unit, said Sgt. Mike Bertus, head of the unit.
Bertus said there was no evidence Smith had illegal drugs on the school's campus. No one was with him when officers stopped his vehicle on Thursday.
When arrested, officers said, Smith had what appeared to be seven to nine rocks of crack cocaine in his possession.
By 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Smith had called Superintendent Ann Roy Moore from jail to resign.
Standing in front of Lee this morning, Moore said the students have been calm. She had already appointed assistant principal Andrew Fuller to acting principal. She also brought extra counselors to school, although no students requested their services first thing.
Moore said most parents have approached her to say Smith did a great job.
"He's been a great leader for the school, so they're sad," said Moore, who was accompanied at Lee this morning by the system head of security, several top administrators, two school board members and the system's new spokeswoman, Barbara Nash.
The school was to hold assemblies to relay the news to all students this morning, Nash said.
"I couldn't believe it," said Chris Pape, senior class president. "I'm not one to be without words. I was speechless. It's kind of like a nightmare."
Pape, who said he got to know Smith and meet his family, said Smith improved student behavior at the school.
"He was always nice, even when punishing people," said Pape. "He was always smiling."
As students entered, talk went to the news. As office aides asked one another how they first learned of the arrest on TV, one student simply answered: "Famous."
Smith, a native of Florence, replaced former Principal James Embry. The school board removed Embry after two years at Lee. Moore said Embry agreed to return to Westlawn Middle School, where he had served before.
Smith signed a two-year probationary contract worth $85,000 a year.
Moore said it will take time to consider possible replacements for Smith.
"I think it's shocking and unfortunate," said board member Doug Martinson Jr., who represents the school. "Lee High School is strong and will remain strong. Hopefully the students will learn a valuable lesson about how devastating drug use can be."
Lombardino said he's been fielding calls from others parents since the news broke. They want to know why this happened, he said, because Smith was well regarded for improving the atmosphere at Lee.
"Sometimes a situation eats at a person. They make great strides, but the outer pressure gets them," said Lombardino. "But we don't even know if this is true."
Then he added: "Lee High School is not just Doctor Smith."
A graduate of the University of North Alabama, Smith began teaching math at Muscle Shoals High in 1975. He later served as the principal of Muscle Shoals High for 13 years. He also served for many years as a minister in the Church of Christ.
Smith also taught math in Florence, worked as director of the Christian Student Center at UNA from 1980 to 1983 and worked briefly as an assistant principal in Muscle Shoals.
Smith graduated as valedictorian of Mars Hill Bible School in 1972. He and his wife, Joy, have two children in college.
The Saturday Huntsville Times added this to the story:
Drug investigators with the Madison County Sheriff's Department said they believe Smith knew he needed help.
School personnel called investigators on Friday when they found drug paraphernalia in Smith's belongings, said sheriff's Chief Deputy Christopher Stephens. He declined to say what specifically was found. However, he did say no additional charges will be filed as a result of Friday's findings.
During the department's two-month probe of Smith there was no indication Smith used or kept illegal drugs at the school, he said.
To make sure, drug sniffing dogs were used to search the office, said Stephens. The only indications of drugs were where the drug paraphernalia items were found, he said. Those items were removed from the school, he said.
No charges will be filed on those items because investigators can't prove how the items got there, said Stephens.
On Thursday, Smith was charged with unlawful possession of cocaine, a felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. He was released from the Huntsville-Madison County Jail on bonds totaling $10,500.
Students questioned were not aware of the items found in Smith's office when a reporter talked to them on Friday.
Superintendent Ann Roy Moore, who recommended the school board hire Smith in 2002, called each class into the cafeteria one at a time Friday to introduce assistant principal Andrew Fuller as the acting principal. Askew, the school's student government president, said students applauded the well-liked Fuller.
I don't see many entries from the class of 67, but if anyone wants to B.S. feel free to do so
From: New Jersey
E-mail: <pmc2449@comcast.net>
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Subject:Memories
Lynn Bozeman VanPelt
Class of '66
Tommy in response to your query, where were you 40 years ago? Besides being a sophomore at LHS, I went to the Beatles concert in Atlanta at Fulton County Stadium. It was on their 1st American tour and just to remind you what a phenomenum they were....one of my Aunts took her two daughters, me and another girl cousin all the way from Birmingham. It was one of the most exciting things I've ever done. We dressed in our most British looking clothing (for me it was a burgundy dress with a big ruffled collar)It was probably my first concert of any kind...ever (although I certainly remember the James Brown one at the arena). Darla Gentry and I went but our parents would only allow us to go if accompanied by Darla's big ole football player cousin, another LHS graduate Danny Webster). Anyway how do you top the Beatles? Atlanta was really into the frenzy of Beatlemania, we parked some distance from the stadium and took a "Beatle Bus", clearly marked as such to the stadium. Of course our seats were far, far from the stage.
A fellow in front of us (older man ....maybe 30 haha) sat down and showed his companions polaroid pictures of the Fab 4, with him!!! He had been in their dressing room just minutes before. How I wish I had the courage to ask that man who he was and how did he receive such an honor (could have been Ted Turner or Jimmy Carter!!!!!) None of us swooned but we did see girls being carted off on stretchers. On the Beatle bus back to our car my cousin Jeanne asked if she could have the sign that said Beatle Bus and the driver gave it to her. I wonder what became of that sign, Jeanne died three years ago. Bob Crump and I went to see Paul McCartney in concert in Memphis a few years back (with tickets secured from yet another classmate, Mike Weisman...who could tell some very interesting tales I'm sure, He's a stage manager who goes on tour each year with a different super star ...Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Elton John just to name a few). If I have submitted this story before Tommy forgive me. It is one of my claims to fame....of course when I tell it at work half the people there say I wasn't even born yet.
And may I just say I agree with Barbara that Coca-Cola cannot be improved by adding anything. I'm a real Cokeaholic.....will not drink Pepsi under any circumstances. I wrote to Regal Cinemas a few years back (as did Linda Provost) and shamed them into changing back from the P word to Coke....(I'm sure they did just because of our letters).
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Subject: Lost Classmates
Bobby Cochran
Class of '64
Hi Tommy! Really a double-whammy, the passing of Ricky Fluornoy and Carolyn McCutcheon so close. I had a few classes with Ricky, and used to see him once in a while when I worked at the Kwik Chek and then the Hardee's at North Parkway and Highway 72. We always got along, he was a nice guy.
I knew Carolyn very slightly. She was nice, very attractive and always beautifully dressed.
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Subject: Re: Web Site
Diane Daniell
dmdaniell@msn.com
Visitor
Tommy:
Thanks for the info. I'm a few years behind you ('72 Lee grad.) We bussed to Lee as well. You might remember the Monte Sano bus wreck in 1968 going down the back side of the mountain. It was actually the bus to Chapman Jr. High but all the kids eventually went to Lee. There was one death and several severely injured. After that, the bus route changed to go down the front side of the mountain (431.)
Terry asked about a home in Lakewood that had a full sized, asphalt basketball court in the backyard. There was only one and it belonged to Sara Jane Stagerwald.
I was very saddened to hear of Carolyn's passing. She was always a very
special classmate to me. We grew up close to each other and I would see her and her little sister quite often after school and during the summer. She has always had a special place in memories of my youth because she was the first girl of my own age I ever slow danced with at a party. Anyone who knew Carolyn would know that would be a special moment for any guy! I will miss her a lot.
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Guest Book Entry
Larry Snyder
Class of '66
Great website! I got it from my younger brother, Kevin, LHS Class of '72. I was notified by mail in 1995 of a reunion for several classes, including mine, but I couln't attend. I still have the same address, but it may have been lost. I will plan to attend and future events!
From:Marietta, Georgia
E-mail: lkjksnyder@earthlink.net
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Subject: Add Me to Mailing List Please
Name: Michelle Pearson
Email Addy: dicegal@hotmail.com
Class: Lee 1986 Graduate
Mom Graduated from HSV in 1965. (Susan Garner Pearson. She passed away 4/1/03 due to cancer)
Thanks,
Michelle
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Subject: A picture of intrest
Phil Cartelli
Class of '67
Tommy. After discovering your web site and reading about seven or eight back editions,I was feeling a little nostalgic. I wish the class of 67 had someone like you. It would be nice to have a way to get in touch with some people from the past. ( especially some special people from the
past.) I found something from way back in my Huntsville past and took a picture for you. It is an old First National coin bank that they used to give kids when they opened their first savings account. I don't know if anyone else still has one but it came out right after they started calling Huntsville --- ROCKET CITY.Well I hope you find it interesting or amusing.
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Donnie Cartelli
Class of '65
We were saddened to receive the following e-mail from Phil Cartelli this week reporting the passing of his brother, another one of our classmates. Although he died several years ago, we still morn the loss of another part of our past.
My brother went to Lee but did not graduate with his class because of a disagreement with vice-principal Williams. He passed away at the age of 49 in Nashville. I'm sure some of you remember him. His name was Dominic (Donnie) Cartelli. Could you please add his name to your In Memory room.
He was two years ahead of me,so that would make him class of '65. Mr. Williams wanted him to pick up paper in the commons area because he was late. He
walked out instead. It was two weeks before graduation. His best friend in school was Johnny Harbin. The only girl that I can think of that he hung with, who you might remember, was Judy Adair. He was the drummer in a band called The Rocks. They played a lot at that little teen-age dance club on the North side of the square. ( I can't remember the name.) They played back up for Jimmy Velvet a few times and actually cut a record called "Terry." The lead singer was Randy Duck, and one of the other guys in the band was Tony Mason. I hope this is enough
information for you. If not I will be glad to try to give you more.
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We found the above candy cross sections on a website that will be named next week when we publish the answers. All we need you to do is to send us in the names of the ten types of candy pictured above. The contest is open to all readers, so send in your guesses. Please send the answers in a numbered list. Thanks and good luck.
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming -- WOW-- What a Ride!" - author unknown
