Hooked up with this trying to get info for my reunion and enjoyed recognizing names and faces from the past. I will keep in touch. Great fun!
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Subject:Price Is Right
Andrea Gray Roberson
Class of '66
(Mail problems kept this from getting to us prior to last week's deadline.)
I thought the first Mustang was made in 1965 but maybe since this is a 1964 1/2 you are asking about, then I think the price was $2500.00. I do not know of anyone else on the Price Is Right but Bob Barker.
My husband, Terry, had a 1967 Mustang when we got married in 1968. It was a great car with blue vinly seats and NO AC. We took a trip to Atlanta, Ga. in the summer after we got married, and as we were coming back we came through Guntersville and the temperature on the bank showed 100 and it must have been 120 in the car with those vinyl seats!!!!! We had the windows down and the vent open but all we were getting was HOT AIR. We took the car the next day to Penney's and had an AC put in it. It was one of those that you put in the floor. It would frost over all the time and you would have to turn it off and watch it until all of the frost was gone and turn it back on. What good times and they are fun to remember.
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Subject:Good Old Days
Karen Tucker Oliver
Class of '65
This was sent to me and thought it was worth forwarding on to you. As children of the 50's this brings back a lot of good memories. Enjoy! Go to http://www.biomagic.com/email/eud2.html
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Our "Cold Case" Classmates
by Cherri Polly Massey, Class of '66
and
Tommy Towery, Class of '64
Next year we should hold our next official reunion. Lee's Traveller will report all the activities, but we will not be doing the organizing. There is a dedicated group from each class that has taken on that burden in the past and we all owe them a debt of gratitude.
In an effort to help them as much as we can, we would like to help by asking you to help find some missing souls. Below is the list of classmates for whom we did not have contact information when we built the 2000 Reunion Directory. I know that many of you might be on the list and are in fact "not missing," but it would be easier for you to be pro-active and let us know that you are, in fact, found.
If you are on the list below, or have the e-mail or street address of any other classmates who are on the list, would you please send an e-mail with that information? Later on we are going to ask everyone to update their own infomation, but for now, we are going to concentrate on the list.
Again, don't take it personal if you are an active reader and are on this list. It was created by the Reunion Committees and they are the ones that need the information. We will compile our responses and pass them along to the respective classes.
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
This week we will celebrate the 4th Birthday of the new Lee's Traveller. It's been a fun ride - so to say. We've grown in both readership and content and I am happy to say that there are enough ideas running around in the heads of both myself and the staff to keep this fun going for a lot longer.
Please take time to look over the list of "missing classmates" and make sure that you are not one of the ones reported missing in the directory produced at the 2000 Reunion.
T. Tommy
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Last Week's Mystery Item
Here are your responses from last week's item.
Bobby Cochran, Class of '64
I think the "mystery" car is a 1964 Studebaker Avanti. Perhaps the "gimmick" that you're seeking is that the body of that car was fiberglass, I believe the first mass-produced car with a fiberglass body. My dad was a Studebaker freak, and he owned a couple when I was growing up. For some reason I have the "gut" feeling that they had very reliable engines, but really poor brakes! We lived in Birmingham before we moved to Huntsville, and I distinctly remember the brakes going bad or nearly failing several times as we drove up and around Red Mountain.
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Beverly Taylor Swaim, Class of '66
In reference to the mystery item...the car...it is a Studebaker Avanti..in 1963 they came with a 289 Studebaker engine, in 1964 it had a 304 Studebaker engine, then in 1965 the Studebaker Avanti II came out with...get this...a 327 Chevrolet Corvette engine..cool huh! They still make the Avanti in Canada but only about 2 a year...no clue on the cost though.
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Richard Simmons, Class of '64
Studebaker Avante...year unknown.
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Pat Torzillo Stolz, Class of '66
The car looks like a Studebaker Avanti, don't know what year. My brother had one, and drove it back from Utah. Everytime I went for a drive with him while he was home, it broke down. We spent more time on the side of the road than actually on it! But they are great looking cars and with a design that was way before its time.
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Gary Hatcher, Class of '66
The car in this week's mystery in a Studebaker Avanti.
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Mike Griffith, Class of '66
The car in the picture is an Avanti, and it was produced by Studebaker. It was actually introduced to the public in mid-1965. It was originally equipped with a 289 cu.in. engine, but some came equipped with a 304 cu.in. engine. I'm not sure what the first ones cost, but a few years later the Avanti II was produced, with a Corvette 327 cu.in. engine, and was priced in the neighborhood of $7,000 ... quite a chunk of change for a car, back in the 60's.
It was hand-built to be an American high-performance, "Grand Touring" car. It was powerful and had good maneuverability for the time. As for unique, I guess that being hand-built would make it unique, but it also was the first American four-passeger car with front-wheel disc brakes as standard equipment. Also, much like a Fiat 850 Spyder that I once owned, the gas tank was behind the back seat (before Ralph Nader).
Actually, to me, the most unique thing is that some years back the rights to manufacture the Avanti were sold to a company right here in the Atlanta area; a suburb named Villa Rica. The "Avanti Motor Company"
still will hand-build special-order Avanti's, and has recently introduced are new "Studebaker SUV" that looks similar to a Hummer and is priced as starting at $75,000. I don't know how I know this, I just do ... "sometimers disease" (sometimes I remember and sometimes I don't).
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Gary Kinkle, Class of '64
This week's Mystery item is the 1964 Studebaker. The 1964 Studebaker was the first car made in America to have disc brakes.
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Annette McCraney, Class of '64
I believe the mystery car this week is an Italian "Avanti".
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Tommy Towery, Class of '64
Back when I first stated this website I would write about things that I was sure that I would be the only one that remembered. It did not take long to find out that many of you also remembered the same events. I think the “Tie Your Kangaroo Down Sport” incident at Henry’s Hamburgers proved that, when several of you wrote in that not only did you remember it, but were there singing with us. If that didn't convince me, then "The Fall From The Church" incident sure did. Who would have thought we would have a Fami-Lee connection to that story?
Anyway, I will share my memories of the Avanti and see if any other of you also remembers this. Back when I first became aware that the Avanti was made of fiberglass (which was like WOW! back then) I heard that one had been in a wreck and had been towed to a garage on Washington Street, up near Grove Avenue where Dianne Hughey lived. I don’t remember who went with me, but it was probably Bob Walker, but we went over to take a look at the wreck. The Avanti was white like the one above and had been driving very fast and had spun out and hit a telephone pole guide wire sideways. The wire had literally cut through the Avanti from the bottom of the driver’s side to almost the bottom of the passenger’s side. It looked like the cut that one of those wire cheese cutters does to cheese.
I do not know if anyone was hurt or killed, but it was a strange sight at the time to see a wreck with no crumpled metal, just a clean cut.
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From Our
Mailbox
Luck Is The Lady
That I Love The Best
by Eddie Sykes
Class of '66
During the early '60s most of our mothers stayed home and our fathers provided the single source of income for our families. My mom worked for Sears after my father passed away in '62. She worked until 6 or 9 pm each night providing for me the opportunity to host an after school poker game several days a week. The participants were too many to remember or name but some of the regulars were Danny Johnson, Randy Goodpaster, Bucky Hoffmyer, Jim Banister, Rodney White, Earn McNeil, Marc Bently, and Ducky Johnson.
I worked part-time and most of the money that I earner went towards my poker playing education. It seemed like every time I learned to play one game fairly well someone felt compelled to teach me another. The games had such interesting names like "Low Whole Wild last card Screw", "Jacks or Better to open Trips to win", "Baseball", "Football", "Dr Pepper Wild", "Seven Twenty-Seven", "In Between", "Pass the Trash", "Follow the Bitch", "Spit in the Ocean", "Indian", along with the traditional games of "5/7 Stud", "Draw", and "Texas Holdum", Each one of these games had a half dozen variations which include wild cards, no peak, roll your own, etc. It was quite amazing how much poker I learned for only about $12 a week. Danny and Bucky were regular winn! ers, Randy and Jim were often winners, and I was normally the loser..
After football season many of the senior players would skip last period (PE) and head to my house. I finally learned to invite some of my less experienced friends and by late spring I even started to win occasionally. It was great fun - just a friendly game. I willfully and cheerfully gave them my money week after week. Everyone was always happy for me on that rare occasion when I won. But, with my victory would always come a new game to learn. My hard-earned poker skills paid great dividends when I got to college at Memphis State. I earned most of my spending money playing poker in the student center. Yes, I was now the "pro" and as soon as my college friends got good at one game I felt compelled to teach them another. They called me "Alabama" and I developed quite a reputation for poker.
I now play poker online and I have won $30,000 so far this year. However, it is for fun and not real money. Fortunately, I did not end up with a gambling problem. However, living near the casino's in Memphis I know several that do have a problem. Looking back I would have much rather been remembered for being in the "Top of my Class". My point is that young people will often go down dangerous paths when left unsupervised. It is no wonder why today sex, drugs, and other destructive vices grip our youth. Today most families have both parents working full-time. We were truly privileged to have lived under the "watchfully eyes" of our parents. Their attention made our world a much safer and happier place to live. Once again we must thank God for the "Good Ole Days" !
By the way, I do play in a friendly poker game with some guys from work once a month. The only game they will play is "Texas Holdum" and most of the time I end up giving my money away - just like in high school. I guess it is time for me to teach them a new game !
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Since we did cars for the last two weeks, we will be a little more domestic this week. Now I don't want to get flamed by you female classmates - I know many of you did better on the cars than your male counterparts. So, this week we give them an chance to answer that challenge.
It is much more fun if you will add some of your own thoughts and memories about the item, rather than just name it. Put on your thinking caps and give us your thoughts on this.
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Lee-Bay Mystery Item
Don Cornelius (L) and Ray Walker (R), Class of '64. Ray is shown in his basketball uniform, since the 1964 Silver Sabre did not have any photos of the baseball team. Not shown is Bruce Thompson, Class of '79.
Three Lee Graduates Selected for
Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame
by Greg Patterson
Class of 1968
Three Lee graduates will be inducted into the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame on Monday, April 19, 2004.
Ray Walker, Class of 1964, won almost 500 baseball games as coach at Grissom and one state championship.
Don Cornelius, Class of 1964, had an outstanding career at Florence State- they selected a 50-year team and Don was one of only two quarterbacks choosen- call Jerry Dugan at 539-5278
Bruce Thompson, Class of 1979, was a great kicker at Lee and Southern Mississippi - not sure who is his contact person.
This banquet is unknown to many people but we had 700 people present last year- this is a good social event that most people enjoy
It is held at the North Hall and is $25 per ticket. The even includes dinner and most people wear a coat and tie or dress If you want to purchase a ticket to attend call Grissom at 428-8000 ext 108. I think Niles Prestige is buying a table if anyone would like to sit with him. You can get tickets up to a few days before but if you buy too late you do not necessarily know who is at your table. There are no tickets at the door.
Greg Patterson is a board member and you can contact him at 256-694-8179 for more information.
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Dysfunctional Hallmark Cards
1. I always wanted to have someone to hold, someone to love. And now that you've come into my life...(Inside card) - I've changed my mind.
2. I must admit, you brought religion into my life...
(Inside card) - I never believed in Hell until I met you.
3. As the days go by, I think how lucky I am...
(Inside card) - That you're not here to ruin it for me.
4. Congratulations on your promotion. Before you go....(Inside card) - Will you take the knife from my back? You'll probably need it again.
5. Someday I hope to marry...(Inside card) - Someone other than you.
6. Happy Birthday! You look great for your age.... (Inside card) - Almost lifelike!
7. When we were together, you said you'd die for me...(Inside card) - Now we've broken up, I think it's time to keep your promise.
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