Lee High School - Huntsville Alabama Alumni

I couldn't help but laugh when I went back and checked this week's issue before publishing it. Our two main stories are entitled "The Paddle" and "The Creek". I don't know if any of you remember it the way I do or not, but in my early days, Pinhook Creek was often used as a substitue for that other creek that is so famous. I alway heard "Up Pinhook Creek, without a paddle!" when people were in trouble. I later referred to this as being "Up an unsanitary tributary without the proper means of propulsion." Anyway, we have the creek and the paddle stories both for your enjoyment this week.

Thanks to Ron Brand for sending us in a story. I encourage many of you to follow his lead and do likewise.

Two more weeks before I go on my cruise. But don't worry, I am working on a way to ensure that you still get your weekly Lee's Traveller (with two L's).

We're still looking for official volunteers for staff writers. This week Don Wynn, Class of '67 offered to represent the "freshmen". Welcome Don.

T. Tommy

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Subject:Guestbook Entry

Linda Kinkle Cianci

Class of '66

Nashville, TN

Reading comments on Rison brings back memories for me. Our family moved to Huntsville from New Jersey when I was in second semester of third grade. I had a teacher who had an artificial arm (I think it was plastic or maybe wax?? - at least that's how I remember it)- she had red hair; maybe some of you remember her. When we had spelling bees, kids would spell Mississippi - M-I double S-I-double S-I double P-I. I raised my hand every time, informing the teacher there were no "W's" in Mississippi - those "doubles" sure sounded like "W" to a yankee. After one month in Rison School, my parents learned from neighbors that we were actually zoned for East Clinton, but rather than uproot us again, we transferred to East Clinton the following year. My older brothers started junior high at Huntsville, then the oldest went on HHS just as Lee began and our street was rezoned, sending all the rest of our family to Lee. Lee started as a junior high then dropped the lowest grade level with each addition of a higher grade, until it was just 10th - 12th grades. When our sons complained about how freshmen were treated when they were in school, I simply asked how they would like to be a "freshman" for four straight years (I was one of those unfortunate souls who started Lee as a seventh grader)! I have been married to Mike Cianci (class of 1966) for 35 years. We have two sons, ages 31 & 26, and one daughter-in-law.

My brother, Gary, showed me this website when I visited him in Florida this week. What fun! During a recent visit in Huntsville, I looked up a couple of old friends from the Oak Park area. We decided we should have a Giles Drive block party. Anyone interested?

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Subject: Lee Web Site

Don Wynn

Class of '67

Let me start by repeating what everyone else says, this is a great site. I usually start my week by browsing through the stories. I am not in one of the targeted classes because I graduated in 1967 but read it anyway. I know most of the people who are mentioned and always find it interesting.

Incidentally, I am C.E.'s younger brother.

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Subject: Cheerleaders

Eddie Burton

Class of '66

Tommy, no wonder the girls at Lee made better grades than the boys. Did you get a look at those cheerleaders? Man they were babes! Us poor boys didn't have a chance at science and algebra with all that beauty walking the halls and sitting in the classrooms. It's a wonder we graduated at all. That's as pretty a lot of young girls as I have ever seen in my life. Go Generals!

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Subject: Judy Rubins Allard

Joy Rubins Morris

Class of '64

If anyone would like to email Judy Rubins Allard (class of 66), her email address is allardja@hotmail.com. Tommy, please add her email address to your growing list.

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Wanted

1965 Classmate

Staff Writer

If you would like to join the merry group of Classmates who contribute to this newspaper, we're looking for you. Lately we've noticed that we do not have equal representation from the Class of 1965 on our staff, and we need you. Pay is absolutely nothing, but that will double after the first year. You will not have to submit stories each week, but we do need some inputs at some time. Please e-mail Tommy if you think you might like to join us. If any of you that are from other classes would like to help out as well, we'd love to hear from you too.Don't let it ever be said that we excluded 1965 on purpose.

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The Paddle

by Eddie Sykes

Class of '66

The school system has changed so much since we walked the halls at Lee. We clearly understood the difference between "right and wrong" and we knew what would happen when we got caught doing "wrong". We knew that "grey" was wrong too and not to go there either. Discipline, back then, was administered by "The Board of Education"... THE PADDLE ! For me it was all the encouragement that I needed to follow the "straight and narrow."

I'm not sure when that changed, but the beginnings had already started before I graduated in '66. The "detention hall" had replaced "the paddle". We were actually given a choice. "Da", "I think I will take detention hall." To me detention hall was sort of "cool" and not a deterrent at all. However, the old "Paddle" hanging on the wall demanded respect. Most of them had been carefully fashioned to inflict the most pain possible. They were usually made out of wood with a long narrow handle (so it couldbe griped with both hands) followed by a wide flat surface at the other end with wholes drilled through it (to minimize wind

resistance). Most likely it was placed on top of the teachers desk or displayed on the wall for all to see. Teachers would paraphrased the "Good Book": "Spar! e the Paddle - spoil the child" and "The fear of the Paddle is the beginning of wisdom. The "Paddle" has long gone along with "The Lords Prayer", "The Ten Commandments", and soon it will be the "Pledge of Allegiance".

Both, our country and school foundations were built on absolute truths that worked irregardless of whither God was real or imaginary. Without absolutes there is no way to administer discipline. Without "discipline" there is no order and chaos will reign. My philosophy is "If something works - it works". I never understood the argument anyway.because "if there is no God" then the Bible was written by man just like all the other books we read and study in school. Now, I am totally against forcing religious beliefs on or physically abusing children. But, with a paddling swift justice was administered and it was over quickly. Your slate was clean, no one was mad at anyone, and you could move on. (maybe a bit slower)

I remember report card time at Lee. The football team had to bring their grade card to the coaches. It was quite a production. The reward for good grades was getting to watch paddlings with "No Fear". One lick per "D" and two per "F" per coach. We had four or five coaches. I only made one "D" my whole high school career. That was the longest day of school as I dreaded 5th period. Don't tell me that it didn't work. This ritual did not make us angry with the coaches, but it did motivated us to work harder in school. At least for me "the fear of the Paddle was the beginning of wisdom."

Does anyone remember the "paddle happy" 8th grade teach, Ms Jessup ? Where did she go after Lee ? I think it was in '65 that paddling and detention was administered by Mr Williams. Let us know what you remember.

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The Creek

by Ron Brand

Class of '66

Depending on where you grew up in Huntsville, different things shaped your fondest and sharpest memories from your youth. When my family moved into our house at the corner of Oakwood Ave and Peck Road, our house was the last one within the city limits. Oakwood was a dirt road that only turned to paved at the Maysville Road Four-Way Stopsign.

As Oakwood ran past our house and out of the city limits there was a metal pipe bridge (they were commonly called cow catchers) to keep all of farmer (Jones?, Browns?) livestock on his side of the fence. He owned the whole valley from there up to the mountain which was all cornfields, blackberry bushes and wild plum trees with the farmers hugh barn and farmhouse nestled at the end of the road in the northeast corner.

From Buzzard's Roost, halfway up Monte Santo, through this wonderful valley, down to Princes' Grocery, and on to a creek called Pinhook which emptied into the mighty Tennessee River, ran the stream that forms the memories which always make me smile. We called it "The Creek."

From the second grade through the fifth (past that I discovered girls were more fun and moved from childhood bliss to Eternally Confused) when we played outside, we were at The Creek. And why not! Holy crap, what more could you ask for? There were crawdads and minnows galore, frogs, birds of every description, lizards and an occasional snake (mostly black racers and king snakes but we would stumble over a copperhead every once and awhile) and all of these things were shootable by BB gun.

Another thing that made us kids frequent The Creek so often is that it ran right behind Princes' Grocery, thereby providing us with a direct route to feed our addictions for fireballs, moonpies, Little Debbie Pecan Pies, Bazooka Bubble Gum and Double Cola with peanuts poured in it. An added bonus for me was that Darla Gentry lived two doors down from Princes' and I would sometimes catch a glimpse of her.(Yeah, it was a crush).

The best thing about The Creek was that there was never an adult

there which provided that delicious tang of freedom so seldom tasted when you are a kid. Sometimes I could here Mama calling from a long way off but as far as I remember no one of authority ever came all the way down to The Creek looking for any of our group. We could set off our firecrackers, shoot our BB guns, smoke the ciggerettes we borrowed from our parents the night before and not have to worry about being caught or hollered at.

The kids I usually hung out with at The Creek were Bucky Hoffmeyer, Carl Scheers and Ken Martz. I don't know if The Creek is what they remember best about their childhood but I am sure they haven't forgotten it.

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Harold Shepard, Class of '67

Wow Tommy, Now all you need is a Mattel Fanner 50 to shoot off those "Greenie Stick-M" caps. I never had enough money to own a gun that would shoot those expensive caps. In fact it was so bad, I used to buy the red roll caps and hit them with a hammer.

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Jeff Fussell

Those would be "Greenie" stick-on caps. What a pain in the neck those were. I liked the roll caps myself. 50 shots in a single load or use a hammer and set all 50 off at once.

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JIm Bannister, Class of '66

The Lee-Bay Item is "Greenie Stick'um Caps. I had a Mattel "Fanner 50" cap pistol that I got for Christmas when I was 9 years old. It had a real buckskin holster and was just like a real Colt .45. The gun belt had bullets and these were actually loaded into the gun. You would stick a Greenie Stick'um Cap on the back of the bullet before loading. They made a pretty good bang when fired. Hearing protection was not stressed in those days, so I guess that along with the U.S. Navy is why I can't hear so well now.

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(Editor's Note: From the sounds of it, back when we were young there should have been a ban on hammers and not guns. Seems that most of us couldn't afford cap guns so we sat around playing cowboys and indians with hammers. Perhaps our generation came up with a slang term that carried over to TV shows...pow, you're nailed!)

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