Lee High School - Huntsville Alabama Alumni

A Letter to A Friend

by Don Blaise

Class of '64

(Your last Traveller hit home with me and made me think a lot about my best friend Jim Black. As you may remember Jim (Class of '67) died very suddenly a few years ago in December and I never got to say goodbye. I have enclosed a letter to him that I would like to go on one of the next issues if that's OK with you.)

December 17, 2005

Mr. James (Jim) Black,

Lee Class of '67

And My Best Friend

Dear Jim:

I never got to say goodbye to you while you lived. We got to spend a little time together that summer at the concert in Birmingham but I never dreamed it would be the last time I was to see you. You were my best friend and second only in my heart to my brothers. Man, I really miss you. There were so many things we had planned to do, and to know with such finality that it isn’t to be is almost more than I can bear at times. You died in December at a time normally of happiness and joy. That was the worst Christmas season of my life. My only consolation is that I know that someday I will be able to see you again because I always knew that you were square with God.

We didn’t know each other that well at Lee. Freshmen and seniors didn’t socialize much then and probably still don’t. We became fast friends when Judy and I moved to Monte Sano across the street from you and Kay. We began to do things together as families and it seemed in many ways that we became one family. Camping in the mountains, going out together, and even celebrating our 25th anniversaries together with a Caribbean cruise. We watched our children grow up and become life-long friends.

I was very proud of your success as a principal at Lincoln and anyone who knew you realized how much you really cared for those kids. You touched so many lives in such a positive way that I guess I envied you. The example you set in the way you lived influenced many young lives and made them better for knowing you. I know you weren’t perfect but you were a good man, father, son, and friend. I still miss you.

Your Friend,

Don Blaise

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The Page 14 Stories

by Tommy Towery

Class of '64

Two weeks ago, when I was out of stories for the Traveller, I asked several of my staff members to do me a favor and write a story. I put a twist on the assignment, however. In my teacher mentality, I told them to open their local paper to page 14 in the next issue that came out on Wednesday, and find something on that page that they could relate to the time they spent in Lee. Since each staff member lived in a different town, the stories were expected to vary, and it was just an attempt by me to show some of them that stories are everywhere, if you just look. Here are three of the results of that assignment.

Homework

by Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly

Class of ‘64

Since T.M.I.E. made a special request and since my Christmas bonus was so large this year (double that of last year!), I felt compelled to make a concerted effort to honor his request. I looked in our newspaper, page 14, for an item that reminded me of our days at LHS. I was supposed to look in Wednesday’s paper, but we only take the paper on the weekends. There was a newspaper in my box from Monday and because I do not believe in coincidences, you guessed it, I went straight to page 14 and found my inspiration. Now, I’m not much of a mindreader, but if pressed, I would have to surmise that T.M.I.E. is trying to point out that we can get SOME inspiration from almost anything, if we just look at it with open eyes. He would be right. I’ve said, time and time again, that that’s why he is T.M.I.E. and I is just a lowly-paid reporter. (Gotta work on the grammar and then maybe he’ll double my pay again.)

The title of the article on the Opinion page was “Homework should be more than busywork.” How apropos. It started out, “. . . Schools can’t overcome lack of home discipline . . ., ” which was a hoot when I tried to apply it to MY home and discipline. The going rate at my house was that what you got at school got doubled at home. There was not a lot of sympathy if you cried in your Co-cola (‘Member that word?) because some teacher disciplined you for acting up in class. I cannot even remember an instance that required my parents to intervene at school in any way. On the other hand, they would have been standing at the door when the school opened if any real injustice had been done to their baby. In fact, I don’t remember even complaining about any teacher in any significant way. The only two I remember not caring for were: 1) our Biology teacher, who shall remain nameless here, who was only interested in the football players and their after school homework, and 2) a man who substituted in Science for a short while, perhaps for Mr. Stewart. It may be that Mr. Stewart, one of my all-time favorite people, came to be with us when this man got the axe. He was unconventional at best and made inappropriate comments to the class regarding young ladies and bodily functions, to put it as delicately as possible.

The article went on to say “The purpose of homework is not to fill hours with busy work and to keep students out of sight. It is to provide independent practice to strengthen the foundation of what they have begun to learn in class.” I never felt as if we were being given “busy work” by any of the teachers at Lee. I expected the homework and planned for it each night, even after work. It was MY work, to improve MY mind, and I GOT the concept at a very early age. The article further states, “Producing high quality individualized work to be done with little or no supervision is difficult and time consuming and depends on the student’s willingness to invest time as well as the teacher’s willingness to grade it quickly and carefully.” This could, in fairness, be aimed at the lower grades. “Willingness” was never a term that I would have entertained regarding assigned homework at LHS! I must say, however, that I thought the purpose of the homework was to do it MYSELF. Otherwise, wouldn’t the teacher have simply had us do it in class while she “supervised”? I remember exchanging homework papers with another student to mark each other’s answers while the teacher read out the correct ones. This always led to a lively discussion of some of the “gray area” answers. That’s how we learned. I guess it would be accurate to say that I’ve turned into one of those old fogies who starts the sentence with, “When WE were back in school . . .” So what? To paraphrase Charles Dickens (and I will claim poetic license here) from the first line of A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the best of times.” Once again, I end with the prayer that, when I talk to my grandchildren about my early days, God will please never let me add the words “. . . and I had to walk uphill, backwards, in the snow to school every day.” (Because I only had to do that a couple of times.) I will always remember Mr. Fain, Mr. Hamilton, and all the wonderful teachers at LHS who made such a profound impact upon my life, even if they didn’t know it. Thanks for the memories, and thanks for challenging my mind.

Check out page 14 of your own paper. You just might be pleasantly surprised!

No-Go Mistletoe

by Tommy Towery

Class of '64

Opening to Page 14 of the Memphis newspaper, The Commercial Appeal, I found myself staring at a full page advertisement for a cellular phone company. There were no other ads, no stories, no pictures, just a full page pitch for a phone company. I realize that this could have lead to another story about phones today verses phones of our teenage years, but we’ve rode that horse hard already. I scanned for another clue for a story. There had to be something else story worthy on the printed page at which I stared.

One of the phones on sale was a picture phone, and the picture displayed on it was of a girl kissing a guy under a piece of mistletoe. That seemed to be the story that was calling to me from the newsprint.

I remember in my teenage years that I was well aware of the power of the mistletoe and the custom of kissing someone standing beneath it. We all grew up listening to “I saw Momma kissing Santa Claus” didn’t we? In the early years I avoided the thing like a minefield. I would no more stand under a hanging piece of it than I would walk under a ladder. Kissing… yech! As I grew older, the idea reversed course into a desired direction, but alas I have no really great memories of catching any particular girl or her catching me standing under the kissing greenery. It was not that I didn’t try I don’t think, but somehow the truth never lived up to the legend of the powers of that plant. No matter how much I wanted to experience the thrill of the game, my memory does not offer much in that regard.

It almost is like I went from the no-kissing phase to the kissing-games to the going steady with one girl and only kissing her. I missed something along the way; of that I am sure. What about kissing all the girls under the green leafs with white berries? What about catching the cheerleader, or the beauty pageant queen, or the homecoming queen in the strategic spot? What about the God given right a common shy guy has to a once in a lifetime opportunity? I am also as sure that not everyone missed out on the Christmas period ritual. In the recesses of my mind I remember someone bringing mistletoe to school, and my mind somehow tells me it was Escoe. I might be wrong but am only reporting the gray area of my memory. So I throw out the opportunity for my fellow classmates to make me feel bad once more and invite them to send me the stories of how they

succeeded where I failed in the world of mistletoe experiences.

Steroids and Sports are in the News

by Don Wynn

Class of '67

When we went to school, athletes worked hard to improve performance. Athletes worked hard to be competitive. The coaches worked the teams hard and their players trained hard. Some athletes even gave up carbonated drinks and candy bars to become better in their sports. I personally fit into that category. Some gave up smoking and beer. My brother, Fuzzy, fit into that category most of the time! A few athletes even reduced the time they spent with their girl friends but that was rare because one of the advantages to being an athlete was that you could have a girl friend in the first place. Neither one of us fit into that category.

Now, some athletes seem to get their athleticism from a bottle of pills or from a syringe. This problem extends from professional sports down to middle school. I am glad our generation did not have that possibility.

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Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly, Class of '64 - I know what that thing is, but don't remember what it was called. For lack of a more accurate name, I'll call it a "color wheel." We had one when I was younger. It rotated and changed colors behind our aluminum tree, which made the tree reflect whatever color was up at the time. We only went through the aluminum tree phase for a couple of years, and then we switched back to a real one. I think my mother actually got it out and used it another time after both of our children were born. I am just thankful that I didn't have to cut out all the strips of aluminum that went into making THAT tree the way I had to for Jimmy's tree! Thank goodness, my mother was not into "non-conspicuous consumption."

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Barbara Seely Cooper, Class of '64 - The Lee-Bay item is a light that rotates and was used to reflect colors on a silver aluminum Christmas tree. Maybe it was used for other such decorations as well. John Ridgeway's grandparents had an old-fashioned parlor in their home in the little town of Vernon, AL, and each year they would assemble their aluminum tree and then set up the colored light to shine on the tree. It was always a big occasion to see the tree lit up at night. I understand these trees are now a hot item again with collectors.

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Don Blaise, Class of '64 - Ah, I remember them well. Sometime in the late 50's, or early 60's some people seemed to think "artificial" anything was better than the real thing. Those revolving lights were usually used to illuminate a very ugly, (in my opinion) aluminum Christmas tree. If your house had a front facing picture window it was even better because the whole neighborhood could see this sight of true Christmas spirit and decorum. It was new, it was modern and it was good?..Nah.

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Jerry Dorriety, Class of ‘70 - We had one of those wonderful aluminum Christmas trees when they first came out. It was very full, my mother hung all red Christmas ornaments on it, and I think we had the exact same color wheel that is pictured. The tree was also on a stand where it rotated slowly. My brother, Jim, and I would lie underneath the tree looking up into the branches and watch the colors as they slowly changed. Beautiful! Then, in later years when I was slowly entering my Beatnik (remember that name?) phase, I resurrected the color wheel light and put it in my room to create “atmosphere”. When Beatnik faded into Hippie phase the color wheel was replaced by the black light. Speaking of black lights, what a trip a few years ago when I entered my daughter’s newly redecorated bedroom and, after parting the beads hanging in the doorway, entered a room that I swear was a recreation of my college dorm room – black lights, lava lights, and the exact same black light poster of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden that I had. What goes around, comes around!

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Michelle Pearson - Just wanted to make a comment on the "item" this week. Even though, I'm a 1986 graduate, I do believe that item was the wheel used to shine on the silver Christmas tree's. My Mother, Susan Garner Pearson was a '65 graduate of HSV High School but also attended Lee. My Dad went to Lee, Travis Pearson. My grandma had one of those silver trees but we don't have the wheel. I still have her tree though and I put it up every year with "hot pink" ornaments on it. So, am I right?

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Lynn Bozeman VanPelt, Class of '66 -The Lee-bay object is a light, used to change the colors of aluminum Christmas trees. We had one in the 60's. Our aluminum tree was decorated totally with blue ornaments. We thought it was simply beautiful. My Mom was more about ease and tidyness in decorating. I didn't have a real Christmas tree between the time I was 7 or 8 till I had my own family in

the 80's. But I'm afraid I've crossed that line now that looks for less mess, my artificial tree is green at least.

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Subject: Mr Hayes

Eddie Sykes

Class of '66

I remember taking Physical Science in my junior year. Mr Hayes was the teacher. I took the class as an elective for all the wrong reasons. I wanted to take a class with my girlfriend, Sandra Parks Bozeman '67, and since she was a year behind me this was the only subject that worked. I had in mine that we could study together (hopefully in her bedroom) and that she could do my homework for me. She was an "A" student and I was looking for a easy subject to supplement my college prep classes. I was not expected much out of it. However, it became a defining moment in my education pursuit.

First, let me say that although I was not an honors student, I was very competitive. And further more, there was no way that I was going to let my girlfriend beat me at anything. When she would pull a 95, I would pull a 97. When she made a 97, I would make 100. I finished with straight "A" and had 102 average my last six weeks. Although the class was not that difficult, I found out what I could do if I really tried.

Side Note: I wrote this last week, but did not submit it until this week. I never discussed this topic or Mr Hayes with Sandra (my Lee girlfriend) She wrote last week about how Mr. Hayes had influenced both her and her daughters life (I had no idea. In fact, I was sure I be the only one to write about Mr Hayes). She also talked about crying after making an "A-" in that class. She actually cried because I made an "A". Yes ! It still fills good even after all those years !

Mr. Hayes had a unique way of teaching. He gave us a study guide each week to help prepare us for his test with between 100-150 questions . From that study guide he would select 20 or so questions for the test. So, if you looked up all the answers to the study guide and learned them, then you would make 100. I remember thinking what a easy way to get an "A". Mr Hayes, being smarter than us, knew if you learned all of that material that he had done his job and you deserved the "A". Week after week, I would study with my girlfriend, then go home and study some more. Of course I never told her what I was doing. She also gave similar efforts to all her classes. As for me, a "B" or "C" was OK for all my other classes. Anything above a "D" would keep me out of the coaches paddle line. However, my achievements in Mr Hayes class along with some of the interest that I developed from Physical Science, ultimately influenced my major and career path in Computer Science.

The most unlikely of classes provided the direction that shaped my future. I thought of myself as a football player who wasn't suppose to be smart. Before that class, my attitude was anything higher than a "C" was wasted effort. Of course when I got to Memphis State I found out that it took that kind of effort to get a "C", at lease in English, Biology, and History. Something that I learned in Mr. Hayes class (how to study - for one) helped me to breeze through Science and Math with a confidence that I just never developed for Humanity's. Although I went into that class for all the wrong reasons, I am thankful that I got a bump in the right direction. Thank yoy Mr. Hayes and Sandra..

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Subject: December, 20 issue

Eddie Burton

Class of '66

Tommy I just wanted you to know that I think this weeks issue was one of the best ever. You and all those who contributed were just wonderful. You are doing such a beautiful job we are all blessed that you started the Traveller. I wish you a very Merry Christmas and I hope you rediscover the wonder of the season like a child.

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Subject:Nutcracker

Barbara Seely Cooper

Class of '64

May I add another use to the cracker and picks set from the prior issue? Having lived in New England for some years, my nutcracker set came in really handy for eating Maine lobsters. Now that we live in Florida and are very active shell collectors, my husband Scott finds the picks really handy to clean out the shells we find.

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Subject:Righting Wrongs

Lynn Bozeman VanPelt

Class of '66

There isn't enough room or time for me to go into righting wrongs from my earlier years. I don't think I was a mean person, just selfish and wrapped up in my own world. The meanest thing I did intentionally was to egg and roll a girls yard (rolling was ok, but egging was mean) who had gotten a part in a play that I thought should have gone to me or another of my friends. We were seniors and she was an underclassman, Britt something. I'm not sure which class she was in. And now I can't even remember which play it was. I was not alone the night of the egg/toilet paper action....which of my yaya's remember this incident and hopefully can provide more details?

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