Lee High School - Huntsville Alabama Alumni

Sharing Some More Memories

by Collins (CE) Wynn

Class of ‘64

and Aaron Potts

A week or so ago I received an email from a neighborhood acquaintance of 50 years ago (Aaron Potts) and it was good to hear from him. I’m sending along some of his comments in hopes our Lee’s Traveller readers may find them interesting. A few years back Tommy ran some articles about Huntsville in general and our old neighborhoods. Several of us made comments and had a running historical discussion over several months. Anyway, please enjoy Aaron’s narrative; it follows.

PARKWAY DRIVE-IN. There were two theaters on North Parkway or should I say 231North. I am not sure if you recall, but the entrance had two driveways - they came together at the ticket booth. One came in from Highway 231 and the other came in from the Parkway. The screens were opposite of each other and they had only one concession stand and projector booth. One projector booth was on the west side and another on the east. They had different movies. I worked at the one of Parkway Drive-in. I was dating Sally Black and drove a white 1963 Chevrolet super sport. Sally would wait till the concession stand closed and then we would watch the movie. Later they closed down the 231 Drive in theater and kept the Parkway Drive-in. My supervisor was Tony Kennedy. He was not particularly fond of me because there I was a senior in high school and drove a better car than he did. He had a Dodge or Chrysler with the elliptical steering wheel. I worked with several guys from Buckhorn High School and since I deliberately failed one grade to get out of Huntsville High, and they had not finished Lee, they talked me into coming to Buckhorn and that is where I graduated. These guys were Bobby (Hoot) Gibson and Paul Elkins. They were super to work with.

DARWIN DOWNS. The reason it was called Darwin Downs is because Mr. Jeff Darwin owned the property and he sold it to Mr. Penhall (my cousin Ted Penhall’s dad – C.E.) to sub-divide. Out of respect to Mr. Darwin, it was named "DARWIN DOWNS". Mr. Darwin lived where the church is now on Maysville road near the bridge and Rison Avenue. Mr. Darwin owned the property from Oakwood Avenue on the north side to McCullough Avenue on the south and to the mountain on the east.

NATURAL SPRING. Before the property was sold and improved, off Bankhead parkway, there was a natural spring and the opening was kinda "U" shaped with the open side of it was closest to the road. It had very cold water flowing from it. Sometimes in the summer, we would go there and have a picnic or just an outing. We would put a watermelon in the spring and it would get pretty cool. It was more commonly known as "horse shoe spring" because of the shape of the opening.

COTTON FIELDS. The property at the end of Oakwood avenue belonged to a Mr. James Bishop. We picked cotton on his property in the late 40's and early 50's. Mr. Bishop would come around in a pick up truck to pick us up on Rison Avenue and Stevens Avenue near Mr. Seaton's grocery store.

TELEPHONES. As far as the comments about phone books that Bobby Potts mentioned, I can remember that the phone numbers had only three numbers. The police department,s number was 303 and we had to talk to an operator to get that number. later we got a dial phone and the prefix was JEfferson. Our phone number was Je 3446XR. We didn't use the JE, we just used the 4 digit number such as 3446 the X implied it was a party line and the R implied the type of ring we were to answer. We answered on two rings and our party line companion answered one long ring. Later we got a private line and the phone number changed to 3446R. Later with the dial phone we had to use the prefix which if look at the dial phone face, you would see that the JE was converted to 53. Our phone number changed to 533-446R.

CHAPMAN FARMS. Farther north on Maysville Road, Mr. Chapman owned the property North of Oakwood Avenue and he had a large cattle farm. One day he caught me, Bobby and Thomas Earl Seaton walking back from the mountain through one of his pastures near the intersection of Oakwood and Maysville Road. He drove up and yelled at us because he thought we were hunting on his property. Thomas Earl Seaton fell down and loaded his shotgun and Bobby and I ran like hell. I was afraid of getting shot. I have never run so fast in all my life. Bobby was pretty fast because he was on the football team, but that day, I out ran him by 20 yards.

I was talking (electronically) with my Rison-Dallas Association friend the other day (Mrs. Ann Franklin) and she startled me with a comment about Mullin’s Drive In. I had no idea that the corner at 5th street and Stevens Avenue was their second location; not the first. She told years before Mullin’s had been across the street and south of the intersection by a hundred feet or so. The only thing I can think of is the building I knew as the “paper house” where all us neighborhood newspaper boyz (a little hip-hop, huh?) gathered to pick up our papers and fold them for delivery. Once a week we had to settle up with the “company man” there as well.

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Veteran's Day Responses

Barb Biggs Knott, Class of '66

Hi Tommy,

I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading how you spent Veteran’s Day. I also work at a University and we don’t get the day off either.

My husband is a subcontractor. Every year on Veteran’s Day one of the gentlemen he does sub work for calls him and thanks him for his service to his country. I find that very refreshing and wonder how many people realize the sacrifices made by the men and women who served in our armed forces.

Thanks for putting out a great paper. I look forward to it every week. I wish I lived closer so I could attend the reunions. Thanks for sharing all the photos. It’s fun trying to guess who people are….of course, I always recognize you!

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W.Dale Meyer, (Would have been) Class of ' 66

HM2 USN 1966-69

Hi Tommy!

Read your Veteran's Day story and wanted to share my experience with you. I am doing a consulting gig in Chicago and was on my way back to Detroit Friday. I was on the Hertz bus at 0 dark thirty for a 6 a.m. flight and one of the passengers asked if their were any veterans on the bus. I was the only one to raise my hand and he responded that he just wanted to thank me for my service! It made my day...so here's a note albeit late to say "Thanks for your service".

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Charlie Hancock, Class of '66

Hi, Tommy:

Before I retired from The Kite Factory, (Boeing) I'd take Veteran's Day as a vacation day. I'd brew some homebrew beer and look at old photos from my tour in VN. I served as a Navy Hospital Corpsman (Medic) with an infantry company of Marines. (The Marines are actually part of the Navy, so they use Navy Medics.) It was an adventure suitable only for young men. It would kill me now to try to keep up with them now. Those adventures are with me every day of my life. The baggage I carry is only from the patients that died. Riflemen have baggage from people they killed. I'm lucky in that respect.

This year I continued my tradition of brewing and remembering. The Marines I continue to meet express their gratitude for "Doc" being there with and for them. The Marines take very good care of their Docs. On liberty, I could hardly buy a beer with my own money. It wasn't just me getting special treatment; it is ALL Corpsmen too. I'm fortunate to have held such a highly regarded job during my time in the Service. The tradition continues. The Marines and Corpsmen of today are better trained and equally (or more) motivated than ever.

Thanks, Tommy for letting me explain my service.

Semper Fidelis!

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Linda Ragland Dykes, Class of '64

Tommy, quite by accident (I was in Atlanta for a meeting last Friday, Veteran's Day) and was trying to cross Peachtree for lunch when the parade started. It was such a wonderful feeling when the veterans passed in uniform. Wish you could have been at Bryant-Denny stadium for the LSU game on Saturday. Three fighter jets - all UA grads - did a fly-over the stadium and the crowd went wild - now you know why the first half of the game had so much adrenalin!

I've said it before but you all do such a great job - I look forward to this website and to Classmates.com - again, thanks to Barbara for telling me about that website - where several of my friends from high school have visited. Please keep it up and know how much it means.

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J.R. Brooks, Class of '64 - The person under the fan was class president, Bob Ramsey.

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Zen Sarcasm

submitted by Bob Walker

Class of '64

1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.

2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.

3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

5. No one is listening until you pass gas.

6. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.

7. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

8. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

9. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

10. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

11. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

12. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

13. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

14. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.

15. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time.

16. Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

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