Lee High School - Huntsville Alabama Alumni

Subject: Mr. Brady

Sharon Towery Linsky

Class of '64

I ran into Mr. Brady the other day (do you remember him as a 7th grade math teacher at Lee?). He has fallen and fractured his left foot and leg and is recuperating temporarily at The Carington House at Carlton Cove here in Huntsville and he really looks great otherwise.

Anyway, after reminiscing for several minutes with him, I asked if he had heard about the reunion earlier this year and he stated "I never hear anything, but hey, that's okay....". So, I have had him on my mind this a.m. and thought some of the students would like to send him a Christmas card or write to him. His home address is 2508 Waltham Dr. SE, Huntsville, AL 35811. I do not know how long he will be at The Carington House, but I am sure his wife will take his mail to him. I think it would really cheer him up to hear from some of his former students.

By the way, I am really enjoying reading the "Traveller" and look forward to it every week. I would love to get in touch with my old friend Linda Kirchhuber, if anyone has her address or phone number.

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Subject:Former Teachers

Spence Thompson

Class of '64

I was thinking about a couple of former teachers and was wondering if you knew whatever happened to them?

Ann Ingram

Joanne Livingston

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Subject:E-Mails

Collins (CE) Wynn

Class of '64

I especially enjoyed last week’s edition of Lee’s Traveller. Because of their recollections, it appears that Aaron Potts and Lorene Rice may be a few years senior to us. I enjoyed their comments very much and found them informative. I recall seeing Lorene and her husband Bill at this past summer’s Rison-Dallas Reunion and hearing the comment about the “cotton patch” but I did not realize the significance at the time.

While thinking about their comments it occurred to me that each of us recall those things we see (not necessarily what was there before) and that we all have stories to share. I am reasonably certain that our Lee High School property and the adjacent neighborhoods were once all farm land and, before that, just uninhabited and heavily forested wilderness. As Ranier and several of us have talked about, by the time some families came to the Darwin Downs area (’58 or so) the area already had the appearance of a neighborhood (albeit, a little raw looking like new construction areas sometimes appear as evidenced by Ranier’s photographs).

In my memory Oakwood Avenue was always paved and ended hard against the base of Monte Sano near a bamboo thicket. Lorene’s comments about the area are interesting and they fill in a few blank spots for me.

In an issue from a few years ago we talked about the Rison-Dallas-Darwin Downs-Chapman neighborhood a good bit. I still have one bit of unfinished business from those conversations – the 1875 military camp near the southwest corner of the intersection of Maysville Road and Oakwood Avenue. I still search for information about it from time to time and will share whatever I learn, if anything.

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Subject:Dixon, Tipton, & Sushi

Skip Cook

Class of ‘64

Cecil’s memory is indeed correct Banville Barrett did attend LHS probably around 60-62. I distinctly remember him throwing a snowball into the side of my facee from a distance of about three feet.

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Subject:Banville

Bob Cochran

Class of '64

Greg Dixon inquired about "Barrett Banville." Yes, he existed and he was quite the tough. He must have lived out near the area of Oakwood Road and Pulaski Pike, or west of Pulaski Pike; that was the first place for Lee kids to get on the bus and the last place for Lee kids to get off.

He dressed like a typical "tough" of those days, bluejeans and a black leather jacket. I remember he had a penchant for picking fights with guys taller than he was. I witnessed him fighting several Lee students over a period of months. I don't think he made it through the entire school year.

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Subject:Barrett Banville

Don Blaise

Class of '64

I read Greg's question about a guy named Banville Barrett. His name was actually the reverse, Barrett Banville and yes he was somewhat of a rounder. He had quick hands in a fight and liked to pick fights with guys bigger than him for some unknown reason. I remember a younger sister, perhaps two younger sisters. I don't know what happened to him because he moved before we graduated. I did hear that his parents may have been killed in a car wreck shortly after he left Lee. Don't know more than that.

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Subject:Keys

Jim Bannister

Class of '66

I have one of the blue "Lee High School" keys but don't remember a damn thing about it.... Must have been important for me to keep all these years though.

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Subject:A Tale or Two Keys

Barb Biggs Knott

Class of '66

I still have the key on the right – the one which says Lee High School. I got it my senior year from one of the local jewelry stores if I remember correctly. I didn’t have the one with the L on it. I’m sorry I can’t remember which jewelry store it came from. I found my Junior Classical League (Latin Club) pin also in the same box I had the LHS key. Of course, I still have my Brownie pin from 50 years ago too!

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Throwing Papers

by Jeffrey Fussell

Class of '66

C.E.'s Huntsville memories story last week made a brief mention of the place on Humes Ave. where news carriers (PC for paperboy) picked up their papers to deliver on their route. By the time I started throwing papers, the place was known as the "paper shack". The "company guy" at the time was Lee teacher Al Stewart.

If a fellow ever needed a clear lesson that life isn't fair, he could sure get a graduate-level course on the subject throwing the Huntsville Times.

My route consisted of the entire length of McCullough Ave. from Dallas Street to just east of Maysville Road. There were about 150 subscribers on McCullough. The daily cost the carrier four cents and sold for five cents. The Sunday cost 20 cents and sold for 25 cents. The gross profit potential at 11 cents per customer was a whopping $16 per week. Now that was pretty fair dough for a young guy -- but we quickly learned that the difference between gross and net is a lot more than two letters.

Carriers purchased all equipment and supplies. My route required two canvas shoulder bags and one "saddle" bag, as well as a "newsboy" basket on my bike. I can't recall what those bags cost, but I'm thinking that it was about the first two week's profit.

Rubber bands for securing the rolled paper were expensive, but a lot of us used them. Some of us preferred the cheaper "newsboy" twine. The way you used twine was to pass the string through your mouth to get it wet, break off about 18 inches, and whip it around the rolled paper. Pulling down on the coiled twine twisted it enough to stay in place. Either way, the Huntsville Times sold them both.

When it rained, a carrier had two options -- porch the paper or wet wrap it. (Paperboys understand that "porch" is a perfectly good transitive verb.) The Huntsville Times sold waxed paper wet wraps to the carriers for about 50 cents a hundred. Wet wraps were a killer, because they cost you half of your profit on a daily paper. "Porching" was feasible for most houses on McCullough, but the ones that had the newer homes on Windover, Gladstone, Seyforth, and Basel had no choice -- the yards were huge and porches were uncommon.

Saturday was collection day. I was lucky if I collected 8 out 10 on the first pass. The rest you would catch when you could on the route. Invariably, you would get into a dispute with a monthly customer who thought he was paying in advance instead of arrears. It was pretty common to dip into personal money to pay the Huntsville Times bill, hoping to collect it later.

Complaints were the last knife in a carrier's back. If a customer called circulation and claimed not to have a paper, they would send a guy out on a motorcycle and deliver it to them -- no questions asked. The Times then punitively charged the carrier 50 cents. The "complaint route" was the sweetheart deal of carrier jobs.

Between collecting the money and paying the "company store" for papers and supplies, I didn't make any money throwing the Huntsville Times. I did gain a healthy attitude toward folks working in service jobs.

And if you ever happen not to get a newspaper some morning-- just go buy one.

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T. Tommy's Tremendous

T-Shirt Trivia Time

by Tommy Towery

Class of '64

Okay readers, it is time for some fun. It doesn’t matter if you are a ’64 – ’65 – or ’66 graduate, or even if you went to Lee High School at all. You can all join in for this fun. This is also something that girls and guys can both join in on.

The other day I was in my closet looking for a University of Memphis T-Shirt to wear to the game I was going to attend. I dug through my stack of T-shirts and finally found one. Now I use a “California closet” or better understood as one of those with all the white wire shelves in it and I keep my T-shirts and other such things on shelves rather than in dresser drawers.

I suddenly became aware of how many t-shirts I actually had. I have way too many. But in this era, we seem to have a great desire to be walking “billboards” ready to give free advertising to anyone who puts their logo on a t-shirt and gives, but usually sells them to us.

I don’t know how many shirts I have…I really don’t. Sometime this week I’ll try to count them. I have way too many that’s for sure.

But as I dug through them, I came upon the idea for this week’s trivia. I thought it would be fun to offer the idea of T-shirts out to all of you for your own comments. I want you to dig into your pile of shirts, no matter where you elect to keep them, and find one or two that have special meaning to you. I would not only like to know which one you love to wear the best, but also, in the great stack that many of you have, what is the oldest t-shirt in your possession. Do you dare write and tell us how old the oldest one is, and what is on it.

If you have one with a special color, a special “phrase” or one from a special vacation, then let us know. I was going to go ahead and list mine, to start the ball rolling, but I think I’ll wait and join in with the rest of you next week. I’ll bet that I have the oldest one, but maybe not.

If you have a digital camera, then take a picture of your favorite one, either wearing it or just flat, and send it along with your comments.

I think we can make this go for a few weeks, maybe more. You might get a t-shirt for Christmas, and if so maybe you’ll share that story with us as well.

Okay, take a break from the computer now and go to your room and check out your t-shirts. Even if you have them in storage and know they are there, that counts. We don’t have to have a photo of it, we trust you. Just send us an e-mail on your oldest, your favorite, and how many (if you dare tell.)

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