Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly, Joy Rubins Morris, Rainer Klauss, Bobby Cochran, Collins (CE) Wynn, Eddie Sykes, Don Wynn, Paula Spencer Kephart, Cherri Polly Massey
Contributors: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 and Others
Just in time for Christmas, Sue came walking into my computer room and handed me something she had found in the closet while she was looking for some wrapping paper. At the bottom of the page is the poem that I wrote for the first Christmas Issue of the real "Lee's Traveller". I hope you enjoy it.
Please include your name and class year with your e-mail to me.
T. Tommy
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From Our
Mailbox
A Christmas Story
- Lee Style
by Tommy Towery
Class of '64
Ralphie: I want an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle!
Mrs. Parker: No, you'll shoot your eye out.
Anyone who’s ever had a Christmas dream has to remember those words, and the movie from which they are taken. “A Christmas Story” is the story of our generation, our hopes, our dreams, and our memories. We grew up in those time, remember the Christmas days of past. We remember the bullies, the double-dog dares and triple-dog dares, the Lifebouy soap and the “Fragile” major awards of our own lives.
Like Ralphie, many of us can look back and remember something that we wanted for Christmas, something that we wanted so bad that nothing could take its place. For Ralphie it was a Red Ryder carbine model air rifle.
I had been trying all week to come up with a Christmas story for this week’s issue. I kept thinking that some of you might send in something, but it did not happen. Then, two nights ago I went to get a Diet Coke out of my drink refrigerator, when I saw something sticking up behind it. It was the barrel of an old B-B gun that had been there since I cleaned out my mother’s house three years ago getting it ready to sell.
The B-B gun was my step-father’s. I remember that when I first moved to Memphis to go to school at Memphis State, he and I took it to the lake. He had it there to shoot snakes that sometimes were seen swimming around the boat. The boat was docked in a state park and real guns (which do a much better job at shooting snakes) were not allowed. So we took the air rifle. That was in 1964 and after I graduated and left for the Air Force, it was still on the boat.
Sometime in the next 20 years, he got a better “pump action” pellet gun and the B-B gun somehow got taken back to the house in Memphis and put in the utility room. Over the years the gun sat in the humid room with the washer and dryer and collected “dust bunnies” while the leather gaskets in the gun dried out. When I came back in 1988 I tried it out. It still cocked but didn’t hold the compression good enough to shoot. It should have been thrown out then, but wasn’t. It, and tons of other junk, remained in the utility room and was still there when my step-father died. We had shared a lot of moments with that gun, so I guess he didn’t want to throw it away.
I guess I remembered that when it came time to get rid of all the junk when I was getting the house ready to sell, so again I did not throw it away, it was moved with a lot of other things into storage. Last summer when I finally cleared out the storage shed I had put mom’s stuff in, it once again was not thrown away, but came with me back to my house and was placed behind the refrigerator. It had not been touched until two nights ago.
I had been watching “A Christmas Story” and when I went to get the Diet Coke, I saw it and for some reason decided to see what type of B-B gun it was. I pulled it from behind the refrigerator and dusted off the stock.
There in gold letter were the words that made me smile. I held in my hand a “Daisy Model 94 Red Ryder Carbine”. The B-B gun my step-father and I had taken to the lake in 1964 and had never thrown away for some odd reason turned out to be a classis. It was the symbol of those innocent times when kids had wonderful dreams and jumped out of bed early on Christmas morning to run down the stairs, knowing that Santa Claus had brought them the B-B guns they wanted. It was the symbol of the movie that brought all that magic and love back to them. And it was the gun that reminded me of my departed step-father. What a wonderful Christmas memory.
I could not wait to take the Red Ryder carbine in to show to Sue, who was sitting in our living room. I handed her the B-B gun and pointed to the stock and told her to read what it said.
She read aloud “RKW”. What? She repeated “RKW – some kid wrote their initials on it so they wouldn’t loose it.” I told her “No, read the rest.” Then she saw the Red Ryder and smiled and laughed.
Only then did the letters she had read aloud to me me sink in. I asked her again “What did you say first.” She repeated the third time “RKW”.
I asked her, “Do you know who ‘RKW’ is? That’s Robert Kennedy Walker. That’s Bob Walker, my best friend in Huntsville.”
Somehow, all these years had clouded the fact that the B-B gun was not my step-father’s and in Memphis when I moved here. I had bought it with me when I moved here from Huntsville, the day after I graduated.
Sometime before the move, I had acquired the gun from Bob. I know he’ll never remember for sure, but I think that he gave it to me when he got his first .22 caliber rifle. He didn’t need the B-B gun any more since he had a real gun, and so he gave it to me.
Now it is even more special. It is not because it is now a collector’s classic. It is not because I have always related it to being owned by my step-father. I now know that the reason that he never got rid of it when he got the better gun. He kept it because it was mine, not his, and because it reminded him of me – now all grown up and away in the Air Force. It reminded him of the good times we had together, when times were simple and we shared with it on the boat.
Now the B-B gun is even more special. It now links me with two very important people in my life. It links me with my best friend at Lee, Bob Walker, and my step-father. It is a link to “A Christmas Story” of my own and the dreams of having my own “official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle!”
Merry Christmas, Bob…I still have the present you gave me. It is special and always will be. I plan to put it under my Christmas tree every year from now own, and when my own grandchildren ask me about it, I will tell them a Christmas Story of their step-father, their grandfather's best friend at Lee High School, and of their special place in my heart.
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Ode To A Pessimist
by Tommy Towery
Christmas season is on its way,
School is out, hip, hip, hooray!
We'll make new friends, and see new faces,
Some make trips to brand-new places
We're out of school for at least two weeks,
Going hunting and forging creeks,
Buying presents to give away,
School is out, hip, hip, hooray!
We try to make this last a year,
With Christmas parties, Yuletide cheer,
But soon we know that the day will come,
With famous words, "Throw out that gum!"
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Rev. Almon D. Stewart
June 16, 1929 - Dec. 9, 2005
The Reverend Almon D. "Al" Stewart, 76, peacefully departed this earth and joined our Maker on Friday morning. His life was filled with love for his country, his family, and foremost God. "Stranger" was never a word in his vocabulary and he loved being among family, friends and fellowship with all people. His life spans a number of years of devotion and dedication to spreading the Word of God and touching the lives of many. He was a loving father, grandparent and friend. Born and raised in Madison, he served in the Korean War aboard the USS Boxer, CV-21 with the U.S. Navy. Following his tour of duty, he completed a bachelors degree in education and divinity at Howard Payne College in Brownwood, Texas in 1956. Upon graduation, he returned to Huntsville and began his teaching career at Hazel Green High School, then transferred to Lee Junior High School which subsequently became Lee High School. He completed graduate and post-graduate work in secondary education administration and went on to become an administrator both within the city of Huntsville and Madison County school systems before his retirement in 1986. His ministry also began in 1956, and over the past 49 years, he spiritually influenced many lives through his devotion and witnessing. At the time of his passing, he was serving as the Pastor at Flower Hill Baptist Church in Hillsboro. He is preceded in death by his parents, Litzy Gooch Stewart and Una Debo Drake Stewart; his former wife of over 30 years, his beloved "Jake", Lee B. Stewart; one daughter, Corby Jane Stroud; and brothers, Milton and James Stewart. Survivors include daughters, Jacqualyn "Dee" Kowallik and husband, Richard, of Madison, and Penny Leigh Reagin and husband, Joel, of Hillsboro; grandchildren, Brian Stroud and wife, Sherri, of Saraland; grandchildren, Jason, Julie and Alison Reagin, and Tammy Elliott; great-grandchildren, Tyler and Cameron Elliott, Cole and Lane Reagin, Cannon Allen, and Corby Taylor Stroud; sisters, Matti Irma Smith, Aileen Stewart, Mary Siniard, and Lenora "Len" Focht, all of Huntsville, Peggy Ingram of Jacksonville, Fla., and Faye Barkley and husband, Gene, of Madison; brother, Harry Stewart of Grant; and many nieces and nephews. Visitation and funeral services will be at Spry Funeral Home in Huntsville. Visitation will be from 2 to 6 p.m. today. Brother Ted Agee and Brother Larry Whitman will lead the funeral services at 11 a.m. Monday in the chapel with interment at Maple Hill Cemetery. Honorary Pallbearers will be sons-in-law, Joel Reagin and Richard Kowallik. Pallbearers will be Harry Stewart, Gene Barkley, Jason Reagin, Justin Ledlow, Patrick Stewart, and Brian Stroud. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to Howard Payne University, 1000 Fisk Avenue, Brownwood, TX 76801-2794 or to a favorite charity.
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Subject:Merry Christmas
Chip Smoak
Class of '66
Hi gang. This seems to be my day for getting on a soap box about political correctness. Dwight Jones item on Auburn is my inspiration. For too long the "silent majority" has been silent. It is way past time for the "silent majority" to speak up and to speak up loudly.
The framers of the Constitution wanted to protect the rights of minority groups, that goes beyond racial minorities. They did not intend that this be done at the expense of the rights of the majority.
Each of us has to stand up for what is right even if that means standing against the rest of the world. The Bible tells us that if God is for us who can stand against us. The birth of this country is an historical example of that.
We have been silent too long. We have let others who came to this country try to tell us how to act and what to believe. One judge let a man who killed his wife go free because it is the custom in his former homeland that a man has the right to kill an unfaithful wife. The government was deemed to be at fault for not protecting her from him. This outrageous decision by this judge is appalling and should be totally unacceptable. To the best of my knowledge the judge is still on the bench.
This is insanity. I refuse to apologize for the good fortune to be born an American. It is incumbent upon all of us to uphold and defend the ideals on which this nation was founded.
We need to be bold Christians and bold citizens of this country of ours. We need to hold our politicians and our judges accountable. This means that we have to quit being lazy, me included, and do our homework to find out what these "representatives" of the people are doing. We have to quit letting them take carte blanche because of the positions to which we elect or our elected representatives appoint them.
Okay, let's talk about that almost taboo subject of Christmas. If we do not start standing up for our rights as Christians we are going to lose all of them in short order. Many people try to portray Christians as intolerant. They ignore the fact that it was Christians that developed and instituted the concept of religious freedom that is enjoyed in a much greater degree in this country than anywhere else in the world.
Many decry the commercialization of Christmas and Santa Claus. Let's examine both. The commercial aspect of Christmas has its place. We all need the wares and services and many of the merchants at other times of the year. A lot of the merchants, especially small businesses, could not stay in business without the Christmas season. A lot of them donate to charitable organizations and churches and needy people throughout the year. Without them many needy people would endure much greater suffering. While some make donations for the tax write-off, many others do it for the right reason, it is the Christian thing to do.
Let's move on to the issue of Santa Claus. My take on this is that Santa Claus embodies the spirit of giving. Isn't that what Jesus is about and what he taught with His life to the point that He gave His life on the cross for us unworthy sinners so we could have eternal life? If not I am reading the wrong Bible and following the wrong God. I am convinced and convicted that I am reading the right Bible and following the one true God. There is room in Christmas for both Jesus and Santa but Jesus needs and must be first. It is up to us to keep the proper perspective and to teach it to our children.
For each of us to be bold Christians and bold citizens is critical at this point in the history of this nation.
Okay, I'll get off the soap box. In the hope and with the intent of being politically incorrect, I wish each of you a very joyous and Christ-filled "Merry Christmas!!!"
