Lee High School - Huntsville Alabama Alumni

This Was No Ordinary Game

by Tommy Towery

Class of '64

This week's thought is another pre-Lee idea that I came upon during a luncheon discussion with some of my Yankee co-workers. We were sitting around talking about some of the things that we did as kids and the different things that were done in different parts of the country. I thought about a small time sport that many of my male friends and I did in our early days but the memory of which has laid dormant for many years. I know I haven’t played this sport since before my Lee days. Though not an Olympic sport it did offer a challenge and while there was no prize that went to the winner, there certainly was a penalty to the loser.

I'm talking about a sport that was probably only remembered by the males of the group, but I hesitate to say that because every time I make such a sexist remark, Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly always flames me and says that she did the same thing as a girl. I guess she really was a Tomboy.

I have a lengthy description of the rules of the sport, as found on the internet, but I decided to open this up for comments by you readers before I do a full story on it. But what do you remember about the rules? That's the question.

So, I'm looking for my buds to send me in their comments and memories on playing the honorable game of Mumbly Peg. I’d be just as interested in hearing what the female gender has to say about the game. Please try to get the comments in early, because the editor is headed off on a much needed vacation next Saturday, so I need to have next week’s issue ready to go by Friday.

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Throwing Papers and Working

by Collins (CE) Wynn

Class of '64

Good morning everyone...I hope your new year started off just as you wanted. I could not be more pleased with ours; it was just like I am learning to like it – quiet and uneventful.

The other day as I was driving along on my way to take care of some meaningless chore, a stray thought crossed my mind about the “paper house” and the article Jeffrey Fussell wrote for us. I did not know until then that Mr. Stewart (I just can’t refer to him as “Al”) worked with the newspaper for a time. It must have been later than when I was there; I believe the “company man” I referred to in my note was a “Mr. Hutto” or just plain “Hutto” who lived on the very eastern end of McCullough Avenue near George Lehman Williams’ house in, I think, the very last house on the south side of the street where it ends against the mountain..

I may have mentioned previously but I recall being a “paper boy” as a good but not necessarily financially rewarding experience. It is not that I was particularly good at it; in hindsight I just recall being exposed to a productive work environment early on. A good paper boy had to be a dependable self starter who did not wait for someone to tell him what to do or how to do it. It helped to have a little salesmanship in your blood as well. Of course, you could not have high expectations regarding income – the company took most of it leaving us a few nickels and dimes.

From time to time I still recall a couple of observations that have stayed with me for all these years and both of them involve admiration for the work of others. There was a family of boys that I knew but whose names I cannot now recall but who really worked hard throwing papers. My route may have had 70 or 75 houses and I used my bicycle – by comparison these guys may have had 400 or even 500 customers. I think they threw most of Darwin Downs and used a Corvair as their delivery vehicle. Most of the paper boys I knew were just knuckleheads fumbling around and throwing some papers now and then for a few extra bucks – the guys throwing Darwin Downs were serious businessmen who went about chunking papers in a serious, no nonsense manner. They did not waste time fooling and joking around in the paper house like the rest of us. When they came in the door they grabbed their papers and started folding, then packed out that Corvair and hit the road – there was no foolishness involved. I have always admired their work ethic and sought to emulate their focus in some of the tasks I have had to perform. I really think that was the first time I witnessed tenacity and focus although I was not aware of either concepts at the time.

The other observation was completely different for many reasons. There was an old guy (maybe 25) who threw papers and I admired him greatly - but from a distance (although I only came to recognize that admiration later). I fondly recall seeing him eating lunch in Mullins pretty much every day. He was around 5’6” or so and was “intellectually challenged” to a significant degree. I don’t recall him speaking much other than “hey” or something equally short from time to time. He did not dress particularly well and was an erratic shaver, sprouting pieces of beard in odd places. His headgear was normally a beat up old baseball cap of some type. I think he had a large route and unlike us boys, chunked papers for his primary source of income. He used a Cushman scooter and would pack it to the hilt with papers before setting out on his rounds. To some the word scooter might mean a lightweight scaled down motorcycle but that is not the case here. His Cushman was a wide, low, solidly built work vehicle compared to the sporty motorcycles of the day. You might think of the difference between a 20 year old heavy duty pick up truck and a late model Cadillac sedan – that’s the kind of difference I mean. Anyway, I was always impressed that this fellow, although impaired, worked his job seriously every day and was “a productive member of society”. From watching him I learned to admire those who can overcome obstacles and succeed.

Positive role models don’t have to be flashy - to me most of the really good positive role models don’t even know that they are. My brothers Don and Tony are like that.

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Subject:Sleeping in class and Texans

Chip Smoak

Class of '66

I too had a class right after lunch in which I had the hardest time staying awake and was not always successful. I went into the class wide awake but it was not Mrs. Dozier's monotone that put me to sleep. In my case Mr. Fox's, the chemistry teacher, deep,rich baritone is what put me under. He could easily have been a hypnotist. Perhaps he was. That is the only explanation that I have for how I passed that class as much as I slept through it.

I remember that Mr. Fox came out to track practice one day and showed us his high jumping skills which were not bad.

Cherri should have told you that USC did not stand a chance after Alabama beat Texas Tech the week before. Texans take a loss by any of their schools personal and almost as serious as the Mexican army overrunning the Alamo. You know what Houston did to them.

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Subject:Terry Preston

Bobby Cochran

Class of '64

I was reading and re-reading some recent issues of Lee's Traveller and read a short item from one of our fellow classmates about our late classmate, Terry Preston. The author of the story mentioned that he had visited Terry's gravesite.

I was wondering if you remember who that was, and if it would be possible for me to obtain the location of our classmate.

Terry and I weren't very close at Lee, but every time I DID see him after Lee while I was in Huntsville, he'd holler at me, shake hands, and we'd spend some time reminiscing. Just before he passed away, he discovered that I was living in the St. Louis area. He sent me a message that was typical Terry - he was so "up" that I could easily picture him bouncing off the walls in excitement for some reason - certainly it wasn't just because he was chatting with ME.

As we "talked baseball"l (we'd played with and against each other MANY times, at Lee, at the Boys Club on Meridian Street, at Optimist Park, - all over town over the years) Terry "casually mentioned" about 20 times,(at about 150 decibels) that he was a "HUGE" Cardinals fan!

A day or so later I was in downtown St. Louis calling on some of my customers. I was only a few blocks away from the stadium, so I visited the Cardinals' gift shop and bought Terry an "official" Cardinals Cap (he'd "mentioned" his cap size - several times, ha).

When he received it a few days later, he called me. Wow, was he HIGH as a kite! Not on "anything," except on the pure joy of having something that was meaningful - and he thanked me profusely! He told me about his new job, and how excited he was at the prospects of wonderful success with his new company. We parted wishing and hoping that each other would have a great year in sales, and we both promised that if we were ever reasonably close that we'd make a special effort to get together.

Sadly, he passed away just a short while later. I learned about Terry's passing in Lee's Traveller.

Anyway, if whomever mentioned Terry's resting place would please let me know exactly where Terry is buried, I'd like to pay my respects.

(Editor's Note: Terry's best friend, Jim McBride, was the author of the article you refer to. Terry was buried in Maple Hill Cemetery and I am sure that if you stop in at the office they can direct you to the place. I went to the funeral and went to Terry's grave on Friday morning of the last reunion. It is back near where the new Veteran's area is, but I don't have a map or grid locataion.)

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Subject:Hello

Mary Ardrey Aukerman

maukerman@dtnspeed.net

Class of '66

What a great site! George Vail let me know how to access it. I also keep in touch with Pat Peiffer Edwards. Although I moved to Arizona the summer after graduation and have only been back once ('68) I still have fond memories of Lee and the crazy things we did. It's a wonder we survived some of them. Thanks for the effort to keep us connected.

From: Texas

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