Adivsory Board: Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly, George Lehman Williams, Patsy Hughes Oldroyd
Contributors: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 and Others
Well, if you're in the Hilton Head Island neighborhood in the next two weeks look us up. We're staying at the Disney Vacation Club in the Shelter Cove area. Publish times may be varied based on connection service.
Please include your class year with your e-mails.
T. Tommy
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From Our
Mailbox
Last Week's
Mystery Photo
This Week's
Mystery Photo
This was high tech fun in a low tech world when we were growing up. In fact it pre-dates most of us and is still around and can be found without too much work looking. Any stories to go with your identification?
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Jack Meeks, Class of '65
Recovering After Close Call
With Food Poisoning
In a note this week from Leah Ray, secretary for Jack Meeks, Class of '65, she stated, "I will be glad to update you (about Jack), and in fact, called Capt. Meeks to be sure it was okay with him. He said I could certainly give you the information."
Capt. Meeks and his wife went with some of her co-workers on a Bed-N-Breakfast trip that she and her co-workers were given as their Christmas present from her company. Everyone that went got food poisoning that was narrowed down to a sausage/egg/cheese breakfast casserole.
The ones who could throw up were eventually okay, however, Capt. Meeks could not, and he couldn't get rid of the poison. He ended up going to the hospital, and they found that he had developed a gangrenous colon. When I heard this I assumed, like everyone else, that he must have had something else going on, and I voiced this to Capt.'s wife, Becky.
She said the doctors told her that gangrene could form in the colon in five hours, that it is not the same as developing a blood poisoning type gangrene. So, when they found the gangrenous colon, they had to take out a section that was 12" long, or roughly 1/3 of the colon. The following day he had an additional major surgery to connect everything back.
Then he developed an infection that kept his temperature and his blood pressure going up and down, and they thought that was a staph infection. He was then diagnosed with a reaction to the medicine that he was given to combat fungus, and the whole time he was in a drug induced coma.
He stayed in a coma for 15+ days, and when he was brought out of the coma, he had no muscle tone, and had lost approximately 70 lbs. He was allowed to go home finally 8 days ago, and he had been hospitalized since Dec 18. He is undergoing physical therapy, both at home and away from his home, and he hopes to be back to work in approximately 6 weeks.
I just called him to check on him, give him the latest gossip, news, etc., and he said to tell everyone that he is mending, but it is slow. He said he is able to get up and walk some with a walker. He said that he is still having a lot of trouble with his right arm, which is where they put 'everything' , which I take to mean all the IVS, shots, etc., and he is slow getting back muscle tone. But, he is on the way, and doing as well as or better than expected. I told him I would pass it on, along with him missing being up here and working.
Only time will tell, and he is scheduled to retire April 1. I know he would enjoy hearing from you, and he said it is fine to put the info into your newsletter. His home phone is 256-539-6329.
Thanks for the concern.
Leah Ray
Secretary,
Staff Services Bureau
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Skip Cook, Class of ‘64 - I hope that the new year finds all LHS alumni healthy, wealthy, and wise. I believe that the mystery item is a “short wave radio”. It may have even been manufactured by Hallicrafters, a very popular brand during the late 50’s and early 60’s. I received a far less complex model for Christmas one year. We struggled with the proper antenna for good reception. I think that I finally left it tuned to WAAY AM.
C.E.’s headline really caught my attention and I just had to see what had happened to our old classmate. Glad to see that he was going “to” the jail and not going “into jail”! Again, many thanks for all your efforts on the weekly news.
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Charlie Hancock, Class of '66 - The photo looks exactly like the ham radio receiver my Dad had nearly my whole life until he died. When he died in 1981, my brother and I pitched it into a dumpster. It hadn't worked for years. Who would want it? Later, I found it was not only old but collectable. Live and learn (too late).
It seems like that one shown might be a "Halicrafter SX-71" maybe.
His transmitter was a Heathkit unit. It didn't work either. We must have tossed away a fortune in old vacume tubes.
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Chip Smoak, Class of '66 - It is just a guess because I have never seen or used one. I believe the mystery item is a ham radio. If I am not mistaken they still come in very handy every so often.
I hope that anyone who visits Collins in his new office does so voluntarily.
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Pat Worley Reid - The mystery photo this week is the Heath Kit Ham Radio.
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Tommy Towery, Class of '64 - In fact this is a Hallicrafter's "Short Wave" radio receiver. The radios most people associate with ham radio operators is the transmitter. While it took a license to operate a transmitter, anyone could use a receiver to listen to all the radio stations around the world. Many built their own radios from Heathkit parts. Since short wave signals could be transmitted a long distance and waves could bounce around in the atmosphere, it is not uncommon to get all sorts of foreign language broadcasts on such a device. Long before the days of the internet, many peopel took great delight in listening to all the strange music and commentary on foreign stations. It could also get aircraft traffic, commercial bands, and, for many, the very important accurate time from the National Bureau of Standard's radio station WWV in Ft. Collins, Colorado. When in the Air Force we still used the shortwave radio for time checks when flying in the B-52.
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Subject:Thanks for the Hard Work
Jerry Dorriety
Class of '70
Every Monday morning I grab my first cup of coffee, sit down at my desk, and go to the Lee High website. Thank you so much for the great job you do in maintaining this site. I'm trying to find a friend who attended Lee during the 60's along with my brother, Jim. They both sang in a group called "The Generals Three" and performed at Hootenannies, if you can remember those. Does anybody know anything about Tony Driver? Hope everyone has a great 2007!
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Subject:Lee/King Holiday
Patsy Hughes Oldroyd
Class of ‘65
While many of us are at home today enjoying a day off from work, let us not forget the reason we have this holiday in the first place. As I was reading our local paper on Sunday afternoon, I came across an article on today’s holiday and how Robert E. Lee’s name/birthday has been almost totally removed from all calendars as the original reason for the January holiday. Robert E. Lee was born two hundred years ago on January 19, 1807. He was truly one of the greatest and most brilliant military leaders in all of history. As commander of the greatly outnumbered Confederate forces in our war for Southern independence, this West Point graduate was as humble in victory as he was in defeat. Lest anyone think that Lee’s last war was fought solely over the issue of slavery, they must think again and study all of the reasons for the Civil War. His home in Arlington was taken over by the federal government and made into a national cemetery, now a landmark noted by people all over the world. It was intended as an insult, but today it is recognition of Lee’s greatness. Most Southern states, including Alabama, officially designated January 20 of each year as a holiday since 1901. It is to Robert E. Lee’s honor that state employees and others are given a holiday this month. What began in the last few decades as a shared holiday on the calendar to recognize the civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr., has now all but completely eliminated Lee from the date, the calendar, and the historical significance of observing his birthday. What a shame to allow one to obliterate the greatness of the other, and shame on the ones responsible for selecting that particular date on the calendar in an attempt to eliminate honoring the great General Robert E. Lee each January. For this Southern lady, it is called the Lee/King Holiday.
(Editor's Note: Some research on the web confirms Patsy's observations. I guess that gives us Lee Generals another reason to celebrate the holiday.)
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Attitude Is Everything
submitted by Alice A. Brigman
There once was a woman who woke up one morning,
Looked in the mirror,
And noticed she had only three hairs on her head.
Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today."
So she did And She Had A Wonderful Day.
The next day she woke up,
Looked in the mirror
And saw that she had only two hairs on her head.
"H-M-M," she said,
"I think I'll part my hair down the middle today."
So she did And She Had A Grand Day.
The next day she woke up,
Looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.
"Well," she said,
"today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail."
So she did And She Had A Fun, Fun Day.
The next day she woke up,
Looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.
