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
Started off the vacation with a cold (both physically and weather wise) and our car broke down the second day we were here, but it's fixed now and Hilton Head is looking better now that those things are behind us.
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
We're probably giving the guys a bit of an advantage here, but when I was looking for an object this week, this one came up. The front side above is a different aircraft than the backside of the card. I have some special memories about this item which I will try to relate next week, but for the moment, does anyone remember these? Any stories to go with your identification?
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Randy Jennings
Class of '66
Passed Away
January 9th, 2007
Published in The Huntsville Times on 1/12/2007.
Randy Jennings
Died Jan. 9, 2007
Randy Jennings, 60, of Corinth, Miss., died Tuesday. The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. today at Hight Funeral Home in Corinth. Burial will follow at Forrest Memorial Park. Visitation will be one hour prior to services.
On January 12th, I got the following e-mail from Judy Fedrowich Kincaid, Class of '66:
Hey Gang,
Can anyone verify if the Randy Jennings that is in today's HSV Times obituary is our Randy? I am at work and I don't have access to my reunion info, but I seem to remember that Randy's latest address was in Corinth, MS.
Judy F.K.
There was some confusion as to whether or not this was our Randy Jennings and so this article was not published last week. It took a call to the Corinth, Mississippi Funeral home who passed along our inquiry to his wife Judy, and last week Judy called and confirmed that it was the "Lee" Randy. She is going to send us a photo to publish next week. Judy is the former Judy Beason, Class of '65. I believe she told us that Randy moved his senior year and did not graduate from Lee, but considered it his high school home. There is still some question as to his "official" year, but he was listed in the 2005 Reunion Directory as being a member of the Class of '66.
Mike Boggs, Class of '64 sent in the following in as well:
Tommy, I saw this in the Guntersville paper .
"Louis Randy Jennings died Jan. 9,2007 in Corinth at the age of 60.He was diagnosed in Sept. 2005 with multiple myloma, a form of cancer.
He lived in Guntersville from 1970 to 1981 and worked at the Monsanto plant until it closed. Born in Huntsville, he served in the Army in Korea from 1968 -69.
He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Judy Beason Jennings."
Mike also added, "Randy was very active in the Boy Scouts and was scoutmaster of Troop 78 in Guntersville. He and I and several other Monsanto misfits hiked across the Smokies on the Appalachian Trail in 1980. It was good times with good friends."
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Subject:Ham Radio Operator
Mary Epling Aukerman
Class of '66
I wanted to share a story with you about my "experience" as a ham radio "operator". In 1968 I went to work as a telephone operator for Bell Telephone Company in Tucson, Arizona. In those days the operator actually dialed the long distance calls for you and wrote everything down on a card. I would try to work the 6 p.m. to midnight shift as often as possible because you only worked 6 hours but got paid for 8, what a deal! It was also during these hours that we got calls from boys in the military (in either Vietnam or Thailand) to their homes in the states, via a ham radio operator. I don’t really know how all that worked, but it did. What I do know is that the ham operator would receive the “call” from overseas, then call the local operator who placed the actual collect phone call stateside. As the telephone operator, when we placed the call, we informed the receiving party that their loved one was calling from overseas but the called would be billed from Tucson. We also instructed them that when they heard the loved one say “over” it was their turn to talk and when they were done talking they had to say “over” so the other person knew it was their turn to talk. I guess this was the cue for the ham operator to flip a switch to go from sending to receiving and vice versa. Anyway, we then had to monitor the calls to make sure the connection was still good, the person was saying “over”, etc. It still brings tears to my eyes to recall some of those conversations and how hard it was on both parties. Mostly it was sons calling their parents and the conversations were very emotional. It was especially hard when the connection from overseas faded and the ham operator was forced to terminate the stateside connection, often in the middle of a conversation. I often wonder if any of our classmates placed a “call home” in this manner. A bitter/sweet memory.
(Editor's Note: Mary...as a matter of fact I myself depended on that type of phone call when I was sent to Guam and Thailand. The process was called a "phone patch" by those of us who used it and most Ham operators were very happy to play a part of helping out those of us overseas in the military. It did take a while to get used to the "over" required to tell the other party that it was their time to speak. Unlike telephone conversations where you can send a receive at the same time (duplex) the radio was capable of only sending one signal or receiving one signal at a time; hense, you would transmit a while, say "over," and then receive for a while. We also were able to go through the command post at our local base and they could connect us to an outside line if it was late at night and there was nothing important going on.)
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Subject:Last Week's Issue
Rose Sharon (Towery) Linsky
Class of ‘65
I am sure you are enjoying Hilton Head Disney right now and how I wish we were there – it really looks dismal outside my office window right now. I am teaching an on-line course this semester in Health Assessment – which means I am “virtually” available 24/7 – Thanks for the update on Jack Meeks. He and his family are in our hearts and prayers – please keep us posted. My husband (of some 41+ years now) is retiring from the Fox Army Community Health Center at Redstone Arsenal on February 3rd (while I am still enjoying my “retirement job” here at UAH) – thanks again for the excellent job you and your “staff” do with the Traveller!!
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Subject:Jack Meeks
Joe Schultz
Class of '65
To Jack Meeks;
Hang in there Jack, I had similar surgery two years ago. For me, recovery was slow at first, then life just got better and better. Today, I'm good as new. Soon, you will be too.
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Skip Cook, Class of ‘64 - This is a s.w.a.g. at the mystery item but is it one of the buzzers that you could hide in your hand?
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Jeff Fussell, Class of '66 -This week's mystery photo is the venerable joy-buzzer. To actually pull this off, a kindly uncle was usually required. You could spot the thing from across the room and no one actually fell for it other than to humor you.
Like so many of the mystery photos in the Traveller, it triggered more memories of my childhood. Back in the day, there was a mail-order company called Honor House. They advertised in DC comics and others -- usually on an inside cover. And it worked... they got a good bit of this boy's allowance.
The joy buzzer was one of the "practical joke" items they offered. Who remembers these Honor House goodies?
Classics:
Poo-Poo Cushion -- worst trouble I ever got into. Do not use on visiting VFW Ladies Auxiliary Officers. Amazingly, this is still available and the "artwork" hasn't changed a bit.
Cigarette Loads -- The ones they used to sell were powerful. Second worst trouble I ever got into.
Squirt Seat -- Fill the rubber bulb with water and stick it between the toilet bowl rim and seat. Wait for someone to sit down. This one takes the bronze
Duds:
X-Ray Specs -- didn't work, of course
Fake beard and moustache -- looked like it was cut out of an old teddy bear.
Onion Gum - Not too realistic. Didn't fool anybody
Mousetrap Gum -- Sounds good, but its tough to find anyone that gullible.
Fly in the Ice Cube - Great concept, but it didn't look much like ice. Plus it sank to the bottom.
Squirt Flower -- Good idea, poor execution. Who wears a daisy boutonnière anyway?
I suppose the real fun was the anticipation and excitement when the little box from Honor House arrived.
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Huntsville Youth Hockey
Championship Player
Related to
Part of Our Fami-LEE
Nancy Sherrod, Class of '65 wrote:
My nephew, Darin Taylor, plays on this team. His father is Lamar Taylor(should have been '65) but joined the Marines. Here's the article from the Huntsville paper.
Local 16-under team
adds International title to regional win
Friday, January 19, 2007
By SKIP VAUGHNFor The Times
This has already been a season of firsts for a local youth hockey team.
The Huntsville 16-and-under Chargers became the first Huntsville team to win the International Silver Stick tournament held annually in Ontario. The Chargers qualified by winning the regional tournament in Huntsville.
"At the beginning of the year, we knew we had a good team. And our goal at the beginning of the year was a season of firsts," coach Kevin Caputo said.
Now that they've captured the International Silver Stick, the Chargers' remaining goals include winning the district March 8-11 in Florida and becoming the first Huntsville team to advance to the USA Hockey National Championships March 28-April 1 in Fraser, Mich.
