Lee High School - Huntsville Alabama Alumni

Subject:Death of Noel Tittsworth

Janice Tittsworth Barnett

Class of '65

Tommy,

Thank you for printing the news of my father's death in last week's alumni edition. Dad was a part of the "Greatest Generation," a true patriot and proud of his service to his country. His military funeral was the most moving, most meaningful service I've ever attended - a fitting tribute to his Navy Career.

He brought our family from San Diego, California to Huntsville in late 1959 when his duty assignment became Navy recruiter for this area. Talk about culture shock! We three children had never seen snow; we didn't even own a winter coat. Housing was difficult in those days, and we moved several times before buying a house near Lee Junior High. This was my fourth school to attend as a seventh grader. Luckily we were able to stay, and all three children graduated from lee: me in '65, Ann in '68, and Barry in '72. Except for college years, we have all remained in Huntsville.

I have spent another 22 years at Lee as librarian, just retiring this past summer. So - six years as a Lee student and 228 years as a Lee teacher - could anyone doubt my loyalty to Lee?

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Subject:Monopoly

Aaron Potts

First class of Lee

Hey Tommy. I can remember the Monopoly game and at one time we had a game that lasted a full week. We would play in the summertime and everyone agreed to not bother the board or the money and any of the real estate. About after five days it got kinda boring and we just stopped playing and just counted the money and sold the real estate back to the bank and the one with the most money won the game. My game piece was always the little car and I didn't win by any means.

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Subject:Board Games

arni CLINTON anderson

'58--'62

Oh those confonded board games.

It seem like we spent as much time looking for some of the lost pieces as we did playing the actual games. My best memory of the Monopoly game was the week-long game played on our front pourch one summer. it started early in the morning and we played till we got tired of it and then would go do something else for a while and back to it. At the end of the day we covered it with box so nothing would get moved around, and pushed it back to the wall out of the way till the next day. We even brought in money from other games to keep it going. I don't remember all that played but the Moss boys, Tony Thompson, Lyon boys and Drakes I'm sure were involved. I always had to have the little SHOE to play with.

(Editor's Note: Is there a chance both of you are talking about the same game?)

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Subject:Huntsville High School Class of '64

Suzanne Pettus Thomason

Huntsville High School, Class of '64

Tommy,

I have enjoyed reading your weekly newsletter for several months, and I appreciate your asking your readers to help me find our 1964 Huntsville High classmates. As you know, we weren't able to have a reunion this year, but hope to have a "Dyslexic Reunion" (46-64) next year. I would like to ask you, once again, to ask your readers for help with our HHS '64 graduate information. I need addresses--both snail mail and email--for anyone in our class. If you, or your readers, know how to reach any of our classmates, please ask them to email me at suzyt68@aol.com .

Thanks for your help. Keep up the good work!

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arni CLINTON anderson, '58 - '62 - I believe the name of this weeks game is "Cootie" or something like that.

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Suzanne Pettus Thomason, Huntsville High School Class of '64 - I just played this a week ago with my three year old granddaughter.

The Cootie Game --

Directions:Players race to construct a plastic bug, rolling a die to see which piece they get to add.

The Hennepin History Museum states that the first Cootie game was designed by William H. Schaper in 1949. However, Schaper's game was not the first based upon the insect known as the "cootie". The creature was the subject of several tabletop games, mostly pencil and paper games, in the decades of the twentieth century following World War I.

In 1927, the J. H. Warder Company of Chicago released Tu-Tee, and the Charles Bowlby Company released Cootie; though based on a "build a bug" concept similar to Schaper's, both were paper and pencil games.

Schaper's game was the first to employ a fully three dimensional, free-standing plastic cootie.

Known in Australia as Creepy Critters and in the UK as Beetle Drive.

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Mary Pat Riley, Class of '70 - This is an vintage "Cootie" game! Each person had to roll the correct number on the dice in order to collect a body part for his Cootie bug. The winner was whomever built a complete cootie bug first.

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Charle Hancock, Class of '66 - I knew in 30 seconds the mystery photo was the parts used in the Cootie game. It's been a while since we played it. Not much has changed. Maybe the colors of some of the pieces. And I'm sure it's still fun.

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Winona Brown Turner, Class of '65 - The game that you had in the newsletter last week was called "Cooties" I can't remember the rules or how it is played, but when I saw it, something in this peabrain screamed "Cooties" of course with being on oxygen 24/7 my memory is not that great. Hope I'm right.

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Escoe German Beatty, Class of '65 - Just so you will get at least one e-mail this week...It's "COOTIE" a great little fun game. Roll the dice and pick a part, put your bug together and win!! To bad that getting spare parts for us isn't that easy!!

(Editor's Note: Maybe someone should come up with a game called "Old Coot" where you roll the dice to get things like false teeth, hip replacements, arch supports, and eye glasses for us retired folks.)

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An "Oldies" Memory

by Tommy Towery

Class of '64

Sometimes I have writer's block and just have a problem coming up with something to share with all you Classmates week after week. Often my solution for this ailment is to search on eBay for vintage items or to listen to an Oldie Goldie station and wait for an idea to pop into my head. This week I decided that I would do that and just pick the first song played (no matter what it was) and recall my memories of it to share. So that is what I have done.

I used an internet radio station that plays oldies on www.live365.com for my inspiration.

The first song that came on was “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes” by Bobby Vee and released in 1963. Now don't get this confused with that sci-fi classic "The Beast With a Thousand Eyes" - that's a whole different memory of Saturdays at the Lyric.

The song goes:

They say that you're a runaround lover

Though you say it isn't so

But if you put me down for another

I'll know, believe me, I'll know

'cause the night has a thousand eyes

And a thousand eyes can't help but see if you are true to me

So remember when you tell those little white lies

That the night has a thousand eyes

You say that you're at home when you phone me

And how much you really care

Though you keep telling me that you're lonely

I'll know if someone is there

Boy, do I remember this song. It was not because I used to dance to it at Bradley’s or some party where we played 45’s on a record player. I do think they would play it at Carter’s Skateland though. It would have been a good song to “two-step” to on four wheels. It has that beat. I’d give it a 9 if I had been on “American Bandstand.”

My memories of this song are sad ones. It was released and became a hit during a period of my life when I could really identify with the subject matter. I guess many of us were unsure of ourselves and our steadies during our early dating. That was me to a T. I had no self-esteem and when I would start to build some, something would happen and deflate it. I seemed to be madly in love with a girl that seemed to love me as well, but for some odd reason could not be totally dedicated to me the way I was to her. No matter how much she told me there was no other, there always was one it seemed. We’d break up and then get back together and she’d find someone else – back and fourth for years until there was no trust left.

I know I was not the only one who felt this pain, but when you are young and in love, you feel like you are.

All the teenage years were not happy ones and all the old memories are not good, but somehow we learned to survive and grow up I guess.

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Perks of Being

Over 60 and Heading Towards 70!

(Continued from last week!)

12. You quit trying to hold your stomach in no matter who walks into the room.

13. You sing along with elevator music.

14. Your eyes won ' t get much worse.

15 . Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.

16. Your joints are more accurate meteorologists than the National Weather Service.

17. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can ' t remember Them either.

18. Your supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size.

19. You can ' t remember if you've already seen this list.

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