Established March 31, 2000   167,265 Previous Hits             Monday - April 26, 2010

Editor:Tommy Towery                                                     http://www.leestraveller.com
Class of 1964                           Page Hits This Issue     e-mail ttowery@memphis.edu
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
Hits this issue!
London, England -If things have gone according to schedule, I am now in Jolly Ole' England. I probably weigh ten pounds more than I did when I started the cruise, as anyone who has every cruised understands.

We plan to stay here a week then wing our way back home.

Please include your class year with your e-mails.
T. Tommy
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2010 Reunion Info
August 20th - 21st
Huntsville Marriott
5 Tranquility Base
Huntsville, Alabama 35805
Phone:  1-256-830-2222

The reunion class contacts are:

Class of ’64 – Linda Taylor
lktaylor731@aol.com

Class of ’65 – Sarajane Steigerwald Tarter
1965lhs2010@gmail.com

Class of ’66 – Judy Fedrowisch Kincaid
jfk19662010@hotmail.com

Please send an email to your contact and include: Class year, first name; last name at time of graduation; married name (if applicable); spouse’s name (if applicable); street address; city; state; zip code; home ( H ) or cell ( C ) phone number (which ever you prefer); e-mail address; and occupation.

Even if you do not plan to attend or are not sure if you’ll be able to attend the upcoming reunion, please send in your information.  And please encourage other classmates that you may be in contact with to do the same.   

And check the Traveller each week for planning updates.
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The story below was submitted by Joan McCutcheon Baber
Class of '64

I thought you might be interested in this history of Rison.  My Folks owned the extinction of the "Red School House"  (the first Rison) on the corner of Lee High Drive and Withers.  I inherited it but ending up selling it a few years back.  It is still there.

This may to much to put in your Newsletter but it comes from one many of us new and loved Mr. Fain.  It was of great interest to me.  I was one of those outside the mile city limit and went to Rison.  Got out for "Cottun Pickin", my first grade year.

A History of Bradley, Rison, and
Lee High Schools
By: Cecil V. Fain
January 26, 1977

September of 1919 I became principal of Joseph Bradley Elementary School, formerly known as the Merrimack School. This school was in a new building named after Joseph J. Bradley, Sr., who was head of the Merrimack Mills. The building was owned by the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, now called the Huntsville Manufacturing Company. However, the school was operated by the Madison County Board of Education. The city limits at that time extended one mile each direction from the courthouse.

Children in four so-called Mill Schools (Merrimack, West Huntsville, Dallas, and Lincoln Villages) were not allowed to attend junior and senior high schools in the city without non-resident fees which people of these villages could not afford. So, when a child finished the fifth or sixth grade he went to work in a cotton mill long hours because Child-Labor laws were almost non-existent at that time.

A paradoxical situation. Four elementary schools in industrial communities, just outside the city limits, with no future educational opportunities for their children.

First I had to sell the students, next the parents, and finally get the approval of the owners of the Mill to begin adding a grade each year. Joe Bradley became a junior and later a senior high school. I allowed students from nearby West Huntsville area to attend these grades without charge. About 1921 the Dallas Manufacturing Company followed suit and erected the Rison School. Shortly afterward, the Lincoln and West Huntsville Mills did the same, resulting in four high schools just outside the city limits of Huntsville, but still counted in U.S. Census as rural high schools.

During the four years I served as principal of Joe Bradley we organized athletic teams. The Merrimack Company provided and equipped a building for industrial arts and home economics. The company provided land for growing vegetables and flowers. The work being done by students who could take home what they grew. Boy Scouts and Girl Scout Troops were organized. Extra teachers were added to the faculty paid by the company. Another first was organization of Madison County American Legion Post. Mr. E.R. DuBose, who was on my faculty, was appointed to succeed me following my resignation, although I stayed during the summer to direct a summer program. Mr. DuBose can take up the story from here. Joe Bradley became one of the finest high schools in the nation.

Just as the Joe Bradley building was built by the Merrimack Manufacturing Company and later donated to the county board of education, the Rison building was built in 1921 by the Dallas Manufacturing Company and later sold to the county board of education for (I believe) the nominal sum of $10,000 – a gift.

It was several years before Lincoln had a senior high. So, we allowed their senior high students to attend Rison without charge. At a later date, I believe the Lincoln Mills also donated their building. Then came West Huntsville High School.

Among the many “firsts” at Rison were:

1. The first school safety patrol. I joined the Kiwanis Club in 1932 and recommended this project for all of Huntsville and suburban schools. The club has continued this sponsorship with the cooperation of the Police Department.

2. The first public school in the area to have a course in Bible Study. The course was taught by the ministers of the three local churches: Church of Christ, Baptist, and Methodist.

3. The first public school (in the state, so far as I know) to have a course in Speech and Drama, even before it was listed in the approved courses by the State department of Education.

4. A pioneer in arranging classes for Rison boys in service during World War II through correspondence courses and the cooperation of J.O. (“Pick”) Johnson, their commander at the encampment. These boys were allowed to return to Huntsville, in uniform, to receive their diplomas.

5. Occasionally, when a sick student was out for a long period, classes were conducted by phone, visitation, and correspondence.

A relatively small high school at Rison, yet, we managed to include foreign languages, arts, physical education, home economics, industrial arts, and other courses.

Realizing the need for a new consolidated suburban high school, the four “mill village” principals met, agreeing that the new school would be located at a point nearest the center of student population. This happened to be in the West Huntsville district where Homer Crim was principal. The other three principals involved were Elmor Brown of Lincoln, E.F. DuBose of Huntsville Park, and myself. With the support of superintendent Edward Anderson and his assistant, W.E. Popejoy, the Butler High School was born. At this juncture, Homer Crim, Wayland Cooley, and Ed Seals can take up the story.

With the advent of the boom growth it became inevitable for the four mill districts to become incorporated into the city limits. At Rison, our PTA mulled the pros and cons, and, on my advice, voted to come in, hereby becoming the first to receive a fire station and other conveniences. I believe that the other three villages were incorporated by the state legislature.

We made the move from Rison to Lee at the beginning of a second semester. Since I was in my last decade of teaching, I agreed to organize Lee until a successor could be selected. While at Lee, I still retained supervision at Rison Elementary. I took $1,500.00 in money and hundreds of dollars worth of library books (from funds raised at Rison) to the new Lee High School. My first assistant principal was Earl Daniel (new with the state department of education). Next came Mr. Clarence Jones (now principal at Colonial Hills), and finally, Fulton Hamilton. We started out with junior high grades at Lee, and in time began adding a grade a year. Fulton Hamilton can take up the story.

My final years as a pioneer were happily spent in organizing the Whitesburg Junior High School where I also assisted in getting the new Mountain Gap School in operation. I am especially proud of being the first to suggest to our fine people in southeast Huntsville that we should get busy on getting a new senior high. They appointed a committee immediately. Grissom High School resulted.

Then came Johnson High School where the new entrance drive was named “Cecil Fain Drive” by the city board of education and the city council.

I don’t want to overlook my fine relationship with Huntsville High School where many of my junior high graduates from Rison and Whitesburg attended.

Fifty-one years of service to education in Madison County and Huntsville – perhaps the longest period credited to any other educator. The last ten years as educational consultant in the business college field, still serving our youth as a resource counselor. Total of 62 years!! My wife, Louise, taught 39 years in Madison County and Huntsville. A grand total of 101 years!

For me they have been filled with over-flowing happiness, multiplied thousands of friends, superintendents, boards of education, trustees, parents, teachers, and students. I must not forget the thousands of friends who supported me even though they had no children in schools.

Still enthusiastic; spoke to over 60,000 high school students last school year in North Alabama and South Tennessee as a resource counselor. Worked 18 hours one day recently.

About 62 years ago a lad in his teens began his educational career. To the wonderful people of Madison County and Huntsville - a salute. To the 100th birthday celebration of the Huntsville Centennial a “thank-you” for including me.

I could write books about my experiences. So, use whatever part of the “epistle” that may help a little. Finally, my office door at Alverson-Draughon College is always open to have you come by to see me.

Sincerely,
Cecil V. Fain
Educational Consultant





















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No Mystery Photos or From Our Mailbox features this week since I have not been able to access the internet.

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Crashing the Junior Prom
Of the Class of '65
by Tommy Towery
Class of '64

Friday, May 1, 1964
122nd Day   244 days to follow
Clear

We went to the library then down Bradley's.  No one was there so we did not stay.  Went over to Brenda's a few minutes then went riding by the school where they were having the Junior Prom with "The Continentals" playing.  I went home and put my suit on and got my camera bag and went back to the school.  Got in without any trouble   if any questions had been asked, I was taking pictures for the school paper.  Only thing wrong was my camera didn't work   and stayed for about thirty minutes.

I've always believed that in America anyone could go  anywhere and do anything they wished if they wore a white jump suit and acted as if they knew what they were doing.  I believe I developed that idea as a seventeen year old partially because of what happened to me on this night in 1964.  I had spent the whole afternoon reading about my new hero, James "007" Bond.  I was impressed and curious about how Bond seemed to be master of whatever he tried, and how he could bluff himself into anywhere at anytime.  I questioned whether such a task was truly possible, or was it just a writer's fantasy.

Probing such questions, the trip I made with Paul to the school that night presented me with the opportunity to play "spy" for myself.  I thought I would see if I could get into a school function without the proper credentials.  The junior class was having its prom at the school that evening.  Paul and I started talking about it and the question came up whether or not I could get inside without an invitation.  With the adventures of James Bond fresh in my mind and egged on by Paul's disbelief, I decided to try it.

I needed a very clever plan that would work for 007.  Since the junior prom was not a true formal, all I needed to wear was my Sunday suit which was hanging in my closet.  I needed the suit and one other piece of "spy" equipment.  I needed my camera outfit that was lying in the floor of the same closet.

As far as cameras went, the one I owned was nothing special.  A true double oh anybody would never be caught dead carrying it.  For a small town Alabama "Friday night spy" it did not have to be an expensive camera.  Mine was an old Ansco camera that used 620 film and had a flash attachment that took the big flash bulbs.

Nevertheless, the camera looked more expensive than it really was.  What made it look so neat was that it came in a big simulated leather camera bag.  The kit was a Christmas gift many years before shared by Don and me.  On that evening, it didn't even have film.  I knew that.  Nor did the flash work.  I knew that too.  But, it looked impressive and official, and it was part of the disguise I needed to get into the dance.  It was a simulated leather bag for a simulated prom guest.

I dressed for the part and on the way back to the school I dreamed up my big cover speech about why I was at the junior prom without an invitation.  It was the typical speech that anyone would use when they knew that they were about to be caught in a lie.  I practiced it several times over and over and had it all ready by the time I walked up to the door of the school.  A few yards away from the door, I stopped, threw my shoulders back, and put on my best James Bond impression and the air of authority that I knew I needed to get any farther.

The speech was right on the tip of my tongue, ready to spill out to whoever said the first word to me, no matter what that word was.  To my surprise, there was no reason to use it.  I got to the door at the dance and just walked in.  No one questioned me.  No one seemed to care that I was there.  It was one of those situations where I looked so a part of my act and so confident in my lines that I didn't have to use them.  I walked right in and joined in the festivities of the swinging junior prom.

The junior class took more control over what they wanted out of their prom than the seniors had done.  They hired the best band in the city to play.  They hired the "Continentals" who had won the big battle of the bands, and the music they were playing was the type of music that the kids wanted to dance to.  It was almost a shame for the junior prom to be going so much better than the senior prom had gone.  The senior prom committee had tried so hard to make it a formal, high society type dance and did not want a rock and roll band.  The juniors didn't care and were rocking and rolling.  The lunchroom didn't seem the same as it had a week earlier.  The guests were having a great time, and so was I.  I quickly discarded the unusable camera and hit the dance floor with all my junior class dance partners who were not at the dances downtown.  I stayed for a complete set of music before I decided to leave.

Having proven my point and not wanting to have to explain why I had been at the prom so long and hadn't taken a single picture, I decided it was time to exit   stage left.  To my surprise, it was harder to get out of the dance than it was to get in.  Everyone wanted to know where I was going and why was I leaving, and why didn't I stay longer.  That caught me off guard and almost blew my cover.  I had never prepared a speech for why I had to leave.  I never expected to need one on that side of the door.  But, I had come too far to get caught, and "silver tongued" my way past the border guards to make my escape.  I was proud of having satisfied my own curiosity about whether or not I could get away with crashing the party.  Quite simply I could and I did.  James would have been proud of me and couldn't have pulled it off any better himself.  I passed my first test as an agent.
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