And It Keeps on Coming

I know you're getting tired of hearing about all the snow we're getting up here in Virginia. I know that Linda and I are tired of it!

 We're expecting another foot of it.....on top of the 2 feet we already have...and they're predicting a lot of wind and ice along with it.  I expect to say "goodbye" to our electricity any moment now.  But, so far, so good.

Don Nance sent us a couple of beautiful photographs taken outside of his house in Wythville, VA...around Christmas time.

 If any of you have pictures.....or stories...you'd like to share, please send them along.
I've got a lot of time on my hands right now.

-Ed

Proof That Evolution Sometimes Works In Reverse

Fifteen months ago RFK Jr. proclaimed that "... global warming means no snow or cold in Washington," DC. He went on to add:

"...meanwhile, Exxon Mobil and its carbon cronies continue to pour money into think tanks whose purpose is to deceive the American public into believing that global warming is a fantasy."






So now I know who's responsible for this:  Exxon Mobile!

 

Just wait until I get my hands on that evil "TONY THE TIGER!"

When I get out of here.

In about a week.

-Ed

Snowmageddon

That's what they're calling it up here in the Washington/Northern Virginia area  This is what it looks like out my front window at this time (12:20 pm notice mailboxes). They say we're about half way through this storm.

This is what my car looked like early this morning...right outside my carport.  I would show you what the roof of my house looks like....but I can't get out my front door.

This is a shot of the tree that fell this morning between my house and the house next door. If you don't hear from me for awhile......you'll know that the snow finally covered us up completely. So far I'm hearing that over 90 thousand Virginia residents are now without power.....hope mine stays on for a little while longer.

-Ed

But Al Gore said..........

....oh, nevermind.

Everybody up here in the Washington/Northern Virginia area is hunkering down in anticipation of our second 2 foot snowfall of the year.  From what I read on the internet, Charlotte is going to be a bit more fortunate since the forecast (at this time) calls for mostly rain.  However, a lot of it is going to be freezing rain...and that's the kind that pulls down power lines etc.

The Loss of power is a possibility for both our areas.

I sure hope that doesn't happen to any of us, especially on this SuperBowl weekend.

Nevertheless, the silver lining is that Congress won't be able to meet for at least a couple of days which means our wallets will get a brief rest.

The other positive note is that the birds have started telling us that SPRING is on the way!  (Listen closely and you can hear them. The reason for this is that around the first of February, our feathered friends begin to notice that daylight is beginning to lengthen.....and it will soon be time for the spring prom!)

And, there's always the possibility that this predicted storm won't amount to a hill of beans.

Anyway, it's just a storm....not armageddon!

BUT, not getting to see the SuperBowl would be serious.  

-Ed

LDL Enters its Second Year

The "Let's do Lunch" initiative entered its second year on January 12th. The brainchild of Shirley
Maynor, the LDL events have proven to be a highly anticipated feature among the 54 Wildcats.

A couple of "first time" visitors at January's bash at Jimmies of Mint Hill were: Mamie Goodwin Baucom and husband Mack and John Merritt.

The NEXT LDL fest will be held on February 9th at Jimmies beginning at 11:30am!

Bring a friend!!

Mary Kratt's Mom Passes

 Our deepest sympathy to Mary Ran Norton Kratt on the passing of her mother.



Martha Hood Norton 

Mrs. Norton, 100, a resident of Plantation Estates in Matthews, died in her sleep January 30, 2010. Born in Prosperity, TN on July 31, 1909, she was a unique and spritely soul, the youngest of eight children and the only girl. She grew up in North Carolina's Mecklenburg and Gaston counties where her father, Rev. James Boyce Hood, held his final pastorates in Associated Reformed Presbyterian churches at Back Creek and then at Pisgah near Crowder's Mountain.

Her mother was Eva Lee Hickman Hood, a native of Rockbridge County VA. A graduate of UNC-Greensboro, Martha taught English and Latin in high schools in Mt. Ulla, Mooresville, and Mt. Holly, NC and in Beckley, WVA.

At Duke University graduate school in 1932, she met fellow student Randolph Norton of Deltaville, VA, whom she wed in 1934. They were married 66 years.
Martha was an exceptional teacher, lively storyteller, Girl Scout leader, fisherman, swimmer, homemaker, rock collector, longtime member of Sardis Presbyterian Church and the American Association of University Women, and a much loved parent and grandmother. She was a descendant of early Mecklenburg settler Tunis Hood, who arrived in Mecklenburg County in 1775 with his wife Elizabeth and farmed in the Mint Hill area near Hood's Crossroads.

Martha was predeceased by her son, James Randolph Norton and her husband William Randolph Norton, and survived by daughter, Mary Norton Kratt and husband Emil F. (Jim) Kratt; grandchildren, Emil William (Bill) Kratt and wife Cathy of Raleigh, NC, Laura Kratt of Troy, NY, Hunter Kratt Skinder and husband Mark of Greenfield, MA; and great-grandchildren, Eli Jacob Kratt, Ethan Randolph Kratt, and Eva Cedar Skinder.

A proud, generous, and high-spirited woman with many gifts, Martha's delightful letters, meandering tales, witty sayings, and admonitions to her family and kin will long be remembered. At the age of 97, although blind and confined to a wheelchair, she demonstrated to her spellbound great-grandsons how to swim the sidestroke.

A graveside memorial service will be held at Sardis Presbyterian Church at 10 a.m. on Monday, February 15.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to Crisis Assistance Ministry, 500A Spratt St, Charlotte NC 28206 or to the North Caroliniana Society, Wilson Library, UNC Campus Box 3930, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.

Heritage Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.


Published in Charlotte Observer on February 3, 2010

6 More Inches of Global Warming

,,,and a "BIG ONE" predicted for the weekend.
 

Where was all this snow....when we really needed it?

Just think of all the "days off" from school we could have enjoyed if only the snow had showed up 60 or so years ago!  But Noooo!

I believe we can count on one hand the number of days school was closed back then because of snow. I don't even recall anything about it ever being closed because of "teacher meetings, etc"...like they do today.

The only times I ever remember getting an "unscheduled holiday" was when I was able to convince my Mom that I was really, really, sick! (and wouldn't be well enough to go outside and play til at least noon.)

That tactic worked pretty good until late one afternoon my 5th grade teacher, Miss Willis, happened to drive by the house and saw me playing in my front yard.

I could never look her in the eye after that.

From what I hear on the news, Charlotte has had a tough winter too. If anyone has any pictures I'd love to see them.

-Ed

Worldwide News

By Warren Sparrow

Your international correspondent did make it to Manhattan, KS, for the December 2009 graduation of our granddaughter Lydia Peele from Kansas State U. A good time was had by all. Graduation was held in what ESPN is now calling the Octagon of Doom. We were proud of Lydia who was a speaker at the graduation. If you have not seen your grandchild on a jumbotron, you have not lived.





The first attachment is a photo of Lydia (whom we call Little Lydia) and her grandfather and grandmother (Big Lydia)in the concourse of the Octagon of Doom shortly after graduation.






The second photo is our gang at the entrance to KSU.

Finally, we have a Kansas windmill. This is an appropriate photo. Windmills are associated with the Dutch. Little Lydia's great, great grandfather is Willem de Sitter, a Dutch astronomer. He toured the US with Einstein, taught Old Albert the universe was expanding. Look it up. You might be surprised.



Wow!  I did look it up...and I'm impressed. Willem de Sitter came from a long line of Sitters going all the way back to the invention of the wooden shoe.  
Smart alec remarks aside, Willem was a remarkable man:   -Ed

Willem de Sitter (6 May 1872 – 20 November 1934) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist and astronomer.
Born in Sneek, De Sitter studied mathematics at the University of Groningen and then joined the Groningen astronomical laboratory. He worked at the Cape Observatory in South Africa (1897-1899). Then, in 1908, de Sitter was appointed to the chair of astronomy at Leiden University. He was director of the Leiden Observatory from 1919 until his death.
De Sitter made major contributions to the field of physical cosmology. He co-authored a paper with Albert Einstein in 1932 in which they argued that there might be large amounts of matter which do not emit light, now commonly referred to as dark matter. He also came up with the concept of the de Sitter space and de Sitter universe, a solution for Einstein's general relativity in which there is no matter and a positive cosmological constant. This results in an exponentially expanding, empty universe. De Sitter was also famous for his research on the planet Jupiter.

Prayer Request

Gene and Jackie (Hart) Lookabill's daughter, LaGena has asked that we all say a prayer for her Mom, who continues to undergo treatment for internal problems. I'm sure you all got her heartfelt email.

Her obvious love and concern for her Mom would make any parent proud!

-Ed

Class of One Thousand Nine Hundred Fifty Four

It appears that not much has been happening with the CHS54 folks so far in this new year. At least it's been awfully quiet here in the action central newsroom.

One positive note: I've finally starting writing the correct year on my checks. But I'm still not sure if we're supposed to pronounce the year......"TWENTY TEN"   or "TWO THOUSAND TEN."




My guess is that we should call it TWENTY TEN, since we never called the nineteen hundreds the ONE THOUSAND NINE HUNDREDS.

And remember, we're still looking for "stories" from you....if you have any you'd like to share.
Just email them to me.

-Ed

Tips for Guest Bloggers

I hope some of you are considering being a "Guest Blogger" on our CHS54 site. I think you'll enjoy sharing a "story" or two....and I know all of us will enjoy reading them.  We're not looking for a new "Gone With The Wind" epic......just the kind of story you pass on to your children and grandchildren, OR the kind that your spouse doesn't want you to pass on to tender young minds, but that we, your fellow seniors, would enjoy. (Such as my "Clorox is not for report cards" story.)

Our professional storyteller, Ellouise, has checked in with some good advice:


"Ed, asking for stories is a great idea. I cannot wait to hear them. Saying those sweet things about me - makes me feel good - but guys - this is my job - I work at it all the time - and I have heard plenty of stories from lots of you that I envied and wished I had told or could tell. Lets have a go at it.


The trick in writing a story is to throw out some prompts - start the thinking going - you know just like sitting around laughing together - How about your first day at Central. I don't remember a darn thing about that except that I was petrified. I was in Miss Clegg's home room, was anybody else in there? I remember her because she had taught my mother.


Ellouise"

(That reminds me of my first day at Elizabeth School. My Mom walked with me up those stairs on the side that leads to the auditorium......and the first thing I saw upon entering..... was that classic "Discus Thrower" statue....decorating the lobby. Now it seems to me that a sure fire way to scare the Hell out of a first grader......is to make the first thing he sees when he walks into this new adventure called school....a statue of a naked man about to throw a plate of some kind.

I never liked school after that.  -Ed)

Guest Bloggers

I got the idea from watching Ellouise tell some of her great stories on her website.

As that old TV series NAKED CITY(1858-63) said a long time ago, "There are a million stories....in the naked city."

All of us have stories. Maybe not as good, or funny or whatever as Ellouise tells, but we all have stories.

So I think a great way to celebrate 2010 is to share some of our stories with what's left of the CHS Class of 1954 and at the same time post them on this electronic miracle called the internet for all to read...who knows for how long.

We're not expecting anything too deep. Just stories that you pass along to your children and grandchildren....or maybe ones that you might NOT want to pass along to young minds, like the time I tried to erase a bad grade written in INK on my report card by bleaching it out  with a drop of Clorox.........and burned a hole in card. Stuff like that.

Anything goes. (Although the editorial staff and official censors maintain the right to edit the stories.)

I'll create a special section...for these stories........and there will be a "link" to them....as they come it.

I hope yaw'll like the idea as much as I do!


Email your story to me   

Pictures are welcome too....

Thanks,

-Ed

A Story a Week

Our premier storyteller, Ellouise (Diggle) Schoettler is starting off the new year with..........what else....STORIES!

These are not all NEW ones, but if you haven't seen Ellouise tell them before, you're in for a real treat.

"...Happy New Year everybody!  For three years my stories - folktales and personal stories - have been taped for a weekly local access television show. After they are aired they gather dust on the shelf. Now what good is that?


Stories are meant to be shared. So - -


Starting January 1, 2010 a new video story will be posted on my blog every week.


On Friday I will post a new video. Each story will be alive for two weeks and then will be turned off and replaced.


Right now Handmade, a story that celebrates "can do" women will be available until January 15 HERE.


Air Vigilante was posted today HERE
and will be available until 01/21/10.


You're invited to stop by and I hope you'll enjoy the stories and come back often.


Best wishes,


Ellouise"

Up Date

Bob Ellis sends us a great big "Thanks" for all the prayers on behalf of his grandaughter Courtney.
The doctor's report said the the intense pain in her leg was NOT the big C.......but a rare condition called Meralgia Paresthetica.

According to the doctor, bottom line is....it's very painful (Courtney already knew that) BUT treatable!

Whew, that's a relief!

-Ed

Up Date

We got a note from our friend Bobby Greg's wife Elaine:


"... The Alzheimer's is rapidly taking its toll on Bob. He no longer speaks. But, he smiles a lot and can still walk (though very, very slowly). He seems happy and the ladies sure do love him. He no longer remembers my name, but seems to remember I'm someone in his life -- he still likes to kiss me, which is nice.


This is a terrible disease. But, the blessing is that he doesn't know it and his health is relatively good under the circumstances. He is in a good place and they take very good care of him. He's always clean and shaven each day. I do miss our life and will probably think about selling our house this year. It's way too much for me to take care of and it's time to start thinking of a life outside of Edgewater (MD, their home). I continue to commute to my D.C. office which is at least an hour or better each way.


Keep in touch and I'll keep you posted as well...Elaine."

Another Award for Our President

...no, not Barack;

but Obie Oakley, the president of our reunion committee.

He's undoubtedly CHS54's most decorated "mover and shaker."

This time, the award was the SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION'S Silver Citizenship Medal which was "in recognition of notable services in behalf of our American principles."

This picture was taken at a Sons of the American Revolution awards banquet in November. The lovely young lady at Obie's side is his daughter Wendy.

Obie's wife Frances was overheard telling friends that if her husband doesn't stop getting all these awards they will have to build an extra room onto the house to store them all.


-Ed

Teriffic Christmas Present

...for Betty Rose and Lou Palomba!


"....I am so glad to be writing this email today to let you know that Lou came home yesterday from Duke University Hospital.  The best part was that he was declared "cancer free"!.  Wasn't this a wonderful Christmas present for us?   It will be a lengthy recuperation with several restrictions imposed by his doctor.  Among those are no driving, dietary issues, and to stay away from crowds and malls for fear of contracting anything during this cold and flu season. Believe me, we have felt, throughout this process being surrounded by all the love, caring, healing thoughts and prayers that you have sent to us. It was a tremendous support system and we appreciate and say thank you to all of you for your help.


It was difficult for me to communicate with you via email while at Duke because the computers at the Duke Library in the hospital were not convenient  for me.  However, now that we are home both Lou and I are checking our emails.


Once again, thank you, thank you for your support and above all thank you for your friendship with us!  Happy Holidays each and everyone of you."


Much love, Betty

Jerry's UpDates

How fortunate we are to have Jerry Gaudet, our official Keeper of Records!!

His email "blasts" keep us informed about the going-ons of our classmates. His latest was a reminder to include Jackie Hart Lookabill and Betty Rose (Templeton) Palomba and husband Lou in our prayers.

LaGena, Jackie and Gene's daughter, informs us that Jackie will undergo a medical procedure on Tuesday December 29th.

Betty Rose reports that husband Lou is improving, but not out of the woods yet. However, he's receiving the best medical care possible at the Duke Medical Center....and the added benefit of the greatest nurse he could possibly have...........his wife, Betty Rose.

And speaking of top notch medical care, Bob Ellis reports that his brave grandaughter, Courtney, in Tennesee, has an appointment with one of the finest physicians at the Vanderbilt Medical Center on Tuesday the 5th of January and hopefully will discover the cause of the awful pain in her leg.

Keep these folks in your thoughts and prayers during our 73rd Christmas.

And a little prayer for the rest of us wouldn't be a bad idea either.

-Ed

Prayer Request

Bob Ellis has requested that we send up prayers for his oldest granddaughter who lives in Tennessee.

 "...her problem started several months ago when she noticed a small dimple on the side of her leg.Later a small bump appeared just above the dimple. Later she started experiencing pain. The pain reached the point that she went to the family doctor, who in turn sent her to an orthopedic doctor who scheduled an M.R.I..  After the holidays,she will see a cancer specialist..Our family believes very much in prayer and hopefully some of our classmates also do"

Many, Many THANKS

Bob

A Christmas Card From Shirley

"Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the Class of CHS'54!
It has been rather busy for me going back and forth daily for radation
these past 2 wks and then loosing the energy. But things moving
along just fine.

I want to thank each and everyone for the lovely, gorgeous and
so much appreciated Lap Shawl (presented at LDL). Who ever did it, thank you so
much! You all have been so wonderful and thoughtful with cards,
calls and goodies this year during my medical time. I will love all
of you for it always and just because you are so special in my
life.

May God be good and caring to all of you during this blessed
time of the year."

Shirley Maynor
smaynor@yahoo.com

(Scroll down and view the LDL Christmas Luncheon Video to see Santa's helper give Shirley her gift.)

Merry Christmas!

If this website had an "Official Christmas Tree," like Washington does, I would want it to look like this one.

This one is in Don and Lettie Nance's yard in Whytheville, VA. also known as "The Crossroads of the Blue Ridge." (The town, not their yard.)

The storm dropped 13 inches of snow at his house before moving on up to Washington, DC where it dumped 2 feet of the stuff Bing Crosby sang about.

Here in Falls Church, VA......folks are still pretty much hunkered down. the road crews did a good job this time so getting to the grocery store etc.....is possible, but not recommended. I've heard some folks referring to this local record breaking snowstorm  as the "SNOWPOCALYPSE."

That's cute, but I don't believe that nickname will stick around as long as the snow does. We'll have our White Christmas this year, but by New Year's day, it will be gray.

By spring, black.

-Ed 

BLIZZARD at CHS54 Headquarters

So far the Washington/Northern Virginia area of the country (which includes the CHS54 Corporate Headquarters/also known as "Ed's Basement.) is currently covered with 10 inches of global warming. 10 more are expected....along with wind gusts of 40 mph for the rest of the day.

The reason I mention this, in addition to hopefully getting your sympathy, is to let you know that if this dynamic website seems to be "off the air" for the next few days, you'll know why. The power lines up here weren't designed to carry such a heavy load of wet snow/ice etc. Shoot.....it's not unusual for this neighborhood to lose power because of "excessive cloudiness."

-Ed

Watch the VIDEO of LDL 15

Our editorial staff of video editors here in CHS54 TOWERS has finally completed the finishing touches on Jerry Gaudet's latest production in the award winning series of LDL spectaculars.

This one is titled "LDL 15"......the true story of what happens when an elite group of Charlotte Central High School graduates get together for lunch......55 years later.

Don't miss it!

CHS54 Backup Site

Folks, I've created an emergency "back up site" for CHS54.COM.....just in case the domain server experiences a technical problem.....as it did about 6 months ago. This site was "off the air" for several weeks waiting for the problem to be solved.

If you are ever unable to get to this site again.......(and these things DO happen)........simply log on to CHS54.NET.................and you can continue reading about the exciting happenings of our fellow classmates.

The only difference is the back up site's address is CHS54.NET instead of CHS54.COM.

It's easy to remember; think of it as a "safety NET."


 You can go there now, if you like, and check it out. It's an exact duplicate of this site......


-Ed

LDL 15

 Our Chief Coresspondant, Jerry Gaudet reports that LDL 15 was a huge success!  He filed this report:


December’s “Let’s Do Lunch”, number 15, came off without a hitch on Tuesday, December 8, at Jimmies Restaurant in Mint Hill.

In addition to our Christmas theme, we helped Beverly (Smith) Garmon celebrate her birthday. That’s a table number marker in the picture, not her age…though we’d all settle for that, wouldn’t we?

Buck Anderson and his wife, Peggy, were down from “God’s country” up in Fletcher, NC, bringing a wonderful gift of homemade bread for everyone. See what you miss when you don’t come. This was the fifth time they’ve made the long drive to be with us, and it’s so appreciated. Of course, they had pictures of their beautiful new grandson.

Martin Hill’s wife, Pat, still mending from her broken hip, was able to come for the lunch. Pat is still in rehab and looking forward to being at home in another week, just in time for Christmas.









The CHS’54 Christmas project again this year was to bring non-perishable foodstuffs for the benefit of Loaves and Fishes. Charles (CharlieClause) Willis did the honors by loading up the trunk of his car to make delivery of our collection.



Merry Christmas, Everyone!   -Jerry

Circling the Earth

Our Chief Foreign Coresspondant, Warren Sparrow will again soon be reporting from another one of the far corners of the earth....this time from Kansas.

Here's Warrens latest:


Ed:


One of your Ace{?)Reporters is on the move. This time it is back to Kansas for the graduation of our granddaughter Lydia from Kansas State University. We will be spending a few days in Manhattan (Little Apple), KS.


I have nothing to report other than we are well, enjoying the CHS website. It is a wonderful thing you do for us. Have a Merry Christmas. I am sure you miss Genial Gene and Atlantic Beer. I shall never forget his "taste of freight" commercials. Despite his warning, I have two kinds of beer in the ice box: Modelo and Heineken. I guess I do like the taste of freight after all.


Indeed, Becky and I are looking forward to our Kansas trip. You see Becky is really "Lydia Rebecca" and our granddaughter is "Lydia." She is the first person in the history of KSU to be elected vice president and the next year president of the student body. As a footnote, be advised that the KSU teams are Wildcats. Is not that a hoot?


Attached is a picture taken last September at "Little" Lydia's home in Olathe, KS. Little Lydia is on the far right. Moving left we have her sister Charlotte who is a high-school student. To the left of Charlotte is "Big" Lydia. To the left of Big Lydia is LL's sister Melanie who is a Kansas State student. On the far left is our daughter Catherine, the mother of these three magnificent girls.

Thank you for your attention. Again, Merry Christmas.


Warren

Mystery Photos

During the annual year end "clean up and organizing" week here at CHS54.com, the staff discovered a couple of old pictures...without labels....or any other way of identifying them. No one remembers receiving them...or who might have sent them in....or why.

But hopefully someone in our vast audience will recognize some of these long ago faces.....and let us know who these folks are/were.

Now, it's hard NOT to recognize the last picture of the young beauty eating a sandwich.....that's got to be Patsy Hartsell....but I have no idea where this was taken nor when.......OR what kind of sandwich she's eating.

I look forward to your guesses.

Send your guesses to: Ed Myers

(Click on the picture to get a closer look.)

Balloon Boy Science

Whew! We can all breathe easier now that “climategate” has revealed that “global warming” was….well, I’ll be nice and not call it a hoax….but it was no more than “hope and change” by governments who hoped to gain even more control of its citizens and/or others who were planning on raking in enough money to change their financial status exponentially.
What a relief not to have to worry anymore about, among other things, being taxed for breathing.
 
The reason I bring this up is that again this Tuesday, the CO2 level will be “out of sight” when our group gets together at Jimmies of Mint Hill for the 15th LDL extravaganza!

And this one is even MORE SPECIAL.  Jerry Gaudet explains why:

CHS'54's "LDL" (Let's do lunch)
Tuesday, December 8, 2009, 11:30 AM
at "Jimmies" in Mint Hill.

Special note: In keeping with a Christmas theme, please bring a food donation that will go to “Loaves and Fishes”. Bring any kind of non-perishable food. And/or bring a check. The need is great; far more severe than even last year.

Attention classmates that are unable to attend the lunch... we ask that you participate with us by sending a check to...

Loaves and Fishes
P.O. Box 11234
Charlotte, NC 28220

For answers to any lunch questions, please contact Shirley Maynor, smaynor@yahoo.com .or Marlene Ritch Beaty, mbeaty@comporium.net , phone 803/547-4866.

-Ed

Another Prayer Request

Jackie Hart Lookabill's Daughter, LaGena Lookabill Greene asks for support for her Dad, Gene.

"Could you let the gang know that Gene Lookabill, husband of Jackie Lookabill had double inguinal hernia surgery on Tuesday and I , as their daughter would appreciate prayers for his full recovery. As you know they do not have a computer, so if anyone feels led to send a card, this is their address.


Thank you,
LaGena Lookabill Greene"

Gene's address is...
Gene Lookabill
3601 Mountainbrook Rd.
Charlotte, NC. 28210

Mitzi Update

Mitzi Minor Roper had quite a fall last month while in New York attending a symposium. She suffered a nasty concussion which is only now beginning to heal. The doctors tell her that it will be at least 6 more weeks for her to get her stamina back.

She's undergoing physical therapy  and is determined to return to normal sooner than that.

But even more worrisome to her during all of this, was the illness of granddaughter Loren Jane Roper, the apple of her eye. Loren was very sick for 3 and a half weeks.






But the sun is shining again for Mitzi and Loren. Both are making great progress!

(Photo of future beauty queen Loren Jane and her Mom.  Click on photo to enlarge)

From Historic Wadesboro...

...comes a sports report from our own Neil Jones:

"It would be unnatural for anyone to note and/or care about the oncoming N.C. Western AAA Football Championship Game between Belmont's South Point's powerhouse football machine and the weakley, Church-going, NASCAR-loving country lads of Anson County High School this Friday.


The only possible justification for noteworthy observation is that the poor Bobcats of poor Anson are coached by poor Matt Jones (son of Neil).


If Anson wins, it would roughly compare to Gardner Webb beating Notre Dame. But, just the same, prayers would be welcome."

Neil, I hope you've told Matt about George Sparger's secret weapon for upsetting stronger teams;
his famous "no man line" defense.  -Ed

 #23 UNC wingback Jim Camp; #86 UNC center George Sparger; #40 UNC fullback Walt Pupa; #22 UNC tailback Charlie Justice, at Kenan Stadium.


(Photo of UNC Championship team during the Choo Choo Justice era.  From the Hugh Morton collection at UNC)

Introducing...

Here's a bulletin from Mike Andrews:

"My chance to brag a little.  Anna Jude (A J) Aldrich was born last week to our daughter Rachael and her husband in Orlando.  This is our first grandchild.  I just wanted to let Buck Anderson know he wasn't the last to have a first grandchild.  Fortunately this beautiful child looks more like her mother than her father and even her grandfather.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Mike Andrews"

And Mike has good reason to brag!  Just take a look at this BRAND NEW BEAUTY! ...with the musical name; Anna Aldrich. 

 -Ed

One of the 12 Best

.........in the WORLD!

Brooke Hemsley, who just happens to be our own Maxcyne Motte Yaworsky's granddaughter, was one of the the top 12 winners in her age group in the World ChampionshipTumbling Meets in St. Petersburg, Russia last week. Coaches and fans alike agreed that Brooke gave the best performance of her young career!

Her next goal is to compete for the chance to go to the World Championships in Paris next year!

Maxcyne wrote that she would send some pictures of the event soon, and added,

"...please extend my thanks to all the wonderful classmates who wrote letters of encouragement for Brooke before she left for Russia. She was very surprised and thankful when I passed them along to her."

Thanksgiving 2009

My very best wishes to you all for a very happy Thanksgiving.

                                                                                       Norman Rockwell

One of the many things I'm thankful for is being born in this country and in the city of  Charlotte, NC in 1936.  (Give or take a few years)

Perhaps there were better times and places to be put on this earth, but I can't imagine what, and where they were.

There are many other items on my "thankful" list, but I always begin with that one.

Personally, I get out that mental list often....not just on Thanksgiving.

Try it.  It's one heck of a tranquilizer!

(Not a sermon, just a thought.       Naw...........it's a sermon.  -Ed)

 Read more >>   Options >>  

Now Showing: LDL 14

Be sure to scroll down to the LDL 14 story and watch the 7 minute video that Jerry Gaudet took of the event!

Eat Your Heart Out, Ansel Adams

Last week Don Nance sent this website that beautiful picture he took in Alaska, and today Warren Sparrow contributed a couple of snapshots fresh from his attic.

I'm hoping this is the beginning of a trend!

That's your next assignment, class: send us a few snapshots that mean something to you, and share them with us.
I'll bet there are enough old photographs out there to keep this site lit up for a long time. (It's logging over 75 "hits" a week now. That's pretty good.)

 Warren writes.......

"After looking at the website tonight I thought I should say hello and say thank you for keeping us together. If you are looking for art, here are some pictures from our archives.

The first attachment is a photo of a destroyer coming up for refueling. I am not sure of the year it was taken. It was probably 1958.








The second one I know was taken in 1958. It is one of the Intrepid, now a museum in New York. I was on the USS Canberra at the time. It was a summer cruise when I met Juan Carlos who is now King of Spain. At the time he was a midshipman in the Spanish Naval Academy. I was a midshipman in Duke NROTC, having completed my junior year.






The third one is from inside the Soviet pavillion at the 1958 Worlds Fair. Look closely and you might see Sputnik.

By the way, I watched Duke beat the Charlotte College Owls last night. As far as I am concerned, they will always be the CC Owls. How dare them. Why would you change your name from Owls to Forty-Niners just because you moved to a campus off NC Highway 49? They need to remember their roots. Hoot. Hoot".

 -Warren

(Don't forget to CLICK on the pictures to ENLARGE!   -Ed)

Picture Postcard

 

Don Nance was kind enough to send us this beautiful picture he took during his trip to the Canadian Rockies.


He and Letty met up with another couple on the trip, Pat and George Dillard. You might remember Pat from the CHS class of '53.......when she was Pat Campbell
.
 

In my opinion you couldn't find a better looking photograph on any postcard promoting the Canadian Rockies.

It's the kind of picture we used to call "pretty as a postcard." 

  

But that's just one of the many expressions that are not in use anymore. It's amazing how fast we're losing words and expressions that were once very common.  Some of them "good words," like SUPPER.

DINNER has replaced it; which in my way of thinking is pretty dumb. Dinner is the meal you have at 12 noon, not at 6 o'clock at night.

And what ever happened to words like "sitting on the VERANDA....with my feet up on the OTTOMAN.

Or waiting in the VESTIBULE...or sitting on the STOOP...or playing STICKBALL or listening to 45's on the VICTROLA.

Or wearing GALOSHES?

And young people don't have any idea what an "ICEBOX" is.

Come to think of it, a lot of us would be healthier if we spent more time away from that icebox.

-Ed

(Editorial Assistance (stolen from) The Cave a great website by Perry Peterson)

"Neither Snow Nor Rain...."

..can keep twenty-seven hearty Wildcats from showing up for the class' monthly lunch.

Our "on the scene correspondant," Jerry Gaudet reports that it was a very dark and rainy day that greeted the LDL bunch last Tuesday. But, once inside, the mood became as bright as a sunny day in June. Of course, the sparks flying from the knives and forks of our hungry group helped.

Jerry went on to report that

"... there were four first-time attendees, Don Nance and his wife Letty, Mary Rand Norton Kratt, and Richard Stowe. Shirley McClanahan Maynor presided over the sunny atmosphere as we enjoyed good food and fellowship.


If technical difficulties can again be overcome, we'll try to get a brief video of the gathering to Ed Myers in hopes of getting it on the class web site... www.chs54.com . Be sure to look for it and all the other interesting items Ed posts for us.


The next "LDL" will be Tuesday, December 8. Same time, same place, as they say. We invite you to plan on joining us."


(Click on pictures to enlarge.)

FYI......The United States Postal Service has no official creed or motto. Often falsely cited as such, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" is an inscription on the James Farley Post Office in New York City, derived from a quote from Herodotus' Histories (8.98), referring to the ancient courier service of the Persian Empire:
Please take note of this. There will be a pop quiz tomorrow.  -Ed 


Now, See the VIDEO!  



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y399RozUrn0

"Take two asprin......and call me in the morning."

Just because a girl is president of her high school Honor Society and undoubtedly one of the best brains to ever walk the halls of that very distinguished learning institution doesn't necessarily mean that her children will also be brilliant.

Right?

Wrong.

At least in Diana Carpenter (White)'s case.

Her son, Dr. Reid Blackwelder, among other things, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The AAFP represents more than 94,600 physicians and medical students nationwide.

And that's just the beginning of this fine Doctor's accomplishments! They can't all be listed in this website's limited space, but you can see them for yourself by clicking on this link. CLICK HERE

But there is at least one common condition that Diana shares with those of us who were mere "C" students (and worse). The medical term for this disease is known as "CBS."

CHRONIC BRAGGING SYNDROME

It's incurable. Just ask any of us with children and/or grandchildren!


-Ed

 Read more >>   Options >>  

"HOUGH HIGH?"

In spite of an inspired campaign by the CHS class of 55, led by David McKinnon, Joan King Hargett, Martha Gheesling Broadwell and Bob Burroughs, the Charlotte/Mecklenburg School Board voted not to name either of two new high schools after our friend and former athletic director and later principal Ed Saunders.

Their main objection was that he is still alive…..and their “rule” for naming schools states that they must be named after a dead person or some other inanimate object.
The names chosen were Hough and Rocky River.

Not many people know this but when the name for the old Central High was being contemplated, the first choice of the school board was “Sugar Creek High.” In the end, the board couldn’t agree on a name, so at the last minute they decided, “to heck with it. Let’s just call it Central.”

It’s too bad this school board didn’t decide to do something similar in the case of “Hough High,” , such as naming it Highway 15 High School….or something like that instead of a name that no one is sure how to pronounce (is it like “HOW”…..”WHO”…..”HUGH”…..or what?)
I understand that the correct pronounciation is “HUFF”….like in “tough.”

But that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know that it will forever be known as “HO HIGH”

But, I believe the girls who attend the school will just ignore, or laugh off the dumb jokes and simply chalk it up to "unintended consequences."

Like our girls once did!

-Ed

Harry Neely and Studio 590

Two highly acclaimed and award winning artists (one of which is CHS54”s own Harry Neely ) have joined forces and opened a working studio and gallery in Pinehurst South. Neely's partner, Betty DiBartolomeo is also a nationally recognized artist.

The studio, named 590, is located in the historic 1815 Dowd Cabin.

Neely and DiBartolomeo are both members of the prestigious national organization of professional artists, the “Oil Painters of America.”
DiBartolomeo also paints under the pseudonym “BC Dream Catcher” to honor her native American heritage.

Neely specializes in “modern/classical still life paintings.The studio, with artists working and teaching most days of the week,  is expected to bring new life to the old Dowd Cabin.

Both Betty and Harry teach at the Artists League of the Sandhills.

(Paintings: "Heirloom Tomatos"      -Neely
"The Shawl Dancer "          -DiBartolomeo)

Time Flies.....

...like a Bat out of Heck!

Would you believe it, it's already been nearly a month since our last LDL lunch at Jimmies of Mint Hill!

Jerry's invitation went out today:

CHS'54's "LDL" (Let's do lunch)
Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 11:30 AM
at "Jimmies" in Mint Hill.


Spread the word. Bring someone with you. Invite other classmates to come.

YOU, come!

Thanks for the "Flowers"

Thanks to all of you who bothered to drop me nice notes about Jerry's LDL 13 video. And, as several of you pointed out, there are a couple of things the producers could have improved upon.
Such as........putting the names of husbands and wives next to each other in the credits.

These names should have been listed together:

Harold Cullingford and wife Carolyn

Marlene Ritch Beaty and husband Thomas

Karol Broadwell Welch and husband Bob (As Karol mentioned, Bob, is Nancy Gibson Tomlinson's cousin)

and I failed to list Stephanie Litaker the nice lady who is the waitress who takes really good care of our group.

And, last but not least, there was ONE glaring mistake.
I've been informed that Jimmies is located on HWY 51. Not HWY 50, as the video indicates.


Now I realize why everytime I go to one of these lunches, nobody else shows up!


-Ed

Catching Up

Your award winning and most modest webmaster was having so much fun playing with Jerry's LDL video that I forgot to mention a couple of news items:

At the October "LDL", Martin Hill told us the bad news that his wife, Pat, had fallen at home severely breaking her hip and pelvic bones. She spent three weeks in the hospital and he went on to say:

"...Pat is doing well and is in a rehab facility in Harrisburg fairly near our home. She is now able, with help, to get around in a wheel chair and she will be in physical therapy for several more weeks. If all the broken bones heal as expected she could possibly be on a walker or crutches in about 3 to 4 weeks. After that, she should be able to begin walking again. Everything depends on her healing normally. Her attitude is good, but she was a very active person and I fear she will try to do too much too soon...
Regards,

Martin"

We send our best wishes to Pat for a speedy recovery!!

Finally, tying up some loose ends, Jerry tells me that the  CHS'54 "LDL" on Tuesday October was the 13th such happening that Shirley Maynor initiated over a year ago. She wasn't able to attend this one and was sorely missed.


"Another of our regulars, Gayle Barrier Austin' who had attended all twelve previous "LDL"s, wasn't able to attend either, breaking her perfect attendance record.


Three classmates had missed only one of the past gatherings, Vic Brawley, Martin Hill and Charlie Willis. Only Martin was present to be "honored".   -Jerry"


Some might say that there must be some truth to that old superstition having to do with the number 13.

Of course, none of us believes any of that nonsense anymore.

However, a little "salt over the shoulder" once in a while can't hurt anything.

-Ed

Live! From Mint Hill

Not quite, but the very next thing to it.

Our roving remote team of dedicated photographers, audio experts, writers, producers, gaffers,(that's an old Hollywood term for "grunts," and is NOT to be confused with the term "geezers." I'm quite sensitive about that.

Perhaps I exagerate, but my enthusiasm is hard to contain. Our all purpose photographer, videographer, producer, director, and all round "good guy." Jerry Gaudet turned his camera to the "movie" setting...and captured these scenes of our latest "Let's Do Lunch" extravaganzas.

Come join the party..........!



Thanks Jerry!

-Ed

Powertumbling ?

Jerry Gaudet informs us that we now have a chance to root for another champion! This time, it's our own's Maxcyne Motte Yaworsky's granddaughter!

"The young lady in the photo below is our granddaughter, Brooke Hemsley. The past year has been a very busy one for this seventeen year old high school junior. She competed and won in State, Regional, and Western Division Powertumbling championships.. In September, she competed at meets in Las Vegas for a place on the U.S. National Team. She won a place on the team and in November goes to St. Petersburg, Russia to compete in the World Powertumbling Championships.

I hope everyone will join me in cheering for Brooke and her teammates as they represent our country at these events.
Way to go,Brooke!!"      -Maxcyne


WOW!

Powertumbling just became my favorite sport!    -Ed

"Touchdown!"

Report from the Annual Storytelling Festival

 by Betsy Villas White
 
   Dateline October 2, 2009.....Jonesborough, Tennessee........."She was terrific!"   That's the word on the appearance of Ellouise Diggle Schoettler at the annual Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough Tennessee.

Three minutes into her fifteen minute story, the audience was eating out of her hand. She was warm and funny and polished and something indeed to write home about. Therefore, that’s what I’m doing.

All you folks at home and away should note that we now have a full fledged, honest-to-goodness, nationally recognized storyteller in our midst. She held her own in the kingdom of storyland and then some. I was proud, her family was proud, my traveling companions were proud, Don and Letty Nance were proud, and the crowd surrounding her after the performance was riding high.

I just kept remembering that I knew her when her stories were beginning. Wonder if she’ll ever tell a story about making button gardens in Girl Scouts at Hawthorne Lane Methodist Church?

-BVW


As you just read, reports that our own Ellouise Diggle Schoettler's appearence at the Jonesborough, Tennesee annual Storytelling Festival....the SUPER BOWL of storytelling, was  a BOFFO performance, have been confirmed by CHS54's ace reporter Betsy V. White..



Our news team was there and got this reaction from Ellouise herself:


"Is it really two weeks ago that I stepped on the stage at Exchange Place at the National Storytelling Festival with these five other wonderful storytellers, Baba the Storyteller (CA), Tyris Jones (NC) Slash Coleman(VA) Bob Reiser (NY) and Bernadetter Nason (TX). It was really a great experience - facing 1200 folks under a Ringling Brother Brothers type big top tent - all smiling, laughing and loving the stories. 

Personally I was very happy to see Jim and our family and Don and Letty Nance and Betsy Villas White smiling up at me! For a storyteller getting to tell in Jonesborough is a mountaintop -


Lately I have been working on telling "memoirs." You know - tell the story yourself. The festival was over Sunday afternoon so Monday morning Jim and I drove over to Asheville to UNC-A where I told Pushing Boundaries, my new story about my journey to becoming an ERA activist during the 1970s and 80s- for the Women Studies Department. It was cool. Like a real "Jack" tale - coming home (sort-of) to tell my story.


Telling personal history that is not in the history books. A few members of the League of Women Voters joined the audience - including Kathleen Balogh, the new State President. I loved having them there because I was ERA Campaign Director for the League's national Staff - 1979-82 and those days are part of the story. Anybody remeber those days? They were lively and exciting for me - although the loss of the ERA in 1982 was very painful for those of us who though equal rights for women should be part of the US Consttution and worked for the amendment."


But, enough of this rabble rousing. I am grateful to be a storyteller - to see friends, to come "home" and to tell stories."

Thanks Ellouise, and congratulations from all of us old Wildcats.

-ED
 

...and to view Ellouise's website, go to:


http://ellouisestory.blogspot.com/2009/10/sunday-finale.html

Sparrow on the Rocks

Warren and Becky Sparrow just returned from a 2,000 mile journey to Olathe, Kansas. I've never heard of Olathe before, but my guess was that the man who named it had a lisp.

Nope, I was wrong. It seems that the town was named by an indian who was asked by the founder, what the Indian word for beautiful was and his reply was "olathe."  The founder took his word for it, and the rest is history. (Word Deny-ers point out that onlookers at the scene spotted several empty bottles of firewater in the bushes.)

There's an old legend about that town that swears that "anyone who visits that magical place will be speaking the Indian language by the time he returns to his own teepee."

Isn't that silly. Anyway, that's all I could discover about that fascinating part of the great state of Kansas, but as this reporter mentioned, the Sparrows were there and enjoyed every minute of it!

Here's the email I received from Warren:

Ed:


"It has been many moons since our last smoke signals. I note there has been an explosion of stuff on chs54. Thank you for doing it. Becky and I are alive and well, sitting up and taking nourishment. We have completed a journey to Olathe, KS, for a visit with our oldest daughter Cathy S. Peele, her husband Alex and their three daughters, Lydia, Melanie and Charlotte. A good time was had by all. It was a remarkable trip. From Winston-Salem to Olathe and back was 2,200 miles, including some side trips to "points of interest." Like the Three Wise Men, we did it in One Accord.


Attached are some representative samples of what we did. The first photo is a view of the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers near Alton, IL.


The second is a shot of the courthouse where the Dred Scott decision was rendered. I took this picture from the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

The third picture is one of Becky at the Wild Turkey Distillery near Lexington, KY. If you
look carefully you will see a tanker truck in the background. It is full of bourbon headed for Arkansas for bottling. The name of the carrier? Oakley. What a hoot.


Hope all is well."


Warren

Easy Ed High School

I'm not sure exactly why we called him that; it certainly wasn't because his history class was easy. It wasn't. I think it was because of his informal, relaxed, and often humorous way of teaching that made it seem easy. I think of him as the "Perry Como" of our teachers at Central.

Joan King Hargett (class of 55) is spearheading an effort by her class to name Charlotte's newest high school after Ed Sanders! Now that's a great idea if I ever heard one.

Joan says it will help immensely if we all write to the school board members and show our support and appreciation for Ed Sanders.

She lists many of his major accomplishments which are enormous, but too many to name in a letter to a school board member.....so just mention a couple that you think are the best ones.

 Ed Sanders:

He served in the Army Air Corps for four year during World War II. After military duty, he became a history teacher at Central High School, Charlotte, NC.


From 1946 - 1951 he taught high school during the day, veteran classes in the evening, carried a paper route and worked to obtain his masters degree.


1951 - Ed became the athletic director at CHS. Two years later he was promoted to Assistant Principal. In 1955 he was promoted to Principal at age 33.


1954 - Brown v. Board of Education ruled segregatiion in schools to be unconstitutional.


1955 - Mr. Sanders oversaw the merger of rival high schools Tech High and Central High, successfully bringing the two together as one student body.


1957 - Three years after Brown v. Board of Education ruling that segregated schools were unconstitutional, Mr. Sanders became a "hero during racial unrest of the 1950's" as he successfully and peacefully enrolled Charlotte's first black student, Gus Roberts, at CHS. He walked through an "arm-linked human barricade" at CHS to protect Gus Roberts and to physically show students that he meant to make it work. Gus went on to graduate from CHS. In preparation for that day, Mr. Sanders had met with the Roberts family during the summer. He also called in the trouble makers at CHS and made sure they knew he would not tolerate unfair treatment. He spoke to the football team and asked their support letting them know that football games could easily be called off----for the season----if necessary.


1959 - Mr. Sanders became Principal at the new Garinger High School after CHS closed.


1965 - Charlotte still had 88 single-race schools. After the landmark case Swann vs. the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education ruled that Charlotte was still largely segregated, the school board was given a deadline by Federal Judge James B. McMillan to effectively desegregate by Fall of 1970.


1970 - Ed was promoted to Associate Superintendent of the Charlotte School System. His assignment was to work with a Citizens Advisory Group and the school board to achieve a fair and stable pupil reassignment plan to fully integrate the school system. In 1974, the pupil reassignment plan, which revolved around race-baced busing of 83,000 students across 102 schools, was adopted and put into motion.


1978 - Mr. Sanders resigned from his post as East Mecklenburg Area Superintendent to become Superintendent of the Darlington, SC school system.


Mr. Sanders currently resides in the Alzheimer's Unit at Southminister's Retirement Community here in Charlotte.

Joan goes on to write,

The CHS class of 1955 meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month at Jimmie's Restaurant in Mint Hill. Mr. Sanders is at most of our luncheons. He has a lovely caregiver that brings him or sometimes our classmate, Don Blackmon, sees that he gets there. We have all fallen in love with Mr. Sanders and have so much respect for him.


CHS'55 classmate, David McKinnon, has been in contact with Mr. Sanders' son, Doug. They are the ones that are responsible for the above information. David McKinnon has been our leader in this effort to get a school named after our deserving former Principal, Ed Sanders. Bob Burroughs and others have also been involved.


Mr. Sanders has received many honors. You can Google "Ed Sanders Charlotte Education" and get more facts.


I realize this is a great deal of information and it is mostly just to bring you up to date on Mr. Sanders' life. It does not necessary need to be included in your email to the school board. If you have a personal memory of Mr. Sanders, that would be great to include. I feel that the emails should not be too long---probably a brief email might be better.


Please note: David McKinnon would appreciate it if you send him a copy of the email you send so that we can keep a count on the number sent. Also, if you have any questions, feel free to email him at davidmckinnon@windstream.net or call him at 704-684-5003.


Your email should be sent to the following school board members as soon as possible. We will most likely be asking you to send another email to the same people at a later date.

Molly Griffin, Chairperson     molly.griffin@cms.k12.nc.us   

Kaye Bernard McGarry,Vice Chairperson  kaye.mcgarry@cms.k12.nc.us

Larry Gauvreau     larry.gauvreau@cms.k12.nc.us

Kimberly Mitchell-Walker    kimberlym.walker@cms.k12.nc.us

James L. Ross II      jamesl.ross@cms.k12.nc.us

Tom Tate      tom.tate@cms.k12.nc.us

Ken Gjertsen      Ken.gjertsen@cms.k12.nc.us

Trent Merchant    Trent.Merchant@cms.k12.nc.us

"Coach" Joe I. White, Jr.   coachjoew@cms.k12.nc.us

Dr. Peter Gorman, Superintendent    superintendent@cms.k12.nc.us

 



Again, thanks so much.


Joan King Hargett

The Stork Takes his Time, but finally delivers!

Talk about being "worth the wait!"

Great news concerning Buck and Peggy Anderson.

His name is Andrew John Allison!


 Here's the official email from Peggy:

"Buck and I want to share with Buck's classmates the news of our grandson, Andrew John Allison, born to John and Tonya (our daughter) Allison on October 9 at 11:38 PM. He is a small baby, 5 lbs. 7 ounces 20 inches long, and black hair. Tonya's sister, Trena, who is a nurse, was privileged to be in the delivery room with John and Tonya to witness Andrew's birth. It humbles our hearts that God has blessed our family with this special little guy. As I had shared with you, John and Tonya have been married for 22 years. Tonya has held on to a promise that God gave her years ago, that he would give her a child. The Lord is so good."
Peggy Anderson

CONGRATULATIONS from all of us!
-Ed

Presenting....the newest Wildcat!

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Asher!
The proud Grandfather, of course, is our own
Don Nance.

Don's short email said only,

"ASHER CLAY NANCE. He was born 9-9-09. He is visiting with me and his big brother Sam. Grand Children are great."

ASHER UPDATE: More information about Asher Clay Nance. He was born on 9/9/09 and weighed 7 lbs. and 15 oz. His father and mother are Patrick and Kim Nance. Patrick is out third son.

ASHER in Hebrew means beautiful or happy, and he is both. His brother Sam is proud to be a big brother. I would say that Asher's family on both side are proud that he is in this world safe an sound. -Don

.

It's that time again

I want to invite all of you to come over to my house on Tuesday October 13th 2009 at 11:30 AM for lunch. I'll have the hot dogs all ready for you when you get here.

However, my feelings won't be hurt if you decide instead to dine with a whole room full of 54 Wildcats at Jimmies of Mint Hill for our monthly LDL extravaganza!

CHS'54's "LDL" (Let's do lunch)

Tuesday, October 13, 2009, 11:30 AM

 at "Jimmies" in Mint Hill.

Spread the word.  Bring someone with you.  Invite other classmates to come.

YOU, come!

Web Digest

In order to keep this site "fresh," the staff here at CHS54 is adding a new feature. We call it the Web Digest......kinda like the old Readers Digest. (Which incidentally is reported to be going out of business. I'm not sure if it's because people don't read anymore.....or that the content is too deep for modern Americans to digest.)

But we'll watch our email box....and hopefully publish some of the sights that you may have missed on Al Gore's amazing internet.

For example this unique mobile home:

and this car.....

that's right....car...singular. It's only one ....with a fantastic paint job.

And feel free to email me your favorites.

-Ed

Graphology

As mentioned on this website earlier, cursive hand writing is a rapidly disappearing skill in this country. Very few Americans born after 1980 can read, much less write cursive. And this goes for school teachers as well.

However, that doesn’t mean that graphology (the study of handwriting and what it reveals about a person) is a dead science. Not at all, because people still “sign” their names! And that very often reveals more about them than they would like for you to know.

For example, the CHS54 staff and I have become quite good at being able to know a lot about a person simply by studying his or her signature!

Here are two sheets of signatures…..picked totally at random… and we can predict with uncanny accuracy exactly which page was signed by the most wise and successful people, and which was signed by....uh.....lesser mortals.

Look closely at Page One.(the first one on your left)

You can see that the curvature of the letters and the closeness and neatness of the signatures are dead giveaways. Very few bold pen strokes. Almost no imaginative flourishes of the pen….it’s an unmistakable indication that this page is full of uncreative and, sorry to say, undoubtedly unsuccessful people.

On the other hand, Page Two (shown below) shows boldness and creativity. Notice the large, prominent letters….indicating dynamic and obviously successful, even brilliant personalities. People you just naturally want to be friends with. The thoughtful forming of the letters reek of confidence and boldness. An unmistakable sign of maturity and wisdom!

So there you have it. Page One=LOSERS.  Page Two=WiNNERS/MOVERS and SHAKERS
Graphology works!

-Ed                                                                                                                                                                 Page TWO                                                 


To reap the full impact of this article..click on each autograph page to see it enlarged. Click the "back arrow" on the top left of your screen to return to this page.    -Ed

Three's Company

Whoops.....Sorry we're a little late with this story, but the usually almost competent staff here at the CHS54 Media Center really blew it this time. As a result, we nearly missed one of the best stories of the year.

In less than 3 months our own Bob Ellis became a "great, great,great grandfather."  No, that's not right. He became a "grandfather three times over." No, that's not it either.Maybe it's called a "greater great grandfather."

Well, whatever the official name for it is he's happy as heck about it!  And he's got two beautiful brand new grandchildren and one great grandchild to show for it! Perhaps his picture will be in the next edition of the Guinness book of World Records. He certainly qualifies for the CHS54 website Great Grandfather of the Year!"

His first grandchild is Danielle Nichole Hines, born to Bob's youngest daughter Kelli Ellis Hines and then grandchild Tyler Turnbaugh, son of James and Alison Wade arrived on September 8th weighing in at 7lbs 4 ounces. Shown here with his two beautiful sisters.

Alison and husband James Turnbaugh live in Ohio where Alison teaches English Lit at a Junior High School. James is with the family concrete business.

And then, on Sept. 23rd another bundle from Heaven (this time Bob's first Great Grandchild named Clara Fern Swanson (measurements: 19 and a half) showed up at the home of Stephen and Anna Dwanson in Penniscola, Fla!  Anna is one of Bob's grandaughters and she and Stephen named their beautiful baby after grandmothers.  Stephen is the youth minister at their local church in Penniscola.

Stay tuned for pictures!

Great grandfather Bob is doing his best to cope with all the excitement and joy in his life (our reporters on the scene confirm that he's mumbling, talking to himself, smiling and laughing a lot) so if any of the facts in this report are slightly incorrect, it's not the fault of our staff reporters.

For once.

Bob added in his note to me something about...."Christmas is going to be Heaven at his house this year....."   No, no,.....that's wasn't it, I just re-read  his email. What he actually said was "Heaven help us this Christmas at our house."

-Ed

Close Call

This from Betty Rose and Lou Palomba:

   "Our son, Tony, age 46 was working a horse last Saturday evening when it threw him off onto his head. Luckily he had on a "horse helmet". The doctor said it saved him from being paralyzed. After a 5 hour surgery he now has two plates and screws in his neck. They operated from the back of his neck and also the front. He will have a long recovery time, but he will recover. Lou and I are flying out to Colorado and will help out until October 21st. They have two little girls, a business and a ranch to take care of. 

I was hoping to see you all at the next luncheon, but I guess now it won't be until November.
We have certainly learned how important wearing a helmet is when riding "anything."

                                                                                 -Betty Rose and Lou

That's a heart-stopper. Our thoughts and prayers are with Tony and his family as well as Betty Rose and Lou!

Up Date on Nancy

Shirley Maynor reports that Nancy Gibson Tomlinson is back home!

"... Just got off phone with her and Howard. Nancy is home, came home
yesterday. Recouping. Quite weak. Intestinal problem, and became dehydrated. Her Lungs, have
not deteriated any further, but a few hick-ups to be
checked into! They will give me call for updates as they can. Thanks to everyone for keeping her in your
prayers, they are working!. Send her a card!

640 Back Nine Drive 
Venice, FL 34285-4546"

-SMaynor

(FROM LEFT TO RIGHT...Mamie Goodwin Baucum, Nancy Gibson Tomlinson, Betty Rose Palomba, and Shirley Maynor)  Photo taken at our 55th reunion

The Curb to Nowhere

I live in a “bedroom community” of Washington, DC called Falls Church, Virginia. George Washington helped found the old Church here, from which it got half of its name. The other half came from the fact that the little town that grew up around the church was the closest to the lesser of the two falls on the Potomac river. The other one is called (surprise, surprise) Great Falls…and that’s a town too.

But, I digress. Being so close to Washington, its residents are mostly government workers.
I’m one of the few exceptions; but I’ve known for a long time, and you probably do too, that Government doesn’t think like we do. And neither do their employees who over the years have burrowed their way into every nook and cranny of the powerful agencies.
They are the soldiers of the bureaucracy.

And, of course, our city leaders come from this “talent” pool.
I’m fortunate enough to be able to ignore most of their bazaar schemes for this little city, but one I can’t ignore has recently popped up on a street between my house and the Post Office.
I call it the “Curb to Nowhere.”

A number of “unenlightened” residents like myself don’t understand what it's for, and why it is where it is. A number of residents have indeed  had at least one unfortunate encounter with it. (The city only recently put up the “obstacle warning.”)

Perhaps there’s someone in this website’s vast audience who can enlighten me.
The class member with the best explanation will win an all expense paid trip
“to nowhere.”
-Ed

"You Ain't Nothin But a ........"

...distant cousin.

But that ain't bad considering that it's Cousin Elvis!
Ellouise Diggle Schotteller recently discovered that she was related to Elvis. Not only that, but, according to Ellouise,  so is Mary Kratt!

Ellouise reports:

"I wrote recently on my blog about a new discovery - I am distant cousins with Elvis on the Hood line - that means Mary Ran too - we all descend from Tunis Hood the old pioneer who settled at Hoods Corners/Mint Hill. Small world."

This website is much too sophisticated to make some cheap, corny remark such as .."...you folks going up to Jonesborough Tennessee to see Ellouise perform at the big Story Teller's Convention in a few days....be sure to watch her body movements to see how much of the Elvis gene she inherited."

Nope, this site only reports "news that's fit to print."

So, when you see Ellouise at the Story Teller's Convention, please convey our congratulations and let her know how proud we are of her.

But try not to step on her blue suede shoes.

-Ed

Prayers for Nancy

Shirley Maynor Reports that Nancy Gibson has been admitted to Venice Hospital with a serious digestive problem and dehydration. Her husband Howard said that Nancy wanted her friends to know that she is unable to reply to emails until she returns home.

I'm sure we'll all send lots of prayers up for our Nancy; who has been fierce in her many heartfelt encouraging messages she has sent to our classmates in time of their illnesses. We're all richer for
her example of great courage in coming that long distance to attend our reunion!

Please drop her a note!

Email Nancy!

In case the link doesn't work on your computer nancy's email address is:

nancyg@msn.com

Howard will print them out and take them to her.

Secret Code

Long after we’ve all gone to the big assembly in the sky, our grandkids and maybe even our great grandkids could very likely stumble upon a dusty old book titled, “Snips and Cuts.”

The title alone will seem strange to them. They’ll wonder why anyone would ever print a book by that title, when everyone knows that to publish a book, all you need is a computer and a word processor? Perhaps they will think that it’s a pattern book for that old fashioned method of sewing clothes.

But "lo and behold" it's Granny’s old high school yearbook! Great balls of fire!


However, much to their disappointment, and your relief, they discover that it’s written in some kind of strange, secret code.

Who knows what some 17 year old might have written in a long forgotten yearbook 60 or 100 years ago? And no matter how innocent it was at the time, words change. “Bad,” “Gay.” “Camp,” and “Coke” are just a few that come to mind.

Well, you can relax now, because experts say that anyone born after 1980 probably can’t read cursive; and that includes teachers.

But, I guess it all evens out. Already, the youngsters are speaking a language that we can’t understand.

“That’s, you know, awesome, man.”

-Ed

LDL's 12th and Anna Lynn's 53rd

 Jimmies of Mint Hill was jumping yesterday, as it always does when our '54 Wildcats descend upon one of the premier "meetin and eatin" places within driving distance of the Queen City!

29, count 'em, 29!...showed up for our 12th "LDL"....(Let's Do Lunch)  The only thing missing was......our ace reporter's camera.

The indefatigable Jerry Gaudet's top of the line camera was the victim of battery failure. (Rechargable batteries don't give notice when they're sick. Without warning, they just refuse to be resusitated.)

Amazingly, it happened to be Anna Lynn Smith-Petersen Kearse's 53rd wedding anniversary!




 What better way to spend your anniversary than at an LDL bash. Congratulations galore from all of  us to Anna Lynn and Henry!

One of the other highlights of the luncheon was the first time appearance of Donave Ross Stegall.


All in all, it was another splendid event which is getting more and more popular!



-Ed

Peggy Bedsol Gandy's Sister Dies

 Our thoughts and prayers are with Peggy Bedsol Gandy whose sister Erleen Bedsol Willis passed away.

Here's the obituary from the Charlotte Observer:

Erleen Bedsol Willis

    Mrs. Willis, 81, of Charlotte, died peacefully on September 6, 2009. A Charlotte native, she was born February 8, 1928, to the late Amos Carl Bedsol and Lucille Caldwell Bedsol. She was a graduate of Central High School and a longtime legal secretary. She is survived by her son, Carl Sanders; sister, Peggy Bedsol Gandy; her niece, Cathy Click and husband Dan Click; great-nephew, Jimmy Click; and great-nieces, Molly and Sarah Emily Click.

The family would especially like to thank her wonderful caregivers, Etta and Marie from Visiting Angels.

A graveside service to celebrate her life will he held Tuesday, September 8, at 11AM at Sharon Memorial Park. Reverend Ed Adams will officiate the service. The family will receive friends immediately following the service. The family is being served by McEwen Funeral Service, Charlotte Chapel, 5716 Monroe Road, Charlotte, NC 28212.

Memorials may be made to Charlotte Hospice and Palliative Care, 1420 E. 7th Street, Charlotte, NC 28204, or to a charity of the donor's choice.

Don't Forget LDL TODAY!

The hungry Wildcats will be gathering at Jimmie's of Mint Hill today (Tues. Sept 8th) at 11:30 am for another CHS54 "meet and eat" event. Dining will be the main feature of today's luncheon.

Dancing is optional.

Guys......this is your chance to see a bunch of those good looking girls we went to high school with again!

Don't miss it!!

-Ed

And the WINNER IS...

 

Gaither Blackwelder!

Well, not exactly. But when a 73 year old man races against 1,034 younger people in a 5K race and comes in 868.....that's news!

Heck, I think it's headline news when a 73 year old man can even walk 5 miles!

(Actually 5K is not 5 miles; it might as well be 20 as far as this 73 year old is concerned, but if I remember correctly from my math class at old CHS....5K is 3.10685596 miles.)

Blackwelder's amazing feat happened at the 32nd annual Peoples Bank Midnight Flite 5K race in Anderson, SC recently.

Even more amazing is the fact that Blackwelder ran the race 5 minutes faster than he did last year!

Just thinking about it makes me want to take a nap.

-Ed

Race  photo of Gaither Blackwelder by Carolina Snapshot

Coming to Town

Remember the article about the big surprise party...with the CHS 54 theme and decorations etc...that Herb Jacobowitz's wife Barbara threw for him for his 70th birthday?

It was an historical event. It was the first and only party with the theme of Central High School's class of 54 ever held in the state of Maryland, Herb's home.

Most of the guests upon arriving and seeing all the Wildcat decorations had three questions: "What's Central High School?; Where is it? and "When do we eat."

Most of the party goers were from the Montgomery County area of Maryland

Herb dropped us a note saying he's going to be in the Charlotte area soon and would love to see some of his old CHS friends.


"I am coming to Charlotte with my daughter to go to a Myositis Conference at Hilton Hotel in Center City this Thursday, Sept. 10th. My daughter has a muscle condition, which is a weakness in the muscles. She got this about 1 and 1/2 years ago and there appears to be no cure, but with medication she can cope. She works full time and is a mother to our 2+ years old granddaughter. We will not be getting a car to use. I was wondering if you could put the word out if you or any of our class would like to get together with me and my daughter either Thursday or Friday evening and go to dinner nearby. I would enjoy this greatly. Hope to hear from you soon. We will be flying back Saturday night, departing Charlotte around 8 pm. My cellphone number is 301-717-5167."


Herb Jacobowitz

An Experiment

I'm curious to find out if the internet can help us find one of our "missing" classmates. The search engines (called spiders) have improved greatly over the last few years....so maybe we can locate Doy Lim. Doy was very friendly and well liked.

There are a number of our classmates we've been unable to find, but let's start our search with Doy.
Then, if we're successful, we'll get those spiders to help us find others.

Doy's full name is Doy Kenneth Lim.

I'll repeat that so the spiders will be sure not to miss it;  Doy Lim or Doy Kenneth Lim of Charlotte,NC.

If anyone out there knows Doy, drop us a note

-Ed


Email us!

F Y I

You'll notice a new feature on this website called "Let's Go to the Tape" which features slides
of the past. The technical staff here at the CHS54 complex is working on making it even better...by showing more pictures. At the moment, it's showing only a small number of the members of our class. Our goal is to show the entire class..one by one.

Our crack technicians are working on the problem 24/7, and as a last resort, will read the directions in the manual that came with the program.

Also, we have re-set the "counter" so it is now registering all the "hits" since Sept.1, 2009.


Meanwhile, the excitement is building for the happening at Jonesbourough, Tennesee where our own Ellouise Diggle Schoteller will be performing. It's the famous 37th annual Storytellers Festival which will be held on Oct 2 through the 4th.


This website is sending one of our ace reporters, Betsy Villas White to cover the story and Don (Eagle Eye) Nance to photograph the festival. See complete coverage right here on this same spot on your computer channel. Film at 11.

Speaking of film, for those of you who are not able to go to the Festival,  you can see a sample of Ellouise's work  HERE

-Ed

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start your.....mouths?

I'm sure you all know who Sonya Thomas is.  It happened right there in Charlotte, at the Motor Speedway. You might have even been there that day.

That's the day she broke the record for eating hard boiled eggs. Sonya scarfed down 65 of those things in 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

Sonya also holds the world record for cheesecake eating. Her stats are, 11 lbs of cheesecake in 9 minutes.

She also broke the world's record eating chicken nuggets. She shoveled in 80 of them in 5 minutes.

The reason I bring this up is there's going to be another fun-filled lunch at Jimmies of Mint Hill happening  this Tuesday, Sept 8th at 11:30am. It's another of CHS54's "Lets Do Lunch! events!


No records are expected to be broken, but it will be another memorable "meeting and eating" extravaganza.

  Jerry Gaudet says "Bring a Friend," invite other CHSers to come join in the fun. If you don't have any friends, and nobody will listen to you....then just be sure YOU come!

Oh, and if you see Sonya there, be sure to tell Ronnie Rallis not to let her get anywhere near the salad bar.

-Ed

Cheese and Sausage, Thin Crust please

Let me tell you about my Pizza Delivery Man.

"STOP THE PRESS" you say.

Well, keep on reading.

Brian Gagnon is somewhere between 50 and 60  years old and like many folks he probably retired too early, and took this job just to have something to do.

But he takes his job seriously, and does it well. He considers his customers his friends; and most of them are. Take me for example. Every time he comes to the house with a hot pizza we talk, usually until it gets cold. I always ask him if he's heard from his daughter recently. He can't exactly tell me what she's been doing, but he's convinced that she's enjoying her work...in Afghanastan.

Lance Corporal Jasmin Gagnon is a US MARINE. She feels that she's carrying on a fine family tradition by being a Marine.

And, she is. Her great uncle, Pfc. Rene Gagnon was drafted into the Marine Corps in 1943. When his regiment, the 28th Marine Battalion,  landed on the Pacific Island of Iwo Jima to clear Japanese pillboxes and occupy the island, Gagnon served as a runner, ferrying messages between headquarters and the front lines.

After the Marines cleared Mount Suribachi, cave by cave, with flame throwers, Rene Gagnon ran up the mountain with the flag that would ultimately become the center of the Marine Corp's most iconic photograph.

You may have seen the picture of Rene Gagnon and a few other Marines raising that flag.
-
-Ed

Another American Beauty Queen!

 ...and her measurements are: 7-8 and 20!







That's 7 pounds, 8 ounces and 20 inches long.  She is Danielle Nichole Hines and her
 mom is Kelli Ellis Hines, the youngest daughter of CHS54's own Bob Ellis. The proud father is Jefferson Davis Hines.

Danielle came into this world via natural child birth (Bob tells me that it's also known as "the bathtub routine.")

                                   Speaking of proud...take a look at this grandfather!


-Ed

My Old Station is Now on FM

Imagine that, WGIV has just now received their license to also become WGIV-FM at 103.3 on your dial. Next thing you know, they'll get a license from the FCC to be WGIV-TV!

Oh, wait a minute. My old boss, Francis Fitzgerald already did that.

I remember back in 1953 he put a mirror behind the microphone so we announcers could practice for when that mirror became a TV camera. And we wanted to be ready.

Mr. Fitz, as we all called him, had even purchased land over in the South Blvd area, and had drawn up plans for a huge radio/TV complex....called Charlotte Radio Center....or something like that. He was a man of big ideas.

Maybe too big. He got the station license from the FCC. The name on the application was WGIV-TV.........and it was on Channel 36.

I don't know all the details, but as I look back on those years I think Mr.Fitz must have experienced "buyers remorse" after he learned that the channel he got was UHF....so if anyone wanted to watch WGIV -TV.....they had to buy a converter for their TV set  to see the station...
It looked like getting a return on his money might take a long time.

So, he sold the license for channel 36, and forgot about the South Blvd Radio Center extravaganza, and returned to his roots; WGIV radio, where Genial Gene was king (and what a great personality he was) Chatty Hattie was queen, others on the announcing staff were the great Julian Barber (Red Barber was his uncle) Eric Dehlin, Johnny Surratt, and Joy Boy Saunders, and a couple of others who made up a very talented staff. As the "teenage DJ" I was just lucky to be there.


Genial Gene Potts and Chatty Hattie

I think an apartment complex that was built on that site still carries the name "Radio Center." It may be public housing now. Or it may not even exist at all.

However, now that WGIV is WGIV-FM, I may re-think my decision to retire up here in Virginia and move back to Charlotte.

Maybe I could get my old job back at WGIV.

They do hire white people there, don't they?

-Ed

Left to right..Johnny Surratt,Eric Dehlin,Ed Myers

PS....WGIV was founded by Mr Fitz and a couple of other WW2 veterans and the call letters stood for "We are GI Veterans."

Final note: One of Mr. Fitz's hobbies was music. He organized his own band...which consisted of some of the best musicians in Charlotte. He and his band  played for our Senior Prom...in 1954 

-Ed

The Counter Mystery

According to this website’s automatic “counter,” we have had almost 2,400 “hits” since June 7th of this year! Now, that’s pretty spectacular, especially for a group as small as ours.

There are at least two possible explanations for this unexpected phenomenon: one is that of all the millions of Chinese who have access to the internet, a goodly number of them perhaps are trying to find, oh say…the Chinese Home Society…lodge number 54……or some such thing….and accidentally log on to our site by mistake.

That’s possible of course, but I think a more logical explanation is that a number of people are logging on who weren’t in our class, but have a Central High connection and interest.

I know a couple of my friends who fit that description are doing just that: One of them is Frank Clontz (Left....class of 55) an old friend of mine from back in the days when he was demonstrating pianos in the Parker Gardner showroom, where I did an occasional remote broadcast for WGIV.

Fifty two years ago, Frank says he met a beautiful girl named Shirley at Stanley’s Drug store, and one thing led to another and before long they married and started living happily ever after. After a while, four others joined the party..three boys and a girl.

Meanwhile, Frank worked his way up to COO of Theatre Suppliers, a Division of Stewart & Everett Theatres and operations manager of Confection Storage Company a subsidiary of Theatre Suppliers. Also, Frank added, “I had the pleasure of playing piano at nights at Swain’s Steak House during the sixties, something that enabled Shirley to stay home and raise the kids."

Frank is retired now and spending his time writing his second book. His first published work was titled “The Tiny Star.”

He and Shirley have two grandchildren, Nikki and David.

Frank is one of the movers and shakers of the CHS55's website and reunion committee.



Another “lurker” is my friend Dick Ratcliffe whom I knew at Piedmont but who spent his high school days at Tech.

Dick writes that, “It's difficult to totally comprehend that is has been 55 years since graduating from Tech in 1954. Highlights for me have been the US Army, two years..between Ft. Knox and Germany. My wife Janie and I married in 1957 and celebrated our 50th Anniversary two years ago.
I worked for Monsanto and Celanese (Hoechst) for a total of 30 years. Along the way I graduated from UNCC, doing it the hard way while working. Janie graduated from Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing in Charlotte; she's from Gastonia.
Traveled extensively worldwide with Celanese and my last location was New Jersey prior to my early retirement in 1987.


Janie is also retired and we live in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. We have a home located on the Little Manatee River near Tampa Bay and thoroughly enjoy our leisure life in Florida. Hurricanes still concern us but during the season we keep our evacuation plans handy.


Our four grown married children also live near us and provide us with a number of grandchildren and step grand children. More pleasure than I would have ever imagined. So far my health is very good and I turned 73 last March along with most of class of 1954. Tempus fugit.


I certainly enjoy keeping up with my Central friends and acquaintances via your well run web site. It always brings back many forgotten memories of both Central and Piedmont. Thank you very much.
With best regards

Dick Ratcliffe

Thanks Dick. I especially liked the part about the well run website. Like me, I’m sure a lot of our folks remember you well from our Piedmont days.

And we want all of you non members of the 54 class to come out of the shadows and let us know who you are, so we can welcome you to the site.

Being a member of the class of ’54 is NOT a requirement for participation in our site. Any friend of Central High is a friend of ours!

-Ed

New Gadget

I have added a new "feature" (computer geeks call it a "gadget") to our site called "QUOTE OF THE DAY" Please let me know if you come accross a quote that you'd like to add.
The quotes will be published on the right hand side of the first page. -Ed

What We Missed

Those of us who graduated in 1954 have so much to be thankful for. Not the least of which is that body piercings and tattoos were unheard of back then.

Well, some of the men returning from WW2 battlefronts did have them, but as a professor of mine once said, "A tattoo simply means that you've been drunk at least once in your life."

Now, 55 years later, 24% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 50 have at least one tattoo.

According to what I read on the internet, Charlotte has 61 tattoo parlors!

Make sure you don't accidentally wander into one of them or you might come out looking like this.......

Mini Reunion in Jonesborough?

That's the way it's shaping up. As we mentioned, Ellouise will be one of the storytelling artists at the National Storytellers Festival and more and more of our folks are planning on attending. So far Don and Letty Nance will attend and Betsy (Villas) White and a friend are going (As she mentions in her note below, Betsy's husband Hank will be performing elsewhere that weekend.) I'm sure there will be more of us making the trip up to the scenic and cool Tennessee mountains for a "laugh a minute" good time.

If you'd like to attend, make plans now for the 37th National Storytelling Festival, October 2-4, 2009 in Jonesborough, Tennessee!

Oh, and to put "icing on the cake," this years Festival is being sponsored by:






I got this nice note today from Betsy:

"Thank you for the web site! I love hearing about folks and what is going on in their lives. I, too, (along with a friend) am going to Jonesborough for the Storytelling Festival. I have been once before, and certainly have no intention of missing this year when Ellouise will "debut". Looking forward to seeing Don Nance and his wife there. Any more classmates interested in having a mini-reunion in Jonesborough? The weekend is fabulous and gives me so much to chew on for months afterward.

The fun news in our family is the inauguration of my daughter-in-law, Janet Morgan Riggs, as the President of Gettysburg College on September 12th. She is the wife of my oldest son, Ed. Jan is an outstanding person in so many ways and we are all so excited and pleased that the College has recognized her abilities and her wisdom and her talents.

On that same weekend my husband, Hank, will be performing at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in a play called "Pills". The play was written by a woman in my (very small) writing group and the music was written by another woman who lives in our area and teaches music at Moravian College.

It is a play about a nursing home and is funny and poignant. Hank will be on the road between Gettysburg and Philadelphia a lot that weekend. As always, things seem to come in bunches but I'm just happy that things keep rolling on!"

-Betsy

Once Upon a Time there was this.........

One of my favorite storytellers is our own Ellouise (Diggle) Schoeteller. She's so good that the she does it professionally. She was recently interviewed by an internet radio station called Storyteller.net Amphitheater about what Ellouise calls, "The New Front Porch."

Her interview is in 3 parts....and can be found at the bottom of THIS PAGE

If you haven't heard, Ellouise has hit the big time. She'll be performing at the National Storyteller's Festival in Jonesborough, TN this Fall.

That National Festival is considered the Super Bowl of storytelling.

Just think, we knew her WHEN.

The Elite Meet to Eat

Again.

Rumor has it that Jimmies of Mint Hill, the Stork Club of Highway 51, is considering naming one of the dining rooms the "CHS54 LDL ROOM."
This site will let you know if, and when it becomes official.

Meanwhile Jerry Gaudet continues to earn his exorbitant salary from this website by not only taking the usual still pictures of the event, but capturing the excitement on VIDEO!

Here is his report:

"We have persevered through the summer and held our 11th CHS'54 "LDL" today, and will continue on the second Tuesday of each month at Jimmies Restaurant in Mint Hill. 24 attended today and overall we have had 70 different people attend. There's room for plenty more. Come when you can.

It was good that Shirley Maynor was able to attend and Peggy and Buck Anderson came down from (the cool mountains) Fletcher, NC to be with us.

As we tried to do a brief VIDEO clip for the web site, Karol Broadwell Welch's husband, Bob, was picked to anchor our grouping and was asked to "go stand in the corner". That's just what Bob did.

Watch the video at the bottom of the page!

(Videography by Sylvia Brawley ...Vic's wife)

100 Years Old!

Congratulations to our friend and former principal, Dr. John Otts.

Jerry Gaudet reports:

Jennie Meador Forehand tells us of word from Betty Cunningham that our Central High School Principal, Dr. John Otts, will celebrate his 100th birthday on Friday, August 14.

Imagine having dealt with the likes of our class and still surviving to the age of 100! We heard from Betty at our 55th Anniversary Reunion that Dr. Otts was in "pretty good shape for his age".

Want to send him a card? Send a card. Come on, send a card. Today.
Dr. John Otts
Azalea Hall - Highlands Farms
200 Tabernacle Rd
Black Mountain, NC 28711

It Wouldn't Suds and Couldn't Foam

Our President (of the Reunion Committee) Obie Oakley held a closed door meeting last week and declared that Grandmas Lye Soap was now the official soap of the CHS54 website. I'm happy to announce that the vote was unanimous!

Grandma's Lye Soap holds a special place in our memories. Our parents and grandparents were very familiar with it. And I'm not sure, but I think my Mom used it occasionally on hard to clean items. My hands and ears come to mind. I'm sure my grandma in South Carolina (Pelzer) used it. I think she also made it.

We even SANG it. At least Johnny Stanley's version of it.

There's an old expression that goes, "You don't want to know how they make sausage."
Well, I think the same thing applies to Grandma's Lye Soap.

But here's the recipe anyway...in case you don't have anything else to do this weekend:

"Before the mid 1800's most Americans made their own soap. It was made from hog fat in the fall or from saved drippings from either beef or pork.
Though there is no medical evidence that old fashioned lye soap cures poison ivy, it is sometimes called poison ivy soap. It has also been claimed to cure dandruff, psoriasis, itchy skin, acne, eczema, bed bugs, poison oak, mosquito bites, mites and head lice."

Thanks Obie. Keep up the good work. -Ed

Sad News

Bob Ellis reports that Benny Cofer's wife Xylda passed away.

This is from the Charlotte Observer of August 9, 2009

Xylda Cofer

TUCSON, AZ -- Mrs. Cofer passed away August 4, 2009, at her home in Tucson, AZ. She was born August 23, 1938, in Kinston, NC to the late John Bryan and Ruth Bland. She attended Central High School in Charlotte, NC, where she was very active, well known and voted as Homecoming Queen and Most Popular for the class of '56. She married her junior high school sweetheart Benny C. Cofer July 13, 1958, in Raleigh, NC, and enjoyed 51 years of loving happiness

She enjoyed singing in a barbershop chorus in Raleigh, NC, and living and boating on Lake Hartwell in Anderson, SC. She retired as an Administrative Assistant, from Corning Glass Works in Raleigh, NC, and Stauffer Chemical Company in Anderson, SC. She retired early due to poor circulation, the beginnings of her struggle with strokes and dementia.

To the end she remained joyful and sunny, never losing one of the most beautiful smiles ever. She and her husband lived in the Carolinas before moving to live with daughter Lori in Tucson, AZ. Xylda is survived by Brothers Wilbur (Iris), and Jerry (Judy) Bland, daughters Lisa Belue and Lori Cofer, two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Our deepest sympathy to Benny. -Ed

Our Dear Leader is Honored

AGAIN!

The President of our reunion committee, Obie Oakley is the recipient of yet ANOTHER National award.

No, make that a GLOBAL award.

In addition to his full time job with our reunion committee, Obie is also the executive director of the Carolinas Freedom Foundation, which is a patriotic organization that honors our veterans, supports the troops and promotes patriotism. Obie received the Global Citizen Award at the World Affairs Council's awards dinner where they honored the Carolinas Freedom Foundation.

Obie is shown here accepting the award and later posed with three star general, Lloyd Thomas who was one of the presenters.

Past recipients of the award include Dr. Billy Graham, Dean Rusk, Senator Dole, Hugh McColl, John Belk and General Hugh Shelton.


















Congratulations Obie! You're in good company!

Beating the Heat

1954





2009

Don and Letty Nance are enjoying cool (cold?) Alaska!


Incidentally, Don told me that he's going to Jonesborough, TN again this year. The big Storyteller festival is held there each Fall. This festival is considered the "BIG TIME" for storytellers. And this year, our own Ellouise (Diggle) Shotteller has been invited to perform!
Don says we all ought to arrange for a bus and all go together to the Festival. He says it's a laugh a minute!



Mitzi Minor Roper has escaped to the mountains; but not really to escape the heat. She has been doing what she loves best and that is taking care of the future Miss Charlotte of 2026; a beauty named Loren Jane who happens to be the grandchild of Miss Charlotte of 1958.

Another Home Run for Grandaddy Carriker

One of the most exciting stories that we've had here on this website was the electrifying home run hit by Bill Carriker's grandchild, Dalton Carriker that won the Little League World Series in 2007.

Dalton became an instant national celebrity.

Now, you'd think that's enough glory to last any grandaddy a lifetime.

But not for Bill...the glory just keeps on coming!

Take a look at this article from Macon (Georgia) dot com:


WRALL softball headed to World Series in Portland

By Chris Deighan

Once again, fate tapped a Carriker on the shoulder. And, once again, a Carriker delivered.
Seven years after big sister Kaitlyn helped put Warner Robins on the Little League map and two years after big brother Dalton cemented the town's spot in youth sports lore, Carson Carriker delivered a tie-breaking, two-run triple in the fifth inning to lead Georgia past Florida, 9-8, in the championship game of the Little League Southeast Region softball tournament Tuesday at Marshall University's Dot Hicks Field in Huntington, W.Va.
Like the softball team in 2002 and the baseball squad in 2007, Warner Robins American Little League has again earned a World Series berth. This time it's Aug. 13-19 in Portland, Ore.


Bill writes...

"THE GIRLS LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES FOR 11/12 YEAR OLDS WILL BE HELD 13 THRU 19 IN PORTLAND OREGON. CARSON COULD BE ON ESPN IF THE SOUTHEASTERN TEAM FROM WARNER ROBINS ,GA MAKES THE SEMIFINALS.

"WISH THE GIRLS LUCK AND WATCH IF YOU HAVE TIME. WE ARE BUSY MAKING ARRANGEMENTS TO ATTEND. THIS WILL BE OUR THIRD LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES. WE ARE EXCITED...LIFE IS GOOD."

-BILL CARRIKER

Photo of Dalton and his grandaddy Bill (2008)

Butting Heads in August

It’s the middle of August. 1953. Temperature (in the shade) is 90 degrees. But we were in the Sun; dressed in the same outfits we would wear in late November. We had been running, jumping, banging full speed into blocking dummies and each other for two hours. But the ordeal was almost over. Soon we would be sipping our first taste of glorious water and relieve the awful symptoms of “cotton mouth.” In addition to water we were given a “salt pill” to make up for all that sweating that had drained from our bodies.

Football practice was almost over for the day. Just one ritual left.

“Wind sprints,” Coach Madden yelled out. “the guy who comes in last, takes one lap around the track.”

We lined up on the 20 yard line and raced as fast as we could to the goal line. Sometimes, if the coach wasn’t pleased with the way the practice went that day, we would do 2 or 3 wind sprints and maybe the whole team would be instructed to run a couple of “laps” around the quarter mile track.

Then, it was over. Until the next day at 9 o’clock.

There were two practices a day, 9am til 12 and 2 til 4. This went on for 2 to 3 weeks.

Now, when my 73 year old mind wanders into that twilight zone in the brain…and I fantasize about being young and in high school again, I think ALGEBRA and WINDSPRINTS and suddenly I’m back to reality….and thankful for it.

-Ed

Texas Gold

News from Jackie Pickard Marcotte:

"Chuck and I are well, and feel very blessed with our new granddaughter. Sadie McKayla is the daughter of our son Tom and wife Celani. Tom works for ExxonMobil as did his Dad who is now retired. Celani is on maternity leave from ExxonMobil at the time being. They both work in Human Relations. They live in Sugar Land, TX, about 45 minutes from where we live in Houston. Both Tom and Celani are graduates with masters from Texas A&M University. I retired from local school system after 15 years as attendance clerk. While caring for family members health needs, we have not done a great deal of traveling so don't have any news there."

Al Selby Checks In

Rolling right along.....Al Selby tells about a great historical journey ....in a mobile home!


"In June Nancy & I took our 9 year old granddaughter, AVERY, on a civil war journey which she had just finished studying (her request). We started at Appomatox, hit Montecello and Manassas, and ended up in Gettysburg. It was a great week in the motor home.

In July Nancy and I took our 7 year old granddaughter, AMBER, on a trip up the NC outer banks to see some aquariums (her request). This was her first trip in the motor home. We started in Wilmington and visited the NC Aquarium at Ft Fisher, then visited the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, rode the ferry to Ocracoke Island and visited the lighthouse, then to Hatteras and visited the lighthouse, then to Kill Devil Hill to the Wright Brothers Memorial, then to the NC Aquarium at Manteo (Roanoke Island), and finally home. It was a great week with our youngest grandchild. By the Way, AMBER states the Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores is the best with Ft Fisher a close second.

We are busy planning a trip to Washington to see the monuments with the 4 oldest grandchildren the week of August 10th (age 9 - 17); and a trip to San Diego in September for the annual convention of my retirees association. More on that later."

AL SELBY


(Al, when yaw'll get up to the Washington area be sure to stop by and visit the CHS54 Institution. Guided tours are conducted weekly from 9am til 5pm. The complex is only 6 miles from the White House, as the crow flies. It's a little longer in a Mobile Home.)

-Ed

A Sweet Story

While waiting for more "up-dates" from you '54 Wildcats, I want to pass along something sweet!

Fresh off the UPS truck...from the swamps of Wewahichka, Florida to my front door, the finest HONEY in the world! That's not just my opinion either. I think they even made a movie about it, but I don't know about that. I read about it in an outdated magazine at my dentist's office. (It's an ill wind that blows no good.).

It's called TUPELO HONEY....Its only found in swamp lands in the deep south where the Tupelo trees grow and it's very difficult to get because there's such a short time to harvest it....before the other flowers bloom and the bees start mixing inferior honey with the TUPELO HONEY.

And, it ain't cheap.

But it's the best I've ever tasted....it's NOT sweet, sweet....like other honeys....in fact I understand that some doctors allow their diabetic patients to eat it. (However, be sure to check with your doctor about that!)



At the next board of directors meeting I am going to recommend that it be designated as THE OFFICIAL HONEY OF THE CHS54 Website.



Take a look at their WEBSITE and try a small jar to see if you like it.

Up Dates

Thanks to Jerry Gaudet's latest "Blast eMail," responses are pouring in.

Well.......Perhaps that's a little too enthusiastic.......they're actually "trickling" in.

However, they're all exactly what we want; an informal "up-date" of your life today!

It's "Show and Tell" time:


WARREN SPARROW

"In response to Jerry Gaudet's plea, here is my offering. There are three photos attached to this email. The first is of me reading to grandson Hammond in our living room. The second is this spring's tulip patch in our front yard. The third is a bunch of cows who stopped in our front yard the other day. They bring new meaning to the phrase "holy cow."

John Merritt

"I have loved the memories of Central. I often wonder why. I didn't try very hard in class, at graduation, I still owed the school many hours of detention hall for being tardy, and always seemed to be a little out-of-step with assignments. Nonetheless, most of my fondest recollections are about classes and teachers. Other things, like waterboying Football for you and others, being in a play, lunches across Elizabeth, and just goofing off make those memories very special. Selective memory is better than selective hearing, and nobody has to repeat themselves.

During the twelfth grade I joined the Naval Reserves, and soon after graduation went on active duty. Two years on a destroyer will cause the most difficult cases to mature. I learned a lot, grew up a bunch, saw much of the world, served my country, and earned the GI Bill.

After the Navy, I attended college and eventually graduated a couple of times from East Carolina with degrees in Art and Art Education. After three years in the Charlotte-Mecklenberg system, I returned to EC to teach. After EC, I moved to Gastonia to teach at Gaston College. After four years, I had the itch for more graduate school. I got my doctorate from NC State, and followed that with twenty-six more years of administrative work back at Gaston. Since retirement, I have taught part time, volunteered at Habitat for Humanity, repaired antiques, and attempted to persuade a little white golf ball to go where I wanted despite the laws of physics and my limited aptitude. I was fortunate to marry a woman with patience, personality, and perseverance. Sounds like she was a troll, but actually pretty good looking. We are proud to have three children and two spoiled grandchildren. Our health has been good even though we are slowly attempting to become bionic.

It has been a good life with few regrets-- yes, things I didn't do, not those that I did. If I could go back to being seventeen again, I would decline, but if karma says I must, I hope most of
it will be like the past, and has a school like Central."

John....the class monitors have been trying to track you down for years to have you make up all those hours you failed to spend in detention hall. We expect you to pay your debt and report to Detention hall on the second Tuesday of every month at Jimmies of Mint Hill. -Ed

PS....In athe FIRST post, I mistakenly said the FIRST Tuesday of the month. What I should have said was the SECOND Tuesday of every month! SECOND Tuesday of the month at Jimmies.

And now a word from our sponsor...

I've been forced by the reporter's union to raise the salaries of the already overpaid
staff here at the CHS54 media complex.

As a consequence, we are forced (once again) to accept advertising at our formally commercial free flagship website.

Please support our sponsors.

-Ed

"People tell me "Gee you look good." There are three ages of man: youth, middle age, and "Gee, you look good.""
- Red Skelton

One of the Mystery Girls Identified

Maxcyne Motte Yaworsky was kind enough to email us from way out in Ogdon, Utah

"I was very sorry to hear of John Ballards passing. The picture you posted from Gene Moore has one face that I can identify for you. The girl to the far right of the photo is Emily Killingsworth. She was at Central for her Sophomore year and later (I think) transferred to Myers Park.
She and I connected later at Charlotte Memorial Hospital where we were both Medical Technologists. "

-Maxcyne

Travel Tips

Al Gore's internet is a wonder to behold! I came upon a site, by accident, that convinced me that we can all throw away our maps...forget the GPS lady....and just ignore your spouse who is making noises like, "you're driving in circles and don't know where you are....etc."

Relax. Just stop in at the nearest filling station or convenience store and pick up a can of RC Cola!

That's right! It works like this:

If your can on the far left looks like this one, you're in Columbus, Ohio. If it's a white can you're in the mountains of Louisville, KY. If it has white stripes around it like the middle can, you're in Holland, Mich. If it is narrow and has a yellow stripe around the top, you're in Chicago.
And if it looks like the can on the far right...with a red stripe around the top......you've arrived safely back home in Charlotte.

Happy trails!


THIS JUST IN:

The 15th annual RC and Moon Pie Festival was held last week in Bell Buckle, Tennessee and witnesses say that it was the best one yet! Since we cronologically challenged Wildcats are not due for another reunion for another 5 years or so, I'm going to suggest to the Reunion Commttee that we all meet next June for the RC and Moon Pie Festival. There's fun for everyone beginning with the RC Moon Pie parade followed by the Moon Pie Toss and the RC Dash. For those of us less athletically inclined there's Syncronized Wading.

All in all, according to the Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce "it's a day of fun for young and old celebrating THREE southern traditions: RC Colas, Moon Pies and Historic Bell Buckle, Tennessee...where we are 100 years behind the times and proud of it."


ONE MORE THING

I don't know exactly when this old RC Cola bottle was used, but when I saw this picture....it was like a "time machine" transporting me instantly to another time...and another place.

It seems that I was suddenly about 6 years old sitting in the dining room of our house on East 5th Street drinking a "coke." (We alternated between Cokes, Pepsis, and RC's....depending on which was on sale at the A&P.) We called them all "Cokes."

I believe it was those yellow pyramids that set off that journey in my mind. The feeling only lasted for a split second...but it was powerful.

But, of course, the explanation could be a very simple one: creeping senility, first signs of dementia, or perhaps the pyramids I was thinking about were really the ones on that pack of Camel cigarettes....that made me so sick.

-Ed

"You know you're getting old when you stop to tie your shoes and wonder what else you can do while you're down there."-George Burns

Back Surgery

Marlene Ritch Beaty lets us know that Jackie Lookabill had back surgery on July 14th, and is recovering at home. She will go back to her doctor next week for a scan and progress report. Jackie is in good spirits, but still not up and around as she wants to be.


Send her a card:
Mrs. Jackie Lookabill
3601 Mountainbrook Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28210

Looking for........

Thanks to Google, I just added a "Search Bar" to the website. You will find it on the upper right hand side of this page. Happy Hunting!

I was playing around with the search bar and typed in the words, Snips and Cuts; and lo and behold, it's still there. That was one of the first things I put up on this website...many years ago...and darn, if it still doesn't look pretty good, especially when you click on the pictures to enlarge them.

-Ed

Sad News

Jerry Gaudet reports:

It is with sadness the we received word of the death of Becky Lampley's husband. Jerry Leonard passed away suddenly on July 14, from "Cardiomyopathy, a heart condition.

Becky and Jerry lost their son 3 years ago this October. They have a daughter, Amy, the mother of their two grandsons who are in military service.

The Service for "Jerry Parker Leonard" will be Sunday, July 26, at 2:30 PM, at First Baptist Church in Kingsport, Tenn. He will be buried at the Veterans Cemetery in Johnson City, TN.

We have this contact information for Becky:
Mrs. Becky Leonard
465-D Manor Dr.
Kingsport, TN 37660

Email: jbleonard@earthlink.net

Gene Moore Checks In

Gene Moore sends us this note:

I was sorry to hear the sad news of the death of CHS '54 classmate, John Earl Ballard. The message from John's wife, which was e-mailed to all of us by Jerry Gaudet, was especially touching. I was reminded of an old picture I have of John and seven other members of Calvary Methodist Church (West Boulevard, Charlotte) which was taken on the occasion of our graduation from Central High. Each graduate wore his/her graduation gown for the picture.

I have attached a copy of that picture and have identified the graduates as follows:

Second Row From Left: Gene Moore, Charles Sweitzer, Joe Kirkley, John Earl Ballard
First Row From Left: Not Remembered, Anne Disher, Not Remembered, Not Remembered

Unfortunately (probably because of my gray hair) I cannot remember the names of three of the girls. It appears in the picture that their graduation robes are different from those of the Central students, therefore they may have gone to another high school.

I join many others who fondly remember John and are sad at his passing.

Gene Moore

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Notice:

Anne (Alexander) Ballard shares her thoughts regarding John's death with us. It's a very touching read.

Scroll down to John's death announcement.

-Ed

Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming

I've used that old radio cliche sign off line before.....which emphasizes the need for more writers here at the CHS54 complex. I wish you could see the corporate headquarters here....secretaries, reporters, photographers, computer gurus. Talk about hustle and bustle,THIS is it!

I rarely get down to the corporate cafeteria anymore for a cup of coffee because of the volume of activities.............

IN MY DREAMS!

But there is one bit of truth in that flight of fancy; we need more writers. Perhaps writers is the wrong word.....contributors are what we need!

Ace reporter and keeper of the records Jerry Gaudet has just sent out a "blastmail" to everyone about this subject.

Get your thinking caps on as my third grade teacher, Ms Carr, used to say, and send us a note or two about what you're up to....your favorite memory of CHS....your least favorite, a grandkid who looks like you did 55 years ago.....a grandkid who looks a lot better than you did 55 years ago...a grandkid who doesn't look like you, whatever interests you will almost certainly interest all of us!

I'll start things off with my favorite picture. When my daughter was little my wife and I wouldn't let her do something or other....and it made her about as mad as she ever got. This is how she took out her anger at us. When we got up the next morning, this was scotch taped to our door:



Let us hear from you. Or we may scotch tape something scary on your door!



-Ed

"LDL" Still Going Strong

Jerry Gaudet reports on the latest "Let's Do Lunch" event at Jimmie's of Mint Hill. The reason Jerry is the CHS54's highest paid reporter, is because he is also an excellent photographer!


Our "LDL" is rolling along with a "summer" gathering of 27 classmates and spouses. Several more were accounted for as being away on vacations. All told, we have had 47 different classmates and 22 spouses participating. There's room for more.

It was a delight to have first-time attendance from Dottie Cammer Parker and her husband Joel, up from Boiling Springs, SC to be with us. Also, Karol Broadwell Welch and her husband Bob, Hobby Cobb came along with Jane Thornhill Cobb and Willis Rimmer brought his better half, Ruth. (Click on the picture to see a close-up of Willis' shirt - Ed)

We continue to have these luncheons on the second Tuesday of each month and would love to have others join us when you can.