09/29/04 - NNHS Newsletter - Hodgepodge, Sandi and Johnnie's Father,
and Beverly's Mother
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09/29/04 - NNHS Newsletter - Hodgepodge, Sandi and Johnnie's Father, |
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Dear Friends and Schoolmates,
NEWBIE:
1. Harry Seay ('63) of VA - 09/28/04:
Welcome aboard, Harry.
I quite agree
with you. I would have retired myself had I been doing anything - which I
wasn't. But I've decided to see the world
myself this month. Yes, St. Louis next week, and Newport News in three
weeks! What - you mean there's MORE world to see???
Oh, well, I suppose that'll just have to wait.
From Eric Huffstutler (BHS - '75) - 09/28/04:
Ding!... Ding!... Ding! The familiar sound of a simple but important bell
to children and adults alike. It was the sound of a Best Ever
Ice-Cream truck. Those familiar green and white late 50s early 60s Chevy pickup
conversions with a freezer box in place of a bed
on the back. I can't recall when they ceased to exist but a foggy memory says
sometime in the early 1970s? Fell to the wayside
like Mister Softee soft cones and its familiar white vans fluorescent lights and
gasoline generators buzzing down the street. They had
the best ice "cream" made with the real thing prior to health-conscience diets
evolved. Anyone know the history behind Best-Ever and
its demise?
Thanks, Eric! Y'all are really blowing me away with the richness of the details you're remembering!
Can anyone help Eric with "the rest of the story"? Thanks!
From Ron Miller ('59) of NC - 09/28/04:
Carol --
I tried to get in to the Elvis show that Eric mentioned, but couldn't because of
the crowd even though Elvis was
still relatively unknown at that point. However, I thought it was the
James Theater, not the
Paramount. Maybe
that's why Eric couldn't find further info? I could very easily be wrong. There
should be several from the classes
of '56 - '60 or so who went, because it was the talk of the school for several
days. Maybe one of them will remember
for sure.
Thanks, Ron! Keep reading!
From Kelly Loose Bustamante ('58) of TX - 09/28/04:
From Wayne Stokes ('65) of VA - 05/22/03 (I thought it was time to reprint Wayne's original posting here):
It's no big deal, but I do
have a memory of "The Paramount, Elvis and Me". At the time, I was not of
"legal" age to be by myself, so I had
a "babysitter" in the afternoon after school for a bit. Boy, acknowledging
that really hurts a "macho man" such as I was! I was around 8-10
years old and my mother had a teenage girl in the neighborhood watch after me
until she could get home from work.
As a reward for the
"babysitter", my mother took her and me to the Paramount Theater to see this
new "Rock and Roll" phenom that was beginning to sweep the country. I think he
had released 1 or 2 records by then and was gaining popularity very quickly.
He was appearing
"live", with some others, on stage at the Paramount. Remember, the Paramount
had a stage?
To say the least the place
was filled with adoring teenage girls screaming to the top of their lungs. I
didn't quite understand it? So, we get
to the end of the concert, and as my mother usually did, we waited until the
theater was nearly empty before we left. We go out through the
front doors, take a right toward 34th Street to head to the bus stop at 34th
and Huntington to catch a bus home. I'll add here, if you recall,
beside the theater and attached restaurant, on the corner of 34th and
Washington, was an open lot with a cab stand. There was no building there at
that time and you could clearly see to the back walkway behind the Paramount.
To make a short story
longer, as we left the theater, I noticed a huge group of people, again mostly
teenage girls, across the street, spilling
onto Washington Avenue in front of Patrick and
Silk's. Remember that place? I asked what that was about and was told
that "some of the singers" were going over there to sign autographs.
Taking a right at 34th,
headed toward Huntington, I noticed three guys come out of the back of the
Paramount and head toward Washington Avenue in our direction. Turning around
to see what all the noise was about across the street at Patrick and Silk's, I
kept walking ahead
looking backward toward the noise. The next thing I know I've "run into" one
of those guys who patted me on the head and said something
to the effect of, "Be careful there, big guy" or something to that effect. My
babysitter says, "Do you know what you just did?", to which I replied with
something like, "I didn't mean it".
She says (and again I'm
paraphrasing), "No, no, it's OK! You just ran into Elvis Presley!". To which
I'm sure I must have said something
like, "Who's that?". She quickly spread the word around North End of my
encounter with Elvis, and for a couple of weeks every teenage girl
in North End wanted to "touch" the kid
that had "run into Elvis!". But the fame was fleeting, as fame usually is, and
soon I returned to being nobody.
There you have it, "The Paramount, Elvis and Me", a true story.
Next, sometime, I'll have to tell you about Marlon Brando's version of Mutiny on the Bounty.
Thanks, again,
Wayne! That's such a great story! And now we know that it was very
near your tenth birthday when it transpired,
explaining your embarrassment at having a babysitter.
Hey - you never have told us that Brando story!
From Tom Oxner ('65) of AR - 09/28/04:
I remember the old Tankar Gas
Station on Jefferson, even though I was a "Briarfield
Boy". The junkyard next to it was Spooner's Salvage (I think).
Riding the bus (probably driven by Mrs. Coltrane) over the 39th Street Bridge,
we would look at the cool stuff there. They often had huge metal lifeboats
from ships. Later, I remember the Victor fellow at Spooner's had one of
the first 911 Porsches I ever saw (this was about 1966). I had heard how
fast and expensive it was. I remember asking myself , "Why would anyone
pay that much money for such an ugly little car?" Needless to say
my, my perspective
has changed.
Tom Oxner- with three old Porsches- two even run!
WOWZERS! Three Porsches!!!
Thanks for the detailed memory, Tom!
From Wayne Stokes ('65) of VA - 09/28/04:
Hi, Wayne!
If I read Tom correctly, I think he was referring to the 1964 NNHS team as "one
of if not the best team to ever come
from the Peninsula". In other words, I think he was paying an extremely
high (but well deserved) compliment to NNHS, coming as he
does from HHS.
Of course, every now and then I'm so wrong it's quite ludicrous, so perhaps we'd better ask him to reword his statement.
Oh, Tom! Would you clarify that for us again, please? Thanks, Babe!
From Sandi Bateman Chestnut ('65) of VA - 09/29/04 (a resend of a lost email):
As you'll see from the link below, Johnnie and I lost our birth father in FL last week:
Tribune obituaries: September 19
September 19, 2004
Johnnie
Bateman Sr.,
Fort Pierce
Johnnie William Bateman Sr., 78, died Sept. 10, 2004, at his home (in Fort Pierce, Florida).
He was born in New Bern, N.C., and lived in Fort Pierce since the mid-'60s.
He was a self-employed real estate broker in Fort Pierce for several years.
He served in the Navy during World War II.
Survivors include his wife
Christine; sons, Johnnie W. Bateman Jr. and Marty Bateman; daughters, Sandi
Chestnut and Cindy;
stepdaughters, Peggy and Shirley; brothers, Leamon Bateman, Ray Bateman and
Osburn Bateman; and a sister Elsie.
SERVICES: A funeral service
will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 21 at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens Mausoleum, Fort
Pierce. Arrangements
are by Aycock Funeral Home, Fort Pierce.
Ohhhh, Sandi! I'm so sorry this didn't reach me originally. Important things seem to get lost faster than the trivial ones.
I'm so sorry for your pain - and
Johnnie's. I've often said that the death of a parent is just not an easy
thing, no matter when it occurs,
and no matter what the relationship. You're in our hearts, thoughts and
prayers - sincerely, if somewhat belatedly.
From Jean Poole Burton ('64) of RI - 09/28/04:
Thanks, Jean. I've not
found this obituary yet, but I'll watch for it. Thanks for letting
us know. Please pass along our deepest
sympathies to Beverly..
I'm glad you have Sylvester's
portrait! Our pets are precious family members.
From Tom Norris (HHS - '72) of VA - 09/28/04:
Well ..... in response to attending the reunion ... guess next time I'll just
have to wrangle up some cute Typhoon babe to make
it legal :-). You know .... I have never dated anyone from NNHS .... Ferguson,
Denbigh, and Warwick yes .... but not NN.
Have any takers??? :-)
I see a new poster from Wythe class of '77 .... I'm gettin' older by the minute!
Take care ....
Babe
Tom, I'm actually giggling too hard to make a proper response to this! I'm trying to imagine you and your Corvette having any difficulty whatsoever scaring up a date.....
What? You never dated a
Newport News girl?!? That's shocking! Hmmm. Come to think of
it, I can only recall four guys from Hampton
that I dated myself....
Yeah, Class of '77 - can you
believe it? I had four sons by then! Still, Babe, anyone in his
forties can hardly expect any sympathy
from me on the aging ground. I've a feeling you'll never really be old
anyway. I firmly believe it's a state of mind.
Thanks, Tom!
By the way, we've already had
some success in the matchmaking department here, so if any of you gals are
interested in meeting
a younger man, lemme know. WILDER GIGGLES!!!
From Glenn Dye ('60) of TX - 09/28/04:
You know, Glenn, I suppose it's the genealogist in me, but I wondered the same thing myself. Thanks - we'll await the findings.
From Frances Goodson Wang ('65) of MD to Jerry Gammon ('63) of VA - 09/29/04:
I am so happy
that you shared this with us, Frances! Jerry's photography is quite
spectacular; I've never really seen anything like it.
Do your selves a favor and go check out his web site:
http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/contact-ALL.html
http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/contact-1963.html
http://www.GammonGallery.com
You'll notice
that I still did not hyperlink Jerry's site. You have no idea how my
computer has decided to translate that. Just to be
on the safe side, I'll cause you a little extra work so that your computer does
not direct you to the same "interesting" spot where mine
keeps sending me...Sorry about that.
Y'all take care of each other.
Love to all, Carol
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NNHS CLASS OF '65 WEB SITE:
http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com
PERSONAL WEB SITE:
http://www.angelfire.com/weird2/cluckmeat
"I only have two kinds of days: happy and hysterically happy."
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Twelfth of Never
by P. F. Webster/ J. Livingston
You ask how much I need you?
Must I explain?
I need you, oh, my darling,
like roses need rain.
You ask how long I'll love you?
I'll tell you true.
Until the twelfth of never,
I'll still be loving you.
Hold me close.
Never let me go.
Hold me close.
Melt my heart like April snow.
I'll love you till the blue bells
forget to bloom.
I'll love you till the clover
has lost its perfume.
I'll love you till the poets
run out of rhyme.
Until the twelfth of never.
And that's a long, long time.
Until the twelfth of never
and that's a long, long time....
"Twelfth of Never" midi courtesy of http://www.garyrog.50megs.com/midi3.html - 09/27/04
"Twelfth of Never" lyrics courtesy of http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/dmg/www/twelfth-never.html - 09/27/04
Iris Images from my garden in Taylor Springs, IL - 05/12/00
Purple divider line clip art courtesy of http://www.bravenet.com - 08/12/04
Small Flowers divider line clip art courtesy of http://www.bravenet.com - 08/12/04