01/24/12 - NNHS Newsletter

We've never used this song as a Newsletter theme before - probably because I've never heard of it before (even though it is a year older than I am...).

Happy Birthday this week to:

25 -

Jeannie Collier Fitzgerald ('65) of VA;

28 - Courtney Russ ('57) AND Jennie Sheppard ('62) of NC AND Rick Billings ('65) of NC AND My Granddaughter, Becca Harty of IL;

From Doug Nelson ('64) of VA - 01/23/12 - "Wheeler's Kandy Kitchen":

Hi Carol,

Just saw your posting about Wheeler's Kandy Kitchen from your Newsletter:

http://nnhs65.com/01-12-12-NNHS-I-Hear-You-Knocking.html

I have never heard of this place myself, but I noticed the address on the matchbox cover. I entered it into Google Maps and looked at the location using the "StreetView" (I love StreetView!) and the "Get Directions" features. It turns out that it was less than a mile from where I grew up on 22nd Street almost at the corner of Parish Avenue. Using StreetView I "traveled" a block or two further northwest on Chestnut Avenue until I noticed a small seafood market named, surprisingly, "Seafood Market" on the other side of the street on the corner of 32nd Street and Chestnut. I remembered when I was a boy I would go with my mother when she went to a seafood market that was located in a small building very close to this place. It seems unbelievable that this could be the very same building. As for it being the very same seafood market, that would be just about impossible. That place sold very fresh fish and other seafood as I recall. But, as a boy I had very little appreciation for seafood.

You can tell from the style of the art on the

matchbook that it may go back to the '20's. I have a ninety-one year-old maternal uncle (Wesley Berryman, NNHS, '38) who lived on 23rd Street near where Sammy's Confectionary used to be on Chestnut. There is a very small chance that he would remember this place. Distances seemed so much greater when I was a kid. That trip to the seafood market seemed much longer than it actually was.

Doug Nelson
Dahlgren, VA

Thanks so much, Doug! Wouldn't that be super if he did remember?!?

http://nnhs65.com/SITE-MAP.html

http://nnhs65.com/old-stomping.html

http://nnhs65.com/OOSG-S-Z.html

http://nnhs65.com/wheelers-kandy-kitchen.html

From Frank Blechman ('65) of Northern VA - 01/23/12, 6:06 PM - "RE: Ben Hooper":

Your story today about Ben Hooper is a very old one. He was Governor of Tennessee from 1911-15. He died in 1957.

Frank

Thanks, Frank - exactly! Can you even imagine the possibility of such a thing happening today? That's why the story is so charming!
I meant to include Governor Hooper's biography, but my brain is still not operating on all eight cylinders:
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_W._Hooper:
Ben Walter Hooper (October 13, 1870 – April 18, 1957) was the 28th Governor of the U.S. state of Tennessee from 1911 to 1915.
Hooper, who was of illegitimate birth, spent part of his childhood in an orphanage, was unofficially "adopted" by members of his rural Baptist church, and was belatedly acknowledged by his natural father, a prominent physician. He was a native of Newport in Cocke County, Tennessee. He was admitted to the bar in 1894, and served in the state legislature. He was a captain of the 6th U.S. Volunteer Infantry in the Spanish-American War of 1898, and nominated by the Republicans for governor in 1910 over Alfred A. Taylor. His initial Democratic opponent, incumbent Governor Malcolm R. Patterson, despite winning the nomination withdrew from race due to diffences among Democrats, which in turn led to the nomination of United States Senator and three-term former governor Robert Love Taylor, younger brother of Alf Taylor.

Then the Prohibition issue badly split the Democrats and a faction of them called "Independents" endorsed Hooper, the challenger for governor, leading to his election. During legislative sessions Hooper's administration employed armed guards. Nonetheless, he was reelected in 1912, but was subsequently defeated for a third term in 1914 by Democrat Thomas C. Rye, a Prohibition advocate. During his terms, early child labor laws were enacted and school attendance was made compulsory for young children provided that they lived within a realistic walking distance of a school. The method of the death penalty was changed from hanging to electrocution.

Hooper continued the practice of law after his time as governor and maintained a keen interest in public affairs and Republican politics until just before his death in 1957. He wrote an autobiography, The Unwanted Boy, and was widely regarded in East Tennessee as an inspirational figure.

From My Daughter, Adrienne Harty (Hillsboro HS, IL / American School, IL) of NC - currently serving an eighteen-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Seattle, Washington - 01/23/12 - "snow":

Yup... we got snow this week. Since snow doesn't happen often out here we couldn't drive our cars. Just as well, Sister Keller and I were down and out with flu like symptoms. So, we were able to recover in that time period. And we were fortunate to have our power still. Anyway, we are doing better. We are still achy and shaky, but good enough to work more. The snow was gorgeous though. I might send some pictures soon...

Oh, we went to one of those new investigators/recent convert meetings at President Larkin's house yesterday. It was the first one I have attended thus far. It was pretty cool hearing testimonies from those still learning (okay, we are all still learning) and those that have been converted. Anyway, sweet experience. I would love to attend more of those.

I love y'all!
Talk to you later,
Sister Harty
   AWWW! Get all better soon, Sister Baby Girl - love you, too!

From Ruth Ann Reece Horace ('67) of FL - 01/23/12, 1:18 AM - " Kylie is home":

Carol,

Sorry, somehow this update did not get to you. It is about 10 days old. Kylie is doing great. She is back up to her birth weight as of Friday and her color is almost back to normal. It's been a long road but thanks to blessings and prayers, she is a healthy, growing little cutie.

Ruthie
   Oh, no, it got to me just fine, Ruthie! Being down and out myself for sometime now, I just did not get to it! I'm so sorry for the delay in posting it until yesterday, but you should see the carnage that happens when I try to work while I'm sick!

   We're all so glad Kylie's all better now - thanks!

http://nnhs65.com/01-12-12-NNHS-I-Hear-You-Knocking.html

   From Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 01/23/12 - "For my friends who drive------Motion Induced Blindness":

… and for my friends who are mariners or aviators. Nifty web site.

Please note this is a safety issue and may save your life one day while on the highway.

No one should get drowsy or lose attention, even for a second. A second is quite a distance at 65 mph!

Good for Car, motorcycle, and airplane drivers

Lack of motion Induced Blindness (pilots and drivers too)

Good info, excellent with a demonstration at the link below. Lack of motion Induced Blindness was presented as a flying issue, but one can also miss things (pedestrians, motorcycles, other cars) while driving, so, keep your heads and eyes moving. The below link is a great illustration of what was taught about scanning outside the cockpit when military pilots went through training. Shipboard lookouts were also given the same training. They were told to scan the horizon for a short distance, stop momentarily, and repeat the process.

This was the most effective technique to locate other ships and aircraft. It was emphasized repeatedly to not fix one's gaze for more than a couple of seconds on any single object. The instructors, some of whom were combat veterans with years of experience, instructed pilots to continually "keep your eyes moving and head on a swivel" because this was the best way to survive, not only in combat, but from peacetime hazards (like a midair collision) as well.

The most dangerous target is the one that has NO apparent motion. This is the one you will hit without evasive action and also the one you will NOT see - as presented below.

This advice had to be taken on faith until technology produced the display linked below.

http://www.msf-usa.org/motion.html

   YOWZERS! Thanks so much for this valuable information, Captain!

From My Husband, Paul Harty (Bardolph HS, IL - '61) of NC - 01/23/12 - "Fastest State Trooper":

		This sounds like something your crowd would enjoy. I can actually picture this happening and can sense how the trooper must have enjoyed his brief moment of levity. He was taking a chance that the car wouldn't come out of the snow bank, though. Thanks again, Dools! This should soon be a classic!