04/26/10 - NNHS Newsletter

"The Thrill Is Gone" is a blues song written by Rick Darnell and Roy Hawkins in 1951 and popularized by B.B. King in 1970. The song was first recorded by Hawkins and became a minor hit for the musician. King recorded his version of the song in June 1969 for his album Completely Well, released the same year. The song's polished production and use of strings marked a departure from both the original song and King's previous material. When released as a single in December of 1969, the song became the biggest hit of King's career (#3 R&B / #15 Pop) and his signature song. B. B. King's recording earned him a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 1998. King's version of the song was also placed at number 183 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs ever.

Happy Birthday today to Deanna Steele Capps ('57) AND Becky Braswell Branch ('65) of AR!

Happy Birthday tomorrow to

Bill Campbell ('54) of VA AND Genis Bird Crowder Hornsby ('54) AND Barbara Jones ('54);

Happy Birthday this week to:

29 - Brenda Davis English ('64) of KS AND Mike Sagman ('66) of VA;

02 -

Billy Turner ('65) of TX AND

My Granddaughter, Rachel Harty (Collinsville HS, IL - '14) of IL;

April 26, 1945 - Battle of Bautzen: The last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht.

Monday, April 26, 1965 - A Rolling Stones concert in London, Ontario was shut down by police after 15 minutes due to rioting.

Monday, April 26, 1965 - Becky Braswell was celebrating her18th birthday in Newport News.

Becky (Braswell Branch - '65) and I are camping in South Vicksburg, MS. The tornadoes that devastated MS and caused several fatalities and injuries went north of Vicksburg. Thankfully, we were spared destruction in the RV park.

YOWZERONI-RINI and HALLELUJAH! That's a relief! Thanks so much for letting us know, Kenny!

I know you're all just clamoring for details of The Big Visit from my sister, Eleanor Buckley Nowitzky ('59 - of NC) and our cousin, Cheryl White Wilson (John Marshall HS - '64 - of VA), so with great restraint I have culled 18 images from the many we took on three different cameras to share with you.

One of our main goals was to frequent resale shops here in Edwardsville just as the four of us (Eleanor, Cheryl, Adrienne, and I) used to do in Fayetteville every three months or so. There was also the matter of spending quality time with all of our other relatives here, too, and of course we also wanted to visit St. Louis and take in a riverboat ride and the Gateway Arch. We also wanted to visit two or three local restaurants as well as a couple of luscious ice cream stands.

They arrived Monday evening, and we spent all day Tuesday just "chillin'" at home.

Wednesday the four of us gals drove to St. Louis and took the Tom Sawyer riverboat cruise:

Then we had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory, but we enjoyed it so much we were late getting to the Gateway Arch and missed the last trip up in the tram by about three minutes. ARGHHH!

Thursday morning we checked out three nearby resale stores here in Edwardsville - Happy Tails, Maggie's Primitive Cottage, and Hearth and Home. That evening was the time we had reserved for the Big Family Dinner with Everybody at Ravanelli's Restaurant in Granite City, IL. We had hoped that all 18 of us would be there, but we did have 17:

Saturday eight of us drove over to St. Louis for a fabulous Greek lunch at Olympia's, followed by dessert of concretes or sundaes at the world famous Ted Drewes on Chippewa:

Then the four of us gals continued bargain hunting at the Goodwill Industries store. Adrienne spotted a way cool flea market on the way home. We were enjoying ourselves there when the storm warnings began broadcasting - "TORNADO WARNING - take cover immediately!" YIKESARONI!

Later that evening we realized we still hadn't been to Dairy Haven in Caseyville, so after a brief rest, five of us met Lewis and Mary and their four children there for MORE cones. YIKES!!!

As Lewis (Harty - Hillsboro HS, IL - '89 - of IL) was singing a solo ("The Voice of the Shepherd") in church in Fairview Heights on Sunday afternoon (have I mentioned before that he has THE most incredible baritone voice?!?), five of us drove over to join the six of them there. WOWZERONI!!!

The Cahokia Mounds were just slightly off the road on the way home, so we took a little detour in the pouring rain:

We had a delicious dinner at home, and then Eleanor and Cheryl had to head back east. SOB!!!

(KMOV) -- Trams at the St. Louis Arch are back up and running after a group of visitors became stuck at the top of the Arch.

Everyone on the was able to get down safely after being stuck on the observation deck for over an hour.

According to an Arch spokesperson, a group of about 40-50 people were in the viewing area at the top of the Arch when a tram broke down. No one was trapped inside the tram. The tram is now running again.

The St. Louis fire department was called to the scene. They assisted one person who was in the group, a pregnant woman.

Arch officials said a leveling device on one of the trams malfunctioned. The leveling device is what keeps the tram upright during it's travels up and down the arch, but the tram never tilted. They just noticed something was wrong with it. This is on the South leg of the arch.

The leveling device was replaced. The arch has re-opened.

The North leg of the arch was undergoing seasonal maintenance, and was not operational going into the day. This is why the group couldn't get down that way.

Mom,

Here is a great blog filled with many unique pics from WWII Pacific Theater, sent to me from my pal, Bill Fowler. Enjoy!

love bh

--
Brent L. Harty

"You may be whatever you resolve to be"

General Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson

WOWZERONI-YOWZERONI-ROONI!!! There are some incredible - and incredibly painful - images here! Thanks so much, Brent - and Bill!


Monday, April 19, 2010	Wednesday, April 21, 2010	Wednesday, April 21, 2010	Wednesday, April 21, 2010	Wednesday, April 21, 2010	Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Adrienne, Eleanor, and Cheryl	Carol, Adrienne, Eleanor, and Cheryl boarding the Tom Sawyer	View of St. Louis from the Mississippi River	Eleanor onboard the Tom Sawyer Riverboat	Mr. Eads' Wonderful Bridge	Tom Sawyer

Thursday, April 22, 2010	Thursday, April 22, 2010	Thursday, April 22, 2010	Friday, April 23, 2010	Friday, April 23, 2010	Friday, April 23, 2010
Joshua playing with his children, Kaiya and Azrae	Kaiya	Kaiya and Adrienne (with Joshua and Kim in the background)	Cheryl with her Chrysler on the Mississippi River	View of St. Louis from the top of the Gateway Arch	Eleanor and Carol at the top of the Gateway Arch

Friday, April 23, 2010	Saturday, April 24, 2010	Saturday, April 24, 2010	Sunday, April 25, 2010	Sunday, April 25, 2010	Sunday, April 25, 2010
Cheryl and Eleanor in the tram coming down from the top of the Gateway Arch	Eleanor, Adrienne, Paul, Carol, and Randolph at Olympia's in St. Louis	Nathaniel and Cheryl at Olympia's in St. Louis	Elizabeth, Adrienne, Paul, Carol, Andrew, Lewis, Becca, Mary, Cheryl, and Rachel outside church in Fairview Heights, IL	Cahokia Mounds, IL	Cahokia Mounds, IL
And, BOY HOWDY, did we have fun!!!