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06/02/08 - NNHS Newsletter -
Sir Edward Elgar's 151st Birthday

I like to look on the composer's vocation as the old troubadours or bards did.
In those days it was no disgrace to a man to be turned on to step
in front of an army and inspire the people with a song.

- Sir Edward Elgar
 (2 June 1857 - 23 Feb 1934)

Dear Friends and Schoolmates,

   We first celebrated this birthday last year:

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/06-02-07-NNHS-Elgars-150th-Birthday.html

   This year for the Newsletter I chose a different composition, the Enigma Variations.  It is considerably longer; I hope you enjoy it.

BONUS - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUgoBb8m1eE - Daniel Barenboim with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, opening the 1997 season at Carnegie Hall


HOMEWORK:

http://www.elgar.org/welcome.htm

http://www.elgar.org/2english.htm

http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/Edward_Elgar/26026.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/4056/


BIRTHDAYS - TODAY AND UPCOMING:

   Happy Birthday today to       Jerry Blanchard ('62) of VA!

  Happy Birthday tomorrow to      Gail Kiger Bonsey (Ferguson HS - '73) of OR!

   Happy Birthday this week to:

04 -     
  Raoul Weinstein ('57) of FL AND    Catherine Slusser Hudson ('64) of VA;

05 -     Brian Blakley (Cheyenne HS, NV - '04) of NV;

06 - Robert Hemintoller ('57) AND Bertha Smith Zacharias ('57);
 
07 -
   Fred Field ('45) of CA AND   Al Simms ('60) of VA AND Donnie Morris ('67) of VA!

   Many Happy Returns, One and All!

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/Happy-Birthday.html  


NEWS FLASHES - HAPPY AND SAD:

1.  From Sarah Puckett Kressaty ('65) of VA - 06/01/08:

Hi Carol!!

Just thought I’d send a mini update for my family!  My daughter Amy and her family (in Novato, CA) are Coast Guard and  John is now being stationed in Chesapeake, WAY down in Chesapeake, but the movers have come and they are on the road for VA!!!!!  We are very excited.  They flew here in April and bought a house in Gloucester, and should be here by Thursday, June 5.  I will send pictures when they get here! 

Amy is an ISSA certified personal trainer ( her web site is www.risingstarfitness.com ) as well as home schools Ciarra and Soren!  Soren is just 4 so his “school day” is QUITE short!!!  We are thrilled they will be so close and Amy is excited that she will be near family for the first time in 13 years!!  Will send updates as soon as I can!!! 

Sarah

   SUPER-DE-DUPER!!! What joyous news for you all! Thanks for sharing it with us, Sarah Sugah!


2.    From Rochelle Spooner ('63) of NY - 06/01/08:

Bobby's mom went to NNHS. Look for obit in NN newspaper. I'm so sorry for Bobby and Jeffrey.
 
Love, Rochelle

   Oh, how very sad! Thank you for letting us know, Rochelle!

  From Bobby Fox ('63) of IA - 06/01/08 - "my mom":

My mom went to meet my dad and the rest of the family early this morning (Sunday).
 
For the past week she had refused her meds and food and kept talking to my dad.  We knew she was ready.  There's no doubt in my mind that my dad was communicating with her for the past few days.  Up until that time, she couldn't remember him at all.  She was ready to go.  She'll be buried this Thursday at 11 a.m.   

Thought you would like to know.  

~~Bobby

 
Robert A. Fox, CFE, General Manager
Mississippi Valley Fair, Inc.
Davenport, IA

   There are few pains harder to bear than the death of a parent - but what a beautiful passing your mama had!  You will be in our thoughts and prayers, Bobby.  I will certainly keep watching, but as of this morning, her obituary was in neither the Daily Press nor the Quad City Times:

http://www.legacy.com/dailypress/DeathNotices.asp

http://www.legacy.com/QuadCityTimes/DeathNotices.asp

   When I'm able to locate it, I'll create a Memorial Newsletter for her.  Meanwhile, please accept our sincerest condolences.


    From Linda May Bond Crayton ('66) of VA - 05/31/08:

Carol, (HI)

I also read about the civil war and when people get the wrong idea why, I tell them simply - Because we are the only people in the world who had a civil war, fought it, moved on. The only ones. We only had to do it once and it only took four years (unlike some countries I can mention)! That is what is so great about America - or was......

At any rate there is a book - now at Newport News Library - by Edward L. Bond called Damned Souls in a Tobacco Colony . It gives you a true mind set as to the way things where here in the seventeenth century and gives you a better understanding of this war. It will surprise you.

Linda May '66

   Thanks, Linda May - this sounds like a fascinating historical work!

http://www.vahistorical.org/publications/review_Bond.htm

http://www.amazon.com/DAMNED-SOULS-TOBACCO-COLONY-Edward/dp/0865547084


        From Sydney Dearing ('56) of TN - 05/31/08 - "Re: 05/29/08 - Patrick Henry's 272nd Birthday":

Hi Carol,
 
Your son         Brent Harty's (Hillsboro HS, IL - '90 - of OH) website is very informative and intelligently written.  I love American history in general and the history of the Revolutionary War and the Civil War periods in particular.  I am presently about halfway through Shelby Foote's 3000 pg, 3 volume set, The Civil War, a Narrative.  It is written in an easy to read novel style; I highly recommend it.  For anyone who loves to read and loves history, I might also recommend anything written by David McCullough.  He is another author that makes history read like a novel.  I've read four books by him so far, covering several periods in our history: 1776, John Adams, Truman, and The Johnstown Flood and every one is a pleasure to read.
 
Reading Patrick Henry's stirring ".....give me liberty or give me death." speech never fails to give me goosebumps.  There are some other speeches and writings that do the same thing, The Declaration of Independence, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, MacArthur's "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away" speech to congress, Roosevelt's "Day of Infamy" speech to congress requesting a declaration of war on Japan, Martin Luther King's "I have a dream and " Robert E. Lee's "Farewell to the Army of Northern Virginia" just to name a few. 
I personally have one more piece of writing that always me goosebumps.  It is the only surviving letter from my father to my mother written February 26, 1945 from a little volcanic island in the Pacific called Iwo Jima.  I have attached it here which reminds me, one other highly recommended book is Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley.
 
Pleasant reading,
Sydney Dearing
 
Monday, February 26, 1945
Letter From Iwo Jima

   WOWZERONI-RINI-ROONI!!! Thank you so much for sharing this incredible historical treasure with us, Sydney!


        From Sydney Dearing ('56) of TN - 05/31/08 - "Some Interesting Trivia":

Hi Carol,
 
A little trivia regarding slavery:
 
In the Declaration of Independence as first written by Thomas Jefferson, there was a clause abolishing slavery.  Because of popular pressures, however, Jefferson deleted the clause.
 
Virginia was the first colony North or South to try and stop the slave trade.
 
The CSA Constitution outlawed the slave trade in 1861.  The US did not until after the war.
 
CSA Generals Robert E. Lee, Joseph Johnston, A. P. Hill, Fitzhugh Lee, and J. E. B. Stuart were not slave owners.  US General Ulysses S. Grant kept slaves to take care of his wife while he was off "fighting against slavery."  What the.......?
 
Interesting.
Sydney Dearing

   Thanks again, Sydney! Once again, we were having this very same conversation just this week! There yet exists an appalling ignorance of our own history here in the United States....


     From Liz Breeden ('61) of VA - 05/31/08 - "A true American Idol":

Carol,

I thought you might like to see this and send on.

Liz


A true "American Idol":

This is powerful and awesome well worth your time to watch.... 

This is a new and awesome video.  Three soldiers wrote the song and put this together in their 'free time' over 'there'.  Whoever the Singer is, he needs a Recording Contract when He comes Home!  This is a small way we can show our troops we support their efforts, their sacrifice and that of their families.  Please pass this on.

TURN UP YOUR SPEAKERS !

Send this around the country to as many people as you can. This is absolutely awesome!

This soldier video is new and different. It is moving and heartwarming. Enjoy and pass it on! Click below:

http://g.dwgsee.com/wake/index.htm

   Thank you so much, Liz!


      From My Niece, Shari, of VA - 06/01/08 - "This Is Heaven":

I am having company Monday and Tuesday so I won't be back on 'til Tuesday night. Hoping the beginning of your week is happy and bright! ..... I hope to play to catch up the next few days, so I am taking a small e-mail break. I found this story really cute, so I hope u do too!

 
                             ~ * ~   The Cat in the Bag   ~ * ~
 
When my aunt's beloved feline died, she prayed to see her pet again in heaven. Did this cat have nine lives? 

Aunt Faye and her cat Sophie were inseparable. In fact, though Aunt Faye never had any children, Sophie was like a child to her. I have to admit that the cat was amazing. Sophie always knew when Aunt Faye wasn't feeling well. In fact, Sophie even knew when Aunt Faye's feet were cold at night. Because that cat would snuggle up at her feet in bed, Aunt Faye used to call Sophie her "bed warmer." My aunt was sort of hard of hearing, so when anyone came to the door of her apartment, Sophie ran to the door to alert her.

Good old Sophie the cat was getting on in years. My aunt would call me from time to time to ask me to drive Sophie and her to the veterinarian. In fact, I think she took better care of Sophie than herself. If Aunt Faye didn't feel well, she wouldn't go to the doctor; she would just take an aspirin. But should Sophie sneeze or cough with a hairball in her throat, we were on our way to the vet almost immediately.
January 15, 2007
Highway to Heaven

So it came as a bit of a shock when Aunt Faye called me crying hysterically, "Sophie is dead! My little Sophie is dead!"

Between sobs, Aunt Faye explained, "You know I don't sleep so well at night. So the doctor gave me some sleeping pills. I didn't like the way they smelled so he told me to put a drop of vanilla extract into the bottle to make the pills taste like candy. So this morning when I was cooking in the kitchen, Sophie got into my bedroom and accidentally knocked over my bottle of sleeping pills. They must have smelled good to her because she ate almost every last one of them. The empty bottle was on the floor next to her."

Aunt Faye was still crying uncontrollably. "You know how long my Sophie and I have been together?" Not even waiting for my answer she said, "We've been together for twelve years. Yesterday, I even bought her a new cat food. They said this cat food was softer for older cats...her teeth have started to fall out like mine. Do you know how much Sophie meant to me?"

I sympathized with her.

"Now what can I do?" she sobbed.

"I'm so sorry, Aunt Faye, there isn't much you can do. Put Sophie's body in a paper bag, and place it in the garbage can in the basement. The sanitation department will take her away."

"What?" she screamed. "My Sophie in a garbage can? She was like my child. Since your uncle passed away, she's been my closest friend for all these years. I can't just put her in the garbage!"

"Okay," I said. "I'm working very late tonight so I won't be able to get over to your house. However, if you'll feel better about it, take a taxi to your veterinarian and ask him to have Sophie taken to the animal cemetery. I'll provide the money for the plot and the burial."

The tears continued. "Will I be able to visit her from time to time?"

"Sure. I'll take you to the pet cemetery any time you want to go."

"How can I take Sophie to the vet? Her carrying case fell apart a few years ago."

"Put her in your old suitcase. It's not too big and Sophie will fit perfectly."

"Will there be a funeral?"

"No, dear. The vet calls the people from the pet cemetery. They'll put Sophie in a little casket and take her to the cemetery."

"Okay," she muttered with a broken heart. "It will be dignified?" she asked.

"Yes, it will," I said.

That was it. I felt bad for her, but there was nothing more I could do.

About six o'clock that evening, Aunt Faye called me at my office. "Arnold, I have something to tell you." Strangely, I sensed excitement in her voice.

"Did you go to the vet?" I asked.

"I did just like you said. I put Sophie in my suitcase. I was standing by the bus stop waiting for a cab, so I figured, Why spend money for a taxi when I could certainly take the bus? So I put the suitcase down next to me and started to look into my purse to see if I had the exact change. While I was looking in my pocketbook, some teenage boys came up behind me. One threw me to the ground and grabbed my suitcase with Sophie inside!"

"Oh no, Aunt Faye! Did you get hurt?"

"Just a few scratches. Nothing serious. I yelled for the police, but nobody came. So what could I do? I figured this was the way my relationship with Sophie was supposed to end. So I went home."

"I don't believe this!" I said, trying to hold back my laughter. "Can you imagine the expression on those kids' faces when they opened the suitcase and found a dead cat?"

She started to laugh. Aunt Faye was actually laughing!

"Wait, wait -- that's only part of the story. Sophie came home! She really wasn't dead! I only thought she was dead because she was lying so still when I found her in the bathroom this morning. Being jostled back and forth in that suitcase must have finally roused her. When I got back to the house, she was waiting at my door!

"Arnold, thank you for all your help. I prayed for Sophie to enter heaven, and she came back to me."

The next time I went to visit Aunt Faye, she had a little sign on her front door that read, "This is heaven."

- ARNOLD FINE

   What a charming story - thanks, Shari!


      From Sepi Dinwiddie Prichard ('58) of NC - 06/01/08:

Carol and Typhoon Family...

Thanks to    Jimmy Shires ('57 - of VA) I finally reached my old friend Edna Martin Clemence on Saturday, we had a looooonng marathon phone call, you are well aware of those phone calls.  Just wanted to thank Jim for his efforts to help me reach her.  She is doing well and had just come in off the golf course.  Once again the Typhoon Nation has answered the call !  Would still be wondering if it weren't for you and your hard work on the wonderful Newsletter.  Thank you for all your do !

Dimples aka Sepi

   WOWZERS! What a happy thought! Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Dimples! Sometimes there's just nothing that can equal the joy of reconnecting with old friends!


  From Elaine Wilkinson Bracken ('61) of VA - 06/01/08 - "newsletter news":

Carol,
 
Hope this note finds you MUCH better. I worry about you--which does no good--so I pray for you instead--that works!!!!

   It's funny that you should ask, Elaine. Last week I was feeling much, much worse. Last Sunday was a nightmare. Then I had a drastic turn-around this week, and yesterday I felt better than I had in months! Thank you for those prayers!

    
My sister-in-law (my brother's widow) and I took a trip to Florida at the end of April and coming home she happened to mention the very nice man she is seeing--"he used to be a coach before he retired", she said. Turned out to be
  Warren Mitchell, our coach at NNHS. Well, she and I had planned a bus trip to the Marine Corps Museum and Mt. Vernon, so Warren invited the two of us out to dinner. He looks great and is still as handsome as ever. I invited him to out mini reunion, but he call me yesterday and had to decline. He plays tennis several times a week and is "fit as a Fiddle".

   COOL BEANS!!!
When I was at the Marine Corps Museum I thought of
   Joe Madagan ('57 - of FL) constantly and felt
      Herbie's (Hice - 22 Oct 1924 - 18 Apr 2008) spirit in every hall. What a place!!!
 

Please take care of yourself.
    
With much appreciation of all you do, Elaine

   WOWZERS - that must have been mighty special! I miss that Herbie so much.....

   Thank you so much, Elaine - have fun at your mini-reunion Saturday!


PRAYER ROLL (arranged alphabetically, but not necessarily complete):

1.   Jerry Allen ('65) of VA - began radiation for cancer last week of February; it was delayed when he was diagnosed with pneumonia on 02/20/08; update of 03/11/08: recovered from pneumonia, is in his third week of radiation, and seems to be doing well. He is back at work and comes home tired, but overall, he is in pretty good shape; update of 03/24/08: last radiation treatment was Friday; "looking good and feeling pretty good except for very irritated skin and fatigue"; update of 04/05/08: "getting better each day"; update of 04/14/08: "now dealing with a blood clot in his pic line; receiving daily injections in the abdomen and taking antibiotics and blood thinners; feels pretty good in spite of everything and his ATTITUDE is great---as usual"; update of update of 04/24/08: "no longer taking daily abdominal injections for blood clot that developed a few weeks ago; everything is looking pretty good.  The PET scan will be in the next few weeks.  We are expecting good results." update of 05/05/08 - "scheduled for two more chemo visits; will have the first chemo on Thursday, May 8th followed up by an injection on Friday to boost his immune system"; update of 05/08/08 - "did pretty well with the chemo today in spite of the risky business with the procedure without the pic line that was removed due to a clot"; update of 05/28/08: has chemo again on 05/29/08

2.   Connie Bloxom Thompson ('66) of MD - multiple heath and financial issues; needing cataract surgery to prevent inevitable blindness ASAP; update of 03/11/08: "SO FAR, 1/2 FUNDS FOR 1 EYE PROCEDURE"; update of 03/28/08: re-hospitalized; $1475.00 received so far; still short of $2000.00 goal; update of 04/28/08 - SEE ABOVE

Connie Bloxom Thompson
2237 Hunter Chase
Bel Air, M
D 21015

3. Clyde Bryant ('58) of PA - heart replacement surgery - 12/13/07

4.       My Niece Shari of VA - 05/26/08 - dangerous abscess in mouth

5.      Me ('65) of NC - recent (late January) development of congestive heart failure plus the usual financial woes; update of 03/28/08: not as well as I'd hoped to be by now; more downs than ups..... ; update of 04/18/08 - SEE: 04/18/08

6. Emily (daughter of        My Niece Shari) of VA - advancing scoliosis; surgery 03/11/08; update of 03/12/08: surgery went well, running slight fever; update of 03/18/08: had some ups and lows, but is home again; update of 04/14/08 - still in pain, running a fever; update of 04/18/08 - SEE: 04/18/08; update of 05/05/08 - "finally getting better. Her hamstring stretching is painful, but making a big difference. She has years of physical therapy ahead of her, but is doing soo much better"; update of 05/13/08 - has had a setback; going to see the surgeon in Richmond on 05/15/08.

7. My second granddaughter,      Rachel Harty of IL - broke her ankle/leg in 3 places on 05/17/08; clean breaks, no surgery required, but located in a tricky place for a growing girl, so proper healing is essential; update of 05/30/08 - "healing nicely. They put her in a cast below the knee. She still can't put any weight on it for 2 more weeks. Then she will be in a walking cast for 3 weeks after that."

8
. Frances Heath Scott ('62) of VA - inflammation of nerves; due to have been released from hospital on 02/27/08; update of 04/14/08 - "at home recuperating"; update of 05/22/08 - "still at home recuperating"

9. Bobby Hedrick ('58) of VA - recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; update of 03/22/08: "doing very well, no pain, just some soreness"; update of 05/10/08: "continues to do well since the surgery for pancreatic cancer and will now begin the follow-up treatment to be decided upon following the consultation and evaluation at MD Anderson (Houston)."

10.        John London (Warwick HS - '57) of VA - lumbar surgery to fix a spinal stenosis [ laminectomy]; will also involve fusion of vertebrae - 02/05/08

11. Pam Pennington Cherry ('58) of VA - congestive heart failure; cardiac ablation procedure - 02/06/08; second surgery on 02/20/08 for aneurysm; update of 03/17/08 - still experiencing difficulty with heart racing, breathing and pressure in her chest; pray that cardiac ablation procedure will not have to be repeated, and that Pam can learn to REST!;  update of 05/04/08 - "in about eight months she will indeed have to have the ablation process repeated. "

12. Tommy Scott ('61) of VA - update of 04/14/08 - "at home recuperating"; update of 05/22/08 - "still at home recuperating"

13. Jenny Willett Wilson (daughter of the late    Edie Hallett Willett - '63) of VA - 05/05/08 - "underwent a double mastectomy in 2007, has just completed vigorous chemo and is now undergoing radiation treatments every day for seven weeks"

14. All of Us


 DATES TO REMEMBER:
1. Saturday, June 7, 2008 - NNHS CLASS OF 1957 AND OTHER NNHS ALUMNI   

      http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/reunion-class-of-1957.html 

2. Saturday, June 7, 2008 - NNHS CLASS OF 1961:

Mini reunion at the home of    Buddy and     Libby Blechman David of VA

3. Saturday and Sunday, June 14-15, 2008 - NNHS CLASSES OF FEBRUARY AND JUNE 1948:

     http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com

4. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, September 26 - 28, 2008 - NNHS CLASS OF 1968:

     http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/reunion-class-of-1968.html - 03/31/08

5. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, October 17 - 19, 2008 - NNHS CLASS OF 1963:

       http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/reunion-class-of-1963.html  - 03/26/08


   Remember, there's so much more to come - soon - REALLY-REALLY! 

   Y'all take care of each other!  TYPHOONS FOREVER!  We'll Always Have Buckroe!

                          Love to all, Carol

==============================================

NNHS CLASS OF '65 WEB SITE: http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com

PERSONAL WEB SITE: http://www.angelfire.com/weird2/cluckmeat

==============================================

Carol Buckley Harty
219 Four Ply Lane
Fayetteville, NC 29311-9305  
910-488-9408
     
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Enigma Variations

Composed by Sir Edward Elgar, 1899
 (2 June 1857 - 23 Feb 1934)


Elgar's "Enigma Variations" midi (sequenced by Robert Finley) courtesy of http://midistudio.com/Management/R-Finley/Sequences2.html - 05/31/08

First Elgar Image courtesy of http://facstaff.uww.edu/allsenj/MSO/NOTES/0607/8.Apr07.html - 06/02/07

Second Elgar Image courtesy of http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/302.htm - 06/02/07

Gold Leaf Divider Line clip art courtesy of http://www.wtv-zone.com/nevr2l82/bars4.html - 01/05/06

Animated Tiny Birthday Cake clip art courtesy of Sarah Puckett Kressaty ('65) of VA - 08/31/05
Thanks, Sarah Sugah!

Navy Seal clip art courtesy of http://www.onemileup.com/miniSeals.asp - 05/29/06

Ferguson High School's Anchor clip art courtesy of Steve Silsby (FHS - '72) of NC - 12/14/05
Thanks, Steve!

Cheyenne High School's Desert Shields Logo courtesy of http://www.ccsd.net/schools/cheyenne/sports.htm - 02/05/08

Army Seal clip art courtesy of Al Farber ('64) of GA - 05/24/06
Thanks, Al!

Coast Guard Seal clip art courtesy of http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/SealsEmblems/USCG.htm  - 10/03/07

Marine Corps Seal clip art courtesy of the late Herbert Hice of MI - one of my Famous Marines who served in the South Pacific during WWII.
Thanks again, Herbie!

Air Force Seal clip art courtesy of http://www1.va.gov/opa/feature/celebrate/milsongs.htm - 07/07/06

Hillsboro High School's Topper (Band Version) clip art courtesy of http://www.hillsboroschools.net/schools/hhs/activities/music2/Band/bio.html - 06/07/08
Thanks, Mark!

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