10/13/05 - NNHS Newsletter
Happy Birthday to the United States Navy!

Happy 230th Birthday today to the United States Navy!  

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

   Hug a sailor today.  Or salute one.  Well, okay, just thank one for their services rendered.  I still would personally prefer the hugging option.

   I was immediately struck at how little the Graduation Program changed in appearance over the years.  I find that very comforting.

   I hope y'all can make out the names on the program.  So many of them are familiar - Roger Callis, for instance.

   Thanks so much, Brian!  What treasures these are!  I've posted them on Odds and Ends:

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/oddsends.html

   Well, I confess, you have me there.  I tried to find it, but all I found was that it was one of the Top Hits
of 1959.

http://www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Lyrics/1959/141959.html

http://lyrical.nl/song/17398

   I didn't see any midis for it, or we could have used it as an upcoming Newsletter theme.  I keep
threatening to learn how to draw my own clip art and write my own midis, but where would I find the time???

   My # 6 son, Dale, knows how to do both.  We received word last night that he'll be coming home
from Carlsbad, California on January 18.  Maybe he'll teach me how to do those things then.  Naaaah.....

   Thanks again, Dickie!

   EXACTAMUNDO!!!  Thanks for the validation, Gloria!

   Certainly, Dodie.  I'd be glad to help you if I can.

   I've found that the most important factor in undertaking such a project is to be certifiably insane. 

   That settled, first ask yourself how much you are willing to sacrifice.

   Ask yourself how supportive your family may or may not be of your new venture.

   Ask yourself how much time you have to devote to it.  Between the site itself and the now daily Newsletter, I typically spend ten to twelve hours a day except on Sundays. 

      Ask yourself if you want to keep the site free or if you want to charge a nominal subscription fee.  I was passionate about keeping ours free, but when it became necessary to upgrade
my own services to high speed cable from slow-as-molasses-dial-up, and to pay for the site itself, I put
up a note hinting that small donations would be nice, and then I hope for the best.   

   Then you need to identify your needs and objectives so that you can make an informed decision about selecting a server.  When I began five years ago, I was only dealing with my Class of 1965, which had about 304 students.  Therefore a regular free space such as Yahoo Geocities was more than adequate. 
The site itself only had about ten or twelve pages at that time.  It now has hundreds of pages - literally.  If you think you've seen it all, you probably have not.

   As we grew - and grew - and grew, it became necessary to purchase space to provide not only for our massive archiving of everything which ever existed in the entire community and beyond, but because
of the bandwidth needed to support hundreds of daily visitors.  We now have over 380 people on our mailing list, and more unknown visitors on a regular basis.  We expanded to include people from the Classes of 1955 to 1966, because I had resources to serve them.  We now have people on from the Classes of 1938 to 1973, and people from neighboring rival schools, and people who never went
to school in eastern Virginia at all but just seem to enjoy our company.

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/alumni-list.html

   After a couple of years I applied for submission to search engines such as Google.  I've now gone from Geocities to Angelfire, Coolfreespace, and two smaller versions of 00freehost, because it most closely provides all that I need.  

   So choose your server, your builders (I use Front Page, Cute FTP, and a Bravenet counter to record stats), and go for it!  What an adventure.

   We began with only the ten or twelve people from my class for whom I had email addies.  They then spread the word, and so on, and so on.  If someone runs a feature article in your local newspaper, that will really give you a boost.

   And don't neglect to document your sources at the bottom of each page.  This is not only a protection, but will prove invaluable to you as you look for things later.

   I hope this helps.

   Best wishes on your new endeavor, Dodie!  It will change your life in ways you never dreamed possible!

So Eleanor is coming instead of Paul? I need to change the name tags.

Dave Arnold

   OOOOPS!  Would it help if I made one for her?   

   Eight more days?!?  I suppose this means I'm not going to drop 40 pounds by then, huh?  Bummer.....
Oh, well! 

   That's right, Chandler.  Just start packing.  Imagine that big, delicious Better Burger, and then all the fun you'll have dancing with all those adoring women who had secret crushes on you so long ago.  How often in life does such an opportunity present itself?

   Thanks, Kathy!  See you soon!