And please thank Fred once more for taking
so many shots for the rest of us!

I HAVE REALLY ENJOYED ALL THE PICTURES FROM THE REUNION, I WISH I COULD HAVE BEEN THERE. IT WAS NICE TO SEE A PICTURE OF    JOE WINGO ('65 - of NC); I HAD SEEN SOME PICTURES OF SOME OF THE OTHERS BUT NOT HIM .

YOU MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY DOING ALL THIS WORK; I HOPE IT IS FUN FOR YOU, IT IS FUN FOR ME.

JAMEY

   Thanks, Jamey.  I wish you had been there, too.  In fact, it never occurred to me that you would not be there.  I would have loved to have seen you again.  We used to have such good times at school!

   I really enjoyed seeing Joe again last Saturday.  (Hey, Jamey - I dated him, too.)

   I'm glad you're having fun, Jamey!  I do hope that everyone is enjoying what we do here.  It is a lot of work, but it seems to serve a purpose or two (which is really important to me to be able to do), and I am having fun.  And beyond that, there are so many times when it brings me an almost unspeakable joy.  There are also many times when it causes me such tremendous pain that I wonder if I'll really be able to bear it, but I suppose all of life is that way.

   Thanks again, Jamey!

   Thank you, Captain.  I knew that you'd know how to find him.

   AHA!  Just as I suspected, Jean!  We share very similar tastes!  And that is one of my very favorite songs - and one of the first to have been placed on the site five years ago.  While you're waiting for me to use it in a Newsletter, you may always hear it and review all the wonderful lyrics here:

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/reunion-page.html

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/reunion2000.html

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/satnoon2000.html - It was chosen for obvious reasons - to me, anyway!

   Thanks, Lady!  It was all great fun, wasn't it?

Carol & Company:

As always the website is great!  I truly wished I could have been a part your 40-Year Class Reunion as it sounds and looks like everyone had a great time.  You looked marvelous! 

   OOOH!  Thank you, Sweetie!  I wish you could have been there, too!  We'll just have to make sure we're both at the next reunion!

   I love your flag and eagle logo!

The efforts here in Afghanistan continue to be an experience one will always remember.  The picture I have enclosed shows me in front of a machine they call CASPER.  It is an anti-mine unit that is used to find land mines.  I actually went out with a team one day on a reconnaissance of an area we are looking at for base expansion here in Bagram, Afghanistan.  We hit 5-6 anti-personnel mines while in the unit.  Needless to say it was an interesting experience as well as a unique opportunity.   Working with the Military here to include the different Coalition Partners has also afforded me a great opportunity.  We all believe in what we are doing.  Do you know that Afghanistan is second heaviest mined country in the world?  We are told that 12 civilians a day are injured throughout the country by land mines.  The land mines were left by both the Russians and the Taliban.  The intent was to keep the local populace in check through intimidation and total control.  The locals that we have working for us are indeed grateful.  I go out of my way each day to talk with some of them and give them the respect they deserve.  There are a couple of other pictures…the group shot is a picture of the team here putting armor on the vehicles to protect our troops and there is a photo of one of the vehicles that hit a mine in the road/IED along the road…no one was hurt thanks to the armor…a great effort!!  Also for your pleasure is a Sand Spider…

   "An interesting experience as well as a unique opportunity"?!?  WOWZERONI, Paul!  As usual, you're scaring the bee-bees out of me!  (Of course, that begs the question, what was I doing with all those bee-bees in the first place.......)

I have been gone from home since May 28^th and am looking forward to taking a break and going home for Christmas.  You all take care and continue to share stories on the website.  I continue to enjoy reading all the various stories…you did know I took a Hampton girl to my prom night!  Her name was Shelly Speas; not sure what happened to her but perhaps    Chandler (Nelms - HHS - '63 - of MD) knew her and can shed some light.  What happened to all the girls in my life???  You know as guy you have to wonder!!! 

Having left the Newport News area many years ago, it is great to see familiar faces on the site.  To    Joe Wingo ('65 - of NC) a big hello from Afghanistan. It was great seeing your photo…to all, take care…got to go for now…

Paul
 

THE TAME HALLOWEEN

by
Fred W. Field
NNHS Class of June 1945

Halloween came along unexpectedly fast that October of 1943.  In prior years there was always something planned - a Boy Scout Troop 17 party - maybe a group of guys agreeing to get involved in some mischief - or simply going up on Washington Ave. to see kids parading around on the sidewalk in costumes and makeup. Trick or Treat was then more of a vague term than something to do.  Also we were right in the heat of World War II and candy was a very rare treat.  And anyway, wartime need to be serious took the bright edge off of classic Halloween thoughts.

In our years up until then we had all heard tales of Halloween pranks done in previous generations.  The legendary ones would be difficult to top - but they did provide a precedent on what could pass as a serious and clever prank (as opposed to sheer vandalism).

I got a late start.  I found my friend, the late Eugene "Bozo" Carson (graduated in 1949 after a few years off) in front of Turner's Drugstore (later Boulevard Pharmacy), corner of Buxton and Blair.  The usual rowdy crowd (who called themselves Turners' Cowboys) were all gone - probably off involved in some devilment.  We felt very left out.  The only thing we could think of was to wander around and see if any opportunity would present itself.

Rusty old tricks like hanging someone's gate in a tree were not appealing.  Soaping up car windows was out of the question because soap was a scarce wartime commodity.  A further self-imposed constraint was that we were not going to do anything that gave a victim real grief.  Somewhere along Chesapeake Ave. we decided to give it all up and go see if anyone was back in front of Turner's.

As we reached the intersection of Buxton and Chesapeake something caught my eye.  Across the street at the SE corner of Buxton Hospital (later Mary Immaculate) was a brick pillar with a globed light on top.  For some reason there was an orange bulb inside the globe and the combination made a fair representation of a pumpkin.

We decided to decorate the globe and make it more representative of the occasion.  A quick trip to my house on Pear Ave. and into the tool shed behind, yielded a small can of black paint and a tiny brush.  Back at the globe I chose the artist role.  Bozo stood on the corner as lookout. 

No one came during the few minutes needed.  When we left, there was a distinctive and unmistakable Halloween pumpkin grinning down from the top of the brick pillar.  We went home after agreeing that we would not mention the deed to anyone. 

The next night we both showed up in front of Turner's and waited for someone to mention our pumpkin prank.  No one did.  We discretely slipped around the corner and had a look.  Still lit up and grinning prominently!  Bozo suggested that maybe more time was needed.  Weeks went by - and then months.  One night it occurred to us that the globe may have been cleaned off.  So still another investigation, but revealing only the still-grinning pumpkin.  We were puzzled but we still didn't tell a soul.

Exactly a year later, Bozo and I found ourselves in front of Turner's.  This was the night after Halloween and some of the Cowboys were bragging about escapades of the night before.  Cautiously I extended some bait:  "Say, someone painted a pumpkin face on that light on the corner of Buxton Hospital."  One of the older kids turned and with an annoyed expression said, "Oh that's been there for five or six years."  

I used to take a lot of solitary walks along the seawall.  When I would come home on leave from the Navy (1946 and 1947) I would always take my ritual walk and check the pumpkin face.  It was gradually fading but still recognizable if you knew what to look for.  Later I  visited my art work on the three summer vacations from Va. Tech. In 1954 I moved to California.  I forgot all about the pumpkin face until about 1956 when I visited Newport News.  During my nostalgic walk along the seawall I remembered the pumpkin face and I crossed Chesapeake Ave. to see if anything remained.  The painted eyes, nose and mouth were finally gone!  But then something inspired me to look on the back side of the globe.  There I found some discernable remnants of black paint - faint, but clearly grinning at my return.

Good deeds sometimes go unrewarded.  And clever acts may even go unnoticed, as did ours.  Until now.

An afterthought:  At some time in the eternity since the above took place, the southernmost block of Buxton Ave. was realigned - probably to make room for hospital expansion. As a result the hospital is no longer on the corner. But maybe they left that brick pillar unmoved, and perhaps something on top is patiently waiting for a return of the  creator.

   WILD GIGGLES!!!  That's priceless!  Thanks, Fred!