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12/08/05 - NNHS Newsletter - Blue Christmas "Somehow, not
only for Christmas |
Dear Friends and Schoolmates,
Today's
newsletter is dedicated to my sister's cockatiel, Jinx, who loves this song so -
NOT!!!
Hey,
Eleanor (Buckley Nowitzky - '59 - of NC), even better, take Jinx up to your
computer
room and open this link for him:
http://heavens-gates.com/elvis/bluechristmas.html
Thanks again for this link,
Cookie (Phillips - '64 - of VA)!
I've spent the last four days laughing
just thinking of this moment!
(Let us just say that Jinx is not an Elvis fan, and this is his least favorite Elvis song...)
If you'd like to have a Blue Christmas yourself, click here for directions for crafting the objects in the picture:
http://www.ragshop.com/crafts/christmas/blue.html
BIRTHDAYS:
From Dale Parsons, Sr. ('48) of VA - 12/07/05 - "December 7. 1954":
Today
Pearl Harbor Day is
![]() GASP!!! I thought I was being so careful, and was horrified that I'd missed another one, so I checked the Happy Birthday page, and it wasn't listed there, so I checked Famous Marines, and it wasn't listed there either. Well, now it's listed on both places: http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/Happy-Birthday.html http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/famous-marines.html Happy Belated Birthday, Tim - and thanks for telling us, Dale! |
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From Chandler Nelms (Hampton HS - '63) of
MD - 12/06/05:
Carol, Thanks for the info about Hampton Shoney’s. That timeframe (’55 or ’56) would seem about right. In response to your comments regarding the Big Boy statue, “Well, what else could you do, Sweetie?!? Your resourcefulness and agility are very impressive, Sir! And I'm certain that your efforts at avoiding trouble were substantial. And after all, you weren't caught, were you?” Everyone enjoyed the statue. We presented it quite ceremoniously, bringing it into the reception like pallbearers in our dress whites, stood him up in the middle of the floor, formed up militarily in ranks, saluted the statue, performed an about face, and then saluted the new bride and groom. The bride’s father really enjoyed it, but later in the evening suggested that we return it…..which we did, as stealthfully as six inebriated Marines could. And never got caught, coming or going……no doubt, a credit to our excellent Marine Corps training. OHHHH, how delightful!!! I hope someone captured those moments on film!
I don’t live very far from the Temple and we go there every year at this time to at least one of the numerous performances. One of my favorites is the Bells. Oh, DO try to make it Thursday night! The last time I made it there was December of 2001, and it was absolutely magical! Hey, you could take your camera and have shots made of you and Jimmy together!!! Wouldn't that be THE biggest hoot?!? I don’t think I can make it to see Jimmy Thursday night. I already have plans for that evening. ARGHHH!!! What a shame!
My dad’s name was Nowell, as is my brother’s (although he goes by Darden). I don’t know the origin of the name, but it’s not very common. Need I investigate previous emails for Professor Carol’s insight? Chandler Darlin', I've resisted the urge so far because I know that genealogists drive everyone else (and sometimes even each other) bonkers, but I've wondered about this all my life, and now you've tempted me beyond my ability to resist. First, the simple explanation you seek was in Monday's Newsletter in the history of the song lyrics, as given by http://www.carols.org.uk/the_first_noel.htm:
(The First Noel is unknown in
origin but is generally thought to be English dating back But here's my question: My 7th great grandmother's name was Mary Nowell. This surname was passed down as a given name for generations, and I wondered if your father and mine might have unknowingly been distant cousins as well as close friends.
Mary Nowell (b. c1660 of Charles
City Co., VA - d. 1724, "Longfield, Henrico Co. VA) Wow! You’re just a wonderful wealth of knowledge. Thank you. You're quite welcome, Sir!
You’re exactly right about the mindset of growing old. I have a motto – “I may be old, but I’m still immature”. And of course we ALL know that the older we get, the better we were. Where are you in VA? I’m sure that we could get into enormous amounts of trouble together. David, bless his heart, is still right there in Newport News. He is the most delightful person! I can't imagine you two not instantly hitting it off. Chandler Nelms Thanks, Sweetie! Have fun! |
From Dicky Dawes (HHS/NNHS - '62) of VA -
12/06/05:
Carol![]() Well it was turkey day game in '61 and I was playing for Hampton. What a blast it was. I knew everybody on the field. The guys from Hampton couldn't figure out how I knew every player on the Newport News team by their first name. Anyway I was having a great time. It was like playing sandlot football with all of your friends on both teams. Just with uniforms. We were well into the second half and the
Typhoons were giving Hampton a good thrashing. But I was having a good game.
I couldn't lose - no matter who won. Well, N.N. had to punt. (probably one
of the few for them that day). I was playing defense and broke through the
line in a attempt to block the punt. Running full speed, I jumped high into
the air to try to make the block. I went real high and
I wonder what ever happened to all of the old
Typhoon football films. Does anyone know? Thanks, Dicky! I loved this story - it was even better than I was expecting! Amid all the searching for trophies and other memorabilia that was transpiring in the last couple of years, I don't really remember any mention of the football films. What a treasure that one would be! Albert? Do you know? |
From
Eleanor's Daughter, Shari, of VA - 12/06/05:
http://www.angelrays.com/Cards/holidays/merryangelc.html
Oooh - thanks, Shari! |
From Dicky Dawes (HHS/NNHS - '62) of VA -
12/06/05 - "Football at Jerry Blanchard's":
Carol Here is another. ![]() numerous tries they would somehow succeed in getting over, and the walls were as tall as the ones around NNHS field. On game nights sometime Jerry, myself, and whoever would climb up on top of his house to watch the games and especially the halftime shows. The bands were not the best but boy, could they put on a show. Richard Dawes (Dicky) dawes@jlab.org Thanks, Dicky. I've been trying to remember where this happened, but too much of my memory is missing. It's a band story about a parade that was somewhere out of town (but not Winchester), and possibly associated with a football game. I do, however, have a fragmentary memory of standing with our Typhoon band by the Huntington High Band prior to a major parade as we were waiting our turn. They were practicing their routines. I, for one, was slack-jawed at the difference in our collective styles. I can only imagine how different their halftime shows must have been. |
From Chandler Nelms (Hampton HS - '63) of
MD - 12/07/05 - "Pearl Harbor Day":
Dave/Carol, Wonderful tribute. Thanks. Chandler Nelms Thank you, Chandler! It was an honor to help develop that page. |
From Joe Madagan ('57) of FL - 12/07/05 -
"Outstanding Newsletter":
Hi, Carol:
Boy, you and
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Thank you, Joe. The
making of the page was a very emotional experience for me, as you might
well imagine.
Dave still has saltwater coursing through his veins as he longs to return to sea in a "Tin Can", and I believe he has a lot of company. I sure miss steaming the Atlantic and Caribbean and watching the other ships of the squadron steaming in formation from the bridge of the USS BOXER, which was built in the Newport News Shipyard. It is sad for me because there are no more "Seagoing Marines" serving on the capital ships of the Fleet. The Navy eliminated that mission from the Marine Corps in 1998 to my chagrin since it was one of the first missions given to the Marine Corps when it was founded in 1775. What a travesty!
Memories of World War II and the Korean War began to
flow as I listened to Victory at Sea, and they help me cope with
the current Global War on Terrorism, knowing that it will not end with a
surrender on the deck of the "Mighty Mo" or anywhere, and we need the
resolve to work together to end the threat to our way of life.
We are so much better off now in many respects, which
prompted me to bring up a topic about
East End.
In the 900-Block of 30th Street, between Wickham Avenue and Orcutt Avenue there was a neighborhood family business owned and operated by Mr. Reese, trading as Reese Oil. He was a hard-working chap, with a large family. His wife and eldest son worked in the retail business of selling and distributing fuel oil for heating our homes, as well as bags of coal for coal-burning space heaters. Their youngest child was about 3 years old and she played inside the office during business hours. Even as a young TYPHOON I could observe how industry and hard work made this family prosperous, like so many other business families on the Peninsula.
My family purchased coal in bags to be used to heat
the house on 30th Street, as well as kerosene for space heaters positioned
about to keep the family warm during the winters in Newport News. I
remember very well being the one who was sent to Reese Oil
to make these necessary purchases, and on occasion I would see a TYPHOON
and classmate,
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Now we adjust our digital thermostats to run our
central air conditioners and central heat, which gives me hope that we can
continue to improve our quality of life.
TYPHOON Regards,
Joe Madagan ('57) of FL
Thanks for that memory, Adonis! Would you like me to create a page for Reese Oil Company? So far I've been unable to find advertisements for it in the Anchors, but I suppose they are not really necessary. I tend to get stuck in a rut sometimes..... |
From Bill Black ('66) of GA - 12/07/05 -
"Well... Uh":
I just toured your hilarious website, and have adopted the “Good Example / Horrible Warning “ motto as my own.
You looked at my
website??? EEEK!! I haven't updated it in almost a
year.
I wanted to
add a response to
WOWZERONI-RINI!!! How cool! Just a few years ago, when I inherited the family scrapbooks after my mother passed away, I found his “Summons to the Court of King Neptune” ( that rite-of-passage when sailors cross the Equator for the first time ), and in the summons he was said to be the “only man on ship who doesn’t stand a watch, he sings it.” And I distinctly remember he was a big fan of Frank Sinatra, and now I have what’s left ( thanks to my immaturity ) of his record collection. Also, there’s a picture of his petite sister Virginia, called “Punk” by everyone but me, taken in the mid forties, taken in uniform, with the notation on back: “I weigh 98 pounds” Apparently, Aunt Ginny barely made the minimum requirements. She retired after a hundred years as a recruiter, and at last |
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word, was
still living in Richmond, at Westover Hills Apartments. We’re uh… sort of…
you might say… estranged.
How interesting! I spent the first six months of my life in Westover Hills myself, in the home my daddy designed and built.
Go NAVY,
beat Army! Bill Black, Class of ‘66 |
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5005 Caledonia Road, Westover Hills, Richmond, VA | ||
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From Jimmy Hines ('64) of Northern VA -
12/07/05 - "Pearl Harbor Day":
Thanks ![]() ![]() ![]() Thanks again, Jimmy Thank you, Jimmy! I started with the goosebumps, but soon dissolved into total sobbing for ten or fifteen minutes once again as I was beta testing the finished Newsletter for release. That symphony simply evokes so many emotions from so many times and places for me, it was all I could do. I may be wrong, but I
think
Thanks again, Sweetie! |
From Gloria Woolard Price (Hampton HS - '65)
of FL - 12/07/05:
I
haven't written lately, but I read all the newsletters, and I stay in awe
of you, Carol, for how you put it all together for everyone. You are so
appreciated and loved!
Thank you, Gloria! I
appreciate that!
Was wondering if the newbie, Bill Campbell ('54 - of VA), is a columnist? That's a good question! His name certainly sounds familiar to me, but in and of itself, that proves absolutely nothing. Perhaps we should ask him. Oh, Bill! |
From One of my Famous
Marines -
Herb Hice of MI -
12/07/05 - "Merry Christmas...........":
Merry Christmas!!!
This is most unique Christmas card I have
ever seen -- you click on one of the
lighted items
and it jumps into another wonderful scene - it goes from page to page
and each page is better than the previous page......also requires
sound -
Give it time to download.
Click on the website below http://www.jsmagic.net/emissarypage4/ left click for each page WOWZERONI, Herbie! Such fun this is! Thanks so much! |
From Gloria Woolard Price (Hampton HS - '65)
of FL - 12/07/05:
![]() My UFO sighting, or more like a lighting, came when a girlfriend and I headed to the Checkmate one night, and we were on Mercury Boulevard getting close to the Langley Circle area. All of a sudden, there was a bright light above us. Of course, we were craning our necks to see what it was, although I could only crane so much since I was driving. Then the light was gone. We talked about it for years after that, but never knew anyone else who saw it. Thanks, Gloria! As I've often said, David is the funniest man I know! And I love your story, soooooo: http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/UFO-Sightings.html - brand new page Thanks, Eric (Huffstutler - Bethel HS - '75 - of VA) - great idea! |
From Another One of my
Famous Marines -
Al Loreth of CO - 12/07/05 - "TO PUT YOU
IN THE CHRISTMAS MOOD":
You'll like it. No spam, adware, or virus.
This is very
pretty, and well done....read the screen and click the areas it tells you
to....should encourage you to get those Christmas cards
addressed.....Enjoy Have a great day!!
Oh, WOWZERONI, Al - this is gorgeous! Thank you! |
From Tim Parsons ('73) of VA - 12/07/05 - "The Secret Tunnels Of NNHS":
Hi
Carol, The pic of NNHS sent by ![]() So is Chip! It is the background of one of my pc's. After staring for awhile I focused on the auditorium behind the school. It was one of the finest auditoriums around. It had great lighting and a then state of the art sound system. It also took a fulltime stage crew to run it. After a painful paddle initiation to the stage crew I was introduced to a trap door under the auditorium that led to a tunnel that went inside the walls of the school. We could climb a wall to go two stories up that took us to the prop room for the drama department. You could actually go behind the lockers. Getting out of class was easy if you worked on the stage crew and we would explore the wonders under the school and inside the walls. We would play ball tag in the auditorium by wrapping cloths up into a taped up ball. Someone would work the light controls and then cut the lights on and off and whoever was it would throw the ball at the other person but the lights could go out at any time to add to the thrill. We would also climb the pin rail on the stage almost two stories up and swing on the rope across the stage and back to the pin rail. It was always fun to go to the grid almost 4 stories up and up the spiral stairs to the roof of the auditorium to grab a smoke and watch the action downtown and what was visible of the river. It is sad to note that the old auditorium was torn down. It had acoustics in it that would rival Willet Hall in Portsmouth. I am sure other people knew of the tunnels but they were a well kept secret by stage crew members. GASP!!! Tunnels?!? Inside the walls??? This secret was certainly well guarded from moi! Thanks, Tim!
As we hear from more and more of y'all, I
think it's becoming obvious that we'll need to make a stage crew page.
Stay tuned - and keep bugging me lest I forget. |
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Oh, by
the way, Carol, I have to share this pic I found. It is the old Morrison
High School. I remember riding by it as a kid and while it still stood
during the construction of the present Warwick High. The old gym in the left
of the picture still stands. We played our "Y" league basketball games there
in the 60's. In the gym at the new school, my dad took me the 1964 NNHS
games and we saw them clobber the then named Farmers. The old football
stadium there was where I remember
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Morrison High School | |||
I have covered hundreds of basketball games on the radio and seen many good teams but I would have to say the 1964 NNHS basketball team was the best team I have ever seen. Happy happiness. Tim Parsons ' 73 Thanks so much, Tim! By the way, you never really told me what radio station you were with (yes, yes, I know - I just ended a sentence with a preposition! Sorry!). I'm probably the only person who doesn't know this, but I can't seem to pick up Virginia stations down here on my puny radio. If you tell me, I can add that information to your slot on Famous Marines: |
From Chandler Nelms (Hampton HS - '63) of
MD - 12/08/05 - "For you":
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Chandler Nelms
WILD GIGGLES!!!
Thank you, Chandler Darlin'!
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BACKLOGS:
From Tim Parsons ('73) of VA - 11/20/05 - "Some Pics":
Hi Carol, I am not sure where the Nehi building was downtown in pic. Perhaps on Huntington Avenue? The next pic is Burford Buick in the 50's. The pic of Tysinger is in early to mid 60's when on Mercury Boulevard. This is the only picture I could find of the old Sidney Lust drive in. Tim Parsons ' 73 |
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Nehi Bottling Company | Burford Buick | Tysinger | ||
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WOWZERONI-RINI!!!
What treasures these are!
Thanks, Tim! |
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Sidney Lust Drive-In | ||||
The Nehi Bottling Company obviously predates its later location on Aberdeen Road. The architecture is distinctive enough that some of y'all might remember it. http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/old-stomping.html http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/OOSG-N-R.html http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/nehi.html Some of you car experts may be able to take one look at those brand new Buicks in the Burford Buick lot and give us an exact date for that image: http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/old-car-dealerships.html http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/burford-buick.html Tysinger Dodge is where
http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/old-car-dealerships.html http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/tysinger.html Is it just me, or does anyone else think that "Sidney Lust" is a most interesting name for a drive-in movie?! http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/old-movie-theaters.html http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/drive-ins.html http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/sidney-lusts.html - brand new page I'm sorry it took me so
long to show these images. They were in a ".ART" format, which I never
even heard of, let alone could convince my computer into opening. At
last I enlisted the help of my #5 son, |
From My #5 Son, Nathaniel Harty (Hillsboro HS, Hillsboro, IL - '97) of IL -
12/08/05:
It took some doing, but here they
are.
AHHH - thanks, Nathaniel!
You are my hero!
Tell your classmates that AOL is evil. Oh, Faniel, that's like a mantra with me! I say it so often I'm surprised that representatives from AOL haven't contacted me! Love ya, and I will talk to ya later.
Love you too!
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I saved back some items for tomorrow's Newsletter.
Y'all take care of each other! TYPHOONS FOREVER!
Love to all, Carol
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NNHS CLASS OF '65 WEB SITE:
http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com
PERSONAL WEB SITE:
http://www.angelfire.com/weird2/cluckmeat
"I only have two kinds of days: happy and hysterically happy."
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Blue Christmas
- Billy Hayes,
Jay Johnson, 1948
I'll have a Blue
Christmas without you.
I'll be so blue thinking about you.
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree,
Won't mean a thing if you're not here with me.
I'll have a Blue Christmas that's certain.
And when that blue heartache starts hurtin'.
You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white,
But I'll have a blue, blue Christmas.
"Blue Christmas" midi courtesy of http://wilstar.com/xmas/xmasjuke.htm - 12/03/05
"Blue Christmas" lyrics courtesy of http://washingtonmo.com/christmas/lyric/1004.htm - 12/04/05
Image of "Blue Christmas" Craft
Projects (and available directions) courtesy
of
http://www.ragshop.com/crafts/christmas/blue.html - 12/04/05
Animated Rolling on the Floor Laughing Boy courtesy of http://www.animationfactory.com - 04/06/05
Animated Christmas Lights Divider Line clip art courtesy of http://www.hellasmultimedia.com/webimages/christ-htm/lines-christ11.htm - 12/04/05
Crab clip art courtesy of http://www.geocities.com/agent99bm/ - 10/02/05
Animated Cheering Smiley
clip art courtesy of Al Farber ('64) of GA - 08/18/05
Thanks so much, Al!