June Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the class of 1961 folks with June birthdays:

Ralph Spears- June 01
Beth Green Kern - June 02
Don Jones - June 02
Bill Jones - June 11
Gayle Teresa Goodyear - June 11
Lynn Hall - June 13
Hollis Thompson - June 26
JoAnn Rouch Worley - June 28

May each of you have many more Happy Birthdays to come.

The Land That Made Me, Me

 

Long ago and far away in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan or the dawn of Camelot,
There lived a race of innocents and they were you and me.

Ike was in the White House in the land where we grew up,
Timmy was just a boy, and Lassie just a pup.

Boys learned to gut a muffler; girls washed their hair at dawn,
And spread their crinolines in circles to dry upon the lawn.

Girls longed for love and romance, and waited for their Prince,
And Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.

We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang 'Stagger Lee,'
And cried when Buddy Holly died in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Only girls wore earrings then, and three was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-tops, except for Jean McKinney.

We could scarcely believe our eyes when we did see,
A boy named George in lipstick in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Girls fell for Frankie Avalon, boys thought Annette was oh so nice,
And when they made a movie they never made it twice.

We didn't have a Star Trek Five or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Matt was a gentle man, but he didn't take no lip.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T.
And Oprah couldn't talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had our share of heroes; we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had never seen a rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Jefferson's weren't Airplanes, and Zeppelin's weren't Led.

Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
And Madonna was the Virgin Mary in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had never heard of microwaves, nor telephones in cars,
And babies could be bottle-fed, but they weren't grown in jars.

Pumping iron got wrinkles out, and "gay" meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never coed in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We hadn't seen enough jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what were left at the bottom of the bag.

Hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from fleas,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Buicks came with portholes, and sideshows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

Coke came in bottles, and skirts covered the knees,
When Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had no Crest with fluoride; we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea,
Nor prime time ads for condoms in the Land That Made Me, Me.

There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.

Middle-aged was 35 and old was 43,
And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.

But all things have a season, or so we’ve heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.

They send us invitations now to join the AARP,
We've come a long way baby from the Land That Made Me, Me.

Now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using smaller print in all our magazines.

And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away in the Wonderful Land That Made Me, Me.

-- Provided by Fay Cagle Tooley

Beth Green Kern

Beth wanted to share with the class that she and her family are leaving this week for a 6 day trip to Mexico. She says the last time they were there was 10 years ago and they all look forward to another fun trip.

Beth said she remembers also the last time they were there getting sick on the water and food. She understands now that is not the case anymore and is hoping that is true. Sure makes for a better and more enjoyable trip.

So Beth you and the family have a nice trip and please let us know how the trip turns out when you get back with all the details for us to enjoy and please do be safe.

Betty Molcany Barber

Betty thought it would be nice to post a thank you to Judy Sewell Wilson for helping to locate an obituary on Andrea Linda Solis Wood.

Betty had ask for everyone's help in updating the memory board that she and RD has made of all the deceased classmates of 1961. They have been searching for the obituary on Andrea for a long time with no luck. It seems Judy met Andrea's husband Donald at the library and she found out that he was married to Andrea years ago. He provided her with all the needed information about Andrea.

So many thanks to Judy and everyone that has searched for the information on Andrea. Betty says that Judy was in the right spot at the right time to get the proper information.

Betty says that she and RD seem to be up-to-date with the memory board now. Thanks also to Betty and RD for all the hard work on the board.

A Little Help Please...

Our list of missing classmates currently includes 163 names. I'm hoping that some of you have contact with some of these folks. To see the list go to the What's New page of our class website and click on the link to missing classmates. If you know how to get in contact with any of these classmates please do so and ask them to provided their home and email address info for inclusion in our alumni records. Being in touch with as many classmates as possible becomes especially important as we move ever closer to our 50th year reunion.

Thanks for any help you can be on this matter. If you have any questions drop me a note. - Bill

John and Brenda McClure Johnson's Garden

As many of you may know John and Brenda Johnson's garden was recently part of the garden tour held in Shreveport. John sent a link to a Shreveport Times article showing 25 photos of their garden. Click on the title of this blog article to view the photos. - Bill

Bill Roberts

Bill wanted to share with the class his latest trip on his Harley. Ten Harley riders left Jacksonville, FL at 9:00 am on Sunday, April 27th. It was a cool day with no rain. They headed down I-10 West to Biloxi, MS. Almost 400 miles later that day they were there. Some folks stayed at Beau Rivage Casino but Bill stayed across the street at the Best Western.

Bill says that Monday morning they all rode the coastline highway (U.S. Hwy. 90) to see what was left of the old homes, and it's sad to say that the old homes are all gone. Monday evening they all went to Beau Rivage to play a little and Bill did not win anything.

Tuesday morning they left for Houston, TX with a stop in Lafayette, LA at the Harley shop. They stayed in Houston Tuesday night and Wednesday left for the Rally in New Brunfels, TX. The motel was in Sequin which is 14 miles away.

Thursday they were at the Rally site getting all of their maps etc. on what was going on the weekend. They rode the Hill Country and went to see LBJ Ranch in Johnson City. In San Antonio they went on the River Walk. In the 3 days they were in Texas they rode 500 miles.

On Sunday May 4th the riders headed for home and by 5:00 pm they had made it to Biloxi, MS. Monday they got back on the road and Bill made it home at 3:30 pm to Orange Park, FL.

Bill says that he was so glad that not one time did it rain nor did any of the riders have any trouble with their bikes. It was a fun long trip and all together they rode 2,706 miles.

James and Vel Gilley

James and Vel wanted to report to the class that there has been a terrible fire burning now for close to two weeks about 22 miles from their home in Mountainair, NM.

Mountainair is a town of about 1,100 and Vel is the town Mayor which keeps she and James busy at times. It is centrally located in the state and the fire has already burned 53 or 54 homes in the rural areas. This amounts to about 8 or 9 thousand acres of land.

James says the report today is that the fire is 32% contained and was estimated to be started by either hunters or lightning. The smoke has been very bad for all areas around the fire.

James and Vel please keep us posted on that terrible fire and we pray it gets no closer to your home. Fires are not good at any time especially this windy time of the year.

May Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the class of 1961 folks with May birthdays:

James Gilley - May 05
Clark Smith - May 07
Anne Winterrowd Widiger - May 18
Sue Roark Henderson - May 22
Judy Nolte Henderson - May 24

May each of you have many more Happy Birthdays to come.

Camilla Fulco Doughty

Camilla sends an update from her home in California that she and the family are staying busy as usual. Mr. Brian her busy husband is back on the road again doing his thing for their travel business.

Camilla's daughter Wendy was the team captain for her school's Relay for Life team this past weekend. So Camilla drove to Delano, which is where Wendy teaches, and participated with them for the 24 hours covering Saturday until Sunday. Someone on your team has to be on the track for the entire 24 hours and it is to raise money for cancer research. She reports for their efforts they raised $82,000. At night they had their luminary services to honor and serve as a memorial to all cancer survivors and to remember the ones who did not make it. The entire weekend was very moving and memorable for all of them.

Camilla says the entire family will be going to Greece on May 14th until May 28th. They have to escort 160 folks from around the United States. It is a lot of hard work but Wendy, Liam, and Angel are getting to go with them this time. Hopefully they can have some family time as well. It will be a cruise around the islands, sailing out of Venice, Italy and going to ports in different Greek Islands and Croatia.

Camilla and Wendy please keep up the good work for the cancer research. It is so appreciated by all and may each of you enjoy the cruise coming up. We are all wishing we could go with you.

Norvel & Barbara Kennedy Blaylock

Norvel and Barbara wanted to share with the class that they just celebrated their 43rd Wedding Anniversary in April with a nice evening at Outback Steak House and then just enjoying the rest of the evening together.

They met at the old Centenary Post Office in Shreveport all those years ago. Seems Barbara was picking up the mail for Prudential Insurance and Norvel was picking up the mail for J. C. Trahan Oil Company on that fateful day. Craig Deck was working at J. C. Tranhan and was instrumental in getting Norvel and Barbara together. Barbara says she guess she owes Craig a big "Thanks" for his part.

Barbara says she is so blessed to have Norvel after all the health battles they have endured these past few years. She says he is truly one in a million and the only way she will get to Heaven is on his coat tail.

Barbara and Norvel may you have many more happy and healthy anniversaries to come in the future. God bless you both.