The highlight of the past ten weeks was the Big-Bodacious-Birthday Bash celebrated by my littermates in the Newport High School Class of 1970. On the first weekend in September about 50 members of our fun loving class gathered at the American Legion Hut located in Remmel Park in the long shadows of Newport High to commemorate our collective fiftieth birthday. It has been 32 years since we last walked together in the hallways of Newport High School as teenagers. It is apparent that we still haven't grown "old" even though we have all reached the 50 year mark in age (or will very soon). At least when we are all together, it seems as if the last 32 of the past 50 years have not yet taken place. From my vantage point, the Birthday Bash was a mingling of hearts still pounding with youthful exuberance. It was a tapestry of smiles threaded with love and individual memories "painted" in the colors of life.
This birthday party of sorts was promoted as a time to share libations and conversations. Both were in abundance. We shared stories from the past. We remembered eight classmates now walking a heavenly path. We ordered in pizza. We raised a few glasses in honor of those not there. And a good time was had by all! Each conversation was sprinkled with remembrances of first steps on life's journey ... Cub scout meetings with Clay Wright and Kenny Thaxton; Little League baseball with Mickey Doyle, Clety Pollard, Rickey Harris and Gary Slayton; history class laughter with Linda Matthews and Jamie Hopkins; hayride with Joy Stanfield; neighborhood wiffle ball games with David Sibley and Jenetta Ashley; twisting the night away with Gail Thaxton; civics class pranks with Nancy Rhodes; first kiss with Cherry Smith; speech class antics with Kathy Spann; walking to Walnut Street School with Mary Wynne Parker; several mischievous moments with John Brownd and Mike Brand. As the night progressed, the libations kept pace with the passing minutes. I salute all the magic moments!
As a point of personal privilege, I wish to express my appreciation to a hand full of classmates who truly made things happen for this memorable evening. Thank you, Cherry Lou Smith, for organizing the party and arranging an enjoyable time together. Thank you, Kenny Thaxton, for supplying the fuel for libations and keeping the "watering trough" filled with spirits. Thank you, Dinny Bullard, for creating an endless soundtrack from the late '60s and early '70s for our listening pleasure and being our disc jockey. Thank you, Jenetta Ashley, for capturing our antics on film and sharing these candid camera moments as a visual aid for the participants whose memory of the evening may be a bit cloudy. Thank you, Betty Smart, for presenting me with a propeller topped cap emblazoned with the words "I Don't Wanna Grow Up!" And thank you, Rick Dobson, for being the youngest littermate in attendance (he will not be 50 until December) and serving the cake to all of us older and wiser mutts who were running around the place unleashed.
If you "came of age" in Newport in the 1960s, the appearance of the Legion Hut immediately conjures memories of parties and dances in that time. It is a place associated with education of a different sort than that garnered in the buildings on the other side of Remmel Park. Mischievous teenaged pranks sprouted from conversations influenced by too much Schlitz, Boone's Farm wine or cherry flavored vodka. Late night shenanigans took on a life of their own in and around this place. And so it was on the evening of the Bodacious Birthday Bash of 2002. Clety Pollard, John Brownd, Rickey Harris, Mickey Doyle, Buddy Rutledge and I along with a few other innocents found ourselves at the Riverboat Club after the festivities at the Legion Hut shut down. We relived times past and laughed well into the wee hours of the next morning. Old friends, old stories painted in different hues, new laughter. There is nothing better to create memories for tomorrow.
On the morning of the Bash, Mike Brand and John Sink (representing East Newport Grammar School) gave David Sibley and me (representing Walnut Street Grammar School) a golf lesson. David was at a distinct disadvantage having to tote me around the course as a partner. It was a fun foursome.
The night before the main event on the weekend of the Birthday Bash, a few grade school classmates gathered at Sissy Hurley Sanborn's for hugs and handshakes. Mildred Appleton (Donny's mom), Carolyn and Marvin Thaxton (Gail's parents), and Lawana Miles (my mom) assisted Aunt Sissy (David Sibley's and Ann Gardner's aunt) in serving burgers and memories that night. Of course, Sissy's house on Walnut is just a half a block from the site of the long gone Walnut Street School where most of us in attendance met for the first time so many years ago. Memories shared are so sweet! Especially when a group of 50 year old kids are recalling days spent on swing sets and monkey bars.
In preparation for this weekend of remembrance, Mary Wynne Parker, Kathy Spann, David Sibley and I paid a visit to our Senior Class Sponsor and English teacher Virginia Umsted Castleberry in Little Rock. We were joined by Ima Jean Paige, our typing and bookkeeping teacher who retired from teaching following the graduation of our class in 1970 and who now lives in Little Rock. What a treat this visit was for me. These two women were spirited teachers who prepared us for life awaiting, not just the course at hand. Tears of joy accompanied the laughter that our memories generated that afternoon. I am sure that the love and respect I have for these two awesome teachers is shared by many who sat in their classrooms. Another memory built for tomorrow.
On Thursday night before the recounted Birthday Bash weekend, my wife Kathryn and I went to see Bonnie Raitt and Lyle Lovett in concert at the riverfront amphitheatre in Little Rock. I've been a lover of Bonnie Raitt music for the past thirty years and for me this was a concert not to be missed. I was not disappointed. She is touring promoting her new album, "Silver Lining." The title track is a wonderful song written by David Gray with lyrics that tell us that the "Only things worth living for, Innocence and magic - Amen." These words capture the essence of the Birthday Bash weekend. Life long friendships ooze innocence and magic! We have moved on from catching lightening bugs in jars to catching glimpses of the past in the eyes of our friends. Both innocent and magical.
While the innocence and magic persist, life is not without its challenges. I ask that Mary Wynne Parker and Sharon Stites be continually remembered in your prayers. Since our Birthday Bash, Mary Wynne has moved into another round of chemotherapy treatments. Sharon has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and chemo treatments were initiated for her this week. I know there are others from our class who are battling illness as well, so blanket them all with thoughtful prayer. Life's clouds are brightened by that silver lining of which we are all aware but to which we pay little attention. Prayer enables to catch the glimmer of the silver lining that softens the darkness of the clouds that threaten us.
I must mention that Sharon Stites is the most recent Class of '70 registrant on the NHS website bringing our total number of registered classmates to 81. I urge you to visit the site at www.nhsalumni.net and to tell your friends and neighbors about it. It is a first class high school website of which we can all be proud. You can find stray pups galore when you visit the site. And the innocent click on an email address can reconnect you with friends who have been separated from you by time and distance. Magic!
The real magic in all of this is simply slowing down in today's fast paced world just enough to contact a friend from those truly innocent days of youth. Plan a lunch or just drop in on them for a few magical moments the next time you are in their neighborhood. With each friendship renewed, the years just seem to melt away.
When I let myself slide back into the past, my internal radio tunes in meaningful songs that can capture moments for me. Moments that remind me of you. One such song is Neil Young's "On the Way Home" released by the Buffalo Springfield around 1967. It speaks to the moment of returning "home" for our Birthday Bash, now just a another memory.
"When the dream came
I held my breath with my eyes closed
I went insane
Like a smoke ring day
When the wind blows
Now I won't be back til later on
If I do come back at all
But you know me, and I miss you now.
In a strange game
I saw myself as you knew me
When the change came
And you had a
Chance to see through me
Though the other side is just the same
You can tell my dream is real
Because I love you, can you see me now.
Though we rush ahead to save our time
We are only what we feel
And I love you, can you feel it now."
Can you feel the magic and the innocence that cloaks it? It is in those friendships we share. It is in the silver linings of life. It is in the "new houses" being built on Memory Lane. I'm still Miles from Nowhere, but "On the Way Home ..." And I miss you now.
joe
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