Hear Ye Hounds of '70!
Take heed the address receiving a "carbon copy" (albeit no carbon paper) of this issue of the Miles' Files. The addressee has not heard from me in some time, but as the "Big Shebang" (3Oth anniversary of the Escape from Remmel Park) draws ever nearer, more "combat veterans" (it is Memorial Day) from the trenches of Newport High School need to be made aware of the coming of the "Party" on June 17, 2000. So I welcome Coach Raymond Massey (Class of '57) to the list of recipients of this special Memorial Day edition of reminiscing the Class of '70 dubbed the Miles' Files by an avid reader (Cherry Lou Smith Simmons). "Raymond squared" has had a tremendous influence on me over the years (please note I did not reveal the influence as good or bad).
Raymond "Curly" Massey and Raymond "Butch" Duncan were two of those "rare" teachers a student does not forget. Some readers have "talked" about our teachers from NHS over the past several weeks, so I grabbed Coach Massey's email address off the NHS website for inclusion here in case he wanted to defend himself. Plus, some of you asked for teachers' email addresses and his is the only one I have.
Speaking of teachers, several of the female readers have recently recalled one Lewis Phillips and his propensity to "reward" the young ladies who sat on the front row of his classroom with "A's" simply by coming to class. Don't forget that "Lewie" was also rewarded in the heyday of the mini-skirt everytime he dropped his chalk. By the way, did anyone see "Inherit the Wind" about the Scope's Monkey Trial on TV last night? Just asking because it strikes me that "Lewie" was one of those who may not have totlly "evolved" even though he did walk upright.
While you girls have been "remembering" your favorite teachers and the excitement you got from getting an "A" in Phillips' class, I think back to the class where I really learned something. In Duncan's History class we actually got to watch history in the making when he would bring in the television for the World Series. Cardinals and the Red Sox in the fall of '67. See, I not only learned something in that class, I remember it. Now I want to hear some of you girls recite some algebra equations. And I'm not talking to the girls who sat past row three in Phillips' class; I'm talking to the "A" students from the front row. (I will await your reply)
Reminisce . . . . .
Remmel Park
Walnut Street School
East Newport School
W. F. Branch High School
Rutherford School (where's Kearney?)
Shelby's Drive In
Jack's Diary Cup
Paul's Drive In
The Tastee Freeze
Dog 'N Suds
The Silver Moon
Porky's Roof Top
Milltown Liquor
Rockin' M
Hayrides
First draft lottery
Headlee's Drug Store
Shannon-Ritter Drug Store
Student Council meetings
Ben Franklin Store
Sterling's Five and Dime
Salenfriend's
Brother's Pool Hall
White River Monster
Drive-In movie theatre
Strand Theatre
Capital Theatre
The skating rink
The Mystic Blues
Mosquitoes
Camp outs
Slot car racing
Baseball cards
Homecoming
Carnivals
Rodeos
Hazel Hotel
Shirley Hotel
Punch's
Midway Cafe
Tom & Wardell's
Dances at the Legion Hut
Miss Martha's Kindergarten
Harris Hospital downtown
Newport Hospital downtown
Cotton fields(Hurley Gin Co.)
Greyhounds vs. Pioneers on Thanksgiving Day
Holbrook's swimming and recreation area
Eddie Harrison andthe ShortKuts
Keedy's Sportsman'sOne Stop
Miss Bobbie'sSchool of Dance
President Kennedy Assassination
Martin Luther King Assassination
Bobby KennedyAssassination
Junior Play(Rally Round the Flag, Boys)
The Know Body Else(Black Oak, Arkansas)
Dances at the Methodist Church Fellowship Hall
The faces of friends and teachers
Barbie Dolls (introduced in 1959 - our first grade year)
Sliding down the levee on cardboard boxes
State Basketball Tournament 1970 (Beat Mabelvale!)
Sputnik (launched when we were in kindergarten)
Fred's Lunchroom (two entrances, one for blacks, one for whites)
Sivad, your Monster of Ceremonies(Channel 13, Memphis)
Apollo 11 (first man on the moon, July 20, 1969 - I watched it at Drew Stewart's house)
Our first vote in a Presidential election - 1972 (the man elected is the only President to resign from office)
Playing Little League baseball on the Legion Field(as a matter of fact, playing all baseball in that one park - it was like a major league park to me)
I know there is much, much more and while I also know that Memorial Day was established for a more honorable purpose, it is for remembering. Well, a few notes received this week brings out my jealousy again. Dinny wrote that he and cousin John Sink spent a day "cruising" around Dallas listening to "oldies" (the music of our high school days) and just "jawing". Nancy Rhodes informed me that she saw Mickey Doyle, Larry Lewallen and Peggy Cox in Harrison recently at baseball and softball tournaments (children participating) and had good visits. She and Peggy even had a bunking party (wish I could have been there!). Baseball has a way of bringing people together. Also, I have found out that Rickey Harris and John Sink have "ghost writers" for their email messaging. I will reveal their secrets at a later date.
I will be away for a few days, but I will be thinking of you all (heh, heh) on my get away. Wife, Kathi, and I are heading to the Newport, Rhode Island area for ten days to rest up for the Big Bash in Newport, Arkansas a week after our return. On Wednesday we are flying into Boston so I can visit Fenway Park to see the Red Sox play there before they abandon it in a couple of years for a new field. Fenway is a must see for me. I plan on eating a lot of good seafood and listening to some good music while there. There are few places like Newport (I will leave it up to you to determine to which I am referring).
Coach Massey, hope you have enjoyed the thought process. Often these thoughts are tainted by memory lapse, but that makes the journey more fun. All of you in listener land, drop our "old" Coach a line and bother him from time to time. To the rest of ya'll ... have I told you lately that I love you!
Have a safe and fun Memorial Day. Until next time, I am still "Miles from Nowhere,"
joe
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