THIS IS E-NOTICE 2001-12 OF DECEMBER 17, 2001

Hello Hornets!

Here are some items that may be of interest:

1. SURRATTSTOCK UPDATE. Tickets to the Saturday 6/29/02 Surrattstock event will go on sale next month. Watch your e-mail box for more information. Here are some words of wisdom from the late, great George Harrison to contemplate when deciding whether to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event: It doesnt take long to be from 17 to being 57. Forty years goes just like that.

[Note to Hornet Musicians: One of the acts to be featured at Surrattstock is in need of female and male vocalists, horn players, string players, etc.. If anyone is interested, please send me an email at hsmith@smithdowney.com.]

2. SEEKING LOST HORNETS. Kim Williams, a Potomac High School (VA) 1983 graduate, is wondering if anyone out there might have any information about her late grandmother, Elizabeth Mae Young (Grigsby) who went to Surrattsville sometime before 1943". Elizabeth was married to James Woodrow Smith, who also went to Surrattsville and graduated before 1943. Kims Great Aunt, Olus Marie Grigsby Stone, born in 1920, graduated from Surrattsville, and had two brothers, Orban & Martin who may have gone to Surrattsville. If anyone has any information, theyre asked to contact Kim at kim_williams97@hotmail.com, at home at 703 830 8233, or by mail at 14511 Sully Lake Court, Centreville, Va. 20120.

In addition, Rick Smith (71), smithr@medicalreimbursements.com, is hoping to hear from, or receive information about, Lee Shoemaker (71) and Jimmy Goff (71).

3. A SURRATTS MUSICAL LEGEND. Kim King (76) sent this interesting item: Dear Henry: Just wanted you and fellow Hornets to know that long-time Surratts band teacher, Mr. Richard Mortimer, was recently featured in the Maryland Independent (Southern Maryland's local newspaper). He is still very involved in music, conducting the Southern Maryland Concert Band. For those local, check the paper for free performances. The members of the Band range in age from 15 on up to "undisclosed"....all from the tri county area. Mr. Mortimer looked great and I'm sure will be asking for autographs!! Have a great holiday season! Kim (Personal trivia note: I had Mr. Mortimer for a summer band instructor, at an only vaguely recalled elementary school somewhere in Camp Springs, in the summer of 1963 or 1964, before his Surratts days. And he was a musical inspirational even then!)

4. ANNUAL CAMPAIGN SURPASSES GOAL! Thanks to the generosity of the donors listed below, the Foundations informal annual fund raising campaign has exceeded its goal of $1,500. In fact, $2035 was raised in the campaign, enough to replenish the funds given out as scholarships in 2001 and to pay for the popcorn machine the Foundation recently purchased for the students. Many, many heartfelt thanks to all of the donors whose generosity established the Foundation initially and whose continuing generosity makes the important work of the Foundation possible!

5. MORE HOOPS INFO. Todd Fong (80) reports: Dear Henry: Just for the record, I am almost positive that Dennis Felton graduated in 1981. He is entering his third year as Coach at Western Kentucky University. Hope this helps fill-in a gap, and we all wish Dennis much success in his season and in the tough profession of college coaching. Todd

6. HORNETS DOING THEIR PART. I received this e-note from Marilyn Woodward Crow (69) about a couple of modern day heros: Dear Henry: Thanks for all your newsletters. I look forward to them and all the great news you pass along. Just curious....Do you know how many alumni were involved with NY? Heard from anyone on this? I haven't seen but one mention in an e-Notice. My husband, Tommy, is a member of DMORT with HHS. They are a team that goes in to any emergency where needed. He was put on alert the morning of 9 11 and was on his way to NY by that evening. He was gone a total of 32 days, 2 shifts, and may have to go back again. I am a member/coordinator of DMORT Support, and it has been my job to 'support' all of those family members of volunteers left behind on deployments. Thousands of emails...! The stories I have heard, the experiences, the needs, etc.....beyond belief. I'm sure with the thousands of volunteers who have been there, and of those still there, we have other Surrattsville connections involved. Keep up the great work! Marilyn Woodward Crow, class of '69 Scottsville, KY.

7. A SAD BUT LOVING REPORT. I received this e-mail from Jean Close (67): Dear Henry: Please inform alumni in your next e-Notice of the of the death of Sherry Icenhower, class of '67, on November 11. Sherry left behind a 20 year old son, Emil Viano. I saw her last in June just before the Y2K Reunion. She had been through the throes of (very bad) breast cancer and thought she had licked it. Apparently, in the follow up reviews, two years later, they found more cancer. Sherry and I ran with different crowds and had totally different classes in school, but I probably spent two nights a week at her house from the time we were 12 until we graduated because she had to babysit for her brother Steve. The summer before my junior year at the University of Denver, Sherry moved out to Colorado with me and lived there for six months before she went to work as a flight attendant for United Airlines. Paul Hefron, class of '60(?), visited us for about six weeks. (I didn't know him in Clinton. If any one is in touch with him, please tell him that Tim and I are still kickin' now in Las Vegas and would love to see him.) Sherry and I went on some trips together in the eighties usually when one of us was traveling on business. I had hoped that we would have the opportunity to travel together some more after we were retired. Best to You, Jean Close

8. SEEKING LOST HORNETS, PART II. Fred Goss (70), sent this lively note: Dear Henry: It has lately come to my attention that many alumni from the class of 1970 believe that I am dead. I am here (in Hollywood, CA) to testify that I am not. I'm still standing, although, after braking my heel last January in NYC, I no longer take that for granted. I have put a profile of myself on that commercial Surrattsville web site (the one you mentioned in your e Notice; thanks to Beth Horton for forwarding it to me), and I would love to hear from any of my old chums who have (or have not) been laboring under the misapprehension that I had departed this planet for another, perhaps more ethereal dimension. Besides Beth Horton, I have already been in touch with such 1970 alumni as Halya Zadoretzky, with whom I lost contact 11 years ago; Tom Cogan; Terry Zinnemann Antonioli; and Kathy Ringley Little. I've also dropped a line to Linda Schwager Lunney, so that the two "Most Intellectuals" from the class of 1970 might check to see who has suffered the most brain cell loss (that would be I, no doubt). Anybody else who might remember me and who cares to drop me a line (including the former Donna Sturtevant, with whom I think you are in contact) is guaranteed a typically voluble Fred Goss reply. I am especially interested in finding Chris Spell Buckingham, with whom I spoke as recently as 1994; Cheryl Hersey Starr, a dear, dear old friend (I so regret missing the chance to see her at the Y2K reunion, which I would have attended, had I known about it, in a heartbeat); Carol Stephens, a great friend whom I knew very well all through junior high and SHS and who disappeared from my life more than 20 years ago; and any of my teachers, all of whom I remember fondly, but most especially the inspirational and hauntingly influential Helen W. Orleans, who taught me as well as my sister, Jacqueline Goss Leach (65); and my dear homeroom teacher and sometime drama coach, Lynne A. Barden. And as for how "elder" we have become, well, my sister Jaquie's classmates might like to know that she and Glenn Leach (64) are (finally!) expecting their first grandchild, thanks in large part to the efforts of their son Jeffrey and his wife, Dana, in late January. I, of course, am still a youthful 18. Thanks so much for your work keeping the Hornets connected, Henry. This confirmed Angeleno (12 years and counting as of January 5) is very much in your debt. All the best, Fred Goss (70), fredgoss@earthlink.net .

9. SATIN DOLL TRIO. For those of you in the D.C. area who might like to hear some beautiful jazz music with a Hornet inflection, heres the performance schedule for the Satin Doll Trio, featuring Fred Ferris (66), for the coming months: Every Monday: Felix, 2406 18th St. NW; Every Thursday: Laportas 1600 Duke St., Alexandria; Every Friday and Saturday: Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City, 1250 Hayes St., Arlington.

10. PHOTO ARCHIVE CAPTIONS. As part of our renovation of the Foundations web site (www.surrattsville.org), were trying to identify all of the individuals in all of the photos on the site. If you can provide the graduation name, current name and graduation year of any of the as-yet unidentified folks in the photos, please send that info to me at hsmith@smithdowney.com.

11. HISTORICAL ITEM OF INTEREST. This provocative and interesting item was sent in by Bill Harris (71) who received it from Ben Collins (Faculty): A friend of mine is a columnist for the Legal Times who recently did a piece on the military tribunals that tried and executed the Lincoln assassination conspirators. He just submitted this letter to the NY Times. Vice President Richard Cheney defended plans for putting alien terrorists on trial before military tribunals by citing the precedent of the 1865 trial of eight people accused of conspiracy in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. It hardly seems a precedent worth following. General Cyrus Comstock, who had been appointed to the commission, wrote in his diary: "Wish I could get off. They [the defendants] ought to be tried by Civil Courts." Comstock was taken off the commission. Recalling that the defendants were paraded into the courtroom with hoods on their heads, another commission member in a later speech said the proceeding seemed like the "Inquisition." An observer at the trial wrote: "We should have preferred to see an abler trial put on record." The Commission found defendant Mary Surratt guilty and sentenced her to die, but secretly recommended clemency. President Andrew Johnson signed her execution order, nonetheless, always insisting that he never received the secret recommendation. Her son, John, was not apprehended until two years later and was tried by a civilian court. John Surratt was freed when the jury failed to reach a verdict. The New York Times at the time compared the 1865 trial of the eight with the 1867 trial of John Surratt: "[In 1865], the Government, availing itself of the existing state of war, cited the criminals before a Military Commission, which, while respecting their rights, refused all delays and brushed aside the fictions and technicalities usual and useful in common cases, letting in every ray of light from any quarter upon motives and persons, and scanning the widest range of circumstances.... [In 1867], John Surratt was called to his account in a calmer state of the public mind, after time had appeased its righteous anger and the passion for retribution had been allayed."

12. FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES. The Foundation has been very busy lately. Heres a re-cap of some recent activities: A. The Principals/Faculty/Staff Memory Fund purchased a scientific graphing calculator for a current student who needed one for his advanced math work but who couldnt afford one because of family financial difficulties. B. The Foundation has approved funding the State of Maryland and IRS application fees for the establishment of a Sports Boosters Club at the School, and Foundation Board members are helping with the application leg work. C. The Foundations Beautify the Backyard Committee is in full swing and working to arrange for grant funding and other support needed to rehab the athletic facilities and grounds behind the School. D. Application packets for the 2002 General Fund and Waddell Fund Scholarships have been distributed at the School. E. Data base software has been purchased for and installed on a computer at the School so current students can enter their information and be sure to receive notices about future Foundation events. F. The Golf Outing Committee has plans underway for the 6/28/01 Golf Outing.

13. ANNUAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD NOMINEES SOUGHT. Its that time again when we ask you to nominate folks who might be deserving of the Foundations prestigious Annual Achievement Award. This years honoree will join 2000 honoree Mike Miller (60), and 2001 honorees Gerald Pickeral (Staff) and Charlie Cooper (52). Please send me an email at hsmith@smithdowney.com if youd like to suggest a nominee for the 2002 award.

I hope this finds you well and looking forward to a wonderful holiday!

Henry Smith (71), hsmith@smithdowney.com

MANY THANKS TO THESE 2001 ANNUAL CAMPAIGN DONORS

Michael Miller (70)
Jeanine Carroll Maclary (73), In Memory of James R. Carroll, Jr. (74)
Tamara McDowell Ayres (77), In Memory of Patrick OBrien Maddox (76)
Leslie St. Clair (70)
Jennie St. Clair (71)
Erin St. Clair Shreve (75)
Blaise Miller (76)
Wendy Miller (76)
Margaret Harris (Faculty)
Vicky Young (57), In Memory of Patricia E. Kaplan Pelletier (57)
Henry Smith (71)
Donna Rae Sturtevant Smith (70)
Lark Bergwin Anderson (71)
Roy Nestor (72)
Jana Sims Nestor (72)
Anne Noyes (Faculty, 27 years)..
John M. Ryle (71)
Norman Carmichael (65), In Memory of Karen Bitterman Kitzmiller (65) and Dorothy Groomes Morell (65)
Alicita Salsa (Suzanne Meilert Lubin Fields (71))
Kevin Fitzgerald (71)
Cara De Dominicis (84)
Ellen Talbert Miller (61, and faculty)
David M. Duesler (65)
Susan Curtis Sturgill (65), in Memory of Robert Rusty Long
Tracy Ann Jenkins Lawson (88)
Michelle Wilson Block (68)
Joyce Dennis Owens (74), In memory of Deborah Stojka Simmons (74).
Eric Sanders (89)
Evinn Sanders (96)
Erinn Sanders (95)
Minerva Sanders (Parent)