THIS IS SURRATTS FOUNDATION E-NOTICE 2004-4 OF APRIL 1, 2004

Hello Hornets:

Here are some items that may be of interest:

1. DWIGHT REED MEMORIAL GOLF OUTING ANNOUNCED. I received this nice email from Dawn Reed Schumaker (84): "Hi Henry: In July of 2002, we lost my brother, Dwight Reed (81), to a rare form of cancer. Dwight was an avid golfer and we could not think of a better way to remember him than to hold an annual golf event in his honor. This year's event will be held on Friday, June 25, 2004 at the WestWinds Golf Club in New Market, Maryland. If anyone would like to register a foursome or perhaps sponsor a hole, please contact me directly at dawnschu@hotmail.com. Registration deadline is June 1. Thanks! Dawn"

2. FIRST CLASSES BEGIN PLANNING FOR 2005 CLASS-SPECIFIC EVENTS. We expect that, as with the Y2K All Classes, Faculty and Staff weekend, many individual Classes will schedule Class-specific events to coincide with the All Classes, Faculty and Staff events to be held from Thursday June 23, 2005 to Sunday June 26, 2005. (We'll be providing information on the 2K5 events in an upcoming e-Notice.)

The first Classes, 1970 and 1971, have begun planning for their events (in this case, their 35 Year Reunions) to be held on Friday evening June 24, 2005. As with the Class of 70 and 71 events during the Y2K weekend, they are cordially inviting schoolmates from other "late 60s/early 70s"
classes to attend their event. Leslie St. Clair (70) is spear-heading this effort. Please contact her at lesliestclair@yahoo.com if you're interested in attending this event.

In addition, the Class of 68 is planning their Class-specific event for the 2K5 weekend. Please contact Gerda Willkomm Parr, parrg@comcast.net, for information.

3. UPDATE ON BUTCH MORTIMER'S (57) SOUTHERN MD CONCERT BAND. I received this interesting email from Laurie Martin Roberts (74): "Hey, Henry: I thought I'd touch base with you to let you know I joined Southern Maryland Concert Band a few weeks ago. Mr. Mortimer is doing a fantastic job directing the band, and I'm truly enjoying the experience. It's been more than 25 years since I've played my clarinet, and I'm sorry I waited so long to get involved in a band. It's been such an inspiration to me that I even joined my church orchestra. I'd like to invite some more Surrattsvillains to join SMCB. We are in particular need of trombones, and could use a few more saxophones, but anyone who's played an instrument, would be a welcomed addition to the band. We perform about 15 times a year and we even have formal and informal uniforms. There is a younger graduate than me, who also joined, and a current Surratts employee, who's been a long-standing member. Come join us...you'll have a blast! Laurie (Martin) Roberts ('74)"

It's great to see Butch's musical influence continuing to motivate the Surratts community after many decades as a music educator!

4. UPDATES NEEDED TO "CLASSES" LINK ON WEB SITE. In preparation for the giant June 2005 events, we're asking all Class Official Reunion Contacts to check the accuracy of their information on Classes page of the web site at www.surrattsville.org. We want to make sure that all interested alumni will be able to contact their ORCs to find out about any Class-specific events planned for Friday evening June 24 or Sunday afternoon June 26. Please send any corrections or additions to me at hsmith@smithdowney.com.

5. HORNET DONATES MUCH-NEEDED TYPEWRITERS. In response to an item in a prior e-Notice, Lois Honeywell (57) has donated three much-needed IBM Selectric typewriters to the School, and hauled them all the way from Florida to do so! Many thanks, Lois!

6. MESSAGE CENTER REBUILT ON WEB SITE. Our fantastic web master, Mike Gifford (84), has rebuilt the Message Center feature on the web site at www.surrattsville.org. Please feel free to use that feature to send and receive email messages with the greater Surratts cyber-community.

7. NAME THOSE FACES! Also in anticipation of the June 2005 events, we're trying to get full captions under all of the photos on the Photos pages of the web site at www.surrattsville.org. We especially need information to complete the captions under the photos from the Y2K golf outing.
Please send any information you have to me at hsmith@smithdowney.com

8. HORNETS SEEK MIAS. Talaya Osborne Simpson is trying to track down Kwame Stith (88). If you have any information that might help, please send an email to talaya.s.simpson@usps.gov.

Lakesha Monte McMillian (301-602-9347) is trying to track down Jose Smith, a late 80s graduate of Surratts. Please give Lakesha a call if you have any information that might help.

And I received this great email from Nancy Loweth Siehl (57): "Hi Henry:
My Mom, Deva Loweth, just celebrated her 90th birthday. She said she sure would like to get in touch with the daughter of a very good friend (now deceased). The daughter is Cheryl Peterson who graduated between
1973 and 1975. Her mother was Margaret Peterson White. If anyone knows of Cheryl's whereabouts please let me know. Thanks, Nancy, nsie@loc.gov."

9. HORNET A SOAP STAR. An e-Notice reader pointed out to me that Surratts grad Laura Sisk Wright is an accomplished actress and is profiled at http://www.cbs.com/daytime/gl/about/bios/lwright.shtml.
Congratulations Laura!

10. OLDEST MAN A CLINTONIAN. My brother, Tim Smith (74), sent me the following AP story: "William Coates, 114, Believed to be Oldest Man.

Clinton, MD - AP - William Coates was a ladies' man to the end. Coates, believed to be America's oldest man, died Feb. 23 at 114 with two of his children and a granddaughter at his side. Even at the age of 110, Coates was still charming the ladies during Prince George's annual celebration of centenarians. "He really lit up every single party and event that we had for the seniors," said Irving Smith, director of the Evelyn Cole Senior Center in Seat Pleasant, who has done extensive research on centenarians. Coates was born June 2, 1889, and according to Smith, he was the oldest man in America. At one time he was believed to be the second-oldest man in the world, although he didn't have a birth certificate to prove it. "It really was a blessing that my father lived so long," said daughter Maxine Coates. "He enjoyed life and being with his family." William Coates worked on a commercial tobacco farm until he got a job building roads for the State of Maryland. He had nine children, 21 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren."

Maybe there's something in the water in Clinton that will benefit us all!

11. COOL PHOTOS AND ITEMS. Proving that "Surrattsville is everywhere", Denise Hope (72) pointed out that one can find a number of Surrattsville and Clinton items on e-Bay by using its search feature.

12. SWEET MEMORIES FROM SURRATTS. Denise Hope (72) also sent me this nice memory: "Hi Henry: Awhile back, there was an item in an e-Notice about Greg Hooper. I have been meaning to send this little memory ever since and hope it finds Greg well. I remember it was the summer of 72. I had a 63 Chevy Impala (a boat of a car!). My friends Debbie Herbert (71) and Greg Hooper (70) decided to drive to Ocean City one Friday night. We did not have money for a room (I remember cashing a check for $5 for the entire weekend!!), so we decided to leave very early Saturday morning, around 2-3 a.m. When we got there, we just pulled up on one of the side streets to the boardwalk and "Hooper" slept in the front seat and Debbie and I slept in the back seat. Of course to our immature surprise we were woken around 5 a.m. by the tapping of a billybat on the window. It was Officer Friendly who informed us we were not allowed to sleep in a car in Ocean City. I think he thought we were the Mod Squad & One Black, one Blond and one Brunette! I wonder if "Hooper" still has that buckskin jacket with the fringe! Ahhhh the Memories! Warm Regards, Denise Hope, info@theres-always-hope.com. "

(I'll bet I'm not the only other Hornet to have that same memory, with only different dates and faces!)

13. ANOTHER OPSASNICK BOOK ON P.G. COUNTY. Mark Opsasnick, markopsas@cs.com, perhaps the leading expert on Prince George's County's history, has published his fourth book, "The Cultural Badlands Tour: An Outsider's Guide to Obscure Landmarks and Offbeat Historical Sites in Prince George's County, Maryland". For information and ordering instructions, go to www.capitolrock.com and click on "Latest News" or "Books" (and scroll down until you see the entry for "The Cultural Badlands Tour"). Additional details, an excerpt, and a view of the book's cover are available at www.xlibris.com/theculturalbadlandstour.html. (Mark's most famous book, "Capitol Rock," features a number of Surrattsville and Clinton references.)

14. THANKS, KEN RECK! The Foundation thanks Ken Reck, husband of Media Center Director and Foundation Board member Anne Reck, for donating his time to assemble and install in the courtyard at the School the table/bench combinations purchased for the School by the Foundation!

Here's hoping the weather improves soon so the great kids at Surratts can enjoy the fresh air and those new tables/benches.

15. NICE EXPOSURE FOR HORNET AUTHOR. As I proudly reported in the last e-Notice, my brother Tim Smith (74) has published his first book, "Politics 101", chronicling his decades of public service in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I received this interesting anecdote about Tim's book (and his former core teacher at Surratts Jr.) from his classmate, Wayne Tatum (74): "Hi Henry: Dr. Frank Murphy (Tim's old Core teacher at SJHS) called me last week to tell me that he wanted 100 of Tim's books, and that he needed one for himself and Dr. Stephen Covey, the #1 best selling author of "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People"), because Dr. Murphy's group, "kidsnetwork.org," was hosting Mr. Covey at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, where Dr. Murphy is the evening school principal. This meeting was funded by an ex-student of Dr.
Murphy's, and mostly attended by educators. Folks seemed a little puzzled when I told them I was a programmer, and not affiliated with the school system. They seemed especially confused when my face did not resemble the photo on Tim's book. They thought I was the author of "Politics 101"! Dr. Murphy brought me up twice to perform the class sign-off for Dr. Covey ("Any questions, comments, criticisms, witty little sayings, nasty little tidbits, lymericks, limericks, or rubrics"). Regards, Wayne"

16. ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENT ART SHOW. The gorgeous art of 2003 Achievement Award recipient Kevin Fitzgerald (71) is being shown at The Principle Gallery at 208 King Street in Alexandria. If you're interested in dropping by to check out this show, you can get times and directions at princgal@erols.com or 703-739-9326.


I hope you are all doing well and avoiding uncomfortable April Fool's pranks!

Best regards, Henry Smith (71), hsmith@smithdowney.com



2004 FOUNDATION ANNUAL CAMPAIGN DONORS

Debbie Cox Marr (72)
Bob Marr (71)
Bill Harris (71), in Memory of Debbie Harris (71)