THIS IS SURRATTS FOUNDATION E-NOTICE 2006-9 OF AUGUST 30, 2006

 
Hello Hornets!

Here are some items that might be of interest.

1.  BENEFIT SUNDAY FOR LATE HORNET'S FAMILY.  Surrattstock I performer Bingo White (72) passed away on July 2.  Several of his band members have put together a benefit concert to be held on Sunday, September 3, from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m., at the Baden Firehouse at 16608 Brandywine Road (301-888-1888).  Three bands, featuring several Surratts grads, are scheduled to perform, and a number of Surratts grads plan to attend.  The cost is $15 per person (children under 11 are free), food and drinks will be sold at the event, and attendees may bring their own coolers with food and drinks.  Please direct questions to Mike and Karen White at 301-855-4693.

2.  CLASS OF 86 REUNION INFO.  The Class of 86 will hold its 20 year reunion on Saturday September 16, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., at the Holiday Inn in Solomons.  Tickets are $65 and can be purchased by contacting Kelly Allard at kellyandtonygray@verizon.net.

3.  SEEKING LOST HORNET.  June Halloran (68), junemariehalloran@msn.com, is trying to  locate Denise Walker-Hartless (68).  Please send June an email if you have any information on Denise or a member of her family.

4.  MORE MEMORIES FROM THOSE HALCYON DAYS.  I received this email from Terry Rynkiewicz Cook (68), and I'm sure it will bring back sweet memories for many of you:

"Hi Henry:  I really enjoyed and related to the article in the recent e-Notice about walking in the woods. When I was in early elementary school we lived in Florida and I used to wander the woods alone. The amount of wildlife and the pine trees always brought me such happiness.  When we moved to Maryland when I was nine, I found the woods and the gravel pit, where James Ryder Randall Elementary School was built. I used to ride my bike to the edge of the woods and then walk for hours. Before the school was built I would explore the gravel pit lake and find huge bullfrogs and tadpoles. They were such a delight to watch and play with.  Eww!
 
After the school was built and the gravel pit was gone, I would wander the woods behind the school and walk for hours undisturbed in that same silence. I cannot imagine parents of today letting their children wander the woods alone like we did.  I would sit under the pine trees and watch the leaves fall from the oaks and feel the most peace and connection to the world of anywhere in my childhood. There was a creek that ran along the back of Chesterfield Drive in Camp Springs that connected to those woods and I would walk that creek watching the little fish and other animals.  It was the most peaceful and fulfilling time in my life.
 
When my son was small and we had relocated to California, I used to send him to his paternal grandmother's house each summer for a vacation. What a coincidence that she lived on Chesterdfield Drive and the creek was at the base of her back yard. My son spent his young summers there walking those same woods and playing along that same creek. My son tells me now that some of his happiest memories childhood were spent playing and wandering in those  same woods.   Now my woods are the San Bernardino Mountains and the rolling hills of the horse ranch I live on part time in Oklahoma.  But those afternoons and evenings in the woods of Clinton will always be a special and lasting memory.     Terry"

5.  MORE RING STORIES.  Our item in a prior e-Notice about the Surratts ring found on the playground of an elementary school in Heidelberg Germany continues to result in interesting stories from readers:

"Henry:  I, too, have a lost class ring story. In the winter of 1972 my boyfriend, who is now my ex-husband, lost my class ring on the PG college campus. He had it on his pinky finger and went to throw a snowball and the ring went flying with it. We never found it. Consequently, the next year I ordered another one. Well, dummy me, I gave it to him to wear and again he lost it. This time we were in the Andrews AFB hospital and he went into the restroom. He took it off to wash his hands and we walked around the corner before he remembered it. We went right back and it was gone. We never recovered it either. My ring had an amethyst stone and my initials (RAS) carved inside the band. I probably will never see it again but if someone knows of it, I'd love the have it back.  Thanks, Ruth Stout Maitland (72), rmaitla@yahoo.com"

"Hi Henry:  I too have a lost class ring story.  My husband and I were stationed in Morocco (72-74) and when we returned stateside, I discovered it was stolen from my jewelry box.  I have often wondered if there was a way I could purchase a replacement.  My ring (Class of 69) had a green stone and my initials inside (CLB).  Cathy Bailey Leek (69)"
 
"Henry:  I doubt the Heidelberg ring is mine and I had mine replaced by my parents' insurance company in any event but...  When the Surratts Singers went to Europe for a five week tour during the summer of 1970 I lost my class ring.  After this long I can't remember many details of where I was when the ring was lost.  I do remember that I had removed it in order to wash my hands in a restroom.  We only had one day in southern Germany but we spent a week in Salzburg and three nights near Lucerne.  Both of these cities are just south of Germany.  My ring was a typical boy's ring with a green stone.  The size would have been around 10.  I don't recall having had anything engraved on the inside.  At most I would have had "JMR" or "J M Ryle."  Let me know if this sounds like the mystery ring.
 
I am sure that this mystery ring has brought up many old stories from the summer of 1970 since quite a few of us were in Europe.  We singers were perfect angels of course but there was a small group of our classmates in France with our French and Spanish teachers on the pretext of perfecting their French language skills.  I am sure there are a few stories that could come to light from that group.  I recall running into them the morning after they had slept in an amusement park in or just outside of Paris.  John Ryle (71)"

[Ed. Note:  I'll bet we could fill several e-Notices with tales from various Surratts trips abroad!]

6.  FOOD FOR THOUGHT, FOR OUR OLDER   AND YOUNGER! -- READERS.  I received this provocative email from John Schultz (80): "Hi Henry: Here's one for all the kids who survived the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s!

-We survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
- They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
- Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
- We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
- As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.
- Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
- We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
- We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.
- We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolaide made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because we were always outside playing!
- We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. and we were O.K..
- We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
- We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms......
- We had friends, and we went outside and found them!
- We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
- We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
- We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
- We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!
- Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!
- The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.  They actually sided with the law!
- These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all!
- If you are one of them, congratulations!  You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know howbrave (and lucky) their parents were.    John"

[Ed. Notes: Don't try most of this at home!  Given the list above, and the many stories of childhood in Clinton that our readers have shared with us in these e-Notices, it's a wonder any of us survived to adulthood!]


I hope you're all enjoying these last days of Summer!

All the best, Henry Smith (71), hsmith@smithdowney.com


IN MEMORIAM

RON BARKLEY (67) died July 24 of severe head injuries he received in a single car accident in Keene, New York.  Ron was the lead guitarist and vocalist with the original Tuesday Boots band, which included his brother Jerry Barkley (66) and his fraternal twin brother Russ Barkley (67).  Ron was a musician who played throughout the US with numerous bands and more recently at many hotels, restaurants and private parties in the Adirondacks since relocating there from Naples, Florida in 1999.  He is survived by his mother, Milly, and siblings Russ, Jerry, Sarah and Judy.
 

MANY THANKS TO THESE 2006 CAMPAIGN DONORS!

Steve Profilet (71)
Carol Tisdale Whitsell (64), In loving memory of her sister Jeanne Tisdale Burke
Vivian Bounds Edelen (Faculty, 1938-1942)
Robert Brewer (67)
Henry Smith (71)
Donna Rae Smith (70)
Bill Harris (71)
Patricia Becker Oles (71)
Linda Dorsey Blum (66)
Barbara Gene Misiewicz Bailey (63)
Richard Neilan (82), In Memory of Charlie Waddell
Bob Marr (71)
Debbie Cox Marr (72)
Vicky Simontacchi Young (57), In Memory of Gerald (Jerry) A. Hatton (57)
Ellen Talbert-Miller (61, Faculty 66-98), In Memory of Sue Baucia (Faculty)
Russell Barkley (67), In Memory of Ron Barkley (67)
Patricia Gann Barkley (67), In Memory of Ron Barkley (67)
Teri Pepper Dimsey (77)