THIS IS SURRATTS FOUNDATION E-NOTICE 2007-4 OF APRIL 1, 2007

Hello Hornets:

Here are some items that might be of interest:

1.  PROUD HORNET PARENTS.  I recently learned that Jillian King, daughter of Tony (74) and Kim Ellis (76) King, is a production assistant for the very popular Rachael Ray Show in New York.  (Jillian, like a number of Hornets and a number of Hollywood-types see, for example, Greg Garcia and Debra Monk -- is a Frostburg grad.)  Congratulations to Jillian, and her proud parents!

2.  CLASS OF 57 REUNION PLANS.  The Class of 1957 is having its 50th reunion the weekend of September 28, 2007 in the Solomons Island area. If you have any information on the following 57 grads, please contact Rick Pope at abprep@hughes.net:  Loretta Jo Alsup, Claude Brooks, Adele Brown Morrow, Gail Brown Scott, Frank Burke, Carla Field and Patricia Gibbs Pilcher.  Also, remember to send your Reunion reservations to June Sellner Payne by May 1.

3.  CLASS OF 62 REUNION PLANS.  The Class of 62 is planning its 45th Reunion at the Baltimore Inner Harbor on September 21, 22, and 23.  The Reunion Committee is in the process of selecting the hotel and collecting deposit monies.  For further information contact Len Owens (919-467-3615/443-206-2567), Terry Buckley Osman (410-586-3911/410-320-2668), Nancy and Claude Revis (301-441-2771/240-375-6006), Claudia Absher Sladek (303-814-0220), or Jerry Spence (301-843-9509/240-216-0189).

4.  UPDATE ON FORMER SURRATTS GARDENS RESIDENT SEEKING INFO ON FORMER NEIGHBORS.  In the last e-Notice, I failed to include the email address of Becky Hann Griffin (78), who is attempting to contact some of her old neighbors from Surratts Gardens.  Becky's email is rebecca.griffin@cox.net if you'd like to reach out to her.

5.  GOATMAN IN PRINT.  I received this email from Greg Laxton (80): "Hey Henry: Here's some fodder for the next e-Notice.  Mark Opsasnick, the "Capitol Rock" book author, has released "The Maryland Bigfoot Digest" -- with coverage of the legendary Goatman and Crybaby Bridge.  Here's the link: http://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=26450.
 
While you're at it, check out the book link on his homepage www.capitolrock.com.  He has a few PG County-related books.  The Cultural Badlands Tour was pretty cool; I had no idea that there were so many books written about and movies filmed in PG County.  Hope all's well on your end.  Greg"

6.  AND GOATMAN FUN.   I received this email from Melissa Rehl (68): "Hi Henry: Regarding Goatman:  I remember Ron Bastek, Niky Lacey, Gerda Willkom and others crammed in Ron's little black Comet roaming the vicinity for Goatman - sometime until the wee hours of the morning.  We all made it a monthly excursion. When I remember back, we were really stupid, but those were the good old days. We never actually saw Goatman, but had so much fun "chasing" him on the back roads.  Wouldn't dare do that now!  Melissa"
 
7.  DON'T FORGET TO GENERATE DONATIONS TO THE FOUNDATION WHILE SEARCHING THE WEB.  Please don't forget to set your web browser home page to the Yahoo-powered search engine, goodsearch.com, that generates donations to charitable organizations designated by its users.  You'll need to indicate "The Surrattsville High School Foundation, Inc." as your designated charity (and I note on Microsoft Explorer that I need to re-set it from time to time because it doesn't always remember it).  This sounds like a painless way for each of us to increase the Foundation's fund raising efforts by simply making a small change to the way we do something many of us do each day web searching.

Here are the details.  Go to http://www.goodsearch.com.  In the indicated box, designate The Surrattsville High School Foundation, Inc. as the charity to receive donations from goodsearch's advertisers each time you search the web.  Then use goodsearch.com to do your web searching.  (You designate goodsearch.com as your homepage on your computer by going to http://www.goodsearch.com/MakeHomepage.aspx.)

Thanks for considering changing the way you search the web to generate donations to the Foundation.  (Goodsearch.com reports that if 1,000 Foundation supporters search the web twice a day, $7300 in donations will be generated for the Foundation each year!)

8.  NEWS FROM HARD-HIT ENTERPRISE, ALABAMA.  I received this email from Lee Gleisburg (78): "Hi Henry:  My sisters, Cindy Gleisberg (79) and Cathy Gleisberg (Friendly Class of 85) both live in Enterprise, Alabama.  Cindy's oldest daughter Cassie was in the front part of the Enterprise High School when the tornado hit.  She was terrified but came through safe.  As you have seen in the news, others did not.  Cathy is building her first "wheel chair" friendly home in Enterprise as a result of my mother's passing last year.  Fortunately, her house was unscathed although the neighboring subdivision was not spared.  Cindy's other daughter, Katie, husband Richard, Cassie and Katie's father Scott and other relatives and friends made it through also.  We are all so grateful to have been blessed with their survival and for the outpouring of concern from friends and family abroad.  Henry, can you let the SHS world know they are okay? Thanks so much!  Lee Gleisberg (78)"

[We're relieved to hear that the Gleisberg family made it through that terrible tragedy okay.]

9.  AND SPEAKING OF TERRIBLE STORMS.  I received this email from Ann Weaver Pelle (71), who lives in The Villages in Central Florida, another area recently hit hard by strong storms: "Dear Henry: I am just getting a chance to email you a few really cute pictures that were taken from our "Tornado Fundraiser"!  Two of them are Johnny Tillitson (singer of "Poetry in Motion", etc) and me -- then two of one of our all time favorites, Gary Puckett! I have been so happy to be able to work with legends of our time-----hello --- just being a little Twirler girl!.  Our Twirlers group is just a lot of very nice 53+ (me) ladies working very hard and being so grateful to be in places we have never been before.  I have 45 in my total big group that I run, and our Show Team (doing 28 shows a year) have 10 girls in it!   We range in age from 53 to 74; bet you would never guess who that is (lol)!  Spring and Fall are very hard on us both physically and mentally ok, we are just trying to remember each different routine.   I guess that we may live very long because of this (lol).  Love, Ann"

[Ed. Note: There are some great photos of Ann's Twirler's group, and two great ones of Ann with Johnny Tillitson and Gary Puckette, on the Foundation's web site at www.surrattsville.org.]

10.  FOLLOW-UP ON MUSICAL MEMORIES STORY.  I received this great email from Karen Allen Dotson (79): "Hi Henry:  I just read the March e-Notice.  I shared the story about the musical memories of an elementary school with my father.  The PE teacher, Mr. Allen, listed in that memory is my father.  He really enjoyed hearing the story and remembers all of those students.  He told me that 1968 was his first year teaching at Walden Woods.  He said the school was so new they didn't even have grass on the field yet.  He also remembered the song mentioned by Cheryl.  My father has been retired for some time now.  He lives next door to me in Florida.  My dad truly loved teaching.  He had opportunities to move up into administration but he always preferred the classroom (or in his case the multi-purpose room or gym) to an office.  Karen"

11.  ACHIEVEMENT AWARD NOMINEES SOUGHT.  As we do each year, we're asking you to help us identify nominees for the Foundation's Annual Achievement Awards.  Each year since its inception, the Foundation has had the privilege to honor members of the Surrattsville community who have distinguished themselves with great works in their various fields of endeavor.  Bios of past years' outstanding Achievement Award recipients can be found on the Foundation's web site at www.surrattsville.org.

Please send me an email at hsmith@smithdowney.com if you know of an accomplished Hornet who should be considered for this year's Award.

12.  HORNET PRODUCES COMEDY SHOW.  I just learned that Sarina Bassard Marshall (90) is one of the producers of a comedy show to be held at Baltimore's beautiful Center Stage on April 20.  The show, entitled "The Laugh Til U Drop Comedy All-Stars", will be a live DVD taping, and features some of the hottest rising comedians from B.E.T. Comic View.  (Sarina can be reached at 202-415-5786.)  Sarina is one of the many Hornets finding their way to the entertainment business.

Best of luck to Sarina on this upcoming show!

13.  A MEMORY TEST.  I received this memory test for me and some of more "senior" readers form R. C. Green (63 and Former Faculty):

a.  After the Lone Ranger saved the day and rode off into the sunset, the grateful citizens would ask, "Who was that masked man?"   Invariably, someone would answer, "I don't know, but he left this behind." What did he leave behind?
 
b.  When the Beatles first came to the U.S. in early 1964, we all watched them on what show.
 
c. "Get your kicks, ___________________."
 
d. "The story you are about to see is true. The names have been  changed___________________."
 
e.   "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, ________________."
 
f. After the Twist, The Mashed Potato, and the Watusi, we "danced" under a stick that was lowered as low as we could go in a dance called the  "_____________."
 
g.  "N_E_S_T_L_E_S", Nestle's makes the very best....... _______________."
 
h.   Satchmo was America 's "Ambassador of Goodwill." Our parents shared this great jazz trumpet player with us. His name was _________________.
 
i. What takes a licking and keeps on ticking?  _______________.

j. Red Skelton's hobo character was named __________________ and Red always ended his television show by saying, "Good Night, and "________ ________".
 
k. Some Americans who protested the Vietnam War did so by burning their______________.
 
l. The cute little car with the engine in the back and the trunk in the front was called the VW . What other names did it go by? ____________ &  _______________.
 
m. In 1971, singer Don MacLean sang a song about, "the day the music died."  This was a tribute to  ___________________.
 
n. We can remember the first satellite placed into orbit. The Russians did it. It was called ___________________.
 
o. One of the big fads of the late 50's and 60's was a large plastic ring that we twirled around our waist. It was called the  ________________. !

ANSWERS:
a. The Lone Ranger left behind a silver bullet.
b. The Ed Sullivan Show
c. On Route 66
d. To protect the innocent.
e. The Lion Sleeps Tonight
f. The limbo
g. Chocolate
h. Louis Armstrong
i. The Timex watch
j. Freddy, The Freeloader,and "Good Night,and may God Bless."
k. Draft cards
l. Beetle or Bug
m. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper
n. Sputnik
o. Hoola-hoop

14.  SURRATTS MILITARY REGISTRY. We received this great idea from B. J. Brewer Black (72), bjsboys@prodigy.net:  "Hi Henry:  Does a list exist somewhere of our fellow Surratts grads who have served our country in the military?  Just wondering.  It would be a nice gesture to honor them in some way.  If no such list exists, I would be more than happy to try and compile one for future publication in an e-Notice?  I just need a messenger. Thanks, B.J."

If you served in the military, please send B. J. an email with your service history so she can compile this important archive document for the Foundation to honor those Hornets who have served.

15.  CLASS OF 88 REUNION PLANNING.  Ameena Ali (formerly "Jeane' Bell"), ameenaali2003@yahoo.com, has begun working on the Class of 88's Reunion planning. Please contact Ameena by email or phone at 517-787-6055 to make sure she has your current contact information and to get information about the Reunion.

16.  MORE MEMORIES OF THOSE HALCYON DAYS.  Here's the latest in the series of fascinating memories from our Unofficial Memorist, John Curry (60): "Hi Henry: Here is another of my childhood events while living in Clinton, MD. I have only included some of the less embarrassing adventures. They all seem so simple now looking back over these 50 some years. Can it have been that long ago? Oh well, here it is, I hope someone enjoys the story.

"Our Pet Ducks"  A pair of wild Mallard Ducks took up residence in some bushes next to our house. We decided to make pets of them and provided food and water. Soon there were six baby ducklings that wandered all around our place. One day we decided to go swimming in the creek over by Mr. Woods farm. The ducks followed us everywhere so naturally they went along on this new adventure as we peddled our bicycles over to the creek. Upon arriving at the swimming hole, which was complete with a rope suspended from a tree branch to swing out over the water, we stripped to our shorts and dove in. Mommy duck, poppa duck, and six little ducklings all followed us into the water and were having a great time. That is until some other kids showed up with their dog. The dog took one look at our ducks and went crazy! It dashed into the water and swam feverishly over to the closest duckling. The other kids laughed at us for having such funny pets and described what their dog was going to do to our ducks. We yelled at the dog but to no avail. We watched in horror as it was about to bite the first duckling but to everyone's surprise it merely disappeared under the water. The surprised dog now was treading water, wondering what just happened. The duckling reappeared several feet away and quickly swam off, quacking as if satisfied at his swift maneuver. The dog now zeroed in on another target to only have the same results, a disappearing duck. Each of his aborted attacks was followed by ripples on the water where a duck had been only moments before. We now sat back to watch the outcome of this titanic battle because the ducks seemed to be quite in control of the situation at hand. This duck chasing and dunking continued for some time until the dog finally tired of being outwitted by some dumb ducks. It climbed out of the water and completely ignored them. We continued to swim and enjoy out champion ducks until it was time to go home.Hey, our ducks beat your dog!

17.   HORNET MUSICIANS PLAN SPRING AND SUMMER PERFORMANCES.  Leslie St. Clair (70) has updated us on the performance schedule for two bands with Surratts roots.

Leslie informs us that the upcoming schedule for "Straight Flush" (which includes Gary Hopkins (70)) is as follows:

April 13 and 14, 2007 - Martini's Lounge White Plains, Maryland
May 4 and 5, 2007 - Martini's Lounge White Plains, Maryland
May 12, 2007 - Beach Cove Restaurant & Lounge - 301-855-0025
May 18, 2007 - J W & Friends Restaurant (703) 451-4556  - 8 PM to Midnight
June 8 and 9, 2007 - Martini's Lounge White Plains, Maryland
June 16 - Griffin's Chesapeake Beach, Maryland 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. (corner of RT 260,which is Chesapeake Beach Road and Horrace Ward Road)
July 14 and 14 - Martini's Lounge White Plains, Maryland
Sept. 14 and 15, 2007 - Martini's Lounge White Plains, Maryland
Dec 14 and 15, 2007 - Martini's Lounge White Plains, Maryland
 
Leslie also informs us that "State of Mind" (which includes Jimi Smith (71)) will be performing at the The Crooked i (formerly known as Chaney's) at the Beach Cove Resturant and Bar in North Beach on April 7, 2007 from 9 pm to 1am.



Hope you're all enjoying the first days of Spring!

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


THANKS TO THESE (EARLY) DONORS TO THE FOUNDATION'S 2007 CAMPAIGN
 
Pat Becker Oles (71)
Steve Profilet (71)
Michelle Shelley Wilson Block (68)
Sally Saker Weingarten (77)


IN MEMORIAM

TONY VILELLA, son of Judy Berganski Villella (78).  Tony was an avid ice hockey player - he played varsity form DeMatha and won the championship.  Tony was 19 years old, attending Towson University playing hockey.  A scholarship fund, the Anthony G. Villella Scholarship Fund, has been established at DeMatha to keep Tony's memory alive and to help kids who need funds for college.