THIS IS SURRATTS FOUNDATION E-NOTICE 2010-1 OF JANUARY 1, 2010

Hello Hornets:

Here are some items that might be of interest:

1.  TICKETS NOW ON SALE FOR 2010 ALL CLASSES/FACULTY/STAFF EVENTS!  We're happy to report that tickets are now on sale for two of the three June 2010 All Classes/Faculty/Staff events: Surrattstock III to be held Friday evening June 25, 2010 from 6 to 11 p.m., and the All Classes/Faculty/Staff School Open House and Picnic to be held Saturday June 26, 2010 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Tickets for Surrattstock III are a mere $5, and tickets to the Open House and Picnic are $10, with guests under 18 free to each event.  (These charges cover our required insurance, School staff overtime, and related charges for the events, and hopefully will raise additional general funds for the Foundation.)  Unlike the Open Houses/Picnics held in 2000 and 2005, we won't be including food and drink in the ticket price, so the 2010 Picnic will be BYOP (and we're hoping to have food and drink vendors on site selling their stuff -- more on that later).

There are two ways to buy your tickets.  First, you may send a check by mail using the form pasted below.  Second, you may purchase tickets on the Foundation's web site at www.surrattsville.org.  Here's how you do that: 

a.  Go to surrattsville.org

b.  Click on "Events"

c.  Find the event you wish to attend (i.e., "2010 All Class Reunion" or "Surrattstock III"), and click on that event.

d.  Click on "Pay Now"

e.  Fill-in the information on the Pay Now page and click on "Review Order and Continue."  IMPORTANT NOTE TO THE LADIES: WHEN YOU COMPLETE THE FIRST NAME BLOCK, PLEASE TYPE IN YOUR FIRST AND LAST NAMES WHILE AT SURRATTSVILLE.  THAT WAY, FOR NAME BADGE PURPOSES, WHEN YOUR NAME COMES THROUGH THE SYSTEM, WE'LL HAVE YOUR CURRENT LAST NAME AND THE LAST NAME YOUR CLASSMATES WILL RECOGNIZE.

f.  IMPORTANT:  On the "Review Your Payment" section, again for name badge purposes, in the box called "Add Special Instructions to Seller," please type in your graduation year, or you years on the faculty/staff.

g.  Click on the "Complete Purchase" button.

h.  Check your email,  where you will find a receipt for your purchase.  Please print this off and bring it to the event.  This receipt is your entry ticket.

(Note that you'll need to repeat the above for each event you wish to attend, and for each person from your group attending each event.)

We're hoping that the 2010 events will be the same great successes that were the 2000 and 2005 events!

[Ed. Note: Information on the June 25 Golf Outing will appear in a future e-Notice, and please don't forget to check in with your Class ORC to learn about any Class-specific event for your Class being held during the June 25 - June 27, 2010 weekend.]

2.  VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR SURRATTSTOCK III.  And speaking of the June 2010 events, if you're planning to attend Surrattstock III on Friday June 25, and you'd be willing to donate a half-hour of your time to assist with the ticket table or the refreshment table, please send an email to the Surrattstock III coordinator, Stacey Fowler (87), at sfowler2@susangage.com.

3.  MANY THANKS TO ESI OF BETHESDA FOR COMPUTER DONATION!  We're thrilled to report that, thanks to the generosity of Paul Rickett (69) and his company, ESI, we have already received our first corporate donation of computers.  Specifically, ESI donated ten nearly new computers, flat screen monitors and keyboards, and they've already been delivered to the School.

Many thanks to ESI, and Paul, for making this happen so quickly!

(Thanks also to Smith & Downey for the donation of a high-speed laser printer that also has been delivered to the School.)

As many of our readers will recall, when the Foundation was first established, our first big project was to arrange for the donation to the School of over $250,000 worth of computer equipment.  Ten years have passed, and that equipment is now obsolete or at the end of its useful life.  Therefore, we have started a second drive to acquire computers (and related peripherals) for the School.  If you have contacts at any employer or other organization that donates "gently used" computers to non-profits, please contact me at hsmith@smithdowney.com.

Note to federal government employees:  many federal government agencies have little-known programs for the donation of "gently used" computers to 501(c)(3) entities like the Foundation.  If you are a federal government employee, please consider asking around at work to see if your agency could make a contribution toward this very important Foundation initiative.

4.  MORE SURRATTS HISTORY.  Here's the latest in our continuing series of items about Surrattsville's very interesting history.  This undated article by Lorrenzo Middleton appeared in a newspaper partially identified as the "Star News" (with a photo of the Surratt House before any renovations):

"The Name of Surratt Still Held in Esteem.  The local people in the Clinton area of southern Prince George's County have been standing behind the good name of Mary E. Surratt for a hundred years.  The widow of a prominent land owner, Mrs. Surratt was hanged on July 7, 1865 for conspiring to shoot President Abraham Lincoln.  Three weeks after her execution, the federal government added insult to the protesting residents of their little community -- then called Surrattsville -- by changing the name of the town.

But the people of the area have maintained her innocence throughout the years and continue to hold the Surratt name in high esteem.  In defiance of the federal government, they refused to remove the Surrattsville name from the local election district and have added the title to roads, schools, housing developments and businesses in the region.  The latest effort to bring attention to the plight of what one resident calls "the most maligned woman in American history" has been a long struggle for the restoration of her house as a historic landmark.

After more than six years of research, planning and delays, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission announced this week that construction finally is about to begin and that restoration of the house should be completed by next summer.  The county and state governments have appropriated about $140,000 to buy land around the house and to return it to its 19th century appearance.

Now boarded up and unoccupied, the crumbling two-story frame house stands just off a busy Clinton intersection on Brandywine Road.  Thomas S. Gwynn, Jr., chairman of the Committee for the Restoration of the Surratt House, says the restored home will serve as an historical attraction for the area and will "help correct the bad name that has been given to Mary Surratt".  Gwynn said the house was build in 1840, overlooking a 1200-acre corn and tobacco farm.  The house later was converted into a country store and tavern which became the center of community activity.

When John Surratt died in 1862, his widow leased the tavern and moved with two children to the District, where she operated a boarding house near Ford's Theater.

John Wilkes Booth, one of her roomers, was said to have conspired with others in the rooming house to assassinate Lincoln.  On April 14, 1865, the night of the shooting, Mrs. Surratt was roused from her bed by federal troops at 11:30 p.m. and charged in the conspiracy.  She maintained her innocence until she was hanged three months later.  She had been further linked to the assassination, however, by the tavern operator who claimed she had left guns, ammunition and supplies for Booth, who stopped at the tavern on his escape route.

Mrs. Surratt admitted being at the tavern on the afternoon of the shooting, but she said it was only to collect rent.  She was convicted and sentenced to death by a military tribunal.  Partly because of the public outcry over the case, the government later halted military trials of civilians."

[Ed Note: Some of you may recall that James Swanson's recently published, and absolutely riveting,  book, "Manhunt," casts some doubt on the amount of esteem due to Mary Surratt's name!  It will be interesting to see how the upcoming Robert Redford film portrays this interesting character from American -- and Clinton -- history.]

5.  MORE MEMORIES OF SOUTHERN MARYLAND.  Here's another interesting article from the series in the St. Mary's County Times written by Foundation Historian and Archivist, Shelby Lee Oppermann (79):

�Family Fun & Games�  The holidays are approaching, and naturally we begin to think of our families and all the good times we shared together over the years.  Fond, shared memories of warmth and togetherness.  Each family has traditions that bond them, some of which are songs, stories or games.

Our family was no different.  We didn�t always play the perennial family favorites, Monopoly and Candyland (my favorite).  My older brothers, Bobby and Billy, thought up unique games to entertain me.  I was 9 years younger than Billy, and 14 years younger than Bobby; I was a happy puppy willing to go along with anything. 
 
One of the earliest games  I remember was called �Sanctuary�.  Some of you might have grown up with a similar version. I�m sure it�s still popular among siblings today.  One child, normally the youngest, is minding their (her) own business sitting on the floor coloring or watching cartoons, and one sibling (older, stealthy brother) sneaks up from behind and starts tickling them (her) until they are crying and continues on until they (she) can�t breathe.  The second version is when the youngest child (me) has to pass by anywhere older sibling (much older, stealthy brother) might be without being caught.

The object of the game was for the person being tickled to reach sanctuary at one of two designated spots set by my Mother during previous �games�. Once you reached there you had to scream �sanctuary!�. This could only work if #1 you could breathe, and #2 you could move faster than your pursuer.  My sanctuary spots were the unused armchair in the back corner of the living room, and the area behind the dining room table.  No one could get behind there except me.  The room was a U-shaped bump-out between the foyer and kitchen.  It�s funny that I was the only one who ever yelled �sanctuary!�.

After my older brother left for college when I was four, then my brother Billy had to think of games for me himself.  So, during those long summer days each year when we got bored from our marathon Monopoly games, I�d follow Billy all over the house and out into the yard.  I�d watch him build his erector set or bring out that funny chemistry set which they probably don�t sell anymore, and shouldn�t.

I guess once in awhile Billy might have gotten maybe a little annoyed with a little sister following him around asking questions all day.  I don�t know exactly when, but he developed a new game called the �Where�s Shebby Game.�   My Mother never knew about this game.  The game would start about afternoon.  I would be in my happy puppy state lovingly following big brother all over the place, asking 1001 questions, and suddenly Billy would say, �Where�s Shebby?� (That was, and is, my family nickname). I�d say, �Here I am,  Billy�.  Billy would look all around and then ask again �Where�s Shebby?�.  I would answer again, �Here I am, Billy, Here, I am!!!�, starting to jump up and down to get his attention, and progressively getting more panicky.  We would go all around the house this way.  What great fun, what great memories.

The last really impressive game Billy thought up was  sure to keep a young child�s attention, it didn�t have a name, but it is forever burned in my memory.  This goes back to those funny chemistry sets.  Remember, this was the early 60�s.  Both brothers loved to learn more about how chemistry worked, and they would build model cars just to blow them up.  Nowadays, they would be on the evening news.  This is also something my Mother knew little or nothing about.  When Billy would tire of blowing up his own models, he would look for new things.  What could be more colorful than doll house figurines and furniture? 

Billy said to me one day, �Let�s take your doll house figures outside, and put them on this tree stump.� Happy puppy replies, �Okay, Billy� Then after Billy does a few things to the doll figures he tells me to run, so I run, and nothing happens. We run a second time, nothing.  But the third time, POW!!!!!  dolls and doll pieces go flying through the air.  I still see it all in slow motion, in horror, with Billy laughing.  I realize to him this was a great scientific experiment to benefit mankind somehow, but my little friends were blown apart.  Billy kept telling me, �It�s all right, I�ll buy you more.�  I don�t know if he ever did or not.
     
When my family gathers together this  Thanksgiving, you can be sure that these warm, loving family stories will be shared once more.  There is the possibility my brothers will be planning a game of �sanctuary�, so I am unable to breathe or talk, and possibly thinking of a game where I will be unable to ever write again.   To each new day�s adventure, Shelby.  Send comments to: shelbys.wanderings@yahoo.com"

6. AND SPEAKING OF LOCAL HISTORY...  We received this link to an interesting web site about Hyde Field and Prince George's County's remarkable aviation history from Paul Monaghan (59).  We imagine that our many readers who enjoyed the various Hyde Field stories in last year's e-Notices will find this site fascinating.

7.  BOOMERANGS AVAILABLE.   The Foundation has a limited supply of yearbooks from 1991, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006.  If you'd like one of these yearbooks (which are available for $15 including shipping and handling), please send me an email to hsmith@smithdowney.com.

8.  FOUNDATION'S OFFICIAL 2009 ANNUAL CAMPAIGN A GREAT SUCCESS.  Thanks to the generosity of the donors listed below, the Foundation's official 2009 Annual Campaign was a great success, despite 2009 having been one of the most challenging years in recent history for charitable fund raising.  We are very grateful for our wonderful donors!

(Note that the Foundation has a "button" on the home page of the Foundation's web site (www.surrattsville.org) that makes it easy for donors to make donations all year long.  A special request to our on-line donors: please include your graduation year/faculty years/etc. in your on-line donation form.)

9.  POSSIBLE 80/81 REUNION.  The Classes of 80 and 81 are planning a possible reunion for June 2010.  They need a contact person for the Class of 80.  Please contact Teresa Blandford Pepper at teresa@dlpinc.net to provide contact info.

10.  SURRATTS COOKBOOK.  As previously reported, Leslie St. Clair (70) and Diane "Cookie" Boyd (71) are putting together a Cookbook of Hornets' Favorite Recipes.  They're hoping that a number of you will submit recipes, and they'll break them down by category and have them bound and offer them for sale at the 2010 All Classes/Faculty/Staff events.  All proceeds will go to the Foundation.  If you have a recipe you'd like to share, please send it to Leslie and Cookie at surrattscookbook@yahoo.com.

11.  COMBINED 60-65 EVENT.  We received this update from Class of 62 ORCs Len Owens and Jerry Spence: "The Classes of  60-65 are working on a Combined Classes 60-65 Reunion with events on Saturday evening (dinner) June 26, 2010 and Sunday afternoon (picnic) June 27, 2010.  Locations still to be determined.  Please contact your Official Reunion Contact (contact info is on the "Classes" page of the web site at www.surrattsville.org) for more information.  Best Wishes, Len and Jerry"

12.  SURRATTS FACEBOOK PRESENCE UPDATE.  The "Surrattsville Alumni" Group on Facebook has nearly 900 members, and the various Class-specific Groups are growing, as well.  Please consider joining these free on-line communities as a way to keep in touch and to stay informed.

13.  INFO WANTED ON SURRATTSVILLE ELEMENTARY.   Les Illinski (62) is seeking information on the opening year for Surrattsville Elementary School.  Please email Les at leslyillinski@aol.com if you have any information that might be of interest to him.


I hope this e-Notice finds your 2010 off to a fantastic start!

All the best,  Henry Smith (71)


MANY THANKS TO THESE DONORS TO THE 2009 CAMPAIGN!

Steve Profilet (71)
Bob Marr (71)
Debbie Cox Marr (72)
Teri Pepper Dimsey (77), In veneration of my classmates turning 50 this year
T. Summers Gwynn III (64), In memory of Bill Gwynn (64)
Ann Weaver Pelle (71)
Donna Rae Sturtevant Smith (70)
Henry Smith (71)
Jeanine Carroll Maclary (73), In Memory of Her Brother, James R. Carroll, Jr.
Vicky Simontacchi Young (57)
Linda Dorsey Blum (66)
Arvid Andresen (65)
Judy Gordon Mentlik (65), In Memory of Greg White (65), David Shriver (65) and Laura     Chovan (former faculty)
Ellen Talbert-Miller (61, former Faculty and Administration), In memory of Lillian Holland
Dan Bayne (71)
Tom Travis (72)
Sally Travis (72)
Rick Tazelaar (73)
David Kraus (65)
Paul Monaghan (59)
Coach Lew Jenkins (former Faculty, 1967 - 1993)
Helen Bovbjerg Niedung (54)
Judy Miller (70)
J. Paul Rickett (69)
Gloria Blandford Rickett (71)
Janet Goddard Sullivan (54), In Memory of Mildred Wheatley (34)
Melissa Gilcrest (69)
Jeanine Carroll Maclary (73), In Memory of James R. Carroll, Jr.
Patricia Becker Oles (71)
Valerie Parker Allard (73), In Memory of Cathy Lally Freitas (73)
Beverly Statler Thrift (69)
Dennis Thrift (71)
Mike Gifford (84)
Joan Penn Revis (61)
Homer Revis (56)
Denise Hope (72), In Memory of Robin Danielson (72)
Anne Noyes, Former Faculty
Brenda Karnes, Former Faculty, In Memory of Millie Biedenkapp
Dave Weber (65)