Happy
May to all. The heat index sure has changed now
that we are in a new month. It is only 24 MORE
days until the start of hurricance season. "-(
from
Bobby Williamson
(off of Face Book)
Our crew just finished loading our remaining 1,500 boxes
for the trip to the
Nashville area. We may be doing double
duty this time. We are taking the boxes and other
supplies to the flood victims but we might also be
taking equipment to support CRWRC Mud-Out Crews.
The crews will arrive on Monday and start work Tuesday.
We are presently just waiting on the opening of the
donations warehouse.
from
Sharon Lopez Babineaux
'66 (sister of our late classmate
Pam Lopez)
Let me say that I do enjoy receiving the updates of your
class's website. So many of the 1968 class were in
the band or other areas that my husband Val and I were
involved in.
***********************************************************************
Barry
Boudreaux
tells me that he will be retiring July 1st. Good
news. Hope retirement brings you and Janice much
needed time to relax and enjoy the grandbabies.
The
maternity ward must have been very busy the beginning of
May, 1950 fussing with future 1968 graduates. In the
first 6 days of May the following classmates celebrated
their 60th birthdays:
Bart Darby, Mike
Lawson, Robert McClintock, Barry Boudreaux
and
mine
was on CINCO de MAYO! (Tell me if yours was in the
first week. I am sure I missed someone.)
***********************************************************************
Through the years I have met people that didn't care to
disclose their age. Certainly that is their
choice. It has never bothered me. After
being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 29, while
having a 2 1/2 year old daughter toddling around, I have
been thrilled when each birthday rolls around. Well,
maybe not that 'thrilled'!!! Cancer wasn't easy on the
body or the mind for years and I still have voice and
muscle issues that won't ever be resolved. Well,
who doesn't have some kind of problem especially as we
"mature"? I do look forward to enjoying many more years
to come. So, happy 60th birthday year to all of
our class. Only 3 more years until our 45th
reunion. So, start planning now! "-)
My
birthday celebration was a FOUR-day one this year. On
the weekend before the actual birthday, Murphy brought
me to a Lamar baseball game as his gift. On Tuesday, I
spent the day with my parents and older sister.
Wednesday, my actual Cinco de Mayo birthday, was spent
eating out at Logan's Roadhouse and having dessert at the
Marble Slab with my daughter, son-in-law, and two
precious granddaughters. Thursday consisted of a
pedicure, eating out at Novrosky's, and dessert at my
house. Classmates
Debbie Borres,
Ernie
Castaneda,
Diane Richmond,
my neighbor
Jo Anna Simmons
'69, and
Linda Prioux
(Bishop Bryne) came along for the day. So, my
birthday is over and I am officially in my 60's.
So long 50's! You were good to me. I'll miss
you!
*********************************************************************
MONOPOLY
(sent in by a classmate)
The
game MONOPOLY was created by Charles Barrow in 1933 and
sold to Parker Brothers in 1935.
You'll never look at the game the same way again!
Starting in 1941, an increasing number of British Airmen
found themselves as the involuntary guests of the Third
Reich, and the Crown was casting about for ways and
means to facilitate their escape. Now, obviously, one of
the most helpful aids to that end is a useful and
accurate map, one showing not only where stuff was, but
also showing the locations of 'safe houses' where a POW
on-the-lam could go for food and shelter. Paper
maps had some real drawbacks--they make a lot of noise
when you open and fold them, they wear out rapidly, and
if they get wet, they turn into mush. Someone in
MI-5, (similar to Americaa's OSS), got the idea of
printing escape maps on silk. It's durable, can be
scrunched-up into tiny wads, and unfolded as many times
as needed, and makes no noise whatsoever.
At
that time, there was only one manufactureer in Great
Britain that had perfected the technology of printing on
silk, and that was John Waddington, Ltd. When
approached by the government, the firm was only too
happy to do its bit for the war effort. By pure
coincidence, Waddinton was also the U.K. Licensee for
the popular American board game,
MONOPOLY. As it happened,
'games and pastimes' was a category of item qualified
for insertion into 'CARE packages', dispatched by the
International Red Cross to prisoners of war. Under
the strictest of secrecy, in a securely guarded and
inaccessible old workshop on the grounds of
Waddington's, a group of sworn-to-secrecy employees
began mass-producing escape maps, keyed to each region
of Germany or Italy where Allied POW camps were regional
system. When processed, these maps could be folded
into such tiny dots that they would actually fit inside
a
MONOPOLY
playing piece.
As
long as they were at it, the clever workmen at
Waddington's also managed to add:
1. A
playing token, containing a small magnetic compass
2. A
two-part metal file that could easily be screwed
together
3.
Useful amounts of genuine high-denomination German,
Italian, and French currency, hidden within piles of
MONOPOLY
money!
British and American air crews were advised, before
taking off on their first mission, how to identify a
'rigged'
MONOPOLY
set--by means of a tiny red dot, one cleverly rigged to
look like an ordinary printing glitch, located in the
corner of the Free Parking square.
Of
the estimated 35,000 Allied POWS who successfully
escaped, an estimated one-third were aided in their
flight by the rigged
MONOPOLY
sets. Everyone who did so was sworn to secrecy
indefinitely, since the British Government might want to
use this highly successful ruse in still another, future
war. The story wasn't declassified until 2007,
when the surviving craftsmen from Waddington's, as well
as the firm itself, were finally honored in a public
ceremony.
************************************************************************
from
Walter Jones
(update on his wife,
Linda Messer
'66)
Linda started the third cycle of treatments with
Taxotere. So far there is no indication it is
being effective. If positive results are not
evident by June, the doctor is going to re-evaluate this
treatment and perhaps start something different.
Both the treatment and the disease are taking a toll on
Linda over the past month. She is unable to eat
well and this is results in a lot of fatigue. She
has lost weight and is dealing with leg pain, abdominal
fluid, and digestive tract problems. Your
continued prayers are appreciated.
wejrel@hotmail.com
from
Tillman Richey
(update on his
brother-in-law)
Thanks to everyone for remembering my brother-in-law,
David Chesser, in your thoughts and prayers. His
progress has been good since he was diagnosed with
abdominal mesothelioma a year ago. David is a
fireman in Beaumont and it is likely his association
with hazardous chemicals and substances like asbestos
through his work led to this. He was given a grave
prognosis and M.D. Anderson recommended he seek help
elsewhere. He found a Doctor in Omaha, Nebraska at
Creighton University who deals with this form of
Mesothelioma. Last July he underwent a 12 hour
de-bulking surgery and heated intra abdominal
chemotherapy. This life extending procedure has
enabled him to have a fairly normal life at this time.
He still has chemo in Beaumont every two weeks and has
some pain and discomfort, but over all he's doing well.
In fact, we are all heading to Belize this summer on the
one year anniversary of his surgery!
**********************************************************************
Mike
and I were saddened to read that our class lost yet
again another classmate.
Tim Kennedy
November 9, 1950-April 29, 2010
The
Family of Tim Kennedy
3908 Canal Ave.
Groves, TX 77619
**********************************************************************
That's a wrap. Slim pickings at its best! I
guess you all have spring fever, "senioritis", or
something like that. I can't write what I don't
get. Obviously, no one had any memories of 'Crusin
down Gulfway/16th Street' because I didn't receive any.
"Oh, well" as my dear husband says!