MARCH ‘08

 


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Grand Reunion Update – The reunion plans are progressing nicely, following the format of previous reunions. We plan to have a catered evening picnic at the estate of Jerry and Barbara Luton Brewer in Eads, Tn. Also planned is a dance with Central’s own Alex Ward and his Pig-n-Whistle Review, hopefully, at a hotel. Booking this venue has become problematic. We have become aware that the pricing for a ballroom has increased, significantly since 2003.Typically; the picnic is on a Friday with the dance on Saturday evening followed by a Sunday brunch. Obtaining a desirable and affordable location may require reversing that sequence, i.e. a Friday evening dance with the picnic on Saturday. If you have a preference, PLEASE ADVISE. We need your input.

 

Some surprises are also in the works for the picnic that may not be revealed until the event.

      

Bumper sticker - I Have The Body Of A God - Buddha.

Won’t you help us find more of the 11 remaining-missing Warriors?  CLICK AND GET BUSY

 

For the next few months we will redouble our efforts to find these missing warriors. Be prepared to be inundated with Xtras featuring one or more of the missing. Please send any clue, no matter how seemingly insignificant, that you may remember i.e. info on parents, old boy friends, best friends in school, church attended, siblings, married name, last residence, profession, children’s names, etc.

 

SEND US STORIES AND PICS OF YOUR TRAVELS

 

Memories – Send you Central Memories to PAULA

 

Please Click here! , enter your Central name and CELL number, including
the area code, and click “Send”  This info will NOT be available for public viewing.

 

SAY WHAT?!!

Until students, teachers and staff can be protected by at least metal detector checks every day at every school, Whalum says the system needs to close its doors. “ Nobody in, nobody out!”

                                                                   School board commissioner Kenneth Whalum Jr.

 

WARNINGS TO WARRIORS – from Smoke Signals medical advisor Dr. Vinny Boombatz

HELPFUL HINTS    From Smoke Signals’ HOMES editor - Mike Blackwell

FROM THE                 LAUGH TRACK – Phil Aquino

 

 

Three Piedmont Rednecks were working up on a cell phone tower: Cooter, Ronnie and Donnie.

 

As they start their descent Cooter slips, Falls off the tower and is killed instantly.

 

As the ambulance takes the body away, Ronnie says, 'Well, damn, someone should go and tell his wife.' Donnie says, 'OK, I'm pretty good at that sensitive stuff, I'll do it.

 

'Two hours later, he comes back carrying a case of Budweiser.

 

Ronnie says, 'Where did you get that beer, Donnie?' '

 

Cooter's wife gave it to me,' Ronnie replies.

 

'That's unbelievable, you told the lady her husband was dead and she gave you beer?'

 

Well, not exactly', Donnie says. 'When she answered the door, I said to her, you must be Cooter's widow'.'

 

She said, 'You must be mistaken, I'm not a widow.'

 

Then I said , 'I'll bet you a case of Budweiser you are.'

 

Rednecks Are Good At Sensitive S#*t.

 

                   SEND US A SHORT BIO ALONG WITH A RECENT PHOTO SO WE

                   CAN PUT YOU IN "THE SPOTLITE" . Use this well-done bio from 

                    PINKY as your guide
                                                                                                                                  

IN THE NEWS WITH VIEWS send news of new jobs, retirement, kids, grandkids, ANYTHING OF INTEREST going on in your life to SMOKE SIGNALS

 

Feb 3rd - Paula Wicker Hamby sends this update on her grandson. James is getting to be a big boy now at 17 1/2 pounds and about 27 inches long. He smiles and jabbers all the time. He is about on a 6-month level because of his 15 surgeries and 6 months in the hospital, but he's catching up! I have worked for 25 years in Special Education with 10 of those years in early intervention. I am glad now to understand more about James because of my past work experience. Melissa is taking James to Special Kids, a center in Murfreesboro that provides physical and occupational therapy. His left hand is weak because of the brain bleeds James had at 3 days old. Cerebral Palsy has been ruled out. We are so thankful. It is a matter of catch up, but with the diligent Mom James has, I am sure this will happen. Morris is a very attentive Dad, and James smiles and plays with him!

 

Here are some pics from us a few weeks ago. We were chosen as one of the "miracle families" for Vandy Childs. Hospital. They held an all night danceathon and raised money for the hospital. Click and scroll down.

 

Update 3/7 This is the latest from Morris about grandson James. James is doing well and recovering from the latest surgery. Please continue to pray for all of us, especially James. He is amazing and even with this abdominal surgery was continuing to "kick" his little feet and move those hands...sort of like practicing for crawling! We are blessed! Thank you for your prayers. That's what has kept us going!

 

Feb. 15th – June and Sammy Voss moving east. The company I've been contracted with for the last 6 months has offered me a permanent position, which I have accepted. June and I will be moving to Maryville Tn. sometime within the next 6 to 8 months. We have to sell our home in Germantown before we move to Maryville. The company I'll be working for (Clayton Homes) is at the foothills of the Smokey Mountains. We're about 40 minutes from Gatlingburg. I'll be coming home during the transition period, about every other weekend. June and I plan to attend the Class Reunion in June.

 

Feb. 18th - Click for Feb. 18 SupperClub pics.

 

NEWS FOR THE OUT-OF-TOWNER for more, visit THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL

 

Feb. 4th – A disagreement inside a Hamilton High algebra class, allegedly over rap lyrics, leads to gunfire. One student was hospitalized with a bullet wound to his leg. Another is in jail. In Oct. a Manassas High School student was accidentally shot in the arm by a friend. In August 2004, gunfire erupted during a fight in the basement of Hamilton High. There were no injuries in that shooting.

 

Feb. 11th - A week after a shooting at Hamilton High, a 17 year-old Mitchell High sophomore shot a 19 year-old senior three times inside the school’s lunchroom, during a PE class.

 

Feb.12th - An outbreak of tornadoes cause widespread death and destruction in Memphis and surrounding areas.

 

Feb. 12th – Former Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth A. Turner died today at the age of 79. Turner was first elected to the bench in 1964 and served for 42 years, the longest of any Shelby County elected official.

 

Feb. 13th – A 14 year-old Lester Middle school 7th grader was caught with an unloaded pistol in his backpack.

 

Feb. 15th. – “Snatched From the Headlines”. Here’s one you won’t be seeing on an episode of Law and Order. A 15 year-old Memphis boy and his 20 year-old girl friend, Cherry Wright planned to kill his ex-girlfriend, 23 year-old Lakevettes Smith, who is pregnant with the 15 year-old’s child.  With the 15 year-old driving, Wright fired a number of shots from the car at Smith. During the incident, Wright missed Smith but accidentally shot the boy in the neck. He was hospitalized; she was booked; he soon will be.

 

Feb. 21st. – Former U of M head football coach and Athletic Director Billy ‘Spook’ Murphy died today in Memphis at the age of 87. Coach Murphy had battled Alzheimer’s disease for a number of years.

 

The article and the inserted link below may be too intensely graphic for some readers.

 

Mar. 3rd. – In what may be the worst mass murder in Memphis history, 6 people including 2 children were shot and or stabbed in a home on Lester St. in the Binghamton area. 3 other children were hospitalized.
Update - Media reports, leaks from the Police Dept. and other creditable reports, indicate that the brutality of these attacks is unparalleled in Memphis history. Reportedly, veteran homicide detectives and other emergency personnel responding to the horrific scene were unprepared for what they encountered. The three surviving children have been isolated from even their own relatives. Neither of the children’s names nor ages have been published. Reports that the some of the children were tortured and mutilated remain unsubstantiated.

One local blogger, http://thadmatthews.blogspot.com/ with a history of receiving inside information from the MPD has posted some graphic pics of one of the adult victims that were taken at the N.J. Ford Funeral Home. Those pics, along with the accompanying narrative, paint a gruesome picture of what occurred on Lester St. The MPD has enlisted help from the FBI, TBI, U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshal’s Office, and the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit. The sheer brutality of the attacks has led to speculation among authorities that the notoriously vicious Latin gang MS13 is involved in the murders. It was previously believed that MS13 was not operating in the Memphis area. To stay up-to-date on developments in this investigation, click THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL .

Update – Saturday, Mar.8th after interviewing the three surviving children, Memphis police report that they have arrested and subsequently obtained a confession from Jessie Dotson, the brother of victim Cecil Dotson. According to the police, when he left the Lester St. house, Dotson thought he had killed all nine occupants.

 

Mar. 7th - Cornelia Crinkley died today at her home in Memphis at the age of 91. Click for obit.

 

LINKS YOU’LL LOVE

Although Smoke Signals never contains material that would be considered obscene, some links may occasionally contain a word, image or other content that might be offensive to some. Those links will appear BLACK in color.

Middle school bans flatus           Scientist can reverse memory loss!              Track election odds.

If only I had known!                     Most miserable cities.     Time freeze at Grand Central Sta. Busselle

Reaction time. Blackwell             Guys, about that burning in your pants!    Inspirational . Wicker

HENRY’S CORNER

Speaking of “ Since I Don’t Have You” we were, weren’t we.  The 1959 hit by the Skylines was their top ranking single, reaching #12 in March of that year. The Pittsburgh quintet was comprised of Jimmy Beaumont, Janet Vogel, Wally Lester, Joe VerScharen and Jackie Taylor. The song was inspired when the secretary of a radio station told Joe Rock the group’s business manager, that she no longer wanted to date him. Joe came up with the lyrics and Beaumont the melody. Janet Vogel falsetto ending was originally done as a joke. The group liked it so much; they incorporated it into the final cut. Click for more.

Susan Lucci is the daughter of Phyllis Diller.

40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.

315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.

IMPORTANT LINKS ON THE CHS WEBSITE
 

Check for our news page.  CLICK FOR NEWS

Email addresses for our troops.   CLICK FOR OUR TROOPS PG.    
Our tribe’s ’61 & ’62 homeroom pics. CLICK FOR PICS

Alumni page for warriors of all years.  CLICK FOR ALUMNI PAGE
Send us your thoughts. CLICK FOR OPINION PAGE

Send us some laughs. CLICK FOR LAUGH PAGE.