Once again, Bill Elliott has put down in words some of the events that occurred on the 3rd Saturday in October, 2005.  He gives us a wonderful perspective on what "renewing friendships" is all about.  Bill has a wonderful gift for description and narrative.  Please plan on joining us every 3rd Saturday in October at his ranch. 

 
        Bob Rowland, web-master
 
And, now - here's Bill.
Recollections of the October 2005 Reunion

The SHS-66 reunion for October 2005 was held in our typical gorgeous autumn afternoon at "Journey's End Ranch" on Saturday, October 15, 2005 .  Perhaps a tradition has commenced, in that the range of conversation ranged farther, delved deeper into issues of the day and more was discovered about each other than ever before.  You had to have been there to believe it.

You might recall the Lewis & Clark expedition.  On February 28, 1803 , President Thomas Jefferson won approval from Congress for a visionary project, an endeavor that would become one of America ’s greatest stories of adventure.  A small expeditionary group was formed whose mission was to explore the uncharted West. Jefferson called the group the Corps of Discovery. It would be led by Jefferson ’s secretary, Meriwether Lewis, and Lewis’ friend, William Clark. Over the next four years, the Corps of Discovery would travel thousands of miles, experiencing lands, rivers and peoples that no Americans ever had before.

In a similar vein, the SHS-66 October 2005 Class Reunion resulted in a number of discoveries.  Perhaps, we can say that our class is, in of itself, a Class of Discovery.

Before revealing the discoveries, though, a few important housekeeping items:

The first class member arrived at .  The last left at .  Everyone demonstrated impressive endurance. 

The Reunion Committee met in the morning to review the arrangements for the 40th reunion in 2006.  Although a couple of statutes were violated concerning when liquor can be legally served, the Committee kept its focus.  Attending the committee meeting were Bettye Medlin Mullins, Alice Presley Agee, Bob Starnes , Bob Rowland , and last, but not least, Billy Goodwin (Danny Jeter was the official observer and representative of the public interest) and yours truly.  Most of the committee meeting was taken up with Bettye reading the detailed and copious minutes of the last Reunion Committee.  I’ve never know such detailed minute recording.  Also, the most remarkable facet of Bettye’s reading of the minutes of the last meeting was the laughter.  You might wonder how the reading of minutes could be funny, and I doubt I could convey adequately the reasons, suffice to say that the Reunion Committee could not get to the important decision-making for laughing while Bettye kept on reading the minutes, and reading, and reading.  Bob Starnes , thankfully, kept the Committee on focus. 

With a nod to democracy, decisions were made over the critical issues.  Under the leadership of Bob Rowland , the caterer was decided upon.  Believe me when I say that we will all enjoy the food at the reunion. 

Second, after a brief discussion about gender bias, Bob Starnes and Bob Rowland lead a spirited, but short, discussion of the decorations.  The Committee decided to have centerpieces in the school colors.  A slight diversion occurred when one of the Committee members, who was violating the liquor laws at that point, wanted to highlight the decision making differences of males versus females.  The over-all tone was vigorous laughter.

The third major issue was the music.  The parameters were having quality music of the time, the level of loudness must allow for conversation, and the Coachman have to be allowed to play somewhat.  The Fabulous Chevelles of Austin, Texas were approved. Having heard them recently, I can confidently say that everyone will be pleased.  One fact about The Fabulous Chevelles is that they were playing in 1966 and have remained constant all through the years.  Even Bob Rowland could be heard to ask, "Weren't they playing in Austin in the 1960s?"  Many of you might know that Bob passed through Austin , Texas during his pursuit of a college education.  We are all pleased that among his many remembrances was that The Fabulous Chevelles were a leading band back then.  Thank you Bob.

The song list from The Chevelles is:

ROCK AND ROLL

The Letter, The Boxtops

Brown Eyed Girl, Van Morrison

Pretty Woman, Roy Orbison

The Wanderer, Dion

Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry

Memphis , Chuck Berry

No Particular Place
To Go, Chuck Berry

 

Roll Over Beethoven, Chuck Berry

Great Balls Of Fire, Jerry Lee Lewis

Whole Lotta Shakin, Jerry Lee Lewis

Chantilly Lace, The Big Bopper

La Bamba, Richie Valens

Twist and Shout, Chubby Checker

Don't Be Cruel, Elvis Presley

Little Sister, Elvis Presley

Wooly Bully, Sam The Sham

Tequilla, Champs

Gimme Some Lovin, Spencer Davis

Whammer Jammer, J. Giles

Low Rider, War

Lucille, Little Richard

Hey Baby, Bruce Channel

Rockin Robin, Joey Dee

One After 909, The Beatles

96 Tears, ? and The Mysterions

Come Go With Me, Del Vikings

Working For A Livning, Huey Lewis

Spooky, Classic Four

Black Is Black, Los Bravos

A Little Bit Of Soul, Music Explosion

Drift Away, Dobie Grey

Louie Louie, The Kingsmen

Wild Thing, The Troggs

Gloria, Them

Devil With A Blue Dress, Mitch Ryder

Good Golly Miss Molly, Mitch Ryder

 

 

 

 

 

 

R&B

 

 

 

Hour, Wilson Pickett

Mustang Sally, Wilson Pickett

634-5789, Wilson Pickett

I Feel Good, James Brown

Linda Lu, Ray Sharpe

Treat Her Right, Roy Head

Little Bit, Roy Head

What'd I Say, Ray Charles

Hootchie Cootchie Man, Muddy Waters

Green Onions, Booker T. & The MG's

Cold Shot, Stevie Ray Vaughan

Kansas City , Wilbur Harrison

Hideaway, Freddie King

Sweet Home Chicago, Freddie King

Why Get Up, The Thunderbirds

Land Of A Thousand Dances, Sam and Dave

Little Bitty Pretty One, Bobby Day

Take Me To The River, Al Green

Poke Salad Annie, Tony Joe White

Reach Out, Four Tops

High Heeled Sneakers, Jimmie Reed

Bright Lights Big City, Jimmie Reed

You Got Me Runnin, Jimmie Reed

It's Alright, Curtis Mayfield

Let The Good Times Roll, Bobby Blue Bland

Got You On My Mind, Cookie and The Cupcakes

Talk To Your Daughter, Robin Ford

She Caught The Katy, Taj Mahal

 

 

 

 

 

 

SLOW SONGS AND COUNTRY

 

 

 

Since I Fell For You, Al Jareau

My Girl, The Temptations

Under The Boardwalk, The Drifters

Dock Of The Bay, Otis Redding

Darling You Send Me, Sam Cooke

Bring It On Home, Sam Cooke

That Lovin Feelin, Righteous Brothers

Can't Help Falling In Love, Elvis Presley

One Night With You, Elvis Presley

Stand By Me, Ben E. King

Georgia On My Mind, Ray Charles

Sleepwalk, Santo and Johnny

When A Man Loves A Woman, Percy Sledge

Mercy Mercy Mercy, The Buckinghams

Ain't No Sunshine, Bill Withers

Time Is On My Side, The Rolling Stones

House Of The Rising Sun, The Animals

A Whiter Shade Of Pale, Procol Herum

Because, The Dave Clark Five

To Love Somebody, The Bee Gee's

Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffet

Honky Tonk Man, Johnny Horton

Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash

Last Date, Floyd Kramer

Singing The Blues, Marty Robbins

Elvira, The Oakridge Boys

I'm So Lonesome, B. J. Thomas

Waltz Across Texas , Earnest Tubb

Honky Tonk, Bill Dogget

Mathilda, Cookie and The Cupcakes

So Fine, The Falcon

 

http://thefabulouschevelles.com/index.asp discusses the band more completely, if you wish to take a look.  These guys are good, I'll tell you.

The Reunion will be at the Municipal Ballroom on Saturday, July 1, 2005 .  Other details will follow.

The Committee was served lunch by me (King Ranch Casserole, tossed salad, home made Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing, fresh tortillas) and we enjoyed a wonderful fresco meal overlooking the Red River.  In the early afternoon, classmates started gathering.  As usual, Alice Presley identified everyone when they first got out of their vehicle.

The first part of the reunion was spent trying to identify all those missing from our list.  Bert Bond and Bettye led everyone through that discussion.  A couple of our members who have been shown to be deceased were actually determined to be alive and well.  After a spirited discussion, these persons were moved back to the living column.  The spirited nature of the conversation went something like this:  "Was so and so dead?  No, I saw him in the grocery store a couple of week ago.  Are you sure?  Yeah, I talked to him over by the green beans.  How did he look?  He looked a little puny actually"

While a bit embarrassing and our apologies extended, actually, it is not our fault.  Some of our classmates have been a little out of touch. 

The spouses of our classmates played an important role this year.  For example, Billy Goodwin's wife Gail brought down the house in describing Billy's tendencies to run out of gas in his Harley Davidson.  Billy apparently has a reluctance to fill up.  Billy and his wife were traveling through the Northwest Territory , in the middle of nowhere, when Billy kept bending over to look down into the gas tank, while traveling at 65 mph.  His wife finally asked what in the world he was doing.  Billy replied, "I think we're about to run out of gas."  Of course, the last town was 30 miles back.  The other instance was Billy running out less than three blocks from his house in Denison .  Amidst the laughter, I think I heard Billy offering some lame excuse about Harley gas gauges being defective or something like that.

Ted Coffey sat on one of my wooden slatted benches and broke the wood slats.  Again, amidst the laughter, Ted was explaining why it wasn't his fault. 

A great deal of productive time was spent discussing those not at the reunion.  Be advised, the best protection from being talked about is to attend the reunions.  It might be my imagination, but I would say that the girls in our class were discussed more than the boys.  There is insufficient space, nor do I have the time, to recount this part of the discussion.  The common denominator, as usual, was laughter.

Now, for the Class of Discovery.  Everything was proceeding normally, as you might gather from the above discussion, until Becky Larkin arrived.  The entire atmosphere changed.  There were the greetings and so on.   After a few minutes to get settled, I had this faint memory of something that I needed to ask about.  My question went something like, "Does anyone remember one of our classmates living in a nudist colony?"  Then all hell broke lose.

Becky responded first, “It was not a nudist colony.  We call it a naturalist camp.”  So much for figuring out who was there.

The questions started pouring out of the group.  Becky handled all questions with great humor and aplomb.  Actually, everyone was laughing so hard, it was a little hard to hear all of Becky's answers.  Yes, you read that correct, it was a little hard to hear Becky's answers.

Bob Rowland was certain that the first 30 minutes of attending the nudist (sorry, naturalist camp) would be the most difficult for the men.  There was a small (no pun intended) diversion while Danny Jeter and Bob recounted their testosterone levels in high school.  Becky announced for all concerned that her levels were pretty high in high school too.  Again, great laughter.

Bettye and Becky then discussed whether you actually get tired to looking at those "things."  Becky assured all of us that you get over your inhibitions in about ten minutes or less.  That is a great irony, I would say, for Becky Larkin to talk about getting over inhibitions. 

Various words were uttered by some of the ladies to describe those "things."  I couldn't write down all of the names fast enough.  If you are interested, go read Lonesome Dove.  Larry McMurtry covers most of the common expressions for the "thing."  You would be amazed at how some of the more restrained ladies were the quickest out with common expressions.  More laughter.

To be balanced, from a gender perspective, Becky then proceeded to describe the females drooping and sagging that were present.   Bob Rowland couldn't help but mention a topless beach he attended recently and attempted to be relevant by comparing his observations of drooping and sagging with Becky's descriptions.  More laughter.

I had to step in my ranch house for a few minutes, and missed some of the remainder of the conversation, but I could hear screaming and hooting from outside.   If you are curious, then please contact Becky Larkin. 

There is a pattern developing here of personal discovery.  Future reunions will have to go some to exceed the level of discussion of this fabulous reunion.  The day was terrifically fun for everyone. 

As a final note, Mark and Beverly Wright arrived just as everyone was leaving.   We talked into the evening and had a good time.   The entire day was wonderful.