Newsletter #2

It has been more than two months since our first newsletter.  Please be reminded that this is YOUR newsletter!  Your input is most welcome!  We want to know what’s happening in your life, like how are you spending your summer?  We’d love to share any pictures you may have as well…from the past or the present.  Let us hear from you between now and our next publication, which will be some time in early September.  Send your news items to newsletter@gables56.com.

Last Lunch Bunch Summer Gathering

John DeMas informs us that the final Lunch Bunch gathering of the summer will be held Wednesday August 15^th at the brand new Golden Corral in The Villages. Luncheon will begin at 11:30 AM.

The senior rate (don't you hate that?) is $7.49 not including drinks. Please RSVP as early as possible to Henry Kurtz at Haleon36@cox.net or call 352-216-0682. The restaurant needs to know ASAP whether their medium or large banquet room will be needed.

The Golden Corral is located on CR 466, 1/2 mile east of US HWY 301. When traveling east from I-75, cross 301 and continue east, then cross CR103 (Old School Rd). Continue east, take 1st left (Village Campus Circle) to first left into parking lot. You are there!

Last chance of the summer to see your friends from our class and many others. Come one! Come all!

You may contact John DeMas for further information at jdemas@gate.net.

Ms. Reno's Americana CD

Our esteemed Janet Reno has been deeply involved in the production of a special CD project that was recently spotlighted on NPR radio.  Thanks to Ted Webb for bringing it to our attention, and to Greta Schipper Reed for sending the following press release:

All Things Considered, July 6, 2007 · An upcoming CD compilation maps out centuries of American history through the reinterpretation of beloved songs such as "Yankee Doodle" and "Home on the Range."   New versions of 50 American classics — performed by artists ranging from Take 6 and the Blind Boys of Alabama to Devendra Banhart and Martha Wainwright — are included on Song of America, a three-CD set to be released in September.

Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno is the mastermind behind the collection, which has been years in the making. She made a special trip to the Grammy Awards ceremony in 2005 to drum up interest in the project, which began as a casual conversation between Reno and her niece's husband, record producer Ed Pettersen — who also contributes a song to the CD set.

In part, Reno says she is motivated by a desire to share music with her young great-nieces and great-nephews. "One of the joys that I'm looking forward to is to play these recordings for them, so that they can build on their ability to use song to express themselves," Reno, who now has Parkinson's disease, tells Melissa Block.

Reno describes "Yankee Doodle" — performed by Harper Simon, son of Paul Simon — as a "beautiful rendition," which revealed something new and yet universal. Other songs, such as "Home on the Range" and "Rosie the Riveter," conjure up special memories for Reno — such as childhood pony rides or her Aunt Winnie, who served in the Women Air force Service Pilots during World War II.

"I just hope that people will have the opportunity to hear [Song of America] and to see what song can do to inspire and to motivate and to give people a sense of themselves," Reno says.

Greta also passed this along:

Listen to Janet Reno Discuss Her 'Saturday Night Live' Appearance, Will Ferrell Parody

Time Lines

We need the dates of your birthday and anniversary! Here are some of the few we have for this time period:  July 19 – Dolores Domning Meo;  July 21 – Janet Reno;  July 31^st – Anne Jensen Harper; Aug. 5 – Marc Adams (and wife Pat as well); Aug. 18 – Stewart Harnell; Aug. 23 – Bill Schroeder.

And here are some July and August birthdays of some celebrities who are in our age group:

JULY:  2nd – Auto racing “King” Richard Petty 1937;  4^th – singer Bill Withers 1938;  6^th – actor Ned Beatty 1937;  12^th – Bill Cosby 1937;  20th  - actress Diana Rigg (The Avengers, Goldfinger) 1938; 29^th – the late newscaster Peter Jennings 1938;  30^th – movie director Peter Bogdanovich 1939.

AUGUST:  8^th – singer/actress Connie Stevens 1938;  12^th – actor George Hamilton 1939; 21^st - singer Kenny Rogers 1938.

Anniversaries:  July 25 – Chuck Thagard & Kathy Bell (1993); Aug. 4 – Bill & Karen Sutton (1962).

Creative Memories

Here’s another clever piece of Internet nostalgia for you.  Wait a minute or two for the “Harbor Lights” music to begin.  Click on “next” at the bottom of each screen.  There are about eight or nine segments.

Click here: Fifties

You Probably Didn't Know This

Betsy Radebaugh Knight is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.   We think she is either the only one, or one of two, who can rehabilitate Florida Black Bears.  She also works with birds of prey and she periodically does demonstrations with them.  Check out the picture below of her in action.

A Quiz From A Friend

I worked in the record biz with a guy named Tom Sgro, who graduated from North Miami High a year or so after we did.  (He and Ed Linette were good friends.)  Tom sent me these Miami trivia questions:

1.  What is the actual name of Miami International airport? it is still hanging over the main International entrance.

2.   Name the restaurant plugged on the original "Sleepy Time Gal" radio show?

3.   Name the famous Miami pizza house known for its unusual ceiling?

4.   Where did Satchel Paige pitch his famous Marlins 2 to 1 gem and what was the approximate attendance?

5.   What was the score of the famous Miami High-Edison game and who had all the TDs for Edison?

6.   Many a kid dove into powder blue water around Miami way back when.  What were those watering holes called?

7.   The big downtown Miami theatres were the Olympia, the Florida and the Miami.  What was the name of the other major theatre? (Hint--it was next door to Sloppy Joes.)

8.   Who was the big DJ just before WQAM came in with Top 40?  What was the song he sang every night live?

9.   What was the name of the Drive-In that was owned by the family of a big league ballplayer?

10. What was the nickname of the Miami Beach single-A Florida State league team?

Think about these, and then check out the answers below.

Coral Gables Merchandise For Sale

You can now buy the City of Coral Gables official branded merchandise at the Logo Shop located on the lower lobby of the Biltmore Hotel.  High quality golf shirts, baseball caps and multi-colored coasters designed with the licensed brand of the City of Coral Gables were put on sale just in time to reach the tourists visiting South Florida for the Super Bowl festivities. The items will remain on sale exclusively at the Biltmore Hotel as a pilot program to introduce the new Coral Gables merchandise.  The new merchandise reflects the colors of the City of Coral Gables with blue representing the waters flowing in the city canals, terra cotta for the tile rooftops and green for the lush tropical foliage.

For more information, contact the City of Coral Gables Office of Public Affairs at 305-460-5205

Cruise News

Please don’t forget to sign up NOW for our gala cruise next April 19^th  2008.   Once again, all you need to do is click on the reunions bar on the website, check out the beautiful ship and see where we’re going, then click on reservation form, fill it out and send it in!  If you’re not absolutely sure you will make it, but still want to reserve a cabin, you will have until next February to receive your deposit back.

Here’s the latest list of who is already signed up:

Bob Adams, Marion Barrie Schmidt, John and Pat (Ussery) Brockway, Bob Carter, Annette Crofton Cowart, John DeMas, Cary Findlay, Jim and Patty (Yurko) Gainey, Bill Gautier, Terry Grant, Stewart Harnell, Kathy O’Brien Henderson, Bill Holland, Beth McDonald Johnston, Judi Anderson Josephs, Jack and Susan (Knight) Kelly, Deni Kilcoyne, Janice Guthrie Louks, Andrea Alu Martin, Sue Ellen Varner Schultz, Melvin Sharpe, Mickey Stefan, Chuck Thagard, Bob and Ruth (Skacil) Valois, Marion Vaughan.

FYI, other graduating classes have been invited to join us as well.  Don’t miss this chance to party and reminisce with all your friends again!

Trivia Answers

1.   Wilcox Field

2.   The Sleepy Time Gal broadcast was from the Bonfire restaurant.

3.   Pizza:  The Bottlecap Inn--over 10,000 bottle caps on ceiling.

4.   Satchel Paige:  2 to 1 in the Orange bowl in 1955 in front of 52,500!  Paige doubled over the center fielder’s head, with the hit that won the game.  (Were you there?)

5.   The famous high school football game:  Edison beat Miami High for the first time in 27 years, in front of 45,000 plus in the Orange Bowl.  Tailback Jackie Simpson ran for 175 yards and 3 TDs.  (Of course that can’t compare to the game in our senior year in which Gables beat Edison for the first time!)

6.   Rock pits.  They were all over Miami as construction companies dug them for clay and concrete.

7.   The Paramount was the other big movie house.  The Town would have also been acceptable.

8.   Jerry Wichener was the popular night deejay on WINZ.  The song: "Its Only A Paper Moon".

9.   The famous Drive In was FLIPS, named after Al "Flip" Rosen of the Cleveland Indians.

10. The Miami Beach Flamingos.  Miami was the Sun Sox in the old Fla. State league.  Havana was also in it for a few years---The Havana Sugar Kings.

We Leave You With Some Quotes

“There are two ways of telling the complete truth:  Anonymously and posthumously.” (-Thomas Sowell)

“There comes a time in every man’s life, and I’ve had many of them.” (-Casey Stengel)

“Human beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come home.” (-Bill Cosby)

Photo Gallery

Olaha, American Bald Eagle, and Betsy Radebaugh Knight at Wakulla Springs, Florida on the weekend of Earth Day.  Isn't he something!  You need the experience of holding him and allow him to look into your soul--he does.  He doesn't miss anything going on around him either.

"Let's Make a Deal" -- Monty Hall and Stewart Harnell doing a Variety Children's Charity Humanitarian Dinner contribution in 1986.