It has occurred to me that some FRHS Class of 1969 folks may begin traveling to Nashville late today (Thursday) or early Friday for our Reunion Weekend.
So, one more time, here are the directions to the home of Jimmy and Sarah Wilson for our Class Party Saturday eveing beginning at 6:00 PM.
Jimmy and Sarah Wilson live at 1607 Oakhall Drive.
Directions coming I-65 South from out of Nashville:
Take I-65 South towards Huntsville to the Concord Road Exit.
Turn left off of the exit onto Concord Road
Proceed past the Brentwood YMCA which will be on the right.
Turn right on Wilson Pike at the BP Market.
Proceed through two traffic (red) lights (one at Crockett Road and one at Moore's Lane).
Turn left at the next traffic (red) light. It is at Ravenwood High School at Raintree Parkway.
Oakhall Drive is on the left just past the Wilson Cemetary (which has a white picket fence), This is at the entrance to Oakhall Subdivision (which has two stone walls).
Jimmy and Sarah's actual home is known as Oak Hall. It is the first house on the left, 1607 Oakhall Drive. It has a gravel driveway.
If you go past the clubhouse, you have gone too far!
Lost? Call Jimmy at 615-866-9844, or you can try Google!
See you Saturday night!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
So What 's The Weather Going To Be Like In Nashville For Our Reunion Weekend?
In a word, the weather this Reunion weekend in Nashville looks like it is going to be:
WONDERFUL
After some showers and thunderstorms here on Thurday, a cold front will be passing through, and daytime highs on Friday will be in the high 70s to low 80s.
Saturday, it may warm up back up into the high 80s to near 90 by Sunday.
But with little or no chance for rain the entire weekend, I suspect the humidity will be low. And that's always a plus for Nashville this time of year!
The night time lows may get down to the low 60s to upper 50s Friday night into Saturday morning (so you might want a light sweater or jacket late Friday night or early Saturday morning).
The night time lows on Saturday night are forecast to be in the mid-60s, so it should be delightful for the party at the Wilsons, especially with the winds remaining light, and again, NO RAIN is in the forecast throughout the weekend, just sunny to partly cloudy skies.
That's my definition of GREAT WEATHER!
What Should We Wear Saturday Night?
With apologizes to my friend and our classmate, Lindsey Draper, who posed for this hilarious photo in our 1969 PANTHER Yearbook, the dress for Saturday evening is completely casual.
We may have worn dress shirts, ties and blazers (with the FRHS crest) during most of our days at Father Ryan, but we WILL NOT be nearly that formal or dressed up for our 40th Reunion party.
As I remember, we didn't start wearing our uniforms until November each year, and we went out of uniform in the last few weeks of school year, probably because it was so hot and much of the school was not air conditioned. That may also be why we didn't start into uniforms until the heat of the Fall subsided as well.
I think our class can take some credit for relaxing the uniform code a little bit while we were there. When we began as freshmen, we had to wear a black or navy blazer every school day with the school crest on the pocket. The dress shirts had to be blue or white (no pastels or pin stripes allowed). The slacks had to be dark, grey or navy in color usually (I don't think khaki pants were allowed).
But by the time we were seniors, working through the Student Council which was created while we were there, the uniform requirements were modified so we could also wear sweaters or a windbreaker with our ties as an alternative to blazers, and pastel colors for shirts were allowed along with some very tiny pinstripes. Even the color of the pants could be lighter (at least from looking that yearbook I see a few khaki-colored pants with our uniforms.
These were good changes, especially since most of us couldn't afford multiple blazers to wear. So they got pretty beat up looking and often really rank as the school year went on. An annual rite at the end of the school year was for some students to burn their blazers, they got so bad.
And so, with those nightmares back in the closet, what do we mean by casual for Saturday night? I would say sport shirts, golf shirts, khaki pants. But I am not the fashion police, so whatever you feel comfortable wearing is OK.
I am certainly not the fashion police for what the women should wear. That's getting way too close to that proverbial deadly question of "How do I look in this outfit?" and I refuse to go there. :) Besides, I found our ladies are very good at finding many appropriate ways to dress for parties and I suspect all of them will look better than the guys!
Getting back to Lindsey Draper, I understand he is Judge in Wisconsin these days. I sure hope he doesn't have any jurisdiction to come after me here in Tennessee if he doesn't like seeing the photo above. :)
FORE!
We haven't spoken about it much here on the blog, but if you are a golfer, don't forget about the Lou Graham Invitational to be held Reunion Weekend (Saturday morning, June 6) to support Father Ryan's alumni scholarship fund.
The tournament is at the Champions Run Golf Course in Rockvale, TN, about 45 minutes from Nashville, with a shotgun start set for 8 AM.
Not many schools can say they have a U.S. Open Golf Champion as an alum (or an alum who made the cover of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED), but Father Ryan can proudly make that claim.
Lou Graham is a member of the Father Ryan Class of 1956. He won the U.S. Open by two strokes over John Mahaffey in a dramatic 18-hole playoff in 1975. During the mid-1970s, the U.S. Open was Graham's best tournament. He lost by a stroke and finished second just two years later at the Open (1977). He also finished tied for third at the Open in 1974, the year before he claimed the title. That's a very interesting accomplishment since the Open moves to a different course every year.
During his professional career, Mr. Graham won six titles and over $1.4 million on the PGA tour as well as $600,000 in Senior Tour career earnings. During a space of 11 weeks in 1979, Graham won three titles on the PGA Tour (The Philadelphia Golf Classic, The American Optical Classic and the San Antonio Texas Open). For that achievement he won GOLF DIGEST's 1979 Comeback of the Year Award.
Lou will be present and available for photos and autographs at his namesake Alumni Invitational Golf Tournament Event this weekend. He is truly one of our school's most outstanding alums.
It will be a great day of fun and fellowship at the Lou Grahmaa Tournament, and it's not too late to sign up to play! Remember the tournament is open to ALL alumni and all family and friends of Father Ryan, and you can sign up as an individual ($85) or put a team of 4 players together ($500 including a hole sponsorship).
Go to the Father Ryan web site: www.fatherryan.org/golf for more information or to download and submit the registration form.
Have a great time! Just don't get too sunburned or tuckered out before our Class Party at the Wilsons on Saturday night.
The tournament is at the Champions Run Golf Course in Rockvale, TN, about 45 minutes from Nashville, with a shotgun start set for 8 AM.
Not many schools can say they have a U.S. Open Golf Champion as an alum (or an alum who made the cover of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED), but Father Ryan can proudly make that claim.
Lou Graham is a member of the Father Ryan Class of 1956. He won the U.S. Open by two strokes over John Mahaffey in a dramatic 18-hole playoff in 1975. During the mid-1970s, the U.S. Open was Graham's best tournament. He lost by a stroke and finished second just two years later at the Open (1977). He also finished tied for third at the Open in 1974, the year before he claimed the title. That's a very interesting accomplishment since the Open moves to a different course every year.
During his professional career, Mr. Graham won six titles and over $1.4 million on the PGA tour as well as $600,000 in Senior Tour career earnings. During a space of 11 weeks in 1979, Graham won three titles on the PGA Tour (The Philadelphia Golf Classic, The American Optical Classic and the San Antonio Texas Open). For that achievement he won GOLF DIGEST's 1979 Comeback of the Year Award.
Lou will be present and available for photos and autographs at his namesake Alumni Invitational Golf Tournament Event this weekend. He is truly one of our school's most outstanding alums.
It will be a great day of fun and fellowship at the Lou Grahmaa Tournament, and it's not too late to sign up to play! Remember the tournament is open to ALL alumni and all family and friends of Father Ryan, and you can sign up as an individual ($85) or put a team of 4 players together ($500 including a hole sponsorship).
Go to the Father Ryan web site: www.fatherryan.org/golf for more information or to download and submit the registration form.
Have a great time! Just don't get too sunburned or tuckered out before our Class Party at the Wilsons on Saturday night.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
When I Grow Up To Be A Man: The Prophecy of The FRHS Senior Class of 1969--Part II
Looking back at photos like these, it's hard to imagine any of us spent much time at Father Ryan thinking about what we would be when we grew up to be men.
But I know we all did. After all the Beach Boys made a hit record about it:
"When I Grow Up To Be A Man"
The second part of our Prophecy of the FRHS Senior Class of 1969 is not nearly as profound as some of the words of that Beach Boy song from the 1960s.
Some of it seems a little obscure, even a bit mean 40 years later. But hey, we were still kids. Also keep in mind, as in Part I of the Prophecy, it helps to remember who was dating who, etc.
And so, here it is: Part II of Prophecy of the FRHS Senior Class of 1969. Depending on how you want to look it, I guess we either scooped John Lennon by a few years,or we owe him a very belated apology, since the name of this prophecy segement is IMAGINE:
THE PROPHECY OF THE FRHS SENIOR CLASS OF 1969
IMAGINE; Jim Viel with his own pack of cigarettes
IMAGINE: Charlie Hostetler replacing Barney Rubble on The Flintstones
IMAGINE: David Schmitt going parking on PENTECOST Sunday
IMAGINE: Randy DuBois head of the FBI
IMAGINE: Joe Williams as over in Africa and used as a spear
IMAGINE: Jimbo Bauer after work with a Callis on his hand
IMAGINE: Jack Long owing his own factory and really getting into the GREEN
IMAGINE: Pat Bauer starring in I Spy
IMAGINE: Kyle Walker talking
IMAGINE: Pat Wall with a date
IMAGINE: Trying to steal Tennessee Speed Sport (Jay Catignani)
IMAGINE: Lindsay Draper head of the Ku Klux Clan.
IMAGINE: Ted Lenox as a Garbage Man
IMAGINE: Jack Gaines owning Clearsil Corporation
IMAGINE: Johnny Shelton thinking life isn't ROSIE after a date with Eba
IMAGINE: Bill O'Donohoe as an astronaut trying to fly to the moon to catch a RAE
IMAGINE; John Winkfield with WHITE wall tires.
IMAGINE: Terry Shelton getting in trouble
IMAGINE: A teacher disliking Johnny Hosey
IMAGINE: Jim Wilson writing a book "How To Win The Leo Long Award Without Ever Playing"
IMAGINE: Joe Hobbs settling in ELIZABETHtown as a blackSMITH
IMAGINE: Frank Baltz, President of Baltz Brothers, going to work for BECKER's Bakery.
IMAGINE: Phil Mattingly owner of Butch Wax
IMAGINE: Sparky Duffy head football coach at Ryan with Coach Donnelly as an assistant
IMAGINE: Les Mondelli having it down PAT how to hijack planes to Cuba
IMAGINE: Chuck McDowell doing some of the things he get blamed for
IMAGINE: Dickey Kibby, publisher of a GOURLEY magazine
IMAGINE: Bubba Donnelly playing Kick the McCANN.
IMAGINE: Will Forte, International Playboy of the Year
IMAGINE: Gary Edmondson not getting burned on a date
IMAGINE: Roger Rotoni winning the Olympic Gold Medal in handball
IMAGINE: Kenny Potts not potted
IMAGINE: Sam Vaughn orginator of SCHULTZ Malt Liquor
IMAGINE: Willie Martin as the after example on a Metreacal commercial
IMAGINE: Larry Lisle President of the United States
IMAGINE: Frank Lovell owning a Rolls-ROYCE
IMAGINE: Rick Sinnott inventing a crash-proof bridge
IMAGINE: Mike McGrady without any HOLZ in his Apple
IMAGINE: Gino Marchetti rooming with Jeff Peeples at Vanderbilt
IMAGINE: Greg Garr with muscles
IMAGINE: Mike Schoen bankrupt
IMAGINE: Doyle Bumpus heavyweight champion of the world
IMAGINE: Tim Quirk going to college
IMAGINE: Joe O'Connor Secretary of Agriculture
IMAGINE: Bobby Nelson head of THE NASHVILLE BANNER
IMAGINE: Davis Osbourne married and having ten girls
IMAGINE: Steve McRedmond kicked out of college for public drunkedness
IMAGINE: Tim Templeton Mr. Universe
IMAGINE: Emile Catignani going to a restaurant saying, "give me a hamburger and hold the MAYOnaise."
And so, mercifully, ends our Class Prophecy. I apologize if this brought back any bad memories for some folks, or if you have explain yours to your wife. :)
I am afraid to ask this question. Did we produce a "Last Will & Testament?" I don't have a copy. If anyone does, bring it to the party at the Wilsons. It ought to be good for a few laughs...especially after a few beers.
The Prophecy of the Father Ryan Senior Class of 1969--Part I
In the weeks just before we graduated from Father Ryan, we put together (or someone did) our Class Prophecy.
It was done in two sections: One is a look ahead to predict what some members of the Class of 1969 would be doing in the year 2000. I guess we thought that was a long time away.
Now we know better. :)
The second section involved imagining what would happen to other members of the class being put in certain situations or positions.
Does anyone remember how this was put together? Who put it together? Some of the meanings of what is being said in the Prophecies may be a little obscure now, especially to those who were not in our class.
In some cases, I think it helps to remember who people were dating or they were friends with, or situations they had gotten involved in when this was written, especially in the IMAGINE: section, which we will look at in Part II.
And so, without further ado, here is Part I of the Prophecy of FRHS Senior Class of 1969 concerning:
The Year 2000
On what I thought was going to be just another routine business trip to Nashville, many interesting things occurred. As I pulled in to the Wiseway service station, I encountered Father Daugherty who said he had just finished speaking with Congressman Carter over an important matter. It seems rich business tycoon Guy Brewer was claiming the property on which Father Daugherty's parish stood belonged to him and Brewer's assistants, Bill Carver and Phil Bennett, were having trouble collecting the payments.
As I begin to drive away, I decided to stop and buy a paper at Henrich's Drug Store. "Admiral Belcher Wants More Ships" the headline read. Secretary of Defense Don Carnes and Secretary of State Steve Conquest are both against appropriating any more money to the Navy. Senator Pat Cook from Tennessee supported the Admiral, saying that the ships could be built cheaply since Felts Enterprises merged with The Watson Corporation.
I decided to check in to the newly constructed, Ayers Hotel and finish reading the paper. The desk clerk, Andy Cantrell, told me how the doorman,Steve Beasley, had to throw out two men who were trying to sell advice on how to miss trees and live longer. The two men, as it turned out, were John Connors and John Bevington.
I saw where Bob Brown and Bob Curtiss had just bought Old Hickory Lake and had to sell to the Grant-Grant-Goins-Davis Interprises so they could flood the state with their ideas. I decided to take a drive and I was stopped by Chief of Police Charlie Rosa and his Assistant Chief Bubba Thurman. By mistake, I went the wrong way down Plemons Avenue. I knew that Judge Eric Thomas was tough, so I mailed in the money.
The next day I found out that two Grand Ole Opry stars, Donnie Winters and Pat Nolan, were trying to make Minnie Pearl Day a National holiday. The Mighty 8, a special branch of the police force, led by Bernie Werrbach and Bill Stone was called in to investigate a crime at Woodside's Department Store.
As I got on my way to my conference, I passed the Curley Institute of Higher Learning and saw Bob Campbell giving judo demonstrations outside the building. As I reached my destination, I found that the building my meeting was supposed to be in was being torn down to make room for Mayor Wyman's Urban Renewal Project. Confused, I started back to Bryd's Railway Station and got the next train back to Saint Louis. The Conductor, Carlton Crutchfield took my ticket and I sat down. Just as I was about to go to sleep, someone tapped me on the shoulder. As I looked up, there stood a Fuller Brush Salesman, Henry Swider, giving me his sales pitch.
The only way to get out of this mad house was to jump in a rented car and drive.
(Well, somebody sure had an active, if not very accurate imagination, about what the future held for some of us in the Year 2000.)
There's more to come. You can just IMAGINE: in the next segment of the Prophecy of the FRHS Senior Class of 1969.
It was done in two sections: One is a look ahead to predict what some members of the Class of 1969 would be doing in the year 2000. I guess we thought that was a long time away.
Now we know better. :)
The second section involved imagining what would happen to other members of the class being put in certain situations or positions.
Does anyone remember how this was put together? Who put it together? Some of the meanings of what is being said in the Prophecies may be a little obscure now, especially to those who were not in our class.
In some cases, I think it helps to remember who people were dating or they were friends with, or situations they had gotten involved in when this was written, especially in the IMAGINE: section, which we will look at in Part II.
And so, without further ado, here is Part I of the Prophecy of FRHS Senior Class of 1969 concerning:
The Year 2000
On what I thought was going to be just another routine business trip to Nashville, many interesting things occurred. As I pulled in to the Wiseway service station, I encountered Father Daugherty who said he had just finished speaking with Congressman Carter over an important matter. It seems rich business tycoon Guy Brewer was claiming the property on which Father Daugherty's parish stood belonged to him and Brewer's assistants, Bill Carver and Phil Bennett, were having trouble collecting the payments.
As I begin to drive away, I decided to stop and buy a paper at Henrich's Drug Store. "Admiral Belcher Wants More Ships" the headline read. Secretary of Defense Don Carnes and Secretary of State Steve Conquest are both against appropriating any more money to the Navy. Senator Pat Cook from Tennessee supported the Admiral, saying that the ships could be built cheaply since Felts Enterprises merged with The Watson Corporation.
I decided to check in to the newly constructed, Ayers Hotel and finish reading the paper. The desk clerk, Andy Cantrell, told me how the doorman,Steve Beasley, had to throw out two men who were trying to sell advice on how to miss trees and live longer. The two men, as it turned out, were John Connors and John Bevington.
I saw where Bob Brown and Bob Curtiss had just bought Old Hickory Lake and had to sell to the Grant-Grant-Goins-Davis Interprises so they could flood the state with their ideas. I decided to take a drive and I was stopped by Chief of Police Charlie Rosa and his Assistant Chief Bubba Thurman. By mistake, I went the wrong way down Plemons Avenue. I knew that Judge Eric Thomas was tough, so I mailed in the money.
The next day I found out that two Grand Ole Opry stars, Donnie Winters and Pat Nolan, were trying to make Minnie Pearl Day a National holiday. The Mighty 8, a special branch of the police force, led by Bernie Werrbach and Bill Stone was called in to investigate a crime at Woodside's Department Store.
As I got on my way to my conference, I passed the Curley Institute of Higher Learning and saw Bob Campbell giving judo demonstrations outside the building. As I reached my destination, I found that the building my meeting was supposed to be in was being torn down to make room for Mayor Wyman's Urban Renewal Project. Confused, I started back to Bryd's Railway Station and got the next train back to Saint Louis. The Conductor, Carlton Crutchfield took my ticket and I sat down. Just as I was about to go to sleep, someone tapped me on the shoulder. As I looked up, there stood a Fuller Brush Salesman, Henry Swider, giving me his sales pitch.
The only way to get out of this mad house was to jump in a rented car and drive.
(Well, somebody sure had an active, if not very accurate imagination, about what the future held for some of us in the Year 2000.)
There's more to come. You can just IMAGINE: in the next segment of the Prophecy of the FRHS Senior Class of 1969.
A Reminder...Just In Case You Don't Receive E-Mails From Father Ryan
You're Invited to the Father Ryan Alumni Reception!
Please join us Friday, June 5 to kick off the 2009 Reunion Weekend!
Who: All Father Ryan Alumni, no matter what your class year
What: A casual evening of live music, drinks and light appetizers
When: Friday, June 5th--6:00 PM until 8:00PM
Where: The Father Ryan Arts Center, 700 Norwood Drive
We look forward to seeing you there!
For more information, visit the alumni webpage, www.fatherryan.org or call the FRHS Advancement Office at (615) 269-RYAN (7926).
For members of the Class of 1969, here are a few more reasons to come by the reception Friday evening (especially if you've never been to Father Ryan's campus in Oak Hill).
First, do it to honor the two gentlemen pictured below who played such a major role in our lives while we attended Father Ryan:
Our Principal, Father James Hitchcock
Our Assistant Principal, Father Edward Arnold
Both these men have left us since the last time we gathered together as a class five years ago in 2004. The front doors of the old Father Ryan High School on Elliston Place have been preserved at the new campus and are now the entrance to the beautiful Father Ryan Library, which is right next to the Center for the Arts. The doors are also dedicated in the memory of Fathers Hitchcock and Arnold.
Dropping by here to honor their memory and say a little prayer would be a good thing to do.
Then continue your walk around to the back and you will see something under construction, you may have thought you'd never live to behold at Father Ryan: The Jim Carell Alumni Athletic Complex. That's right an on-campus football facility for the Irish!
What you see above is a scale model. What you can see if you come to the reception is a stadium project well along the way to completion. You can get a glimpse of how far along things are by going to the Father Ryan web site (www.fatherryan.org) and clicking on the Athletic Complex webcam that updates with a new photo of the construction site every 15 seconds.
By the way, an Open House for the Carell Complex is set for August 8with the first home football game (that's right, a real home game in our own stadium) scheduled against Hillwood on August 28.
There's one final reason, the members of the Father Class of 1969 should drop by the Friday evening reception. It's a great way for us to hook up, visit a bit, and then go out for dinner or drinks.
Several of us did it last time in 2004 and had a great time.
See you Friday, if you can make it!
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