To go boldly where no man has gone before

They called us the baby boomer generation and I have heard some even call us the atomic generation. I have personally always considered myself the space exploration generation. When the first test rockets were being built by Prof. Werner Von Braun I would scramble for any news that I could get my hands on about what was going on with the US space program. When Pres. John F. Kennedy announced that we would go to the moon and back in this decade (the 1960s) I was ecstatic.

I kept up with the Mercury space program almost religiously. I checked out every book that the Charjean Elementary School library had on space travel and space exploration. I could not get enough of the news about our space program on television. This being the time before videotape, I even used a reel to reel tape sound recorder to record every word and every news special that was on every launch or anything that had to do with our space program. I remember John Glenn's flight like it was yesterday. He had a big round mirror on his chest like a blind spot mirror on a car or truck. I never could figure out what that mirror was for at that time, but it was so that he could see all around the Mercury capsule in the confines and restraints that kept him safe in his death-defying flight.

I also kept up with the Gemini and the Apollo space programs with just as much vigor. When we lost the Apollo astronauts to a fire in their space capsule I was horrified; how could that happen? I will never forget that day ever. The Shuttle program almost became a common occurrence to all of us, but I still listened for every bit of news that came from NASA about these flights, even though it didn't seem to be as pressing a news event anymore.

The unfortunate loss of life of seven Challenger astronauts was a blow to our nation and it broke my heart. Unfortunately, it was not the last of the shuttle tragedies. All of these astronauts’ lives were precious to this nation, their loss will never be forgotten, but one among them will be forever in embroidered into the fabric of our nation. It may have been because she was a teacher and it may have been because we felt the loss that her students felt.

It may have also been that the president of the United States and the news media made such a large event about a teacher going to space. It does not really matter; Christa McAuliffe will now and forever be the one that we think about when anyone talks about the loss of our astronauts or space explorers.

My heroes were always the astronauts that explored space, from the Mercury astronauts all the way to the astronauts of today on the International Space Station.

I will keep you and all future astronauts in my prayers that you are safe on your missions of today and those missions of our descendants that will take in the future as we go boldly where no man or woman has gone before.

Music is always something that brings back memories of times past. It's not only the love of music's sounds and rhythms that touch our minds to bring forth memories, it’s the association of those sounds and rhythms with the people, places and events that we associate with a particular piece of music that brings back a memory from the past. So you see it's especially poignant to a member of a band that was learning how to play music on an instrument that can bring back a whole host of memories. Being a part of such a magical moment in time is one of the greatest gifts a person could have received. I was proud to be a member of our band, it may not have been as good as some people thought we should have been, but it was pure heaven to me.

How many times do you hear a couple say that's our song they're playing on the radio? The moment you hear the rhythm of the melody and the sound of a great song it tends to burn a memory into our soul so that we may keep that special time in our lives. I was born too late to have taken a date to a big band concert and danced our cares away, but I know the feeling that a special song can give you of that special someone in your life. Some of those songs are shared by many who need to remember that special moment when you shared a kiss for the first time with that very special person. You may not even remember the song until you hear it played again years later and the ghost of that pretty young lady or handsome young man floats into your memories.

People that make movies understand the power that music has on our emotions. That's why background music for any particular scene is carefully chosen to enhance one's memory or emotion for a particular scene. Someone once said that motion pictures are a window into our past. If that is so music is the sound of the love of our life because it brings back so much more than anyone can realize. I once saw at a senior’s home we used to visit with our church, a group of seniors brought to tears when a small band started to play music from an era past. They were not tears of sadness, they were tears of joy at the memories that came flooding back from the sounds that that band was playing.

I wish that I could tell those that mentored me in the appreciation and the understanding of music and also how to play music how grateful I really am for their support and encouragement. It must've been horrific for a music teacher to hear a beginning student slaughter a piece of music so badly. I wonder if that teacher remembers how bad that student was when they give their first recital and sounded so much better than the teacher ever thought they could have sounded from that first day. It's not just being grateful; it's carrying something inside you that means so very much that they were able to inspire you to have.

Every generation’s music is special to them even if their parents can't understand it or don't like it as mine did toward my music. It seems that there is a certain time frame in a person's life that music empowers, provokes and encourages us to strive and pushes us forward as we grow into adults. The sounds of yesteryear are more than music, they are the memories of our lives.

I have said so many times in my writing that I am part of the Ed Sullivan generation. The reason that I say that is he was the king of the variety shows and those shows gave us so much variety of music, he would have artists on from every genre of music, from a classical pianist to the most psychedelic rock band you could ever think of and even soul music in an era when it wasn't totally accepted for a TV show to have black musicians performing live.

Yes, there were other variety shows and they also had a range of music genres on them as well but the Ed Sullivan show pushed the boundaries of musical entertainment. He not only had artists from classical music, he had the absolute best artists of classical music. He would show the most up-to-date and hip rock artist at the time on his shows and they were not beyond controversy, such as Elvis’s gyrating dance while singing or the screaming hordes of girls for the Beatles or the Rolling Stones singing “Let's spend the night together”, and what the censors must've thought when they were told that Jim Morrison and the Birds were going to perform on live TV show.

He gave us the appreciation of the musicians and the love of those who sing a song. He was the carnival barker that made you want to pay the dime to go behind the curtain and to hear the most exotic music in the world. He did so much for entertainment and music that he too should be in the rock 'n roll Hall of Fame, because without him bringing these artists into our living rooms I wonder how long our music would've lasted without him saying about Elvis “this is a really fine boy” and having the rock 'n roll artists on his show so that our music was more acceptable to our parents’ generation.

I love every form of music because its sparks in me all kinds of memories from my past and it builds new ones every day.

I don't want to say that I'm a fan of every genre of music but every type of music I hear sparks that wonderful feeling of the first time I picked up my saxophone and tried to play a song and how horrible I was and it also brings the feeling of the last time I held the saxophone in my hand and played something that sounded so great and it came from me.

So when I say thank you to all the music teachers that are no longer with us and to all those music teachers that had taught their students the love of music , to the teachers that are still struggling to get past that first day their students pick up a page of music, to the day that they are bursting with pride with the sounds of real music that are coming from the students they taught, and to those that have not yet started to teach their students about music and are still trying to find their place.

Being a music teacher is being someone's hero and giving them one of the greatest gifts that they will cherish for the rest of their lives. Thank you to the band director’s, thank you to the choir director’s, thank you to those that teach music appreciation. We really did appreciate y’all.

Keiths Memories In Time: As a young man I wanteddesperately to be a great b...

Keiths Memories In Time: As a young man I wanteddesperately to be a great b...: As a young man I wanted desperately to be a great baseball player. I could throw the ball faster than anyone else on the team but, alas, I ...

When I look back on my days at Tech and tried remember things that happened. One thing always comes to mind I had purchased a RadioShack eight track player and put it in my 63 Chevrolet Impala that I used as a bus to commute several of us to Tech from the Airways area of Memphis. I know that is telling my age and I'm alright with that. It was for some an extremely long time ago, but for me it was only yesterday. I hadn't had the stereo eight track tape player in my car for long. I remember that morning turning in the driveway and up the hill of the berm to the parking lot for students and parking under that big old tree so that the car wouldn't be quite so hot when we left to go home. Some punk moron broke out the vent glass on the right side of the car and broke in and stole my eight track tape deck. I replaced it, but this time I put it in the glove box where it would be completely out of sight. You live and learn more than just school things when you're growing up and going to school.

This school was our home it was more than just a building. Our teachers were more than just teachers some of them became our friends. Some people may say I spend too much time trying to remember the past, believe me when I say it's not the past that I'm trying to remember. It's all of the friends I left behind as I grew into becoming an adult. It's not the time that I care so much about it's the people that made me who I am today that I'm trying my best to remember. You can graduate the students out of schools, but you will never take the friendships that they made away.

Seeing the pictures from Tech take me back to a student that walked into its doors for the first time, so overconfident and without a clue I thought that I would be able to make the transition easily. I always was able to make friends easily and I made hundreds of new friends. As far as scholastics were concerned I lost my way. I had taken way too many classes and had too many problems trying to keep up. High school was much harder than I thought it would be. I was not prepared mentally to take own so much at one time. I tried to hide the fact that I had learning disabilities by being a tough punk that didn't need school. It wasn't that I didn't think I needed it because I knew I did and I really wanted it desperately. It was just that I was so ashamed that I could not keep up that I put on this persona. I know I gave my teachers more grief than they deserved and for that I apologize. Somehow through all of my troubles a few of those teachers never gave up because I did learn things I did gain knowledge and for that I am eternally grateful.

This school, this Memphis Technical High School may not have graduated any geniuses that have changed our thinking of the universe, but I will assure you that this school formed our knowledge of the world. It gave the world some of the best people to walk on its surface. Tech has graduated musicians, actors, doctors, law years, but its greatest achievement of all was to graduate some really extremely good people.

It must be a good feeling for a teacher to see a group of misfits enter their classroom on the first day of class and see three years later a great group of people graduating.

I owe a great deal of gratitude to Memphis Technical High School, its Teachers and its Staff for all they did to make their students what we are today.

As a young man I wanted desperately to be a great baseball player. I could throw the ball faster than anyone else on the team but, alas, I had absolutely no control of the ball. From behind home plate I could throw the ball with some accuracy to second base and with a great deal of power. If you don't believe me just ask Sammy Woods who had to catch the ball at second base and shortstop when I would try to pick someone off. I remember Coach Bacon betting me (really) that I could not throw three straight strikes from home plate to second base. I proceeded to do just that, three straight strikes, in front of everyone on the team, including myself, amazed and Sammy Woods would take his glove off and rub his hand after each throw I made to second base. Coach Bacon did his best to help me recreate that speed and accuracy from the pitcher's mound. As good a coach as Coach Bacon really was and as much as I desired the ability to gain control and be a pitcher, I didn't have the talent. I went home and threw the baseball at a plywood target and all I accomplished was tearing up about 20 good baseballs.

I never could achieve the talent needed to become a great baseball player. I also could hit the ball further than anyone else on the team. I remember our summer league with all the Airways players on it. I hit at least six home runs further than I had seen anyone our age hit a baseball. Even my brother who was our coach during that summer league, because Coach Bacon could not have anything to do with us in the summer league according to school rules, was absolutely amazed at how far I could hit a baseball. But I could not do it with any consistency. I know a lot of you know who Steve Trusty is. I used to love for him to come to bat when we were playing against Sheffield where he went to school, because I would think of some of the most oddball things to say to him to break his concentration when I was catching. I actually was scared to death being the catcher on our team, but I loved that position more than any other I had ever played. To be honest with everyone, I was scared to death of being hit with the bat. I must tell you, it never happened that I was hit with the bat. A couple of times I was hit by the ball but that never hurt because of all the padding in the facemask. No one ever knew how much I really truthfully wanted to be a super baseball player. I must admit, however, I never had the talent to be good enough, to be any kind of a baseball player.  Even the love of the game that I had in those days could not make me into even a mediocre baseball player because I never figured out how to master the ability to be consistent with accuracy throwing a baseball at short distances nor did I master the accuracy of being a power hitter even though I could hit the ball further and stronger than anyone I knew of my age.

As I have said before, I was extremely jealous of all of the magnificent baseball players that I grew up with and went to school with at Airways especially Richard Mills, Ricky Mills and Mike Mills. I could go on and mention Keith Strong, Ricky Hogue, Sammy Woods and many, many others. I personally believe that any of these young men that I went to junior high school with had the ability if they had applied themselves as much as I tried to, to go to any major league team.

I also had the most fun of any sport playing basketball. I won't go into how terrible I really was at playing basketball because I was a disaster on the basketball court, but it was so much fun.

I always kind of thought that I was decent at playing football and I did enjoy playing, but it wasn't a sport that I was deeply in love with but that's not to say that I didn't love playing at Airways Junior High School. One of the greatest honors I ever had was being the captain of the defensive team my last year at Airways. I know that most people probably would have thought that it was no big deal, but it was my heaven on earth. I never tried to take advantage of being captain because I wanted to be a proper captain for my teammates. It was my goal in those days to make sure that we won our division championship outright with no dispute whatsoever and with the help of every single person that was associated with the Airways Junior High School football team. We did just that and we not only won it, we owned it that year. No team, and I absolutely mean no team, in the city of Memphis could have beaten us that year.

I want to take you back to an earlier game that we played where “Junebug”, and I'm sure you all know who I'm talking about, Elbert Crawford, had his leg broken in a play right before we made a touchdown. We were leading this particular team by a pretty fair margin. I don't remember the exact score but it was good enough that we didn't have to worry about it. I, in my ultimate wisdom, decided at kickoff because all our emotions were keyed up because we were worried about our teammate being transported to hospital in an ambulance, I was determined to take advantage of the adrenaline that was building inside all of us and take our minds off of what had just happened. I called a huddle and told everybody that I was calling an onside kick. I told Donnie Doswell it was coming to his side and everyone was to clear room for him to make a touchdown.  If I had not been two foot short of the legal distance for an onside kick we would've had that touchdown because Donnie absolutely got the ball and everyone else cleared a path for him. To my shock I was pulled from the game and chastised for taking advantage and running up the score on a weaker team. To say the least, I was confused and hurt.

I had called the right play at the right time but I just did not execute it as well as it should have been. This was the only time I had ever seen my father speak to Coach Winters about any decision he had made in the three years I played for him. He wanted to know why I was taken out of the game when I did what my coaches had taught me to do and that was to take advantage of a situation that could go our way. Both Coach Winters and Coach Ramsey agreed with my father. I was put back in the game with no explanation. After the game however, Coach Winters took me aside and he in his way apologized to me and explained that this was the school that he had been an assistant coach at when he was training to be a coach and it would have looked bad for us to have taken too much advantage of a school that he had taught at and I understood why the coaches reacted the way they did.

In telling you this, I want to emphasize the fact that I loved, and yes I want to say that again because I have gone toe to toe and been at odds with all three of our coaches at various times for various reasons and I was wrong most of the time but not always, I truly loved and respected Coach Winters, Coach Ramsey and Coach Bacon. They were only human beings and looking back on it now they were extremely young to have had the success that they had as our coaches. I hope that all of our coaches and teachers loved this time in their lives as we did. Don't get me wrong, I have had and am still having a most incredibly wonderful life, much greater than I ever thought possible. I have traveled the world, I have loved one of the greatest women I have ever met, I have learned to love who I am and enjoy my shortcomings as well as the things that I truly excel in.

Reconnecting with my friends at Airways has been an amazing blessing in my life. I have a very large loving family that I am extremely proud to be a member of and I have three of the most wonderful grandkids anyone could ask for, even though they are kids just like any other kids and can be a holy terror at times, they are the greatest grandkids I could've asked for. Being a parent was one of the hardest things I ever tried to do, and in a lot of ways I was a complete failure but in others I was a success because my daughter has turned out to be a pretty decent human being if I do say so myself. So what can any man want or need when God has given him some of the greatest blessings anyone could want? Thank you Lord for everything because I am so undeserving of the greatest gift given, the life that I've lived.

Tablets

A lot of people use their tablets to conduct their daily lives.

God created the original tablets.

Isn't it time that we used His tablets to conduct our daily 

lives?

In the late 50’s it seemed that every area had some sort of amusement park. Memphis was no different, we had skating rinks and golf ranges and batting cages and also pinball machines or go carts.  Video games or the computer, at that time, seemed like science fiction because the computer age would not happen for roughly another 30 years. The success of Walt Disney’s Disneyland in 1955 spawned copy cat parks all around the world that would attempt to recreate Disneyland Park on shoe string budgets.

That can’t be said of Lakeland Amusement Park near Memphis. The evolution of Lakeland started with the construction of a dam and the building of one of the largest manmade lakes in Tennessee in 1959. It was located around the intersection of I-40 and Canada Road. The Park opened its’ doors on June 2, 1961 with two trains; one of them had an old fashion train robbery for the guests to experience.  The other train was somewhat of a smaller version and did not get robbed. Seems that one of the young men acting as a robber of the train was actually shot with one of the blanks from one of the guns used in the show. He had to have surgery to remove pieces of the wadding from his chest. The ride that most people remember best was Skyride that gave you a ride over the lake and back, but did you know that it was the famous Skyride from the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. You could also ride a river boat around the lake. Of course, there were all the standard rides of any park of the day. I remember that a very windy day caused the Skyride’s cables to jump its tracks and the fire department had to be called to rescue the passengers from their peril. Ever since that day, I have had a fear of riding in those gondolas. I was even terrified when riding in the one at Disneyland.

Overton Park was Memphis’s “Central Park”. Some of you might even remember that Overton Park was originally known locally as Lea's Woods, the reason for that is it was purchased from the Lea family from Nashville in late 1901. It was located in the city’s eastern borders of that time. The city actually hired a landscape architect to design Overton Park. Of course, as everything it took it's time and Overton Park was not established until 1906.

In the 1960’s and into the 70’s our Park was under siege. The federal highway commission had determined that they were going to cut through our Park with Interstate 40, but the residence of the Overton area banded together and took them to court. Unbelievably, they had stopped the federal government and the court ruled in their favor.

The park however is not just a golf course, garden and green area; it has the Overton Park Shell where we saw many a concert in the 60s and 70s.

There is also a world-class zoo located within Overton Park that I know all of us have enjoyed at one time or another and I'm sure some of you still enjoy the Memphis Zoo located in Overton Park today. The Overton Park Zoo is home to over 3500 animals from all around the world. Somewhere around 1907 the first animal building was finished. The zoo was not incorporated until 1910 as the Memphis Zoological Society was formed. From its humble beginnings of that one building in 1907, our zoo has gone through many upgrades and changes over the years. The now over 70 acre facility was upgraded to earn its world-class status in 1986. I still remember all the old buildings and the cages that the more dangerous animals were kept in inside buildings. But times changed and so have those buildings. I will never forget the last day I lived in Memphis before I moved to my new life and wife waiting for me in Canada. I took my little daughter to something that I had always loved as small child, the Memphis Zoo. It seemed like a great place to say goodbye to my daughter till I would be back to visit her. I barely remember it, because my mind was on 1000 different things. I had a long drive ahead of me and I was trying to give my daughter a good time, but I was worried, was I doing the right thing, is this where God is leading me. Soon after walking around, all of that seemed to just drift away as we watched the young animals with their parents and laughed at the baby monkeys hanging on to their mothers for dear life as they jumped from limb to limb in the trees. I have to say the zoo has always been a calming place for me and made me reflect on the things that are important in life. I think that's what it is really for; it's to remind us what life is all about. We have something to be extremely proud of, a world class zoo in a world-class Park.

Like most cities, Memphis has an art gallery and museum of art. It is known as the Brooks Memorial Museum of Art. To my memory, I am kind of embarrassed to admit, I have never been in the art gallery.

I think sometimes our city takes Overton Park for granted. This magnificent Park that we enjoyed, all of our young lives, from the days that our parents carried us to see the zoo to the concerts and the hippies and the war protests, Overton Park Zoo and Overton Park have played a major role in the city that we remember and love.

The city of Memphis wanted an Amusement park of their own, so they turned a few rides that were at The East End Park, the Mid South Fair Grounds into a small but outstanding park. It was known as Libertyland Amusement Park. At first the city embraced it and helped it flourish, but later administrations only saw it as an expense to the city. The upkeep and maintenance costs for such a Park were more than the city cared to continue to absorb. If you have ever looked at the amusement parks that are thriving, they have to keep up with the times. New rides must be added every year and all rides must be updated to keep the public's interest. I don't blame the city fathers for not wanting to continue the upkeep and updating of amusement park. They did not understand, nor did they want to understand the amusement park business. I must say though, I have never seen anything of that type or caliber that the city of Memphis has ever made a go of, everything that I remember the city taking over or tried to run, failed. That is just my opinion and I'm now even seeing private enterprise, such as Graceland, selling off Elvis’ jet the Lisa Marie.

I know that as the baby boomer generation dies out, Graceland will not be the shrine that it once was. But if you sell off all of its assets, all you will have left is a piece of ground and the house that nobody will even remember who lived there. Is Memphis just a curse for these type of attractions and is that why no one wanted to put the rock 'n roll Hall of Fame in Memphis. All of the great landmarks, such as Lakeland Amusement Park and Libertyland Amusement Park have vanished from the landscape of Memphis only to be seen in our memories. I hope that Graceland does not follow the legacy of such great attractions in Memphis.

Wake up Memphis! These and other attractions are worth preserving because they bring in tourists and tourist dollars. They cannot just be measured by the tickets or attendance, their hotel rooms, souvenirs and meals purchased at restaurants. I love the traditions in Memphis like the Cotton Carnival, but I'm afraid all of that is disappearing as well. The only thing that seems to survive and thrive in Memphis are the bars and, I have to say, I am not a fan of such places. They don't bring in the tourists that high caliber attractions do.

I read a story recently in our local paper about a reporter that went to buy a toilet seat of all things and he assumed that all toilet seats were alike and any one that he bought would fit his toilet.  He purchased his toilet seat and went home and attempted to install it and it wouldn't fit. How could this be, it's just a normal toilet and any normal toilet seat should fit it. He forgot to take into consideration that there are different styles for different architecture, for various different tastes in this world and there is more than one type of toilet seat and more than one manufacturer of toilets and each is slightly different. Now, I don't want to insult him because so many people assume that everything they have is the normal or standard one that is the same thing that everyone else has.

I worked in auto parts for years, one of my favorite jobs, but people would come in and look you straight in the eye and say “hello, I need a fuel pump for my car”. I would pause waiting for them to tell me what make and model of car they had and what size engine and they would look at me like “aren’t you going to get my fuel pump”. I wanted to grab them by the collar and shake them and say “you have to give me some information for me to be able to look up what fuel pump fits your car”. There were also those that would come in and say “I have a Chevrolet pickup, I want a fuel pump” and you would ask them what year and they'd tell you that it didn't matter and that all Chevrolet fuel pumps are the same for all Chevrolet engines. So, you go back and grab a Chevrolet fuel pump and bring it out, open the box and ask “is this what fits your Chevrolet truck” and they say “of course not, that's not a Chevrolet fuel pump” and you say “I'm sorry, but this is a Chevrolet fuel pump, this one fits the 1969 Chevrolet 350 engine with towing package”. Then they want to speak to someone else that knows what they're doing. I wanted to say to them “I’d like to speak to someone that knew what they had so I could give them the proper fuel pump”. If we go by that kind of logic then you should be able to pick up the phone and call the furniture store and tell them to deliver one of the couches they have in stock and the furniture store should deliver it. I think if the furniture store grabs a couch, loads it on a truck and brings it to you and, low and behold, they've got a 30 foot couch for your 19 foot living room and it's purple! What would you think of that? 

You know that everything has its place and its purpose and not everything is exactly alike. It's just like people, no two of us is exactly alike. It would be a pretty boring and sad world if we were. Just think about it for a second, if we were all bad guys killing people all the time that would be horrible, wouldn't it, and if we were all goody two shoes, Pollyannas everything would be so perfect it would be sickening. You my friends have a purpose in this world. It may not always be clear and I think that not everyone really knows what the purpose they have really is but, believe me, you do have an important purpose in this life. You are important to what makes this world go round and without you there would be a piece missing. Too many times have I seen people depressed and saddened about the fact that their life is meaningless.  To that I’d say don't you be foolish, you are the most important person in the world. You may not have your name on Broadway, you may not make $20 million per movie, but you are special. You were put on this earth to either keep something from happening or make something happen or help someone fulfill their destiny. I think sometimes that the stay-at-home mother feels like she hasn't accomplished anything in her life, but giving birth and raising a family is one of the most important tasks in this world. One of the greatest purposes I know of is that of a father, to lead and guide his children on their path. You may never live to see it but one of your future children or grandchildren or even great, great, great-grandchildren needed to be here and without you they wouldn't be here. I really don't know how to put into words how important you really are. You fit into a mosaic that brightens lives, that gives meaning to what we live for.

I know, I suffer from depression at times, but I fall back on my movies because that's one of my passions and there have been several that tell us of the intertwining of our lives with many others that we have never considered. Take Frank Capra’s “It's a Wonderful Life” with Jimmy Stewart. Without Jimmy Stewart’s character, the world was a much darker place. In a recent television series called Warehouse 13 they did a remake of sorts and it was called the Greatest Gift. Life itself is the greatest gift. It was given to you by God and your parents. Too many times we forget that as humans we are intertwined with other people so much that if one of us was to just disappear, it would cause devastating and catastrophic consequences to the future and to the people we love. Please don't take my meaning of life lightly, you are a precious gift. You must live to fulfill your destiny and walking the path of your journey may not be easy but its rewards are heavenly. You see, it's not just me that loves you, our God loved us all so much that he gave his only Son so that our sins could be forgiven and without Him fulfilling his destiny, I assure you it would be a much darker place.

So when you go to pick up a part for something that you need a part for, remember that no two things are exactly alike and bring as much information with you as possible. When you go through life along your path as you track forth through your journey, remember to pick up the proper information that will see you through to your final destination. Your family, your friends and your faith can help you to find the proper path that was meant for you, but I can't help but think that the book that we put our faith in, day in and day out, that was written by a divine hand has the proper and just information you need. 

A new school in 1969

A new school in 1969

The year was 1969 the world was at conflict American Pres. Richard Nixon ordered the bombing of Cambodia to cut off supplies from Cambodia to the Vietnamese communists. On March 3, 1969 to 1971 Egypt and Israel fought a war supported by the Soviet Union and the United States respectively. There was some good going around in 1969 American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to land on the moon and a young boy was glued to his TV set listening to every exciting second that Walter Cronkite was relating to us you could hear the countdown to the landing that we later found out was the amount of fuel that was left in the tank of the lander.

I had a brand-new tape recorder taking the entire landing for prosperity and as usual I have no idea where that tape is. The greatest music festival ever took place in Bethel New York and it was attended by more than 400,000 people the Woodstock music festival ran from August 15 to August 17, 1969. The influx of this many people into the small community of Woodstock were overwhelming, but it was three days of peace love and music. One of the greatest events in our lives was the opening of Airways junior high school to all three grades, seventh, eighth and ninth. The group of young people that entered the front doors and into the hallways of Airways junior high school for the very first time have, felt a bond with each other that has lasted these many years. It has been and will continue to be a hallowed place in our heart. We have lost teachers and fellow students to the ravages of time and age, they are not forgotten they walked the halls in our memories; they sit and talk to us in the lunch room as they once did in our private thoughts. Our teachers still go over today's lesson plan just as they once did.

I've had many people tell me that they don't remember much about their school days because they hated it so. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones that loved it and want to keep it in my mind forever even though I know the ravages of time will soon take even the most embedded memory from me. That building on Ketchum is much more than a building it was much more than the people and the children that attended it it was an idea, it was the hope of all of our parents that with that new school we would get a better education than they did. The planning of Airways junior high school goes back further than us, it goes back to the planning of the community it goes back when the developers of our neighborhoods trying to figure out the best place for the schools they knew they would have to have a junior high school first and then a high school and where was there enough land usable to build both of these buildings the land adjacent to the park known as Charjean was an abandoned orchard and farmland and would be perfect for the community city planners adopted the idea in principle but it lay dormant from the mid-50s to the early 60s

when some members of the community started pushing the idea of having a junior high school and high school closer so that their kids would not have to go all the way up to Fairview junior high school or all the way over to Mesick high school. There were some in the community that fought this idea tooth and nail, but those that were working hard to get the junior high school started won out with the city Council and the school board and they ordered the planning commission to present a feasibility study having a junior high school in the location adjacent to charging Park the land was plotted out in bids were taken for a modern and up-to-date junior high school to be billed no later than 1968 as in any building there were delays and the kids that were scheduled to move in the eighth and ninth grades did not do so until well after school had started and they were still attending the temporary facilities at Charjean elementary school.

Those of us attending the sixth grade at Charjean were dying to see the facilities at Airways junior high school but even though the students were in their classrooms work was still continuing on this school it was not completed until almost the end of the school year. We were given a rare treat one without warning we were given permission slips to be carried home to our parents and brought back the next day and on the following Friday we loaded up the buses and went to see our brand-new home for the next three years. I was excited back then, but I really didn't think that much about it, but now the thought of the first time seeing the insides of our wonderful school brings me to tears not because of all the money not because of those that pushed to have this junior high school built, of course not, it was all of the people that I met there, it was because of all the memories that I made there. I cannot help to this day but wonder where I would have been if I had not had the teachers and the friends that I met at Airways junior high school in 1969.

Turn on the light

When life seem to be at the darkest point ever, all one has to do is to, is to remember to turn on the light. That's a message that has more meaning than just the written word. The more I think about it the more complex but simple a message it is. I learned many years ago to turn on that light from He that gives me the light and has brightened my path these many years and shown me the way. I have walked the path that is different and more difficult and sometimes easier than everyone else, because it is my path and it is my journey to make. I don't make that journey alone because when I put myself first I lose my way. He shows me my proper path with His light and walks every step of it every day with me and He gave me the love of my life to keep me company on my journey. I'm not at my final destination yet and I don't think I will know until after that last step that I'm there, but I know I will have him and my loving wife by my side to make that last step a joyful one. All of you have made my life's journey an enormous pleasure and honor to have passed you on the way through your journeys.

Keith L. House

Feb.1956 - ?

Life

When life seem to be at the darkest point ever, all one has to do is to, is to remember to turn on the light. That's a message that has more meaning than just the written word. The more I think about it the more complex but simple a message it is. I learned many years ago to turn on that light from He that gives me the light and has brightened my path these many years and shown me the way. I have walked the path that is different and more difficult and sometimes easier than everyone else, because it is my path and it is my journey to make. I don't make that journey alone because when I put myself first I lose my way. He shows me my proper path with His light and walks every step of it every day with me and He gave me the love of my life to keep me company on my journey. I'm not at my final destination yet and I don't think I will know until after that last step that I'm there, but I know I will have him and my loving wife by my side to make that last step a joyful one. All of you have made my life's journey an enormous pleasure and honor to have passed you on the way through your journeys.

Keith L. House

Feb.1956 - ?

As you know, I’m a huge Disney fan, but I have seen certain trends that seem to exclude all of us that joined the Mickey Mouse Club back in the fifties and I just can’t keep quiet anymore. Is it just me, am I being too critical? I was unable to watch the annual Walt Disney Christmas Parade which is now called a “Frozen” Christmas celebration(?) because I was with family and friends who might not have wanted to watch the Walt Disney World Annual Christmas parade. Of course, being a huge Disney nerd I DVR’d it to watch later.  When I got the chance to watch it, I watched something that was made for mostly 6 to 12-year-old girls and not the wider audience that Disney attracts.

Does Disney really think the only ones that care about everything Disney is 6 to 12-year-old girls? It seems that the Disney Channel is either for kindergartners or 6 to 12-year-old girls. That's fine for certain hours of the day. It is fine for certain special programs as well. What about those of us that have been Disney fans since birth and are now into our golden years.

But let me get back to my subject - the Annual Disney Christmas Parade should be about the parks. The Christmas parade should be about the parade and things that Disney has planned in the future. It should be about the entire family enjoying Christmas. The singers that were picked this year were not of my taste, not that that would have mattered if they had a Christmas parade.

They showed 4 very short scenes of the parade and hardly anything of the parks. I did however like the bringing together of friends and families that they did, that was a wonderful touch. The thing that bothered me the most was that the tradition of Santa Claus being the very last float was gone and as a matter fact you only saw Santa Claus one time for an extremely short scene. I love Frozen but number one, Frozen is not a Christmas movie, has nothing to do with Christmas. Number two, it would have been great to have had some of the Frozen music and even Olaf put in at various points of the parade, but to let it take it over completely The Walt Disney World Annual Christmas Parade and not have the parade or Santa Claus, in my opinion, was just atrocious. This was just my opinion and I'm sure that young girls loved it.

I have every single Christmas parade on VHS tape or DVD since it started. It has been a tradition in my family to watch the Christmas parade from Walt Disney World and now the other theme parks as well. But it almost seemed like Christmas was just something added in here or there with only one traditional Christmas song sung by Tricia Yearwood. Disney has been on a trend since the Disney Channel got rid of Vault Disney many years ago, to eliminate any of their audience over the age of 30, what is with this?

Disney should be ashamed of themselves for putting out a ho-hum, just okay production that in my opinion had little to do with Christmas and celebrating Christmas and, come on, where in the world was Santa Claus? I must say that this was my opinion and I'm sure all the little girls out there loved it, but wasn't it supposed to be for the entire family?

I met a woman today

I met a woman today that came in to buy a television. I was showing her the various models and I told her that, in my opinion, the Samsung had the best overall picture of any of the televisions today. I showed her a Samsung model that was not a smart TV and she said that was okay, that they did not surf the web that much, so I knew that she knew nothing about what a smart TV really was. I explained to her all of the various channels that are available on such things as smart TV’s and Roku streaming boxes. She seemed extremely interested in both the TV and the Roku box. So I explained more of the features of both the TV and the Roku box and how well they would work together to give them as much entertainment value for the least amount of money. As we went to the register to ring her up she explained that she was buying it for her husband who is battling cancer and going through chemotherapy and that 2014 had been an extremely rough year for them. I told her that it also had been an extremely rough year for us. She also explained to me that her husband was pretty well bedridden and unable to do any of the activities that he used to be able to do and that she was doing this to keep him from being bored and worrying about his situation. I almost broke down right there at the register but I fought back the tears as hard as I could not to upset her. I told her that I would keep her and her husband in my prayers and she then told me that she was a breast cancer survivor. So I shared with her that I had lost my mother at age 52 of breast cancer. I could see that we were both at that point holding back the tears, so I quickly finished the sale and wished her an extremely very Merry Christmas.

God takes the opportunities to bless us and tell us that it could be much worse and that he never puts us through more than we can handle. I must confess though, the thought that I might have given her husband a little bit more joy or happiness by explaining to her what the Roku box had to offer that her husband might like was an unexpectedly nice Christmas present for me. I said a little prayer for both of them on my next break and prayed that they would find the Western channels that he loves so much and that he would find a little joy and happiness from my gesture. There are good people everywhere if you only take the time to look for them.

I know I would be completely beside myself if my wife was going through that kind of pain and misery. I am worried sick about my best friend through junior high school and high school because she is going through that kind of pain and misery. I am concerned for my cousin who just had an operation, and her daughter who was recently in a car accident and I pray for them at least three times a day, if not four. I know that it’s not the amount of times that I pray but the sincerity of my prayer and God knows that I am a compassionate and loving person and I pray for everyone that is hurting, suffering or lost. I say my special prayers for my dearest friend and my lovely cousins every time I speak with my Lord. My best friend was like a little sister to me and when the lady at the store told me her story, I was thinking of my best friend. I know it was selfish and I asked the Lord to forgive me before I prayed for the lady and her husband. God bless them and comfort them and healed them. Amen.

The Miracle of the Tree

There was once a young boy who met a lovely young dark-haired green eyed girl at the gates of Graceland. This young boy followed this gorgeous young lass to the land of ice and snow, Canada. Of course, they were wed and worked hard to make a life for themselves. The young man was restless and missed his home in the great state of Tennessee. Things had changed for them in that great land of Canada and they needed to change. The young man was homesick and his young lass perceived his heart ache and craved a bit of adventure for herself too, so she put forth the suggestion that they move back, back to the Tennessee hills where his heart lay. The young man had a hard time making the decision because he knew she was leaving her family behind just like he did. They made the move to the Gateway of the Smokey Mountains in the Tennessee hills. They built a wonderful log cabin that they call home.

During the time they were building their dream home, they had gotten to the point that money was short and there was none for luxuries such as a Christmas tree or even presents for each other this year but they had each other. They had to finish closing in the house because they were expected at her parents’ home in Canada for Christmas. They lacked one thing to completely close in the house so they could leave to go to Canada so the young man raced to the home improvement store in Knoxville, Tennessee and looked around to find this part he needed and he saw outside a stack of Christmas trees. He went over just to smell the fragrance of pine and he actually rubbed one of the trees and walked away to purchase the part he needed to close the house. As he wiped a tear from his cheek a clerk walked up to him and said “Sir, do you need a Christmas tree” and he told him “I would love to have one but I cannot afford one this year”. He said, “don't worry sir, we stopped selling them, if you would like to have one please pick out the one you want and I will help you load it on your truck”. He was astonished and even asked “are you sure” and he said “of course, they're just going to go in the dump if you don't take it”. He paid for the part he’d come for and he and the gentleman walked out to the truck and loaded the tree. He wished the clerk a Merry Christmas and he wished him the same. If the clerk had only known how much he had made his Christmas. No matter how much he thanked him, he could never know what it meant to him and that dark haired, green eyed girl from Canada.

He rushed home to close in the house and hurried to put up the Christmas tree before his wife could get home from her job. He searched through box after box after box in the basement, unable to find our Christmas tree stand and just as he was about to give up, low in behold, there it was laying on the floor. I guess he had knocked it out of one of the boxes and hadn’t noticed. Personally, I think it was divine intervention to find that Christmas tree stand on the floor where it shouldn't have been. He picked it up, climbed the ladder up to the second floor and I mounted the Christmas tree into the stand just as his wife walked through the back door, through the kitchen and into the great room. She said, “I thought we had agreed we could not afford a Christmas tree” and he told her that he had not purchased this tree. “This tree was given to us by a kind clerk at the home improvement store”. They both stood around that Christmas tree hugging each other and cried at the miracle that God had given them, the gift of this tree. Every time they’ve been down and out, God has sent them an angel to remind them of his love and his power.

I hope that your Christmas Angel is watching over you just as ours does for us. God bless you all, God bless you everyone and may you have the merriest Christmas you've ever had.

We are coming into the holiday season and all of the holiday movies and television specials are starting to appear. My greatest pleasure other than talking about movies is to set and watch great classic movies. I know we all have our favorite Christmas movies and we would stand toe to toe with someone and argue over what the best Christmas movie ever is.

I have to say that I have several favorites and I'm sure they're your favorites too, but for me to pick my number one, I have to concur with my wife on her favorite Christmas movie. It's a musical, it's a comedy, it's also a love story and it's about the relationships of friends and sisters. The star power that is in this movie is almost unfathomable today, even the character actors are famous. The stars of this picture are everyone's favorites, above the age of 40. It was shot in VistaVision (a version of Technicolor) which is so much better than what they're calling high-definition in theaters today as far as the color goes.

I can't help but look back on movies like this and wish they made more of those today. I'll keep you in suspense just a second or two longer to tell you that there is an anniversary edition of this out on Blu-ray and DVD. Okay, okay I will tell you now. It is "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen. It also costarred Dean Jagger and Mary Wicks.

It came out in 1954 and is still broadcast today every Christmas. I must admit I am fonder of comedies than I am of romantic or dramas and I do have a fondness for musicals, but this movie encompasses all of the things that I love about movies. The great music by Irving Berlin and the extremely great color sets and costumes, oh and by the way the costumes are by the icon of movie fashion Edith Head, and it was directed by Michael Curtiz. It has great songs, great dancing, great comedy and gorgeous costumes.This is a movie that can be watched by the entire family without any thing offensive to anyone. So if you happen to see it listed in your TV Guide make it a point to watch this extraordinary Christmas classic.

"Oh Boy!” as Mickey would say

“Oh Boy!” as Mickey would say, I am so stoked. This news could not be any better if Walt himself had planned this collaboration. You know that I had been extremely upset with the Disney Channel when they ended “Vault Disney” that aired on the Disney Channel in the evenings and late-night several years ago for all of us that love the Disney Classics. I kept my feelings as controlled as I possibly could but I am not going to control the jubilation and the joy that I feel over an announcement that I read the past couple of days. For those of us that love classics like “Davy Crockett”, “Pollyanna”, the “Swiss Family Robinson” and the original Disney cartoon shorts that made Disney a household word, this announcement is magical. I don't know if any of you can feel the warmth growing in my heart to know that Disney's vaults have opened up once again and the public will see things that most of them have never seen or heard of that will put Disney back where it belongs entertaining everyone, not just children. Walt Disney said that it is for the young and the young at heart and that encompasses all of us, from children to grandparents.

We have all grown up with Disney and, for a while, Disney was denying the adults like me the programs that they so desperately loved and wanted to see.

Starting on December 21, 2014, the Walt Disney Studios is opening the vault and allowing Turner Classic Movies to showcase the best that Disney has ever offered. Turner Classic Movies has always been that classic and classy network lead by the wonderful Robert Osborne, just what Disney needs to showcase their classic collections. Turner Classic Movies has held their Film Festival cruises on the Disney Cruise Lines and that was an excellent match for both Turner and Disney. I know I speak for many of you out there excited about the combination of Turner Classic Movies and the Disney Classics collections of movies. It is not only an excellent fit, it was their destinies. I am overjoyed in the fact that we are going to see the Disney classic movies on TCM. I hope they keep in mind that we also want to see the Disney made for television specials that have had no place where they could be enjoyed properly, other than on a channel or network like Turner Classic Movies Network.

Support Disney and Turner Classic Movies as they celebrate the premiere presentation of the Disney Vault on TCM, Sunday December 21, 2014 at 8 PM. I believe they will start off with a “Chip’n Dale” cartoon, the “Reluctant Dragon” and then the “Third Man on the Mountain”. All of us that love Disney Classics need to support both Turner Classic Movies and the Walt Disney Company in this collaboration so that we can continue to get these wonderful movies and special television programs that the Walt Disney Company has put out for years.

I am so happy that this is going to happen and that this is not the only collaboration of TCM and the Walt Disney Company. They have also decided to join forces and refresh the “Great Movie Ride” at the “Disney Studios” at WDW. The changes are going to be subtle such as having Robert Osborne narrate a completely revamped introduction to the movies that is seen before boarding the “Great Movie Ride” as not to disturb but enhance this icon that the Disney Parks have to offer and I for one am sure that it will be one of the best joint ventures that Disney has ever entered into. It can only help to enhance one of the greatest TV networks, Turner Classic Movies. So all of you Disney nerds out there, all of you Disney historians, all of you lovers of Disney Parks and people like me that love everything Disney, let us all come together and support this venture that will give us back our “Vault Disney”. Thank you to the Walt Disney Company and the Turner Classic Movies network for this unprecedented collaboration. We love to watch you and support you in this endeavor.