140922 September 22, 2014

The Class of 1964's

50-Year Reunion Will

Be Streamed Live Via Internet

by Tommy Towery

LHS '64

        Back before the world had ever heard of a place called “Silicon Valley” Huntsville was a leader in the country’s technology arena. Besides what was happening on Redstone Arsenal in the Space Race, the city was an early adoption of cable television technology and other such things. We regularly listened to rocket launches over the school’s P.A. system as we progressed in manned spacecraft exploration.

        There was one bit of technology I vividly remember happening at Lee High School which fascinated me and perhaps a few of you might also remember. Mike Zeanah, LHS Class of ’64, was injured in a car accident while on a road trip to Florida and was in danger of not being able to graduate with the rest of the first graduating class of Lee. Being bed ridden with his injuries, he was unable to attend his normal classes and because of the number of days he would miss, he was in danger of missing so many days of school he would have to repeat his senior year and graduate with the Class of ’65 instead.

        This is where technology came to Mike’s rescue. Through some process Mike’s parents arranged to have a dedicated telephone line installed in the rooms where Mike’s classes were held and using a speaker phone he was able to make an open audio connection with his classes. During the day someone would take the speaker phone from one classroom to the next and plug it into the phone socket so when the class roll call was made, he would check in via telephone. Using this technology, he completed his course work and graduated with the rest of the class.

        In today’s world of Facetime and Skype, this sounds like ancient history, but at the time it was cutting edge technology and I had never seen anything like it before or for many years afterwards.

        In the same style of Mike’s pioneering efforts, we propose to do the same type of advanced use of available technology with the upcoming Class of ‘64’s 50th Reunion this coming weekend. Though only tested on a sample group of testers, it is our intention to make a live web streaming broadcast of portions of both Friday and Saturday nights’ events. Using Ustream software a video camera will be set up at a select location and allow viewers to see and hear the reunion activities live using any web browser on any computer system using the supplied link. Some will even be able to interact with a built in text chat function. This means that no matter where you are in the world you can view our fun live with only a short timed delay of 15 seconds or less. You will not have to install any software to view the streaming video, all you have to do is click on the following link or copy and paste it into your web browser address block.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/lee50threunion

        You should be able to click on it now and see the site with a short slideshow to test it out. It will not be streaming live video until the reunion begins.

        In addition to viewing the live streaming video, we will also have at least two Apple devices set up running the Facetime app and those who use Apple iPads, iPhone, or Mac computers will be able to call in and have a live face-to-face video chat with some the classmates attending the reunion. This means some of you who were not able to attend can still say hello and visit with some of your old classmates.

        Facetime is a free Apple app, available as a free download from the Apple App store. You might want to go ahead and install it early to make sure your system works with it. This system only works on one call at a time, but we will try to limit the call duration to allow multiple people to have a chance to try it out.

        During this week I will have my own iPad available for testing, so after you install Facetime you can try it out by placing a call to tommytowery@gmail.com. Remember I am on Central time, but I should normally be available between 10am and 10pm unless I am out running errands.

        On Friday afternoon after I have worked with the hotel internet connection, I will send an email to give you more complete details on how things are set up.

When Our Hearts Were Young

 “Today - Fifty Years Ago”

A New Book

by Tommy Towery

Class of '64

I am happy to announce that my rush to finish my latest historical literary work was successful and just picked up from the printers in time to be available for the first day of issue this weekend at the 50th Year Reunion of the Class of '64. For those of you who are familiar with my first book, "A Million Tomorrows...Memories of the Class of '64" you might be interested in the reflections  on the changes which have taken place in our world after an additional 25 years time. Needless to say, a lot has changed in 50 years.

        This book actually took me 50 years to write. It began as a simple note in the margin of my high school English textbook about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. The first short paragraph gave birth to a daily journal detailing my final days of  high school  in the changing South. It chronicles the friends, activities, and events in my life during those days in straightforward details. 

Fifty years later, day-by-day, the journal’s entries were copied and studied in an effort to reflect upon the impact the day’s events eventually had upon the author and examines the changes in lifestyle, culture, and technology which have taken place over the last half-century.

        Though the original 1963-64 journal is still used as the basis of this reflection, a lot of changes and new insights into those changes the world has made since we graduated 50 years ago are explored. This time, the focus is not so much the individuals with whom I associated with as a senior, but instead I look at the technological and social changes which have taken place. Very little of the content of "A Million Tomorrows" is repeated in an attempt to make the subject matter more universal to all those who grew up in this era.

        Copies of the book will be available at a one-time price of $15 and reunion attendees will have a chance to be the first in Huntsville to be given the opportunity of reviewing this latest effort.

        Along with "When Our Hearts Were Young" I will also have a limited stock of my two other books about our early days in Huntsville, "A Million Tomorrows ... Memories of the Class of '64" and "The Baby Boomers Guide to Growing Up in 'The Rocket City;" along with some requested prints of the Robert E. Lee remembrance quote sketch. All books are $15 each and the unframed prints are $5. There will also be some framed prints available if I have room to bring them. Proceeds help support my ongoing efforts to keep publishing Lee's Traveller each week. 

From Our Mailbox 

Subject:    The Class of 1964 Reunion

Patsy Hughes Oldroyd 

LHS ‘65

Hi Tommy and all,

        I know that all of you are getting very excited as time approaches for your group to celebrate your 50th reunion. It is so generous for your group to include us from ’65 and ’66 to join you. Since we were the original Lee High School group, this is a special time for all of us. I do hope that everyone enjoys the weekend and has safe travels.

        I am still trying to recover from the automobile accident that Keith and I were in several months back, so I am not at my best just yet. That being said, I just more or less take it one day at a time. I have not registered to come to the reunion yet because I will just have to wait until the day of to see how I feel. I cannot stand for long periods of time without really tiring out and my back still hurts more than it should. If at all possible, we will try to come only for the Saturday night sit-down part of the reunion and just register at the the door. If I do not get to come, I do truly wish for all of you a wonderful reunion. 

        Much love to all. 

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