Horns of the Altar

Premiered Mar 5, 2022, on Youtube

Randy Roman

LHS '65

(Editor's Note: I was alerted to this work by Randy by a posting on Facebook.)

Randy writes: "This music was inspired by a Bible reading of Revelation 15, specifically, the Song of Moses.  It is a timely message considering the world's condition and what has been endured the last couple of years, notwithstanding all of history.  The images are from the Hubble Telescope in orbit, our deepest look into cosmic creation. Prayerfully, I submit this in the hope that the peace that passes all understanding will prevail in our time.  Peace be with you, now."

How About a Scaled Down Reunion Later This Year?

The Survey Responses to the Question Last Week Asked by

John Drummond

LHS '65

As the pandemic is winding down, could we consider having a scaled-down version of a reunion in October or late September, when the weather is temperate?  Rather than a live band, we could just have a DJ and maybe a simple buffet dinner, and maybe skip the elaborate decorations and class photo shoots. Tommy Towery has volunteered to provide the music with his extensive collection of Oldie-Goldies. After all, the real point of the reunion is for us to see each other face-to-face, catch up on each other's lives and wonder how everybody else got so old.

The Marriott site seems perfect, with its indoor/outdoor venue and reasonable pricing.

Below is the response to see how many LHS grads would be interested in attending.  My guess is that a majority would welcome the event.  As we are now in our mid-70s, more classmates will be lost in the next couple of years, so as they say "time is a-wasting."

(Editor's Note: Out of 45 responses, 44 answered "Yes" to the idea, and one answered "No". Several of the answers were from couples who replied together, so the count was actually higher."

It looks like most of us would love to have a smaller reunion this year rather than wait for another year. We're talking about what John Drummond suggested last week - a basic get-together without a lot of the bells and whistles. It would basically be a chance to get together and share some time without the expenses we have had in the past. I know many loved the dancing and the live music, but many found it left little time to just get together and talk and visit.

So now comes the question of who is willing to take the lead in making this happen. Any volunteers?

Comments on Last Week's Issue

Curt Lewis, LHS ‘66, "There was no official "LHS Pep Band" in my time, but there were informal groups of musicians from the LHS band (whoever could make it to the game that week) that played for some of the home basketball games.  I participated in some of these.  Attire was informal, but many of us wore our band jackets on cool evenings."

Bob Pierce, LHS ‘64, "In '63 and '64 I would do a throw-together Pep band for round ball. Sometimes it would work other times not so much. I never got a core group committed.  Sallye Black and I were working on some band cheerleaders stuff, but she had a similar problem. Something about cheerleaders, majorettes and ....? I've played all my life this is not unusual, music is a fickled lover. John, You still have some chops? I still have Kay, my string bass. Maybe at this mini-reunion we bring our instruments, I even have an old, very old tuba. See if some other old Lee folks would join our making a joyful...noise. Randy still toots his sax and Roger his trumpet, I think, we would have to do a little communicating but I am up for it. I think I remember us in Atlanta, you were at Grady Hospital working on your MD, me, two blocks north at Georgia State work on my Phd. Did we meet another two blocks north in Underground Atlanta, I was playing my bass, you .... playing trumpet?"

Photographic Memories - Who Are They?

Each week I plan to share a group of photos from the 1960 "The General" yearbook without disclosing the names of the individuals. You may stop and try to identify them here, and when you are through you may scroll to the bottom of this page to see the identities of your classmates in the photos.

Slow Song Selections

You Picked in the Past

I Left My Heart in San Francisco (1962) - Johnny Mathis

Your classmate who selected this as a favorite slow dance song picked the version done by Johnny Mathis, which was released March 1, 1966. Most of us are more familiar with the version made famous by Tony Bennett.

"I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is a popular song, written in the fall of 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, with music by George Cory (1920–1978) and lyrics by Douglass Cross and best known as the signature song of Tony Bennett.

In 1962, the song was released as a single by Bennett on Columbia Records as the b-side to "Once Upon a Time", peaked at #19 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and was also included on the album I Left My Heart in San Francisco. It also reached number seven on the Easy Listening chart. The song is one of the official anthems for the city of San Francisco. In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".

Bennett first recorded the song at the CBS 30th Street Studio on January 23, 1962; CBS released it as the b-side of "Once Upon A Time." The A-side received no attention, and DJs began flipping the record over and playing "San Francisco". It became a hit on the pop singles chart in 1962 and spent close to a year on various other charts, achieving gold record status. It then won the top prize of Grammy Award for Record of the Year, as well as for Best Male Solo Vocal Performance.

The Identites of the Classmates in the Pictures Above