My Top Ten Memories of Growing Up in Huntsville

Mary Ann Bond Wallace

LHS ‘64

Here are my Top 10  Memories of growing up in Huntsville.

I moved to Huntsville halfway through my 7th grade year at Lee Jr High which became Lee High School

1.  I had grown up in Louisiana (if boys did not wear a belt to school they had to wear a scarf in place for a full day) and spent two years in Tennessee before moving to Huntsville.  Shocker - the first week was full of unusual or not experienced behavior of students lighting cigarettes as they exited school at the end of the day.  My Mother wondered what I was being exposed to.  Fights between female students right at the edge of the campus and neighborhood.  

2.  There were adventures in the natural mountain area of the lower Monte Santo with J. R. Brooks.  My family rented a house across the street from J. R.'s parents' home when we moved to Huntsville.  J. R. and I caught baby crawdads in pools and roamed this undeveloped part of Huntsville during the summer months.  Those are such fun memories.

3.  As Lee became a High School, I attended every football game in town or out of town.  My parents would drive my friends and me to many of the out-of-town games; also the basketball and baseball games.  I loved playing Softball for Lee and playing tennis with our female PE Teacher, Ramona Jones.  I loved sports

4.  The First Baptist Church which was originally in a very old church downtown.  I have many great memories there but what always comes to mind is the Sunday my younger brother Jimmy had sucked on a dime to where it was imbedded in the roof of his mouth.  The service had started and all of a sudden we all got up and left the service.  A fingernail did not remove the dime because it had created suction.  Finally, the dime was dislodged at home.  There are so many great memories here: singing with the choir, and Training Union on Sunday nights.  As I got older I changed my membership to the Jackson Way Baptist Church where many of my friends at Lee attended.

5. I enjoyed swimming on the city swim team and training at Blossomwood Community Pool for Life Guard Training Certification. I worked as a lifeguard at a neighborhood pool and YMCA indoor pool and appreciated the Y's support in helping me attend the National Aquatic School for a National Certification in North Carolina.

6. I worked for the YMCA (Huntsville) at Camp Sumatonga each summer and taught swimming lessons and trained many of the younger councilors-in-training the summer I got married (1968). 

7.  I attended the Skating Rink that many have mentioned.  Loved the hours on Friday or Saturday nights I spent in that rink.  It was so much fun and a good workout.

8. There were weekends spent driving between Jerry's and Shoney's to see if we could find a spot to pull in and order a Coke (didn't have much money). There were so many friends and cars making the circle and then down the road to check out the other drive-through.  It made many friend memories and was just fun!

9. Then there were the dances at school and downtown!  Dancing was my thing - I danced until time to go home - sweaty, gritty, and tired!

10.  I had parents who always had a door open for my friends.  One year it snowed and so many of my friends walked to my house (parents at work) and my parents made sandwiches for everyone and made it a fun place to be.  Even when I started coaching the Coffee High School Varsity Volleyball team my parents opened their home to my teams for a snack dinner on our way to a game.  There was always an open door to my friends; even if they needed a place to stay for a week or month.

Life was so good during my school years in Huntsville at Lee High School.  So many memories!  Life at Lee High School gave me what I needed to go to college (first in my family) and the determination for what I accomplished.

My best class and teacher was PE with Ramona Jones!!!!  I guess that is the reason I became a PE Teacher and coach!

The Wayback Machine

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

As I was doing my daily walk last week and listening to Oldie Goldies as is my normal custom, I heard a song that sparked a memory of the past. I asked the Wayback Machine to play that song for me.

In 1962 most of us were exposed to a new dance that really wasn't a dance like the ones we were used to doing. It was a movement where we were supposed to make our way under a stick while we listened to a song without falling. If we were able to do so, then the stick was lowered and we performed the process again. The dance had a winner - the one who could go under the lowest placement of the "limbo" stick.

I once made a Limbo set with a stand made up of two poles with nails for stick holder spaced an inch apart. Each turn it was lowered a notch until someone was the last to go under it without falling.

I am wondering if any of you have any stories relating to doing the limbo at any of the parties we went to back then, and if so, would you please share them with the rest of us.

Limbo Rock" is a popular song about limbo dancing written by Kal Mann (under the pseudonym Jan Sheldon) and Billy Strange. An instrumental version was first recorded by The Champs in 1961. The first vocal version was recorded in 1962 by Chubby Checker (on Parkway Records): it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks (held out by "Telstar" by The Tornados) and at number one on the Cash Box charts. The Chubby Checker recording also made it to number three on the R&B charts.

The song is noted for Checker's high-pitched witchy laugh, which is heard between most of the choruses of the song. Checker does a couple of monologues between the first and second verses, as well as the third verse and the final whistling chorus. They are: "Limbo lower now (2x) / How low can you go", and "Don't move that limbo bar / You'll be a limbo star / How low can you go." 

A male chorus sings the "La la" chorus between the second and third verses. There is also a drum riff between some of the verses and choruses, including the one that ends the song, too. Checker's witchy laugh is heard a few times in the sequel "Let's Limbo Some More," the nursery rhyme "Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jumped over the candlestick," is altered with the line: "Jack go under Limbo stick."

So, this week I am looking for Limbo stories, or for any other stories about dances you wish to share.

Use the COMMENTS section of the form below to share your thoughts.

LEE LUNCH BUNCH

FOR THE CLASSES OF  ’64, ’65, ‘66

CARRABBA’S ITALIAN GRILL

 Thursday, October 26, 2023

11:00 AM

Please save the date for our group’s fall lunch gathering. We will once again meet at Carrabba’s Italian Grill located on the upper parking level of Parkway Place Mall in Huntsville. We have a reserved area that will accommodate our group. I received many compliments this past spring about us meeting there since there is no charge for the space, the food is good, and they are so very nice to us. Carolyn Burgess Featheringill ’65,  arranged for our class of ’65 to meet there at least the last couple of reunion weekends, and everyone seemed to enjoy those times as well. Perhaps I will be able to find us a new place to try for next spring.

October is a great time for fall road trips, so if you do get out on the road, make Huntsville one of your stops to join your group for lunch.

Please do let me know at least by the morning of the day before if you plan to come so I can tell the restaurant a fairly accurate count.

Thanks and hope to see you soon!

Patsy Hughes Oldroyd ‘65

keithandpatsy@att.net  or Facebook

H (256) 232-7583

C (256) 431-3396