Lee's Traveller
The Official Weekly Newsletter for the
Lee High Classes of
1964-1965-1966
December 18, 2023
Tommy Towery - Editor
Souvenirs de Mon Cours de Français
(Memories of My French Class)
Tommy Towery
LHS '64
Sixty years ago I sat in my French Class learning how to sing Christmas carols in French. I studied French under the guidance of Ms. Broom at Lee High School, and had to complete two years of the language to have credit for doing so. I barely got through by the skin of my teeth. Looking back I wonder how my life would have changed had I failed the course and not graduated with my fellow classmates.
You may have been one of those classmates with whom I shared the classroom back then. To be honest, the only person I remember for certain who was in my class was Jim Ramsey. I know I had a hard time and it is odd that even though that is true, now, 60 years later I still am drawn back to those days.
On Sunday, my church service featured its Christmas Cantada. My research shows, "A Christmas cantata or Nativity cantata is a cantata, music for voice or voices in several movements, for Christmas. The importance of the feast inspired many composers to write cantatas for the occasion, some designed to be performed in church services, others for concert or secular celebration. The Christmas story, telling of music of the angels and suggesting music of the shepherds and cradle song, invited musical treatment. The term is called Weihnachtskantate in German, and Cantate de Noël in French. Christmas cantatas have been written on texts in several other languages, such as Czech, Italian, Romanian, and Spanish.Christmas cantata can also mean the performance of the music. Many choirs have a tradition of an annual Christmas cantata "
One song featured in the Cantada was "Bring a Torch Jeannette Isabella", but as soon as the choir began my mind translated the English version back to the French version I learned all that time ago at Lee High School. In my mind I sang:
Un flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle
Un flambeau, courons au berceau.
C’est Jésus, bonnes gens du hameau,
Le Christ est né, Marie appelle
Ah! Ah! Ah! que la mère est belle
Ah! Ah! Ah! que l’Enfant est beau.
The other Christmas song we learned was the French translation of "Silent Night". I do not recall those words as easily as I do Un Flambeau, but I do remember learning them at the time. To my recollection, we never performed the carols anywhere but in our French classroom, but the learning process made a lasting impression on me. So, I now wonder if any of you who took any of the other language courses offered at high school had to learn their versions of Christmas Carols, and if so, what do you remember about them?
The Wayback Machine
Tommy Towery
LHS '64
I called upon the Wayback Machine to find me a French Version of "Silent Night."
Thanks to Dink for sharing the following story with us.
If you have any high school Christmas memories, (gifts, choirs, band, dances, decorations, etc.) please share them with your classmates.
My Stereo Memories
Dink Hollingsworth
Class of '65
Hi Tommy,
Once again your brought back a ton of memories on vinyl albums.
My family always had some type of phonograph machine when I was growing up. In 1963 I wanted a nice stereo and had to convince my mom we needed a new piece of furniture for the Living Room and we should consider a nice piece of furniture that also would play "ALL YOUR OLD ALBUMS".
I started my album collection then in 64 met Marty (Fincher). We merged our collections when we married and had both Stereo and Mono and several duplicates including both Meet The Beatles.
Fast Forward to Germany where we found the PX always had a great selection of albums and our focus turned to Reel To Reel Tape and every few weeks we would borrow a Turn Table and record our albums on tape. When leaving Germany we purchased components which were the new trend and shipped them home New In The Box.
We have about 200 albums and over 100 45s but lost interest in listening until about two years ago when a new Record Shop opened near us. We had not had a turntable in years but found the store had Digital Units so Marty and I bought one. I was disappointed when I connected it to our Five Channel Surround Sound for movies, an album sounded like my first $2.00 transistor radio. I learned I might need a PreAmp and purchased one and the sound was much better but just was not rich. As I was listening one night it occurred to me I was playing a album recorded in Stereo and I was getting sound from just two channels, not all five.
The sound is ok but not that deep honking sound from the old Sears Console. One day when I have nothing else to do I might play with it again.
As always, thank you for all you do.
Last Week's Questions, Answers,
And Comments
Linda Kinkle Cianci, LHS ‘66, "Craig's story reminded me of listening to music with friends from actual records. Talking wasn't even necessary. Just singing & tapping & laughing & moving with the beat. Today's kids are missing out on so much of easy-going, fun life. I watch my own grandgirls agonize and fret over comments on their social media, feeding into it. And grandboys just playing video games with some people they don't even know - friends of other friends' friends - can anyone follow that?, alone in their rooms. And on and on it goes. My, my, what a mess have we."
Bob Alverson, LHS ‘65, "I remember "The Gray Ghost". John Mosby is a person that I have always been interested in. Thanks for the memory."