TLC #123 December 22, 2009
TLC #123 December 22, 2009
Dear
Hearts and Gentle People:
I
send you merry greetings from the old hometown and wish you a wonderful
Christmas and an awesome, as the kids say, New Year.
There
were some nice notes in the mail, which I will share, but we have no new photos
on the website, so please enjoy a trip through the archives until we come
up with something new for the next issue.
There
are certain subjects that push buttons with readers. And writers. One that
always brings a response is a mention of the Peckerwood Club.
Joy
Knapheide, widow of our friend Arthur '56 Knapheide, wrote a nice
note:
Susan,
I really enjoyed the latest issue of the TLC. I only wish Arthur had been here
to see it. You see, his parents and Aunts and Uncles used to go to the
Peckerwood Club and have told us great stories about that place. I only wish I
could remember them to tell. Arthur's Mom is 95 and still likes to tell stories
of
Valerie '73 Wood-Hellyer reported in:
We
did have our Class of ’73 reunion at the VFW last Friday. We had a very
lean turnout, but those of us who came had a blast. I must say I was
disappointed that many of our classmates who live in
Classmate
(of mine) Wanda Harrington '57
Susan...I
just want you to know how much your e-mails mean to me. I share them with
my sisters, Lois and Jean (Harrington), trying to remember all the good times we
had while growing up in
Yes, M'am, we sure did! John '47 Rostine remembers the Peckerwood Club well:
I
worked for MO Public service. The warehouse was across from Walker Drug Store,
and there was the old ice plant under the MPS warehouse, The
Peckerwood Club was on old 24 Hwy. I went there a lot of times. Mittieville
was named after the owner, by the name of Ma Mittie. She was one of the sisters
that owned the place, a very good eating place. They served fresh catfish - you
would go out to the fish tank and pick out the fish you wanted and they'd clean
it and cook it for you,
I
didn't know that,
John.
Thanks for writing.
Bette
Phipps '73 Thomas
sent a copy of her note to Jimmie '73 Lorantos to share:
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Really
enjoyed the pix from our reunion & also checked the archive pix.
Thanks so much for preserving & documenting our past. I have
some of the grade-school pix & used to know the names of everyone in
those pix, but 60 or so years have eroded all those memories. I'm
pretty sure those pix of you minuet-dancers were from the 4th grade play
we did (Mrs. Parks was our teacher then). I was the Statue of Liberty,
standing on a box or something & maybe covered with tin foil &
holding up something (a torch?). I really wanted to be a minuet
dancer & decided I was given the Statue part because Mrs. Parks
couldn't think of anywhere else to put me. Since I was the only Statue of
Liberty, some might have thought of me as having a commanding role, but
being Bette, I knew it was actually some form of "Oh, well, what else can
we do with her?" Faithful
Jim '49 O'Malley recalls the Peckerwood Club:
I
enjoyed reading about the Peckerwood Club and it called up a host of
memories. During the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s the PC was known far and
wide. Before Hwy 24 bypassed I
first visited the PC during high school and found it a family place where
folks went for an inexpensive evening of fellowship with their neighbors
and friends. I soon discovered it had world class catfish, chicken,
and tenderloin sandwiches! They had a 3.2 beer license and didn’t
have mixed drinks. Many celebrities visited there. Above the
entrance to the dance area was an autographed picture of James J.
Braddock, who defeated Max Baer for the heavyweight boxing championship in
1935 and then lost it to Joe Louis two years later. The movie “The
Cinderella Man” was based on his life. Did Jim Braddock visit the
PC? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t doubt it. Once
when I was visiting the PC I ordered a tenderloin and Minnie added a side
of green pickled tomatoes. I complimented Minnie on them and, from
then on, whenever I stopped in to eat she included green pickled tomatoes
to my order. They were simply delicious!!!! A closing
comment: Their juke box had great music on it. Just right for
dancing! Best wishes to everyone. Jim
sent along a photo of Jim Braddock which you can call up on
Google.
His classmate George '60 Gordon wrote for the first time. You will be mighty proud to read the next-to-last paragraph. Thank
you for providing this great service of connection for all of us who have
resided in We
will be having the 50th reunion of the 1960 class in August or September
of this coming year. I am reading of the experiences of previous
classes with interest. Dr.
Effie Boldridge was in the Class of 1960, and I regretted having a
conflict on the day of her funeral. On the Monday after the service, I
delivered 85 dictionaries to third graders at Leslie Bell Elementary
on behalf of Project Literacy in KC.The dictionaries are purchased by Tony
Richardson's Foundation, and they are delivered by members of the Downtown
Rotary Club. I
was extremely pleased with the students response to my
presentation. The students responded with enthusiastic spontaneity
and interest in the dictionaries, and when they bordered on becoming a
little chaotic the teachers calmly and respectfully brought them back to
more focused attention. These teachers are doing a wonderful job of
promoting both enthusiasm and cooperation in the learning process.
The entire school staff, including the principal, secretary and
custodian, were all very helpful and supportive. It was heartwarming
for me to witness the exceptional quality of educational experience that
is being offered to the students of I
will try to keep you posted as the plans for our reunion develop.
May I ask that my name be added to the list of the regular
recipients of your journal. Marian
Johnson '59 Buchanan
was prompted to write by Lucia Cope also
'59 Hulston: Had
to write when I saw Lucia's offering in the latest TLC. The class of '59
LHS Reunion deserved being highlighted...After all, it was our 50th!
Lucia's summary of our wonderful weekend was great!!!! Although, I'm
not sure about those seating assignments. Guess I'd be one of those by the
door, unless one of those tables included a loss of
memory category. :-)
Mary
Pat Gueguen '58
Miller
enjoyed seeing them too:
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