NOTES FROM NUTZ ALL OVER

(Originally run 2/10/04 on our old site)

Ann Shannon Snodgrass

Thank you, everyone; I appreciated hearing the real stories about Miss Thornton and Mrs. Moody. I remember my mother saying that Mrs. Moody had had a sad life but, until now, I didn’t know what was behind that statement. The sisters influenced me, too. Like Ernie, I became a teacher, teaching both high school and college-level English for a number of years. I also supervised education majors during their student teaching experiences. Once I heard myself tell a classroom of education majors: “Don’t try to be your students’ friend; you’re an adult, and you have adult friends. Instead, work to be a good example and provide the foundation that your high school students need.” Looking back, I’m grateful for the demands for excellence made on me by both ladies.

Jo Ann Roth

I just read about May Day.

I do not remember anything about May Day at Searcy schools, but I do remember going to Harding to the May Pole wrapping, and it was beautiful. It did look hard.

Janis Cantwell (re the Photo Fest)

I believe this was one of the Kiwanis minstrel shows. I'm curious as to the identity of the young girl in the picture. She's in several pictures I have from Mrs. Knox kindergarten, and from one of Trudy Blaes' dance recitals. Thanks for the info on the Mayday. We did have celebrations in public schools too but I believe it was short-lived.

The suggestion has been made that it might’ve been Sandy Laas, Bill Laas’ daughter. –tlp-

Dan E. Randle

(I told Dan about my father’s high school graduation where, after walking down from the stage, he went to where his mother was sitting, dropped his diploma in his mother’s lap with the cryptic comment, “Here, this is what you wanted.” At that point, he walked home, picked up his already-packed suitcase, walked to the bus station, and caught a Greyhound to Chicago. A couple of years later, of course, he met my mother there and, Ouila!, me. Thought Dan’s response was interesting enough to post here, showing just how far afield some of us have gone in our lives. –tlp-)

Your dad and I must have been a lot alike. I did the same thing: got my diploma, walked over to mother, gave it to her and told her the same thing, "Here's what you wanted," walked away and, within the week, was on a train for Dekalb, IL. Went there because Ernie S. had been there the summer before working for California Packing Co. The plan was for us to be working together. However, when I got there, Ernie had gotten another job out in town, making better money and having more fun.

Came back from Dekalb at the end of the summer, just in time to head for Miss. State. College. From then on, it was only coming back for visits, never living in Arkansas again.

I guess I can be classified as "The Arkansas Traveler!" Since then, I have lived in Mississippi, California, Hawaii, Virginia, Connecticut, New York, Oregon, and a summer in Texas. Of course, the Oregon coast is the best, because of the weather. In the middle of August, when it's so hot in the south, we have fires going at night. Most of the time, the temperature stays below 75 degrees. If it gets to 80, we're having a heat wave. The winters are mild most of the time -- above 40 degrees -- because of the cloud cover we have all winter. Every now and then the clouds go away and the temperature will drop into the 30's: that's a cold wave.

On the other hand, if you WANT snow, it's only a three hour drive. If you want to go fishing in the ocean, it’s a 30 minute drive. If you want to explore the Sand Dunes, it’s a 10 minute drive. If you want to go hunting, it’s a 15 Minute drive.

If ten cars are at a stop light, that’s a traffic jam.

I am in the outback of Oregon. The closest City (Eugene) is a two hour drive. To live in this area, you have to be able to make your own entertainment, otherwise you go crazy. If you see gray as another color of black you will also go crazy. You have to see gray as another color of white to be happy here.

Incidentally, have you ever lived in a state where it snows all winter long? After shoveling two cars out of the snow in New York, rain is a great relief. You don't have to shovel rain, it runs off on its own.

Tom Pry

As long as we’re talking about places we’ve lived, I’ll give you mine, without much in the way of explanation. Carry in mind, I’ve LIVED in these places for at least four months or longer; “just visits” don’t count. (As I told the Searcy Kiwanis in a speech I made to them 7/21/05, “I’ve lived in more places than most people have visited”).

Chicago, IL
Searcy, AR (of course)
Conway, AR
Ft. Polk, LA
New Rochelle/Ft. Slocum, NY
Seoul, Korea
Alexandria, VA
Greenwood, SC
Sumter, SC
Canton, GA
Atlanta, GA, plus suburbs Chamblee and Decatur
Miami, FL
Naples, FL
St. Petersburg, FL
Phoenix, AZ
Southfield, MI
Westland, MI
Canton, MI

And, finally, back here.

Can anybody top this?