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March 13th, 2004 Confabulation |
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| Bobby
Kientz said: " If you build it.........They WILL Come." Those were the lines from a movie that starred Kevin Costner. It was about a farmer that built a baseball field for ghost to play ball on. The same theory applied to the Get Together held yesterday by members of the "Class of 61." Jerry and the Wild Bunch concocted an idea about a group of old friends spending several hours together just for the hell of it but didn't know what to do about contacts and locations to meet. Never one to let things hang on and die a slow death Jerry went to work and built a GREAT web page for the distribution of information and updated contacts. " If you build it.........They WILL Come." ................. Well, he built it and believe it or not............ they did come..... They came from Arkansas, Texas, and even Hot Springs...... Russelville, Conway, Little Rock, plus several places I didn't get the names of. Yep, they came and they enjoyed the friendship and camaraderie that the group as a whole produced. Just to see how well it was going I timed the first Question of a success which was "When are we gonna have the next one and where"? It was 2 hours 13 min s. THAT shows that the interest is there and the folks want to bond and feel again the closeness of yesterday. Thank you all for coming and I hope you enjoyed seeing one another as much as we enjoyed seeing you. Keep tuned to the site for information about the next meeting and other information concerning yours and my classmates of 61. Thanks to Bad Bob |
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| Kay
Harp Dobis said: Just wanted to say to everyone how good it was to see all of you. It was nice just to sit around talking to all of you. I thought by coming at about 3 pm that I would actually get to see everyone but that did not happen. Sorry to have missed some of you. It was great to see Marvin after all these years. It was nice to let him know that everyone did miss him at all the reunions of the past. Just wanted all to know how much I enjoyed this. |
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| J.
Marvin Blackwell said: "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." The legendary and enigmatic J. Marvin Blackwell made his first Pine Bluff appearance last Saturday after emerging from years of exile in the witness protection program. It seems he had been living on a remote Pacific island under the pseudonym of Thurston Howell, III "The Wizard of Wall Street." He has always been perplexed, though, how his wife "Lovey" got all those different outfits into one set of luggage. Although appearing trim and fit, his ruddy face nonetheless was etched with the lines of care and sorrow he has endured for the lost loves he has known. His once richly-hued auburn locks have now turned to silver, reflecting his passage from the autumn of life into the waning days of winter. But, as he says, he is living proof that an old Zebra can never change his stripes, even if they are red and white. I had a great time last weekend, beginning with a visit with Alan Blackwell, Charlie Scarborough and Hames Ware in Little Rock. We went to see the stunningly massive Agape Church, founded by our classmate Happy Caldwell, and they told interesting stories about past encounters with Happy. They then regaled me with anecdotes from high school. One of Hames' favorites is the time that Mr. Willoughby made me take off my huge, clunky combat boots before entering the room because he was convinced the noise they made was a plot to disrupt the class. Alan tells another in which I had confided to him that I had not studied for an exam in Willoughby's class. After I submitted my detailed and carefully-worded two page essay on the subject, I received my score on the paper, written by Willoughby in large red letters across the page: B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T. I should have saved that one to give to my attorney. Just think of the trauma that must have caused me. I may still be suffering the consequences today. Another of Alan's favorites is the time I put the stuffed possum in Mary Zack's chemistry laboratory cabinet. When she opened the door it produced the desired level of pandemonium. Another was when Alan was in the classroom and I was back in the lab. Alan ahead a loud crash, followed by my frantic exclamation: "I didn't do it!" Then there was the time I opened the bottle of ether in the classroom when we had the substitute teacher. She gradually slipped off to sleep while the students slipped out of the classroom. But some of the best stories are about band and the irascible Scrubby Watson. I was always the one who had an extra note to play at the end of a piece. That would invariably result in his hurling, with unerring accuracy, a piece of chalk, eraser, or baton into the bell of my horn. He had such a scathing manner of putting down the unworthy. The all-time classic, though, is when he said, "Listen...do you hear that? It's the call of the wild geese, answering the honks from Hames' oboe." Those were memorable days that left an indelible impression on us all. I felt them most poignantly when I went back to visit the old school on Sunday. It was a cold and drizzly afternoon, kind of sad and wistful. There is not much left to remember, except the venerable old Jordan Field and Stadium. It is just as I recall it...the scoreboard, the stark bleacher seats, the top row where I sat with the Sousaphone basses...where I launched ten thousand notes into the night sky...to join the eternal music of the stars. I felt again the pangs of loneliness of a young boy's heart, and all the anticipation of a life to be lived, and all of the possibilities that have since been lost. But the one thing that impressed me most at the gathering, was Roy Murtishaw recounting the times when, at previous reunions, when no evidence of my existence was to be found, Hames Ware had declared, "God bless you J. Marvin Blackwell, wherever you are." God has answered that benediction, with many blessings and the fond remembrances of many wonderful classmates. For that I am humbly grateful. God bless you all. J. Marvin Blackwell Thanks J. Marvin Blackwell |
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