High School - 1959 vs. 2009

Scenario 1:
Joe goes quail hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck's gun rack.
1959 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Joe's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shogun to show Joe.
2009 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Joe hauled off to jail and never sees his truck of gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario 2:
Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school
1959 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins...Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2009 - Police called and SWAT team arrives -- they arrest both Johny and Mark. They are both charged with assault and both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario 3:
Jeffrey will not be still in class, he disrupts other students.
1959 - Jeffrey sent to the Principal's office and given a good paddling by the Principal. He then returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2009 - Jeffrey is given huge does of Ritalin. He becomes a zombie. He is then tested for ADD. The school gets extra money from the state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario 4:
Billy break a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad given him a whipping with his belt.
1959 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college and becomes a successful businessman.
2009 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. The state psychologist is told by Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.

Scenario 5:
Mark gets a headache and take some aspirin to school.
1959 - Mark shares his aspirin with the Principal out on the smoking dock.
2009 - The police are called and Mark is expelled from school for drug violations. His car is then searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario 6:
Pedro fails high school English.
1959 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English and goes to college.
2009 - Pedro's cause is taken up by the state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against the state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English is then banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario 7:
Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the Fourth of July, puts then in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up a red ant bed.
1959 - Ants die.
2009 - AFT, Homeland Security and the FBI are called. Johnny is charge with domestic terrorism. The FBI investigates his parents -- and all siblings are removed from their home and all computers are confiscated. Johnny's dad is placed on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario 8:
Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1959 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing...
2009 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.

THIS SHOWS HOW STUPID WE HAVE BECOME!! Amen to that!!!!

4th July Message

THE FOURTH OF JULY

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
Eleven were merchants,
Nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of; Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Rutledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General, Cornwallis, had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's really not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: “freedom is never free!”

Happy Fourth Classmates!

Courtesy of Gordon Sutton (Class of 1959)

Pro-Life Mississippi

Note: A letter Dr. Ed Habert (Class of 1959) sent to Pro-Life Mississippi on June 22, 2009. He requested that I post this and to be as generous as you can for a worthy cause. (Click on letter to enlarge)

Mini-Re-Reunion

I received two pictures from Walter Little today that Deb Matherne took of Dickie Matherne, Phillip Doiron, and Walter (on right top photo) at Lake Logan Martin after their mini-re-reunion dinner last Saturday evening. They were there to reconnect with an old friend, Barry Brasher (on left bottom photo), a friend of Dickie and Debra’s from a long time ago, and more recently a neighbor and fishing buddy of Walters. They were able to come and meet up with the Mathernes again outside Birmingham, Alabama.

(Barry had once mentioned a really nice guy he had worked with who was named Dickie Matherne and whom Barry thought was from somewhere in Mississippi. I replied that there could only be one Dickie Matherne, and although I couldn't’t prove it until Dickie furnished his E-address through our Class of 1959 blog and I was right.)

Walter said that none of this would have happened if our 50th class reunion had not brought all of us back together so closely, and the reunion would not have furnished such an occasion if it had not been for our blog.

This was also the view (minus the three/four of us :0) from the living room in the Matherne's very nice travel trailer that they drove down for the weekend. (Courtesy of Dickie & Debra Matherne)

In Memory of Sister Mary Rita, R.S.M.

Died: August 10, 1968 ~ Funeral services for Sister Mary Rita Davidson of St. Francis Xavier Academy will be held today at 3 p.m. from St. Paul's Catholic Church with Bishop Joseph B. Brunini conducting the service. Burial will be in Cedar Hill Cemetery with Fisher Funeral Home in charge. Sister Rita died Saturday after a brief illness. She was 70.

She was born in Biloxi, the former Teresa Davidson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Davidson, Sr. She entered the order of the Sisters of Mercy at the age of 17 and pronounced her vows three years later.

Sister Mary Rita taught in a number of schools in Mississippi, spending the major part of her life in Vicksburg. She was noted for her work in the field of English, Social Studies and Theology and her contributions to the SFXA Library.

Survivors include two sisters, Mrs. Olga Staehling of New Orleans and Mrs. John Pisarich of Biloxi.

Active pallbearers will be Cyril O'Neill, Vincent Schaff, C. Home Smith, Lawrence Hennessey, J. W. Evans, Joseph A. Gerache, and Harry Hardin.

Honorary pallbearers will be Sister Mary Ignatius, RSM, Sister Mary Francis, RSM, Sister Mary Isabel, RSM, Sister Mary Claudia, RSM, Sister Mary Adelaide, RMS, Sister Mary Joseph, RSM, Sister Mary Hildergarde, RSM, Sister Mary Angela, RSM, Sister Mary Placide, RSM and Sister Mary Henrietta.

She was a very kind and gentle person. When sister died, for the first time in history, there were Sisters of Mercy as honorary pallbearers because of their love for Sister Mary Rita.

~May They All Rest In Peace~

Picture taken at Cedar Hill Cemetary ~ June 14, 2009

Banquet at St. Michael Parish Hall

Left to right, Phillip Doiron, '59, Dickie Matherne, Mickey Sullivan, '59, Larry Miller, '59, Walter Little, '59 and Ivan Cunningham, '59. Thanks to classmate Larry Miller for sending me this photo to share with everyone on our blog. Would love to get some more pictures to post from our reunion and will give you credit. Thanks, Marian :)