Truism

Today is the oldest you've ever been, yet the youngest you'll ever be, so enjoy this day while it last...

Observations on Growing Older

~ Your kids are becoming you...and you don't like them...but your grandchildren are perfect!

~ Going out is good...Coming home is better!

~ When people say you look "Great"...they add "for your age!"

~ When you needed the discount, you paid full price, Now you get discounts on everything...

movies, hotels, flights, but you're too tired to use them.

~ You forget names...but it's OK because other people forgot they even knew you!!!

~ The 5 pounds you wanted to lose is not 15 and you have a better chance of losing your keys than the 15 pounds.

~ You realize you're never going to be really good at anything...especially golf.

~ Your spouse is counting on you to remember things you don't remember.

~ The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don't care to do them anymore.

~ Your spouse sleeps better on a lounge chair with the TV blaring than he or she does in bed.  It's called their "pre-sleep".

~ Remember when your mother said, "Wear clean underwear in case you GET in an accident"?  Now you bring clean underwear in case you HAVE an accident.

~ You used to say, "I hope my kids GET married...Now, "I hope they STAY married!"

~ You miss the days when everything worked with just an "ON" and "OFF" switch...

~ When GOOGLE, ipod, email, modem...were unheard of, and a mouse was something that made you climb on a table.

~ You tend to use more 4 letter words..."what?..."when?"...???

~ Now that you can afford expensive jewelry, it's not safe to wear it anywhere.

~ Your husband/wife has a night out with the guys or gals but is home by 9:00 p.m.  Next week it will be 8:30 p.m.

~ You read 100 pages into a book before you realize you've read it.

~ Notice everything they sell i stores is "sleeveless"?!!!

~ That used to be freckles are now liver spots.

~ Everybody whispers.

~ Now that your spouse has retired...you'd give anything if he/she would find a job!

~ You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet...2 of which you will never wear.

~~~~But old is good in some things; old songs, old movies, and best of all, OLD FRIENDS!!

Love you, "OLD CLASSMATE FRIENDS!"

Marian Love Phillips (Class of 1959)

It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived...

Classmate Sister Dies

Mary Eileen Braun Cato

Mary Eileen Braun Cato died Monday, July 11, 2011, at her residence.  She was 67.

Born in Vicksburg, she was the daughter of the late Herman Karl Braun and Amelia buck Braun Mincey.  Mrs. Cato was a graduate of St. Francis Xavier Academy of the Class of 1962. She was a devoted wife, loving mother and grandmother.

Mrs. Cato loved nature with a special devotion for fishing.  She was a member of the Church of Christ.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her brother, Joseph K. "Joe" Braun.

She is survived by her husband, Ray E. Cato of Vicksburg; a daughter, Karla Sherman Alford (Danny) of Crystal Springs, a grandson, Cameron Ray Sherman; and one sister, Marie B. Yowan (Class of 1959) (Bill) of Utica, Michigan.

Services were held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday at Riles Funeral Home with the Rev. Mike Pennock officiating.  Burial was at Cedar Hill Cemetery. Visitation was held from 9:00 a.m. Thursday until the hour of service.

Older Than Dirt!

Someone asked the other day, 'What was your favorite fast food when you were growing up?' 'We didn't have fast food when I was growing up,' I informed him. 'All the food was slow.' 

'C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?' 'It was a place called 'at home,' I explained. 'Mom cooked every day and when Dad got home from work, we sat down together at the dining room table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate I was allowed to sit there until I did like it.' 
By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table. 

Here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I figured his system could have handled it : Some parents NEVER owned their own house, wore Levis, set foot on a golf course, traveled out of the country or had a credit card. My parents never drove me to school. I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow). We didn't have a television in our house until I was 19. It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at midnight, after playing the national anthem and a poem about God. It came back on the air at about 6 a.m. and there was usually a locally produced news and farm show on, featuring local people... 

I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using the line.

Pizzas were not delivered to our home... But milk was. 

All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers --my brother delivered a newspaper, six days a week. He had to get up at 6AM every morning. 

Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies. There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly produced for everyone to enjoy viewing, without profanity or violence or most anything offensive. 
If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren. Just don't blame me if they bust a gut laughing. 

Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it? 

MEMORIES: 

My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she died in December) and he brought me an old Royal Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a bunch of holes in it.. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to 'sprinkle' clothes with because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old. 

How many do you remember? 

Head lights dimmer switches on the floor.
Ignition switches on the dashboard.
Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards. 
Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner.
Using hand signals for cars without turn signals.. 

Older Than Dirt Quiz : Count all the ones that you remember not the ones you were told about Ratings at the bottom. 
1.Candy cigarettes
2.Coffee shops with tableside juke boxes 
3.Home milk delivery in glass bottles 
4. Party lineson the telephone
5.Newsreels before the movie
6.TV test patterns that came on at night after the last show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning. (there were only 3 channels[if you were fortunate])
7.Peashooters
8. Howdy Doody 
9. 45 RPM records
10.Hi-fi's
11. Metal ice trays with lever 
12. Blue flashbulb
13.Cork popguns 
14. Studebakers
15. Wash tub wringers 

If you remembered 0-3 = You're still young
If you remembered 3-6 = You are getting older
If you remembered 7-10 = Don't tell your age,
If you remembered 

11-15 =You're older than dirt!

I might be older than dirt but those memories are some of the best parts of my life..

A Former Classmate Contacts Me!

I was contacted recently by one of our former classmates, Lynda Rose Kennedy.  She said that her sister sent her a copy of the information on the Class of 1959 that she had gotten off of the Internet and it had a picture of the communion class from St. Francis Xavier in it.  She was so surprised because she has the same picture herself. I asked her to send an autobiography of her life since she left us in the 8th grade.  The picture to the left is one I cropped from our class photo taken March 1955 at St. Francis Xavier Academy so you can recognized her.  Sister Mary John was our homeroom teacher.

Lynda in her own words...

After we moved from Vicksburg to Baton Rouge at the end of the 8^th grade I went to school at Westdale Jr. High and then on to Baton Rouge High where I graduated.  It was quite an adjustment for me because you know the number of graduates in SFXA class, well, I graduated with 613 students.  Believe it or not some of us still meet for lunch once a month at different restaurants in Baton Rouge.  After graduation I married Tom Stogner, who grew up in the house behind me and we were married until 1981.  We had one son, David, who was born in 1966 and has always been my pride and joy.  In 1981, I started my business, Special Risk Insurance, Inc., which is an independent insurance agency insuring only emergency services organization, such as fire departments, ambulance services, 911 districts, etc. one of which is the fire departments in Warren County.  It was shortly after that time that I met my present husband, Raymond Vince, who I have been married to for 26 years.  My son, David, has two children, Brandon, 18 years old, who will be graduating this year and going to Ouachita Baptist University on a football scholarship and a daughter, Kayla, 17 years old, who will be graduating next year and attending LSU.  Brandon is 6’4 and weighs 315 lbs and an honor student at Dunham High School.  Kayla is also an Honor Student.  David graduated from LSU and came into the business with me.  He is now running the business so I can do all of the good things that I always wanted to do, but never had time for.  I have always been very active in the tennis community in Baton Rouge, both playing, holding offices, and being involved with running tournaments.  Raymond and I both enjoy both the competitive and social part of being involved with this sport.  I have made some wonderful friends and gone many places, including San Juan, Puerto Rico to play in Sectional and National tournaments.  I think my competitive spirit came from playing basketball which I continued to play when I left Vicksburg and came to Baton Rouge.  I played at Baton Rouge High for three years and loved it.  We also have a motor home which we love to travel around the states in when we have time.  I am still somewhat active in the business, at least in the social area, conventions, installation of officers, etc.  I still have our First Communion picture and can remember the names of each student in the picture.  I hope one day to come to Vicksburg and see some of my old friends from grammar school.  I had so often wondered what happen too many of them and by having the opportunity to read Marian’s Blog on the Class of ’59 I have learned so much about many of you.  I don’t know if any of you know, but my older sister Mary Anne Kennedy, stayed in Vicksburg when we left so she could graduate with her class.  After she graduated she moved here to Baton Rouge, got married and had a son.  She eventually moved back to Vicksburg for a while and would keep me updated on some of my classmates she used to see.  Ina was one of the ones she would talk about quite frequently.  Mary Anne passed away January 1, 2011 at my home in Baton Rouge.  One of her friends, that I will always remember fondly, Medley Melsheimer, came to Baton Rouge to her funeral.  One thing I did want to mention was that I had two cousins in my grade at SFXA, Myrtle Loviza and  Ethel Lane.   Guess I have written enough so that you know what has gone on somewhat in my life since leaving Vicksburg many years ago, but one thing I would like for all of you to know is that even though I moved away I remembered all of you with many fond memories that have lasted through all of these years. May God bless all of you and thanks for your friendship all of the early years of my life.

Raymond and Lynda

Sisters, Mary Anne and Davie

Lynda's son, David

Lynda's grandson, Brandon

Lynda's granddaughter, Kayla 

I am on Facebook (Lynda Kennedy Vince) and feel free to friend me if you are on it.  Please tell any of our class that may remember me that I said hello and would love to hear from any of them that would like to get in touch.  I will continue to read your blog about the class and again thank you for writing it.  

Lynda

lvince@bellsouth.net    

Future Stars - Maggie Waites

So many of you know Stacey, Kearney and Maggie, and I wanted to share this great piece with you in case you missed it last night!  Patty

Summer Office Hours

Monday - Thursday        8 am to 1 pm

 

2011-2012 School Events

 

August 6th - City Wide Pep Rally @ The Outlet Mall

August 7th - "Spirit Meal" hosted by the Cheerleaders & Flashettes

August 10th - First Day of School

September 22nd - Homecoming Parade

September 23rd - Homecoming

Jan. 29 - February 4, 2012 - Catholic Schools Week

February 19, 2012 - $10,000 Drawdown

May 4 - 5, 2012 - PLAYADAYINMAYAWAY

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Patty S. Mekus

Development & Alumni Affairs Director

St. Aloysius High School / St. Francis Xavier Elementary

1900 Grove Street / 1200 Hayes Street

Vicksburg, MS 39183

(601) 630-9762

www.vicksburgcatholic.org

1911 Ford Model T

THE YEAR IS 1911   This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine!    ************ ********* *********** The year is 1911  --- One hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes! Here are some statistics for the Year 1911: ************ ********* ************ The average life expectancy for men was 47 years.   Fuel for this car was sold in drug stores only.    Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.   Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.   There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.   The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower !   The average US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per hour.   The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year ..   A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and  $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year. More than 95 percent of all births took place at home .   Ninety percent of all Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as "substandard."   Sugar cost four cents a pound.   Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.   Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.   Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.   Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason. The Five leading causes of death were:   1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke   The American flag had 45 stars...   The population of Las Vegas , Nevada , was only 30!!!   Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been  invented yet. There was niether a Mother's Day nor a Father's Day.   Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write and only  6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school. Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the  counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, Regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health!"  ( Shocking? ) Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help .... There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A.!    I am now going to forward/post this without typing it myself. From there, it will be sent to others all over the WORLD - all in a matter of seconds!   Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.