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Send us anything ... text, pictures, music ... whatever ... via e-mail ... or snail mail ... and we'll publish it here ... as is ... and unedited ... or if you prefer ... we'll organize it anyway you want ... for "It's Your Turn..."
Upon loading this website, if you don't hear Sara Hickman singing 'You are my sunshine'
         then try playing this Media Player --->    or maybe this one --->    or even this one--->

 

----- Original Message -----
From: "David H. Buswell" <dbuswell@frontiernet.net>
To: "H. Bruce Downey" <crow@vt.edu>
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 11:12 AM
Subject: Re: What's new at these York '52 websites of ours?

Bruce, et. al.:

Great job!

Dave

  ______________________________

 

Video Clip # 1: "The Lincoln Statue" featuring Louis 'Duke' Weiss telling Bruce Downey and Caroline Johnson a story that is now 55-years old! To play this video you must point to and click the start button...then be patient and wait about 4 minutes to completely load

 
Click on image for additional options

 ______________________________

 

And then there's this story about our own Carroll Knight.  You know Carroll has put forth a tremendous individual effort of his own time and at his own expense to make our Reunions and their aftermath so very real to us all--- what with his CD's, and his DVD's, and all the updated Addendum Books and his personal, one-on-one, telephone calls to each and every one of us.  And why has Carroll been so kind to us all?  Because Carroll Knight truly cares about each and every one of us ---that's why.   Carroll cares enough that he gives of himself so that we might better stay in touch with one another for just as long as we possibly can.  Remember too, as I have said so often recently, "We're all playing in the fourth quarter of the game now" --- so how many reunions are left in us?  Not many.   Not any more.

 

While I personally did not go to the 55th Reunion, I was at the 50th, and it was there when I first observed Carroll, with his video camera in hand, busily talking to all, while recording on video tape the various events that were so meaningful to us all.

 

And so as a kind of 'thank you' to Carroll for all that he has done for the York Class of 1952, just a short while ago I too stepped up and volunteered to make it happen all over again---but this time somewhere out there on the world-wide-web.  And why would I offer to do this?  Because I knew that among our number, I was perhaps one of the few who knew how to bring us all together ...  again ... and again ... and again ... by building websites within the realm of virtual reality --- which is itself a relatively new medium destined to be taken to ever greater heights by our grandchildren and by their chidren too.

 

But my story does not end here --- for there's more to tell.  Shortly after the 55th Reunion became history, I contacted Carroll and told him of my plan to put the 55th and its aftermath up on the Internet.  Carroll enthusiastically endorsed the idea, and so I sent him an example of something I had only recently put together.  I think it was my story which I named "On the Importance of Novembers..." which was an association I had recently made in reviewing all the Novembers of the Civil War period.  As many of you know I am writing my first and only novel--- a fictional account of the life and times of my great great grandparents, Emily Ellen Clarke and John Whitehead.  I call my story, "Raisins and Almonds---A Civil War Story."  In response, Carroll wrote me back an e-mail that said something to this effect: "I don't read anything unless it pertains to my business---the petroleum business." 

 

However, over these past couple of months--- ever since Carroll and I have been working closely together on these York '52 websites of ours --- Carroll has come around to a different point of view of my story telling.  Here's what Carroll has said in a recent e-mail to me (and I publically thank Carroll for allowing me to tell you all of his admittedly personal reaction to what I recently wrote in an e-mail directed to Nancy Brown Garippo (York '52) about my proposed website featuring Nancy's family--- now destined to take its rightful place at a website I call "How deep is your valley?"  My e-mail to Nancy, with a copy to Carroll, was simply titled:---

                    "And from nothing...something."

 

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 10:28 AM
Subject: Re: And from nothing...something

Bruce,
 
Did your wife ever tell you that you are damn good at this stuff.
 
I would like to be exposed to some of your writing too.
 
ck

 ______________________________

 

 

Now this from Nancy Brown Garippo...
Nancy's e-mail to me which I now share with you.
A piece called:---"This is beautiful."  And so it is. 
 
 
 
Point to photo for music.  Point to AND CLICK
photo to see Nancy's e-mail to me about this...
 

 ______________________________

 

 

 

Just point to photo above

for some traveling music

 

Then click on photo above

to both see and hear some

Karaoke Dancing...

 

 Karaoke Dancing...Video Clip # 5 --- Music is for Dancing... Come see and hear all that's possible.

 

Then get your camcorder out, select some music of your choice...and dance your heart away...  Send your video to me and I'll soon have you  dancing in front of the most clicked-on page on the Internet!

...Bruce*****

 ______________________________

Video Clip # 8: And now another Ken Jones, York '52, production---this time it's Ken's dogs on a romp through his front yard--- complete with his own subtitle:---: "Another great day without a job."  All this...on a day in June, 2008...in Fitchburg, MA.  To view the fun, go now to:---  http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=2ipYwbklmgY

 ______________________________

Video Clip # 9:

And then there's this. An MS Power Point Show from Carroll Knight, York '52. It's all
about a time that defined all the things we
once did when we were growing up back in
the 1930's and the 1940's. Soooo ... 'close
your eyes' ... and think back ... way back
... to a time all but forgotten ... by pointing
to and clicking on the following
link:--->  'ratch hyar'

NOTE: Power Point is a product of Microsoft.  Hence
your computer's web browser must have their plug-
in to play this 'pps' file. And if you do, you will
then be directed...first to the MS website, then point
to & click on SLIDE SHOW, then PLAY SHOW.  And
if, by chance, you are requested for a 'User ID & PW' along the way, just cancel that request and proceed without them.
 
And if you don't already have the required
MS Power Point Show Media Player then to view
this presentation, you can first download it
directly from Microsoft by pointing to and clicking:---> here   then returning to view this presentation
in the manner as described immediately above.

 ______________________________

 
Alice Mahler Ashley, York '53, has
sent us all a 4th of July greeting.  It's a
classic picture of 'the way we were' on the
4th of July in 1937, featuring five from the
same family (siblings and/or cousins, each
to the other) who would later graduate from
York H.S---  one of whom being in our Class
of 1952.  To find out just who they all are,
come now and see 'the way we were' from
times gone by:---
  
 
To go there now, point to and click HERE
 

 ______________________________

And again from
Nancy Brown Garippo ---
...a video clip of a different sort.  Come "fly" the
mountain tops using your own computer's
cursor (mouse) as the "stick".  Go now to

 ______________________________

 

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 5:32 PM
Subject: Re: What's new at these York '52 websites of ours?

I would like to thank all of you for doing such a fantastic job of producing this web site for all of us to enjoy. 
Thank you again.
 
Shirley Feist Berkes

  ______________________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video Clip # 1: "The Lincoln Statue " featuring Louis 'Duke' Weiss telling Bruce Downey and Caroline Johnson a story that is now 55-years old! To play this video you must point to and left click the start button...then be patient and wait about 45 seconds for it to load


Right click on image for additional options

  ______________________________

Jessica Ann Downey, Salutatorian photo upon graduation from Hampton (VA) Christian School, June 2007

For more on Jessie's academic accomplishments and an unforgetable one-line story that goes with it, go to

and see updated story at right --->

 ______________________________

 

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 6:26 PM
Subject: Re: "As the deer pants for the water..."

Bruce
 
You are my hero, my Superman, and my Clark Kent.
 
Thank you,
 
Carroll

 ______________________________

 

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 11:44 AM
Subject: Re: 'It's Your Turn...' Remember it?

Bruce
The background  music ("You Are My Sunshine") brings back cherished memories. I used to sing it constantly while rocking grandson Zachary to sleep and then one time later---( possibly he was a year and a half or two) while giving him a bath, the words seem to sink into his thought process and his  eyes swelled with tears and he placed both hands hands over his face and said  "I want my mommy".  That was the last time I sang the song to him. Since then, when I occasionally sing it to myself, tears fill my eyes thinking about that wonderful experience, as is happening now.  ("...I was mistaken and I held my head and cried")
 
Punky

 ______________________________

 

Video Clip # 2: "Inside the Space Station" --- a video provided by Tom Hodge in May, 2008.

To see video, point to and click here .

 ______________________________

 

Video Clip # 6: "Yesterday" --- a video provided by Ralph 'Punky' Stevens in May, 2008. This is Punky's and Sandy's only grandchild, Zachary (8), playing the piano at a recital.

NOTE: If you don't see Punky Stevens' media player below, then your computer's web browser is missing the QuickTime Media Player Plug-in for Windows.  To add the QuickTime for Windows Plug-in to your browser, point to and click ---> QTplugin --- then select 'RUN' .  Then come back here and Walla! --- you too will see Punky's grandson playing"Yesterday".

 ______________________________

Video Clip # 7:

The following video clip, with music by Dustin Evans, "If I die before you wake" , is brought to you by Darlene McClelland Knight(York'53).  Thank you, Darlene, for this beautiful tribute to all who continue to serve our country in times like these.
       For all of York '52:--- ...Bruce**********
 
NOTE: To view this video, your computer's web browser will need the Adobe/Macromedia Shockwave-flash plug-in player. If you do not have this plug-in, you can download it now to your computer by going to http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/ .  Then come back here to view this video.

 ______________________________

'BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC'  
                                       by Julia Ward Howe 1861
       
 
Who has not felt a thrill at hearing those famous words:
"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of
the Lord . . ." and "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!" ?  On
November 20, 1861, while at a mammouth military
review at Bailey's Cross Roads outside Washington,
Julia Ward Howe heard many of the Union troops
singing "John Brown's Body" with its stirring march
rhythm.  That very night she awoke, got up, and wrote her now famous verses to the very same tune.
 
Years later, after the war was over, one of the
Confederate Generals was heard to say, "If we just
had the music the North had, we would have won
this war!" 
 
And now, Tom Hodge, York '52, has given us a
stirring rendition of Julia Ward Howe's "The Battle
Hymn of the Republic" beautifully done by the
combined choirs of an Elementary School and four
unidentified High Schools somewhere here in
America.  To see their presentation and hear this
stirring melody dating from the Civil War era, come
see and hear it all by pointing to and clicking
the photo below.
 
Note: Just pointing to the picture will play an
introductory piece familiar to all who have seen
the PBS series on the Civil War.  You have to
also click on this photo to see the combined
Elementary & High School choirs' presentation.
 
 ______________________________

Video Clip # 11:

And now this from Ralph 'Punky' Stevens, York '52 --- a story about the special bond between a man and his horses...
 
 ______________________________

Just this past week, on December 4th 2007, we had to put down our farm dog, Heidi--- a constant and faithful companion of mine over these past 16 1/2 years.  Ours was the only home Heidi ever knew --- a 27-acre horse farm at the end of Magnolia Lane in Christiansburg, VA.  What follows here is a sympathy card we received from some Virginia Tech Vet School Students who live in a second house we have on our place.  I cried when we took Heidi to the Vet to put her down, and I cried when I received this sympathy card--- especially designed for all the pets we have come to love.                 ...Bruce***********

 

                            

.....................
 

 ________________________________________

Aah!  It really is 'the chemistry that binds...'  Consider this story that transends these past 55 years...

My wife Nancy found my 'Y's Tales' Yearbook from 1952.  She began reading the brief notes that classmates wrote over their senior pictures, and paused on the entry that Carroll Knight wrote some 55-years ago.  Apparently we were in Mr. Pratt's Chemistry class together that final year at York ... maybe even lab partners?

"Bruce---If I were you I would not let that Chemistry bother me." --- Carroll Knight 

And then, two generations later, comes this story of my oldest grand-daughter, Jessica (pictured here in column 2 at the left).  Jessie has just completed her first semester at James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, VA --- and over the Christmas break she was here at our place at the end of Magnolia Lane in Christiansburg, VA.  Jessie, a full scholarship student at JMU, told me that she finished her very first college semester with a perfect GPA of 4.0, including her chemistry class--- a required course for all enrolled in JMU's RN program.  And then she showed me this ... an e-mail that her Chemistry Professor sent to her --- and to her alone ---  based on her academic standing in his class:--

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 7:53 AM
Subject: CH120: CHEM120_1_FA07

Dear Jessica -----

Congratulations, you earned the high grade on the final exam and this significantly influenced your semester average that was also the highest in the class. These two factors will result in you being assigned an "A" sometime between now and next Monday. I request that you not share this information with anyone else, because I am a long way from calculating grades for anyone else. There were some other really good students in this class, so the fact that your class rank is #1 out of the 133 who started is something about which you should be proud.

My second reason for writing is because I hope that this excellent
performance will cause you to seriously consider your professional
aspirations. One of the other top students in the class is going to
take the CH131 final exam just for fun on Friday morning. The road to medical and dental school always involves CH131-132, regardless of one's major. If you would also be interested in talking about options that you might have (but which would not be available to the average student in CH120) please reply to this E-mail indicating a couple of times when you could stop in for a short visit. You can be 100% certain that my goal is not to attempt to coerce you into becoming a chemistry major. If you know where you are going professionally, and if you are on the road that should help you reach your destination, then there is no reason to meet with me.

Best regards, JJ

 ________________________________________

 Video Clip # 3: And now a Ken Jones, York '52, production on beaver activity sighted recently (Spring,2008) in Fitchburg, MA:---

And if you click on the 'full screen' button at the far right, to return to the view on this page, simply click your ESC (ESCAPE) button on your computer keyboard.

 ________________________________________

 

Video Clip # 4: "Talk about crosswinds!!!!" --- a video provided by Bruce Downey in May, 2008.

 ________________________________________

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

May, 2008

 

The Plantation Swim Team gets "punk'd" and Skye sets seven-for-seven personal-best records.

 

For music only:--- 

  Point to Skye's photo

For more info on this:---

 Point AND CLICK Skye's photo

  ...Bruce**********

 ________________________________________

 
Come see a slide show submitted and narrated by Bruce
about a gate building project undertaken in June, 2008
when he was 74 years old.  Just point to and click on his picture shown immediately below:---
 ________________________________________
Video clip # 10
As exciting as it gets!  Here's Ken Jones riding his
motorcycle through the streets of his beloved Fitchburg, MA
... and it feels like you're at the controls ... as you swoosh
through the curves and 'round the bends ... leaning when you
have to ... and can't you just feel the power underneath you
as you accelerate up the second hilliest city in the U.S.!
 
Wow! --- What a ride!  Just point to the still photos
below to hear what you are about to see!  And to
experience all the excitement, catch this 7+minute video
clip by pointing to and then clicking on either of these
same two photos ... 
   
 
 ________________________________________
"And in garments green..."
 Point to photo for music--- And then click on photo  to go to the website at the end of Magnolia Lane.
 
 ________________________________________

 

 
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