Pete and the Parade

After I posted about living with "joyous naughtiness," I have had a few emails about what it means.

The best example I can give you is our classmate, Pete May. His joy in life is evident with each task he undertakes. His naughtiness appears in a bright purple suit for ARC functions or a Jester costume complete with tights for a national table tennis event. His contagious energy is a gift to all.

Last week, the annual Horse and Carriage Parade moved with precision through Augusta's downtown streets. Everything from Clydesdales to miniature mules were pulling an assortment of wheeled vehicles: the usual polished carriages, wagons and coaches along with ancient hearses, chuck wagons, bridal buggies, and a lone long-horned cow.

Planned as a kick-off event for the Augusta Futurity by Pete in 1992, the Parade has now been moved to the fall weekend of Arts in the Heart for better weather and different crowds. Pete knows not only how to dress, but how to adjust, for success!

Often in our towns, we do things which make a small difference. There are many of us in the Class of 59 who have quietly given to our communities, in our jobs or as volunteers. Sometimes it makes the paper; sometimes only we know. Pete is only one, but if you pay attention, you'll find his hand in lots of things around town -- usually the fun things which encourage a little joyous naughtiness.
AAB

Look Who Else is Going to Be 'Lost in the 50s!'

An update from Robert Murphy about the Decades BBQ shows that we have moved up in the class listings. We are now at #3, but our numbers are still down! If there are folks you'd like to see, give them a call. October 20 is a perfect day for a visit! These are the newest additions.

• From Sierra Vista, AZ:
• Fred "Niki" Johnston
• From Leawood KS:
  
• Carol Lamb Thurman
• From Knoxville, TN:
• Yvonne King Langley
• From Jefferson, GA:
• David Hurst
• From Appling, GA:
• Joyce Rennison Grimaud
• From Grovetown, GA:
  
• Charles E. Allen
• From Thomson, GA:
• Emily Stevens Baumann
• From Augusta, GA:
• Jerry Howington
• Charles and Judy Hunnicutt Johnson
• Annette James
• Shirley Johnson
• Janice Johnson Dixon
• John Overstreet
• Carolyn Remley Burns
• Frank Stafford
  

Who do you think is missing?

We're #4!

We have always been at #2 for number of attendees at the annual 50s BBQ. Yesterday, I learned that we have been pushed down the ranks by enthusiastic members of other classes.
If you get there VERY early in the morning, this is the view as you turn off the main road.

We're now #4 and losing ground.
Is your name on the list or have you just forgotten?! The first reservation deadline is quickly approaching.

I have asked Robert Murphy to send me the list of registrations so far and will try to give you a weekly update. I have listed these by towns; call a classmate who lives nearby.

• From Chapel Hill, NC:
  
• Carolyn Cadle Folds
• From Greenville, NC
• Caroline LeRoy Ayers
• From Greenville, SC:
• Maxie and Judy Stubbs Terry
• From Simpsonville, SC:
• Gay Cox Shaw
• From Cross Hill, SC:
• Claire Faircloth Tollison
• From Belvedere, SC:
• Tim Hegler
• From North Augusta, SC:
• Esther Kennedy Peacock
• Frances Logan Brown
• Merle Wright Dansby
• From Tifton, GA:
  
• Roy E. Lindsey
• From Avondale Estates, GA:
• Carol Ann Sandiford
• From Blythe, GA:
• Jimmy Perkins
• From Grovetown, GA:
• Dorothy Herron Jenkins
  
• John Buddy Lowe
• From Martinez, GA:
• Alvia Butch Murdoch
• Sybil Foster Agers
• Ben Cheek
• Hilda Reese Riegler
  
• Ed Brown
• Tom Mercer
• From Evans, GA:
• Alma Gardner DeWitt
• Connie Connell Harrison
• Ron Colvin
• From Augusta, GA:
• Jimmy Melton
• Walter S. Wilson
• Mary Alice King Wilson
• Pete McDonald
• Anne Yearty Gojda
• Annette Adams Bush
• Janice Keel Helton
• Judy Little Murphy
• Linda M. Epps
• Randall Scott
• Mike and Jane Bass Moxley
• Jimmy Bagby
• Charles Durand
• Mary Gahnz Usher
• Marie Brennecke Rogers
• Larry Jon Wilson
• Harriet Paul Jones
• Hamilton Kuhlke
• Jack Bearden
• Martha Gibbs Bagby
• Betty Reed Keenan

As you leave in the afternoon, the sight of these peach trees will be the perfect ending.

Eve and the Miller

Sounds a little like a Chaucer's Tale, doesn't it? Well, it IS classic stuff.

You (and hundreds of your closest friends) are invited. It's a celebration of both the 50th Anniversary of the World Premiere of "The Three Faces of Eve" and the renovation-in-progress of the Miller Theater. The event is a fund-raiser to refurbish and maintain features of the Imperial Theatre.

• On September 18 from each half hour from 2:00-6:00, there'll be tours of the Miller.
• Then at 8:00, across the street at The Imperial Theatre, there will be a special presentation which will include our own classmate Dan Miller, the grand nephew of the theater founder.
• The screening of "The Three Faces of Eve" will begin at 8:30. Tickets (which include the Miller tour) are $15 with a VIP ticket of $50.

The Chronicle editorial closes with this about the Miller. "It is a grand structure that stands not only for the best of what Augusta was, but the best of what it can become. And it begs for whatever outpouring of support Augustans can give to that end." The same could be said of the Imperial as well. The full story is here.

It seems to me that "Eve and the Miller" is a good reason to relive some old memories of 'our days.' And maybe make some new 'tales' worth telling.

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Two Words to Live By

This week in my personal blog, I wrote about my discovery of two words to live by as an artist.

Since they popped off the page of a summer "beach read" last weekend, I've thought about them and what they might have to do with life in general. I wondered if I know anyone who already knows those words and who has filled the decades with them. I could name a few. I have decided that perhaps they are what we all need as we approach our fiftieth reunion; that perhaps we are too old to be serious, dull and deadly for the remainder of our days.

So . . . if you can't learn from the grandchildren in your family, I give you "Joyous Naughtiness." Write the words on your bathroom mirror, post them on your computer monitor, leave a note in your pants pocket. Live them!

Affecting Our Days

As I have added obituaries of classmates to this blog, I've received a number of emails from readers. Some just say thanks for the memories. Most comment that they don't remember much about specific class members at first or have truly lost touch with those they do remember, yet they have a true sense of loss.

I understand their response; sometimes I feel like old classmates are fictional characters in some fictional person's life (Mine. Was that really me?!!) Yet I have snippets of memory which come back -- both the pleasant and the down-right awful -- and I appreciate that these folks and our days together helped to make me who I am today.

I like Dan Miller's comments after reading an obituary.

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mreddie and The Blueberry Patch Blog

While reading through a good bit of Eddie Collier's blog, I discovered this statement: If you can't dazzle them with brilliance then baffle them with baloney sandwiches.

Composing most posts on a little voice recorder during his evening walks down by the pond, he has filled his blog with personal thoughts and tossed them with a little wry humor. He doesn't gloss over the good or the bad; just describes his daily life with a gentle touch. And, he never fails to let you know where he and God stand, out there by the blueberry patch.


George Eddie Collier offers a little baloney seasoned with the spirit at Blueberry Patch.