THIS IS SURRATTS FOUNDATION E-NOTICE 2010-03 as of March 1, 2010
Hello Hornets:
Here are some items that might be of interest:
1. TICKETS ON SALE FOR ALL OF THE 2010 ALL CLASSES/FACULTY/STAFF EVENTS! As previously
reported, tickets are on sale for all three of the June 2010 All Classes/Faculty/Staff events: the Golf Outing
to be held Friday June 25, 2010 starting at 9 a.m. at the Eisenhower Golf Course in Crownsville,
Surrattstock III to be held Friday evening June 25, 2010 from 6 to 11 p.m., and the All Classes/Faculty/Staff
School Open House and Picnic to be held Saturday June 26, 2010 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Golf Outing tickets, which include the outing itself, a subsequent free round of golf at Eisenhower and food
and drinks, are a very reasonable $67. Tickets for Surrattstock III are a mere $5 (probably cheaper than
Teen Club after factoring in inflation!), and tickets to the Open House and Picnic are $10, with guests
under 18 free to Surrattstock III and the Open House/Picnic.
Unlike the Open Houses/Picnics held in 2000 and 2005, we won't be including food and drink in the $10
Open House and Picnic ticket price, so the 2010 Picnic will be BYOP (and we're hoping to have food and
drink vendors on site selling their stuff -- more on that later). Also, we're delighted to report that once
again we'll be running shuttle buses from the School to the "Old School" (the building at Brandywine and
Surratts Road) which will be open for tours to those of who have great memories from that old building.
There are two ways to buy your tickets. First, you may send a check by mail using the form pasted below.
Second, you may purchase tickets on the Foundation's web site, at the "Events" button, at www.
surrattsville.org. Here's how you do that:
a. Go to surrattsville.org
b. Click on "Events"
c. Find the event you wish to attend (i.e., "Golf Outing," "2010 All Class Reunion" or "Surrattstock III"), and
click on that event.
d. Click on "Pay Now"
e. Fill-in the information on the Pay Now page and click on "Review Order and Continue." IMPORTANT
NOTE TO THE LADIES: WHEN YOU COMPLETE THE FIRST NAME BLOCK, PLEASE TYPE IN YOUR
FIRST AND LAST NAMES WHILE AT SURRATTSVILLE. THAT WAY, FOR NAME BADGE PURPOSES,
WHEN YOUR NAME COMES THROUGH THE SYSTEM, WE'LL HAVE YOUR CURRENT LAST NAME AND
THE LAST NAME YOUR CLASSMATES WILL RECOGNIZE.
f. IMPORTANT: On the "Review Your Payment" section, again for name badge purposes, in the box
called "Add Special Instructions to Seller," please type in your graduation year, or you years on the
faculty/staff.
g. Click on the "Complete Purchase" button.
h. Check your email, where you will find a receipt for your purchase. Please print this off and bring it to
the event. This receipt is your entry ticket.
(Note that you'll need to repeat the above for each event you wish to attend, and for each person from
your group attending each event.)
[Ed. Note: Please don't forget to check in with your Class ORC to learn about any Class-specific event for
your Class being held during the June 25 - June 27, 2010 weekend.]
2. GOLF OUTING DETAILS. Here are some details from our Golf Outing co-chairs about the June 25
Foundation Golf Outing: Eisenhower Golf Course, Crownsville, MD. There will be a 9:00 a.m. Shotgun
Start, Captain’s Choice (scramble). $67 per person includes golf and cart, range balls, prizes and food
and drinks at the awards reception immediately following the golf. In addition, every golfer will receive free
greens fees for a future round of golf at Eisenhower. This event is open to Surrattsville alumni, family and
friends. Register your own foursome or sign up as an individual. Payment can be made online on the
Foundation's web site at www.surrattsville.org or by mail using the ticket order form below. Any questions
can be emailed directly to Alan Johnson (72) (ajohnson@DCHweb.org) or Lauren Foley (74)
(Lmfriley@comcast.net).
Many thanks to Alan and Lauren for all their hard work in putting together this great event!
3. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR SURRATTSTOCK III. If you're planning to attend Surrattstock III on
Friday June 25, and you'd be willing to donate a half-hour of your time to assist with the ticket table or the
refreshment table, please send an email to the Surrattstock III coordinator, Stacey Fowler (87), at
sfowler2@susangage.com.
4. SEEKING LOST HORNET. We received this email from Bonnie Shealy Bates (80): "Henry: I am trying
to locate a lost classmate, Class of 1980. Maybe you could put out some feelers for me? I'm looking for
Carol Theresa Shaver. I know that at one time her married name was Nichols, and she was working as an
X-ray technician in Clinton, then she had possibly moved to Pennsylvania, but I am not sure. She went to
Mount St. Mary's College after high school. Her father is Dr. Arthur Shaver who practiced in Clinton for
years. She has six sisters, and she is the next to the youngest. I do remember her younger sister's name
is Martha. I know her older sisters all graduated from Surrattsville. The one before her I believe
graduated in 78. Can anyone out there help me? Thanks, I can be found on facebook as Bonnie Shealy
Bates, onyxcd@aol.com"
5. CLASS OF 60 TO HOLD FIFTIETH REUNION. The class of 1960 will be holding their 50th Class
Reunion at the Holiday Inn in Solomons, MD on Saturday, October 9, 2010 from 6 pm to 10 pm. Contacts
are: Dick Wildes, 301-373-5858, buffalodick@md.metrocast.net; Becky Moyle Hintze and Benson Perrie,
301-475-0132; AND Diane Kirchmer Black, 301-392-0992.
6. E-NOTICE ITEM SPARKS EDUCATIONAL MEMORY. We received this great email in response to an
item in a prior e-Notice: "Hi Henry: I read with interest the 1971 newspaper clipping about the Surratt
House ("History Occupies Vacant House") reprinted in the November 2009 E-Notice. Specifically, this
sentence within revived an old classroom memory about the house: "A ceremony has been scheduled
there for 10 a.m. Sept. 24 [1971] by the Committee for the Restoration of the Mary Surratt House, which is
hoping to raise money for that purpose." As it turned out, at least one Surrattsville student contingent
attended the restoration's kickoff ceremony that early fall Friday, for Ms. Rosemarie Fleming escorted our
2nd period 10th grade English class over to the Surratt House grounds for a "you are there as history is
made" field trip. I recall we students sat in folding chairs outside the historic structure along with the rest of
the crowd, listened to Thomas S. Gwynn, Jr. and
other speakers, and then filed back to school in time to catch most of our 3rd period instruction (mine was
Spanish with Mr. George Chewning). Sadly, I did not save the printed program handed out at the
ceremony, but the experience did spark me to write a Civil War term paper in Ms. Fleming's class, which
later morphed into a college research project, and then with more work eventually appeared as an article
(annotated bibliography on Point Lookout prison) in "Chronicles of St. Mary's." Thank you, Ms. Fleming,
for arranging that special, moment-in-time connection with local and national history; perhaps other
Hornets remember the occasion, too. Harold "Tex" Colson (74)."
7. FORMER BAND DIRECTOR UPDATE AND HYDE FIELD MEMORIES. We received this email from
Jim Rank (former faculty): "Hi Henry: I travel to Chesapeake Beach to visit my sons frequently and found
out that former faculty member and Band Director John Mathena is a resident in The Pines nursing home
in Easton, Maryland. If I pass by during visiting hours, I usually stop in and visit him for a few minutes and
am certain he would enjoy a card from those he worked with or taught.
I also will tell you I took flying lessons at Hyde Field in 1970 and earned my pilot's license. I flew about 200
hours out of Hyde in the following years in rented aircraft. One very clear day I took Mr. Buck, Mr. Colluzzi
and Mrs. Johnson for a ride over Waldorf and then across the Bay and back to Hyde. It was clear enough
that we could see the water tower across from the school while out over the Bay. I also took Gerald
Pickeral, the custodian, for his first airplane ride from Hyde. Jim"
[Ed Note: How great would it have been for those of us from that particular era to have flown around with
that great collection of staffers from Surratts!]
8. ... AND SPEAKING OF SURRATTS FACULTY. We just learned that Leonard "Dutch" Anderson is
recuperating from injuries (broken hip) sustained after being hit by a vehicle. He recently was residing at
The Fountains of Washington House, 5100 Fillmore Ave., Alexandria, VA 22311, 1-703-845-5205. Get
well, Dutch!
9. ... AND SPEAKING OF THINGS SURRATTSVILLE MUSICAL. We just learned that there is a web site
devoted to one of Surrattsville's most famous bands, DC Star, which can be found at dcstarmusic.com.
(Many students of Surrattsville's extraordinary musical heritage consider DC Star to be the rightful
successor to its two extraordinary predecessors, the Tuesday Boots and Butler's Orchard.) Those of you
who were music fans during the "power rock" era of 1977-1986 will likely get a big kick out of visiting this
site.
10. MORE MEMORIES OF SOUTHERN MARYLAND. Here's another interesting article from the series
in the St. Mary's County Times written by Foundation Historian and Archivist, Shelby Lee Oppermann (79):
"Searching Through the Years. Today turned out to be much different than we had planned, which is
always fun. It was one of those mornings I was thinking about family history, and trying to tie threads
together. I have a longer story that I am doing research for about my Mother and my sister Carla. In order
to bring the story more richness, I thought it would be fun to visit some of the places my parents lived in the
1940’s and 50’s on the Prince George’s. County, Maryland,- D.C. line and in D.C. So I asked my
husband, “How well do you know Brentwood? Hearing this out of the blue, he looked at me strangely but
normally when I bring up something of this sort, and said, “Pretty well.” Both of us grew up in Prince
George's County and as a Hillside Fireman years ago, he knew the area.
After church, I called my older brother, Bobby, in Utah asking what addresses he might remember from
1949 and 1950-51. He was only two in ’49, and only recalled it being referred to as “…when we lived over
in Brentwood, or Barnaby Terrace, or G Street.” I told him he was no help whatsoever. I didn’t come along
until 1961 and we were in Clinton by then. But I did get an interesting story from him about taking his
goldfish for a ride around the living room on his fire truck and then remembering crying when being led to
the bathroom to unceremoniously wave goodbye to said goldfish. They had quite a send out.
I obviously had to do my own research. I knew Brentwood was where Carla must have been born. I found
several pictures taken in April of 1949 on Easter Sunday in front of the apartment building door. My Mother
was holding Bobby’s hand and he had an Easter basket. She had on maternity clothes. I gathered these
photos along with the ones of G Street and thought I would take them with us.
Maybe Carla’s birth certificate or some document would have the Brentwood address. I found her
certificate. No address. I was so disappointed. All the other birth certificates, even the ones from the 1920’
s had place of residence on them, except for Carla’s. I was putting everything back away in the envelopes
my Mother had kept and there it was on the Bureau of Vital statistics envelope; 4012, 38 St, Brentwood.
No zip codes back then.
Why the search for Carla? Carla May was born with hydrocephalus (too much fluid on the brain and no
place for it to go). She was a beautiful baby and my parents did try to keep her at home for a year and a
half. For various reasons, the Doctors of that time encouraged my parents to place Carla in institutional
care, and there she stayed until she died at aged 50 in 1999. A few years after Carla was born, a shunt
was developed that is now routinely used to help hydrocephalic children. It was too late for Carla at that
point.
I didn’t find out I had a sister until I was a pre-teen from my other brother, Billy and pestered my Mother
until she finally took me to visit Carla at Forest Haven. No one ever spoke of her. I thought about her over
the years, but my Mother had made me promise to never go visit. I wish I had now. As I get older, I think,
wow, I had a sister who lived this completely differently life from me – in a crib with the mind of a new born.
For some reason, I felt going to Brentwood would answer something. My Mother felt guilt all those years
for Carla’s retardation, she had told me that she was rushing to fix my Father something before he came
home for lunch and tripped on a throw rug and landed on her stomach. She was convinced that was the
cause of everything.
As soon as my husband and I hit South Dakota Avenue I called my brother Bobby and we stayed talking all
the way up Bladensburg Road. I took pictures of May’s Brake Service, where my Father worked for most
of his life, which is now a Charter school. We drove a few blocks further and walked around Mt. Olivet
Cemetery looking for my grandparents graves, and then back the opposite direction a few miles to 38th
Street. I could immediately see the buildings hadn’t changed in 60 years and were very well kept. I was so
excited and nearly jumped out of the car before it was stopped. I ran across the road to the apartments
and found 4012, but it looked all wrong. They must have renumbered over the years – there were ½’s
now. Robert suggested we go around to the other side of the building. As soon as we drove around, I
could tell – that was it. I could see my Mother walking down the sidewalk. Robert took a picture of me
doing the same. I wanted to knock on apartment doors and visit and find their old apartment, but Robert
didn’t think that was a good idea. I know people visit their old homes quite often. I was still giving my
brother play by play action throughout most of the day, and was enjoying all the stories. Nothing was
answered about my Mother’s feelings of guilt of course, but I could understand a little of what their daily life
in the city might have been like, and hopefully understand her a little more. But, I am still searching…
To each new day’s adventure, Shelby
Please send comments or ideas to: shelbys.wanderings@yahoo.com
11. COMPUTERS NEEDED FOR SCHOOL. As many of our readers will recall, when the Foundation was
first established, our first big project was to arrange for the donation to the School of over $250,000 worth
of computer equipment. Ten years have passed, and that equipment is now obsolete or at the end of its
useful life. Therefore, we have started a second drive to acquire computers (and related peripherals) for
the School. If you have contacts at any employer or other organization that donates "gently used"
computers to non-profits, please contact me at hsmith@smithdowney.com.
Note to federal government employees: many federal government agencies have little-known programs
for the donation of "gently used" computers to 501(c)(3) entities like the Foundation. If you are a federal
government employee, please consider asking around at work to see if your agency could make a
contribution toward this very important Foundation initiative.
12. BOOMERANGS AVAILABLE. The Foundation has a limited supply of yearbooks from 1991, 1999,
2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006. If you'd like one of these yearbooks (which are available for $15 including
shipping and handling), please send me an email to hsmith@smithdowney.com.
13. POSSIBLE 80/81 REUNION. The Classes of 80 and 81 are planning a possible reunion for June
2010. They need a contact person for the Class of 80. Please contact Teresa Blandford Pepper at
teresa@dlpinc.net to provide contact info.
14. CLASSES OF 69-74 REUNION. The Classes of 69-74 are holding a multi-Class dinner dance event,
at the Ft. Belvoir Officer's Club, on the Saturday evening of the All Classes/Faculty/Staff events (June 26,
2010). Please contact Leslie St. Clair (70), ASAP, at lesliestclair@yahoo.com if you would like to purchase
tickets.
(Class of 69-74 members also should check-in with their Class ORCs -- listed on the Foundation's web site
at www.surrattsville.org at the "Classes" button -- for information on any other Class-specific events
happening during that weekend.)
15. COMBINED 60-65 EVENT. We received this update from Class of 62 ORCs Len Owens and Jerry
Spence: "The Classes of 60-65 are working on a Combined Classes 60-65 Reunion with events on
Saturday evening (dinner) June 26, 2010 and Sunday afternoon (picnic) June 27, 2010. Locations still to
be determined. Please contact your Official Reunion Contact (contact info is on the "Classes" page of the
web site at www.surrattsville.org) for more information. Best Wishes, Len and Jerry"
16. SURRATTS FACEBOOK PRESENCE UPDATE. The "Surrattsville Alumni" Group on Facebook has
over 1000 members, and the various Class-specific Groups are growing, as well. (For example, the
"Surrattsville 1971" Group now has 55 members.) Please consider joining these free on-line communities
as a way to keep in touch and to stay informed.
17. ACHIEVEMENT AWARD NOMINEES SOUGHT. This is the time of year when the Foundation Board
seeks nominees for the Foundation's annual Achievement Awards. Photos and bios of past years'
absolutely outstanding Achievement Award recipients can be found on the Foundation's web site at http:
//www.surrattsville.org/achievement/index.shtml. If you know of a member of the Surrattsville community
who you would like to nominate for a 2010 Award, please send me an email at hsmith@smithdowney.com.
18. NEW HISTORICAL PHOTO ON WEB SITE. Thanks to Ruth Malkie Mudd (72), the photos page of the
Foundation's web site (www.surrattsville.org) now has what we believe is the oldest photo ever of
Surrattsville. It appears to be the central structure of what we now call the "Old School" and is remarkably
well preserved for an artifact that appears to date to the early 20th century. Thanks, Ruth!
19. CLASSES FROM 75-85 ERA PLAN JOINT REUNION EVENT. We just received this announcement
from Evan Vutsinas, the Class of 76 ORC: "Hornets: We hope ALL Hornets are planning to be in town for
the All-Classes Reunion in June. For those SHS classes that haven't already planned a Saturday evening,
June 26th, event for their group, we have an exciting opportunity to offer. The Southern Maryland Blue
Crabs baseball team is working with many of the ORC's from the classes of '75 - '85 (but ALL uncommitted
SHS classes are also WELCOME to join in!).
The entry fee of $20.00 per person for the Crabs' game vs. Somerset on Saturday 6/26 will pay for
parking, a general admission game ticket to the Picnic/Party area AND a 2 hour - unlimited dinner buffet
including soft drinks. The gates open at 5:35PM and the first pitch will be about 6:30PM. Many of the
Class ORC's listed below are also working together to include draft beer in the $20.00 per person fee.
What a deal!!!
In addition, members of the SHS family will be throwing out the first pitch and other members will be singing
the National Anthem. The SHS Class that sells the most tickets will also be invited to select a few members
to take (throw?) batting practice with the Blue Crabs! If you are an ORC for your SHS class and would like
your class to join in this fabulous opportunity, contact Cindy Shelton Ryan, '75; Evan Vutsinas, '76; or
Debbie O'Clair MacKenzie, '84 for further details. The SHS Classes that have already committed to
participate in this awesome event are listed by ORC below. Join us!
Cindy Shelton Ryan, '75 cshel855@comcast.net
Evan Vutsinas, '76 EVTiger@comcast.net
Teri Pepper Dimsey, '77
Mike Anderson, '77
Jeanne Hoffman LaRoque, '78
Marilynda Macquade, '79
Teresa Blandford Pepper, '80 & '81
Karen Keys LeValley, '81
(Still searching for '82)
Becky DelVillar Levin, '83
Gary Stallings, '84
Debbie O'Clair MacKenzie, '84 debbiemackenzie45@yahoo.com
MaryBeth Klick, '85
Cyndi Baker Fraley, '85
Here's how to order and pay for YOUR tickets!
1. Go to the Blue Crabs website at www.somdbluecrabs.com
2. Click the “Groups Log In Here” button, which is located on the left hand side of the homepage, about 2/3
of the way down in a big box by itself.
3. Enter your login code, which will be “SHS” and the last two digits of your graduating year.
a. For example, the graduating class of 1976 would have a login code of: SHS76. (case sensitive)
4. Click “BUY”, enter the number of seats you wish to purchase, and then click the “BUY TICKETS” button.
5. Click “Confirm Order” and set up an online account when prompted to do so."
I hope this e-Notice finds you many of you enjoying the very snowy winter of 2010!
All the best, Henry Smith (71)
In Memoriam
JAMES WOODROW SMITH died January 28th only two months after his diagnosis of lung cancer. He was
Elizabeth Mae Grigsby’s and James Woodrow Smith’s son. Both his parents graduated from Surratts
around 1942ish.