THIS IS SURRATTS FOUNDATION E-NOTICE 2009-10 as of October 1, 2009
Hello Hornets:
Here are some items that might be of interest:
1. 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.
2. A NOTE ON FOUNDATION INDEPENDENCE. We like to regularly remind our readers that the
Foundation is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to the support of the greater
Surrattsville High School community. It does not accept advertising of any kind (for example, on its web
site, www.surrattsville.org). Also, the Foundation is not affiliated in any way with any of the commercial
concerns (such as .com or .net web sites) that use the word "Surrattsville" in their title or advertising.
3. SURRATTSVILLE HISTORY TO BE FEATURED IN REDFORD FILM. We received this very interesting
news item from Barbara Becker Wilson (70): "Hi, Henry. I read this interesting item in the Georgia Times-
Union on Sept. 12: 'Robert Redford has chosen Savannah as the shooting location for his post-Civil War
film about a woman who was hanged for aiding the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, city officials
announced Friday. Savannah's department of Tourism and Film Services said Redford plans to direct the
movie "The Conspirator" this fall in Georgia's oldest city.... The movie tells the story of boarding house
owner Mary Surratt, who was hanged in 1865 after being convicted of aiding Lincoln's assassin, John
Wilkes Booth.' I know I'll be anxious to see it when it is released and thought your readers of the Surratts
News would be also. Best to you, Barbara"
We then received this interesting follow-up from Class of 65 ORC Judy Gordon: "Hi Henry: Betsy
McCullough Stewart (65) lives in Savannah and would like to be an extra in the upcoming "Conspirator"
movie. She hopes casting will receive enough emails from SHS Hornets to be convinced of the need to
have a Surratts representative on the set. Everyone please send a plea/cast a vote to include Betsy
McCullough Stewart as an extra to conspiratorcasting@gmail.com . Any compensation she receives would
go to the Foundation. Best, Judy"
And here's the official news release from Savannah about the film:
"Robert Redford Selects Savannah for Next Film. The City of Savannah Tourism and Film Services
Department is pleased to announce that the feature film "The Conspirator" will be shot in our area this fall.
The Civil War era drama will be directed by Robert Redford and produced by The American Film
Company. Redford directed "The Legend of Bagger Vance" here in 1999 and we are very excited to have
him back in Savannah. Set against the ominous backdrop of post-Civil War Washington, The Conspirator
follows the extraordinary trial of Mary Surratt, the lone woman among those charged with conspiring to kill
Abraham Lincoln. Idealistic young war hero Frederick Aiken reluctantly defends Surratt, eventually coming
to believe in her innocence while struggling to find justice in a city bent on retribution. Filming is scheduled
to begin in mid October and will continue into December. The Savannah location was selected after an
extensive scouting process and following the unanimous recommendation of The American Film Company’
s historians."
And we received this interesting note from Vicki Forsht Williams (65 and former faculty): "Henry: The Class
of 65 is reading a book called 'Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for the Lincoln's Killer.' by James L. Swanson.
After each of us reads it, we are signing the book and passing it to the next classmate. Our yearly group
heads to Mexico for a week October 3! Vicki"
[Ed Note: Some of our readers may remember a review of Mr. Swanson's book that appeared in an e-
Notice shortly after the book's release. It's an absolutely fascinating read, especially for those with
Surrattsville connections, and doesn't make Mary Surratt sound quite as innocent as some previously
believed (or, apparently, as her defender comes to believe in the upcoming film). How many schools have
hard-wired into their name such an interesting slice of American history!]
4. MORE FACEBOOK RE-CONNECTION STORIES. The Foundation's Facebook page (found at the
the Facebook Group called "Surrattsville Alumni" at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?
gid=49215776591&ref=ts, and including over 800 members) constitutes to generate interesting stories of
Surrattsville re-connections. Here are the latest:
"Hi Henry: I hope this email finds you well. In your last e-Notice, you asked for "Facebook-related stories
of Hornet reconnections". I have one for you. Last October/November, Gary Stallings (also from 84) and I
reconnected through Facebook and our reunion committee. We went on our first "date" on November 29,
mainly to catch up from high school, which lead to daily chats through Yahoo. Two weeks later he had a
Christmas party, which I attended, and we've been together ever since. How is that for a Hornet
reconnection? Donna Kessler Hunsicker (84)"
"Dear Henry: I have been a pastor since 1997 and therefore left southern Maryland that year. My family
and I have moved a couple of times to pastor churches, and we settled in the Birmingham, Alabama area
in February 2008. Through Facebook, fellow Surratts 76er Cheryl Bowers Abney and I discovered that we
are both living in the same area. We have already had dinner together along with our spouses. Last
month, my wife and I visited a church and met a member there who not only went to Surrattsville in the 60s
but also lived in the same neighborhood as me (Surratt Gardens). Interesting how small the world can be
huh? Bret Lovitz (76)"
Please keep those Facebook re-connection stories coming!
5. GREAT HISTORICAL PHOTO ON WEB SITE. Dick Duke (47) sent a great photo of the Class of 47
that's now posted with the "2009 Photos" on the Foundation's web site at www.surrattsville.org. Please
help us complete the caption by identifying the as yet unidentified students in that fantastic photo. Here
are Dick's recollections of his classmates:
"Back row left to right: Don Freeman, Lawrence White, Tommy Watts, ?, ?, ?
3rd row left to right: Windsor, Windsor, Peggy Cochran, ?, ?, Ruth Roylance
4th row left to right: Windsor, ?, ?, Jackie Woods, ?, Betty Rawlings, Bobbi Schultz
Front row: Dick Duke, Richard Schuler, "Jinx' Taymen, 'Skizzy' Hook
(There were several girls named Windsor and I am just guessing on these). 15 out of 25 ain't bad after
more than 60 years!"
Dick asks that if anyone has an e-mail address or other contact information for any of these folks that they
send him an email to dickduke@umich.edu.
[Ed. Note: This historical photo joins dozens of other great historical -- and recent -- photos posted on our
web site. Heartfelt thanks to our great volunteer web master, Mike Gifford (84), for doing such a great job
over the years designing and maintaining the site.]
6. MEMORIES OF SOUTHERN MARYLAND. We learned that Foundation Historian/Archivist Shelby Lee
Oppermann (who will once again display the Foundation's great collection of memorabilia at the 2010
events) is now writing a regular column for the St. Mary's County Times. A number of these columns have
featured Southern Maryland reminiscences that we thought might ring some bells with our readers, so we'll
re-print some of them here. Here's Shelby's first column of that series:
“With Love and Best Wishes to Terri and a Hello from Me. Hello to Terri Bartz Bowles' Ramblings of a
Country Girl readers, I’m Shelby Oppermann. I received a call from my good friend Terri, telling me she
was going to finish her college degree and expand her career horizons. This also meant ending her warm,
homespun column which we, as her readers had all followed weekly. I have known Terri for seven years
through our affiliation with the Maryland Antiques Center in Leonardtown. Boy, have we had some fun
times, and some great talks. She is just like what she writes, funny, off-the-wall, and compassionate. I
wish her many hours of endless enjoyment studying to fulfill her dream. I say this with Love, Terri.
Which leads me to how I am writing this column. Reading Terri’s got me to thinking how I ended-up in St.
Mary’s County 29 years ago this month. My Dad used to take me on Sunday drives through Southern
Maryland, and my Mother and I would camp in our camper trailer at Point Lookout when the camp ground
was on the left side of the road by the old hotel. This was all in the late 60’s, early 70’s. So, I had fleeting
memories of this and that from traveling down Route 5. One of these memories was of a beautiful village
on the way down. I always thought that this vivid picture in my mind was a dream, until I was deciding what
college to attend and was reading through college catalogs in the Guidance Office at Surrattsville Senior
High in Clinton, MD. One of the catalogs was for St. Mary’s College of MD, and as I leafed through it I saw
the pictures in my dream. It was a real place. How could anything be so beautiful? All the pictures were
sepia-toned, black walnut pen and ink drawings by local artist Charles Wolf III.
After I was accepted at St. Mary’s, which was no easy feat since I was considered a “late bloomer” having
only done well in High School my last two of the three years, I was thrilled to actually meet the artist
Charles “Charlie” Wolf. Charlie worked in the equipment room at the college gym when he wasn’t helping
on the family farm or being a waterman. I thought I had met a real celebrity. I told him that he was the
reason that I came to St. Mary’s College. The dream had become real. Even the caption under my senior
picture said “Dreams of attending St. Mary’s.”
St. Mary’s County was like another world, even though it’s only an hour away from Clinton. I was amazed
passing by people either on campus or in the community who waved to you and said “hi”. Everyone says
hi to you here. I couldn’t figure it out at first. Especially anyone in a pick-up truck. No one seemed as
wary or rushing to be anywhere. I remember telling people back home that there was one traffic light that I
knew of in 1979, and that was at the intersection of the Roost and McDonald’s in Lexington Park. If there
were more than three or four cars at the light it was a traffic jam. I grew up right next to malfunction
junction, where I counted 29 lights. We lived within 1000 feet of it and it would take 20 minutes to get
through the series of lights. So coming down here was completely different in that respect also.
One of the biggest changes was the amount of bars in the county and how many diverse people
frequented them. We had one bar in Clinton, The Clinton Inn, that I never would have thought of going
in. It just wasn’t something any women or girls I knew did. We did house parties. My Father asked me
sometime during my first semester what we did for fun down here. I told him about FOD night at the
college. That was we called Thursday nights, since everyone went home for the weekends. FOD was
Flake-Out and Die. And then I told him, “Well Daddy, on Thursday nights, we go to the Oar House”. He
said, “You do what!” I said, “The Oar House, Daddy, The Oar House.” I don’t think he quite heard me
correctly the first time. I explained to him that whole families went in bars here.
But, really I did gain so much from my years at St. Mary’s College. I was a Social Science major with my
particular love being Social Psychology and the study of individuals in groups. The Oar House, Monks Inn,
and The Green Door were excellent places to study human behavior. Of course, I used my degree and
have been a Picture Framer for 27 years, but that’s o.k. I am glad I received my B.A. St. Mary’s College
was, and is, a beautiful college with dedicated professors who have left their mark on thousands of
students over the years. It continues to grow each year meeting more needs of the students.
The county has changed in the last 29 years as well, but I love it intensely and cannot imagine ever living
anywhere else. Almost two thirds of my life has been lived here, and in that time, I have seen landmarks
taken down and new ones built in their places. I know it must be harder for those who are a bit older than
me and have lived their entire lives in this beautiful county. I have raised my two wonderful sons, Robert
and Ryan here, loved the beauty of each day in each season, and found so many loving, caring friends. I
would like to bring you my impressions and memories of the county and Southern Maryland from a relative
“newcomer’s” perspective along with other aimless mental wanderings. To each new day’s adventure,
Shelby (Please send comments to: shelbys.wanderings@yahoo.com)"
7. FOUNDATION KICKS-OFF OFFICIAL 2009 ANNUAL CAMPAIGN. As we do each Fall, the Foundation
has kicked-off its annual fund raising campaign. No gift is too small (or large) to help the Foundation, and
because the Foundation has no overhead 100% of every donation goes toward the work of the
Foundation. A donor form is reprinted below, and is available for download on the Foundation's web site.
(This year's very generous early donors are listed below.)
And as previously reported, the Foundation now has a "button" on the home page of the Foundation's web
site (www.surrattsville.org) that makes it easier for our very generous donors to contribute to the
Foundation using a credit card or paypal. (Of course, the Foundation is still happy to accept donations in
the form of mailed paper checks!) A special request to our on-line donors: please include your graduation
year/faculty years/etc. in your on-line donation form.
8. 2010 ALL CLASSES/FACULTY/STAFF EVENTS. Please don't forget to mark you calendars for the
Foundation's third "All Classes/Faculty/Staff" events to be held over the long weekend of Friday June 25 -
Sunday June 27, 2010. The schedule of events, which is similar to the schedule of the events for the great
2000 and 2005 events, is as follows:
-Friday June 25, 2010 - Golf Outing.
-Friday June 25, 2010, 7 P.M. - 11 P.M. - Surrattstock III.
-Saturday June 26, 2010, 10 A.M - 4 P.M. - All Classes/Faculty/Staff Picnic and School Open House.
-Saturday June 26, Evening - Saturday evening will be set aside for Class-specific events.
-Sunday June 27 - Sunday will be set aside for Class-specific picnics and other informal gatherings.
9. JUNE 26 AND 27, 2010 CLASS-SPECIFIC EVENTS. Please note that many Classes are planning
Class-specific events for the evening of Saturday June 26, 2010, and some for Sunday June 27, 2010.
Please check in with your Class's "Official Reunion Contact" to make sure he or she has your current
contact information and to get an update on any plans your Class has for the big reunion weekend. (ORC
contact information, which recently has been updated, can be found on the "Classes" page on the web site
at www.surrattsville.org.)
10. 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.
11. CLASS OF 89 PLANS REUNION. The Class of 89 is planning a reunion. Please contact Debbie
Owen Pell at dpell@comcast.net for information or if you have any contact information for 89 grads or
members of their families.
12. SURRATTS COOKBOOK. As previously reported, Leslie St. Clair (70) and Diane "Cookie" Boyd (71)
are putting together a Cookbook of Hornets' Favorite Recipes. They're hoping that a number of you will
submit recipes, and they'll break them down by category and have them bound and offer them for sale at
the 2010 All Classes/Faculty/Staff events. All proceeds will go to the Foundation. If you have a recipe
you'd like to share, please send it to Leslie and Cookie at surrattscookbook@yahoo.com.
I hope this e-Notice finds you well and having enjoying a great start to the Fall season!
All the best, Henry Smith (71)