ARTICLES ON THIS PAGE:
(Today through January 23rd)
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1. NEW article: Looking for Class of 1970 Juniors and Sophomores: Group 1 (Robert S. Boyce - Thomas Hogge).
2. NEW article: The Historical Importance of Chris's Crier, CNC's First Student Newspaper. [Article includes a copy of the first issue: Vol. I, No. 1, dated November 16, 1961].
3. The Times Square Balls and Other Things Dropped on New Year's Eve.
4. Remembering Ella Walker Mitchell, Secretary in CNC's Registrar's Office (A Memories Book Bit).
5. REVISED humor: Keeping Your Brain Cells Healthy.
6. NEW cartoons: More Bizarro Punnies.
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"Every individual matters, non-human as well as human. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference. We cannot live through a single day without making an impact on the world around us. And we all have free choice--what sort of difference do we want to make? Do we want to make the world around us a better place? Or not?"
Dr. Jane Goodall
Wildlife researcher
Born April 3, 1934
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How do you keep a bagel from getting away?
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Answer shown at the bottom of this page
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Looking for Class of 1970
Juniors and Sophomores
by A. Jane Chambers
Group 1
(Boyce - Hogge)
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Because Christopher Newport was transitioning from a 2-year to a 4-year college in the 1969-70 academic year, there was a junior class as well as a sophomore class that year--a situation also true in the 1968-69 session. Therefore, the junior class members of 1970, along with the AA degree and non-degree 1970 sophomores, will be honored at this year's 50th Reunion, which will be at CNU on Friday, May 8th, 2020. The 1970 class will be invited also to attend Saturday morning's Commencement on May 9th.
There are numerous 1970 class members still not located. Below are the names of 12 or them and 1970 Trident yearbook photos when available. More names and photos will be posted in website updates in January and February.
If you can help locate any of these former students, please contact us at cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com or 757-238-9629 (Dr. Jane Chambers) or cnc6171@cox.net (Cap'n. Dave Spriggs). Thank you!
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NO PHOTO
AVAILABLE
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NO PHOTO
AVAILABLE
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We have no photo of ROBERT SHELTON BOYCE (L), but he is listed as an AA degree recipient in 1970. The picture of ADELE BROWN (M) is on page 41 of the Underclassmen section in the 1970 Trident; however, in 1968-69 and 1969-70 she was on CNC's women's basketball team and in 1969-70 on CNC's women's field hockey team so she might have been a sophomore in 1970. We have no photo of and no information about JACK BURNISH (R).
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DAVID P. CAMPBELL (L) was last known living in Yorktown but our phone number for him is no longer in service. We have no information on MARGIE S. CHRISTOPHER (M). JOHN DEE CLARK III (R) was in CNC's Circle K in 1968 and is listed as a BA degree recipient in Psychology in 1971. Photos of all three of these students are on page 34 of the Upperclassmen photo section in the 1970 Trident.
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NO PHOTO
AVAILABLE
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We have no photo of LUCY ANNE HUDSON COOK (L), who is listed as an AA degree recipient in 1970. BECKY CRENSHAW (M) was a CNC cheerleader in 1970. Her photo is from page 43 of the Underclassmen section of the Trident, so perhaps she was a freshman then. MICHAEL FIELD (R) is pictured on page 35 of the Trident's Upperclassmen photos. We have no further information about him.
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DONALD M. HALL (L) is shown on page 35 as an upperclassman, but we have no further information on him. In the 1970 yearbook, ANNETTE M. HENNESSY (M) is shown in group pictures of the Veterans' Club and the Captain's Log staff. She was also one of the contestants for Winter Queen that year; the photo above is from page 73 of the Winter Queen section. We have no information on THOMAS HOGGE (R) other than his photo above, which is in the Underclassmen section of the annual.
Please help us locate these 1970 Class members.
We will update information on them on this website
with the words
LOCATED or DECEASED
on their photos.
Published January 10, 2020
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The Historical Importance of Chris's Crier,
CNC's First Student Newspaper
(1961 - 1963)
by A. Jane Chambers
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| CNC's first home, the former John W. Daniel Elementary School building on 32nd Street in downtown Newport News. |
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BACKGROUND
One of the first requests made by the small group of students who entered the newly opened Christopher Newport College of the College of William and Mary in September of 1961 was that they be allowed to produce a student newspaper. With Director H. Westcott Cunningham's approval, in mid-November the first issue of that paper appeared--with five hand-drawn question marks instead of a name (photo left below), hand-drawn headlines for the articles, and a request for students to submit suggestions for a name "worthy of this newspaper and the institution which it will represent" (Vol. I, No. 1, p. 1).
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The second issue of the fledgling newspaper (Feb. 23, 1962) had the stenciled name Chris's Crier (photo right above), headlines typed in capitals, and this confident prophecy: "In the years to come Christopher Newport College will grow and stand high in the ranks of American colleges" (Vol. I, No. 2, p. 1). There were five issues of Chris's Crier in CNC's first year (1961-62) and six issues in its second year (1962-63) although two of those (numbers 3 and 4) are missing in CNU's library. All nine issues are housed in the Archives of Trible Library. The staff of Chris's Crier had no faculty advisor the first year, but had English instructor Betty Kantor (later, Stuart) as faculty advisor the second year.
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Student Lorena Elder (later, Smith)--now deceased--was editor of the newspaper its first year, her freshman year (1961-62), and the first half of her sophomore year (1962-63). But also working part time for CNC librarian Bette Mosteller that second year, Lorena (photo right) had to leave the editor's position though she still supported the paper as a typist. Two on Lorena's staff that second year, Jo Berry (later, Sinclair) and Jay Dunn, followed her as co-editors of Chris's Crier the second semester. Staff size and newspaper size grew in the second year, as did CNC's student body.
HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE
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| Lorena Elder Smith, first editor of Chris's Crier. |
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| While doing research in 2007 for the book Memories of Christopher Newport College: The First Decade, I discovered the nine issues of Chris's Crier in the temporary CNU library Archives in the not-yet demolished CNC Student Center. The yellowing sheets were filled with extremely valuable early CNC history. For example, various issues from both years of Chris's Crier provided virtually all of the information I used for my Memories essay "The First Student Organizations"--four pages (88 - 91) about CNC's first social club (The German Club), its first Student Government Association, and its first service club (Circle K)--including names (student officers, faculty sponsors), dates, places, and activities sponsored.
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Had I not found those issues of Chris's Crier, I also would not have been able tell the story of how CNC's school colors were chosen (Memories, "Permanent Choices: The School Colors and Name," p. 92). Nor would I have had the information I gave about CNC's first student paper (page 126 of "The First Student Publications: Chris's Crier and the Trident").
The most valuable information I found, however, was in the last issue of Chris's Crier (Vol. II, No. VI, May 27, 1963)--the names of all the students in CNC's Class of 1963. The students' names and future plans are in Memories on page 36. The records of all of these students had been lost. No copy of their commencement program was in CNU's library. Barry Wood had names of some of these students in his 1961-63 grade books, but he had not taught all of them. CNU had two names of the degree recipients, but one of them was deceased. Without this list in Chris's Crier, there might not have been enough 1963 alumni found to have the first 50th reunion at CNU in 2013. Finding the list caused me to begin a very long search, still continuing, for all of the First Decade students whose records have been lost.
THE COMPLETE FIRST ISSUE
Keep in mind as you look at this 3-page first issue of Chris's Crier that all issues of this newspaper were printed on a hand-cranked duplicating machine called a mimeograph machine (image left below) that worked by forcing ink through a stencil (photo right below) onto paper. The material to be duplicated was typed on a manual typewriter (with ribbon removed) or drawn onto the stencil with a stylus. The stencil was then attached to a rotating drum holding the ink. Stencils were extremely thin and easily torn. Special styluses had to be used to create drawings such as cartoons, special lettering, or other features by hand; thus the hand-drawn material was often quite primitive. Usually no more than 100 - 150 copies of an issue of such a newspaper could be produced from one stencil before it wore out or tore. If more copies were needed, a new stencil had to be "cut" (typed and/or drawn on).
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We will publish, in order, the additional full issues of Chris's Crier on this website during 2020. We have created a tab (top left column of HOME) for housing them after each such publication.
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Page 1
Chris's Crier - 1st Edition
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Page 2
Chris's Crier - 1st Edition
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Page 3
Chris's Crier - 1st Edition
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published January 10, 2020
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The Times Square Balls and Other Things Dropped on New Year's Eve
by A. Jane Chambers
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Glowing balls like the one dropped in Times Square on New Year's Eve are not the only time markers dropped in America on New Year's Eve. One of the numerous other things dropped then is a 15-foot tall red music note in Nashville, Tennessee--shown above near the top, left of the Music City sign. Previously an 80-foot Guitar Drop took place at Nashville's Hard Rock Cafe, but the cafe's partnership with the city ended in 2011.
THE TIMES SQUARE BALLS
The Ball Drop tradition in our nation began in 1907 with Adolph Ochs, owner of the New York Times newspaper, then housed in the tall, narrow 25-stories building numbered One Times Square. Ochs, son of German Jewish immigrants, hired a young immigrant metalworker, Jacob Starr, to build a time ball to drop from a flagpole on top of his newspaper's building on New Year's Eve. This first ball, made of iron and wood, was 5 feet in diameter, weighed 700 pounds, and held one hundred 25-watt light bulbs. After 13 years, it was replaced with a 400 pound ball made of wrought iron.
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Some 35 years later, in 1955, the iron ball was replaced by an aluminum ball, which weighed only 150 pounds and had 180 white light bulbs. This is the white ball most of us watched on our home TVs for 40 years. For a period of seven years (1981 - 88) this ball had red light bulbs and the addition of a green stem with a leaf, which made it an image of "The Big Apple." In 1989 it was changed back to a glowing white ball. Then In 1995, aluminum skin, rhinestones, and computer controls were added (photo right).This upgraded aluminum ball's short reign ended, however, with the end of the 20th century.
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The Times Square Ball entered the 21st century in a big way. For the Millennium Celebration (2000), the ball was totally redesigned by Waterford Crystal and Philips Lighting (left photo above). Then, in 2007, to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Times Square Ball Drop, Waterford Crystal and Philips Lighting together created a spectacular new ball, with no incandescent or halogen bulbs. Instead it had Luxeon LED lighting, which dramatically increased its brightness and color capabilities (right, above).
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In 2008 Waterford and Philips introduced Big Ball, considered the "permanent" Times Square Ball ... for now, at least. The photo above shows Amy Huntington, CEO of Philips Lighting, who was present for the annual testing of the ball on December 30, 2016. Big Ball is 12 feet in diameter and weighs 11,875 pounds. It has 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangular-shaped panels of various sizes that are illuminated by 32,256 Philips Luxeon LEDs. Big Ball is now an all year attraction on top of One Times Square with its light show entertaining the public from January through December as well as on New Year's Eve.
OTHER THINGS DROPPED
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Key West, Florida has a Conch Drop on New Year's Eve at Sloppy Joe's Bar, where a six-foot manmade Queen Conch Shell drops 20 feet to the top of the bar as part of the island's official New Year celebration. Increasingly more popular, however, is another Queen drop, held at the 801 Saloon, a Key West gay bar, where a large ruby red high-heel shoe holding drag queen Gary "Sushi" Marion is lowered from a balcony annually. In the above picture "Sushi" is wearing her self-made wedding gown, because following that drop, she legally married her longtime male partner. A third attraction at Key West that same night is the lowering from a high mast on a ship of a Pirate Wench.
Wikipedia's "List of objects dropped on New Year's Eve" gives by time zones and states all of the places in America that have "drops" on New Year's Eve and what those places "drop" (raise and/or lower). Most locales follow the Times Square tradition of using balls, but some use instead objects representing their local culture, geography, or history. Wikipedia's list, described as "dynamic" rather than complete, currently has over 200 entries.
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Things to eat or drink are dropped in many places. For example, in Miami, Florida, "Mr. Neon," a 35-foot flat image wearing sunglasses, is raised 400 feet to the top of the Hotel Intercontinental Miami and then dropped at midnight (left above). In 2014, a steel mushroom was dropped in Kennett Square, PA, "The Mushroom Capital of the World" (right above). Mount Olive, N.C., drops a 3-foot pickle from its major industry's flagstaff. Atlanta, GA, drops an 800 pound peach from its 138-foot tower of lights. Other foods so honored include watermelons, popcorn balls, potato chips, cheeses, sausages, drinks alcoholic and non--and even M&M candies.
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Animals are favorite things to drop also, especially in rural places. Dropping them alive has gotten a lot of negative press in this century, however, so most places either drop them stuffed (not saying how they died) or just drop manmade likenesses of them. The stuffed possum left above, named Spenser, is dropped every New Year's Eve in the small community of Tallapoosa, GA--a place formerly called "Possum Snout." Princess Anne, MD, drops a stuffed muskrat named Marshall P. Muskrat, who wears a top hat and bow tie. Birds (usually big replicas) are popular drops also--including buzzards and pelicans. And popular seafood reigns in many places. Easton, MD, located on the Chesapeake Bay, drops a giant crab every year (right above); Machias, ME, drops a giant plastic lobster; and various locales drop various fish--mostly large replicas.
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Eastover, NC, a town of 3,600 just east of Fayetteville, was once called Flea Hill because a sandy hill there was overrun with fleas. To honor that heritage, Eastover celebrates New Year's Eve by dropping a 3-foot flea named Jasper, which is made of fabric, foam, wire and wood (left photo). On the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Chincoteague honors its nearby herd of wild ponies with a Horseshoe Drop (right photo).
There is apparently no limit to what we Americans might drop to celebrate New Year's Eve. In 2015, Indianapolis began a tradition of dropping an actual Indy race car.
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SOURCES:
Details in THE TIMES SQUARE BALLS came primarily from TIMES SQUARE, published on the internet by the Times Square Alliance.
Details in OTHER THINGS DROPPED came primarily from WIKIPEDIA--"List of objects dropped on New Year's Eve."
Photos came from various places on the internet. And some content came from my personal knowledge.
We welcome your FEEDBACK.
Send to cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published December 27, 2019.
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Remembering
Ella Walker Mitchell,
Secretary in CNC's Registrar's Office
Account by Jane Chambers on pages 147-149 *
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Ella Walker Mitchell joined the office as a secretary in 1966. A few months before her death, I visited her at her home, in April 2008. Still petite, alert, and lively in spirit, if not in body, at age ninety, she was delighted to hear about the memories book being written, even before I said, "You'll be in it!"
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| Ella Walker Mitchell, secretary to the registrar, enjoys a cigarette at her desk. (1966 Trident) |
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She came to work at CNC after her husband, pediatrician Dr. William A. Mitchell, suddenly died of a heart attack. Scotty Cunningham, a family friend, suggested that working at CNC would help her adjust to her widowhood.
Learning that her duties would include typing, she told him that although she had a B.S. degree, she had never learned how to type. He said, grinning, "Don't tell Miss Ramseur you can't type." Passing a typing test was a state requirement for the job, however. Nancy let her work in the office part-time until she learned to type--which Ella Walker did, teaching herself at home with a typing book. After six weeks, she successfully passed the typing test. "They wanted me to succeed!" she exclaimed.
This little story illustrates how kind-hearted both Nancy and Scotty were and how all of us were like a family at the College at that time. Ella Walker served CNC in that office until retiring in 1988. Of her CNC career she said, " I loved it, every minute of it! It was wonderful!" And her eyes were shining.
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"The People Within: Smith Hall in 1967,” by Jane Chambers, in Memories of Christopher Newport College: The First Decade, by A. Jane Chambers, Rita C. Hubbard, & Lawrence B. Wood, Jr. (Hallmark, 2008). To order book: Send check for $20 made out to Jane Chambers to: Dr. Jane Chambers, 15267 Candy Island Lane, Carrollton, VA 23314. Money (minus mailing cost) is donated to the First Decaders' Treasury.
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published December 27, 2019
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KEEPING YOUR BRAIN CELLS HEALTHY
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January is an appropriate time for us Senior Citizens to test our mental acuity, to be certain that our little gray cells are still working well. Test your brain's health by answering the following questions without peeking at the answers at the bottom.
1. Johnny's mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child's name?
2. A clerk at a butcher shop is five feet ten inches tall and wears size 13 shoes. What does he weigh?
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3. Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?
4. How much dirt is there in a hole that measures two feet by three feet by four feet?
5. What word in the English Language is always spelled incorrectly?
6. Billy was born on December 28th, yet his birthday is always in the summer. How is this possible?
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7. In California, you cannot take a picture of a man with a wooden leg. Why not?
8. What was the President’s name in 1985?
9. If you were running a race and you passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in now?
10. Which is correct to say: "The yolk of the egg are white" or "The yolk of the egg is white"?
11. If a farmer has 5 haystacks in one field and 4 haystacks in the other field, how many haystacks would he have if he combined them all in another field?
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Scroll down for the ANSWERS.
Answers
1. Johnny.
2. Meat.
3. Mt. Everest. It just wasn’t discovered yet.
4. There is no dirt in a hole.
5. Incorrectly (except when it is spelled incorrektly).
6. Billy lives in the southern hemisphere.
7. You can’t take a picture with a wooden leg. You need a camera (or iPad or cell phone) to take a picture.
8. The same as it is now.
9. You would be in 2nd place. You passed the person in second place, not first.
10. Neither. Egg yolks are yellow.
11. One. If he combines all his haystacks, they all become one big stack.
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published January 10, 2020
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Published Janurary 10, 2020
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Dr. Jane Chambers, Editor and Head Writer
Ron Lowder Sr., Webmaster
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Donations to our Treasury are gratefully accepted. Make out checks to CNC First Decaders. Mail them to Sonny Short, FD Treasurer, 12738 Daybreak Circle, Newport News, VA 23602.
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Please don't hesitate to send us an email with a comment...we LOVE to hear from you!
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