Aulander, NC: Past, Present and Future

Welcome Green Demons!

This blog aims to chronicle and preserve memories of our home town. All people with Aulander experiences or tall tales to share are invited to publish them here. You may either email them to me for publication or create your own email address at gmail, it is free as well as easy, and add stories as you wish. Also, if you wish to make comments on something published at this site you will need an email address at gmail. Again, an email address at gmail, like mine, is free. Gmail is powered as is this blog by Google, the most powerful search engine online. All good memories are welcomed!

INDEX: LEFT SIDE NARRATIVES AND PHOTOS (a click on a picture listed under 3 below enlarges it]

1. Pictures, from the Annuals, of the People in the Various Aulander High School Classes from 1953 through 1959. [Also, posted on the Flickr website at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35677085@N05/ by doubling clicking on a pictures posted in Flickr, it will enlarge]

2. Information on the Aulander High School Reunion - Saturday, 18 April 2009 at Catherine's Restaurant - 5:30 P.M. Classes of 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958 and 1959.

Also, the names and class of the one hundred and ten [110] people attending the Aulander High School Reunion on Saturday, 18 April 2009 at Catherine's Restaurant beginning at 5:30 P. M. [Posted: March 1, 2008]

3. Group Pictures of the Girls and Boys Athletic Teams, May Courts, Cheerleaders, Bus Drivers and Elementary Classes including [in order of posting]: the Sam Batts Dancers; the Boy's Baskeball Team, 1954 - 55; the Class of 1957 as Sophomores; the 2001 Reunion for the Class of 1956; the baseball team for 1953 - 54; the baseball team for 1954 - 55; the FFA for 1953 - 1954; the boy's basketball team for 1955 - 56; the girl's basketball team for 1955 - 1956; the bus drivers (by popular request) for 1955 - 56; the football team for 1955 - 56; the Class of 1955 in Ms. Parker's 5th grade in 1948; part of the Class of 1956 in the 5th grade; and the Class of 1956 as Freshmen in 1952 - 53. [These pictures will enlarge if you double click on them.]

4. A History of the Town of Aulander from the 1985 Aulander Centennial Program as published at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/-ncbertie/aulander.htm

5. How the Spring Trip to New York City was Organized and Continued by the Class of 1956

6. Fourth Grade - Aulander School - Aulander, NC - 1947. People identified thus far [Wednesday, 18 February 2009]

7. The Parliamentary Procedure, Livestock Judging, Seed Judging and Field Day Teams at Aulander High School in the 1950s. [posted: Saturday, 21 February 2009]

8. Our Latest List of Addresses, Phone Numbers, and Email Addresses for the People in All Classes from 1955 through 1959. Please send corrections or additional information to: earl.bell3@gmail.com. It will be immediately posted.

People Attending the Class Reunion on April 18, 2009. Posted: March 16, 2009

UPDATED LIST OF THE PEOPLE ATTENDING THE REUNION ON SATURDAY, 18 APRIL 2009.

Total: 110 people will be attending the reunion. Catherine’s Restaurant, Ahoskie, NC – 5:30 P. M.

Monday, 16 MARCH 2009. [PLEASE READ THE MESSAGE AT THE END OF PAGE TWO.]

Everyone please check the information below and make sure it is accurate. If you do not appear on the list and should or if corrections are necessary please email them to Sonny at: earl.bell3@gmail.com or call him at [708] 481-2179. Also, if you prefer, email or call the contact person for your class.

NOTE: FOR CLASSMATES WHO MISSED THE MARCH 1 DEADLINE, WE HAVE THE SPACE TO ACCOMMODATE ABOUT SIX OR SEVEN MORE PEOPLE WHO WISH TO ATTEND THE REUNION. PLEASE CHECK WITH THE CONTACT PERSON FOR YOUR CLASS.

PEOPLE ATTENDING OUR SATURDAY, APRIL 18TH REUNION: CLASSES OF 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958 and 1959 as of March 7, 2009. Please correct any mistakes in the information listed below by informing either: Sonny [1956]; Mary Ann Odom[1956]; Rachel Dempsey [1957]; Skip Rowe [1957]; Donald Leggett [1958] or Anita Terry [1959]. Thanks for your help!

Also, there are three related reunion events on Friday, April 17th and Saturday, April 18th:

1. the Class of 1959 will have its 50th anniversary class reunion dinner on Friday night at the Jernigan Bed and Breakfast, more detailed information is available from Anita Terry Taylor.

2. the Class of 1958 will have a class breakfast in Ahoskie on Saturday morning, more detailed information is available from Donald Leggett.

3. a lunch in Ahoskie on Saturday, April 18th for the Harrell, Powell and Odom Families, more detailed information is available from Jerry Harrell.

CLASS OF 1955 [10]

Becky Dilday: Contact Person. email: rawls202@clis.com. phone: [252] 345-6272

Sherwood and Becky DILDAY RAWLS [2], Becky DUNNING DeCoste & husband Dick [2], Lynette MITCHELL Bunch [1], Peggy HALL Stoffregen & husband Bill [2], Marian LASSITER Dilday & husband Robert [2] and Jo Anne MYERS Freeman [1]

CLASS OF 1956 [24]

Mary Ann ODOM Castelloe and Sonny BELL – Contact Persons. Mary Ann: [252] 345-3641. Sonny: email address: earl.bell3@gmail.com or phone: [708] 263-2179 [cell] or [708] 481-2179 [Land].

Sonny BELL & wife Donna [2], Kathy BURDEN [1], Earl FARMER & wife Linda, [2], Jerry HARRELL & wife Betty [2], Buck HOGGARD & wife Michelle [2], Bobby LASSITER & Elaine Ward [2], Emma LASSITER Bracy & husband James [2], Mary Ann ODOM Castelloe [1], Pete PARKER & wife Elaine [2], Betty Page RAWLS Terry [1], Sherwood RAWLS & wife Nora [2], Alice SKINNER Lassiter [1], Geraldine TERRY Newsome & husband Eddie [2], Leroy Bell and Robert Lee TODD [1].

CLASS OF 1957 [22]

Skip ROWE & Rachel DEMPSEY Morris – Contact Persons. Skip: GROWE9@carolina.rr.com Phone: [704] 532-9720 (Land Line). Rachel: lrmorris@roadrunner.com Phone: [252] 345-3601

Skipper ROWE & his wife Esther [2], Jack BELL & his wife Nancy [2], Rachel DEMPSEY Morris & her husband Leroy [2], Elizabeth JOHNSON Schoeb [1], Mary Frances LASSITER [1], Richard McCASKEY [1], Barbara NELMS Connor & her husband James [2], Joe PEELE [1], Lawrence PITT & his wife Nancy [2], Shirley Jean COOK Sadler & her husband Raeford [2], Reggie TERRY and his wife [2], Alfred and Ola RAWLS MATTHEWS (also, see Class of 1959) [2], Cleo HARMON [1] and Shirley TERRY Hammonds [1]

CLASS OF 1958 [27] - also, a class breakfast in Ahoskie on Saturday morning, contact Donald LEGGETT– Contact Person. Phone: [252] 539-2489

Donald LEGGETT and his wife Mary [2], Carol HARRELL Bland and daughter Crystal Edmonds [2], James and Emma Lou FARMER Bridgers [2], Sadie and Gloria HERRING [2], Sue HUGHES Strogis and her husband George [2], David LASSITER and his wife Mary Ann [2], Charles and Loretta MITCHELL Eichhorn [2], Wilson MYERS and his wife Cynthia [2], Adolph ODOM and his wife Molly [2], Bill ODOM and his wife Janice [2], Phil PARKER and his wife [2], Bill and Shelba RAWLS Kessinger [2], John WILLIAMS and his wife Judy [2] and Kenneth POWERS [1]

CLASS OF 1959 [26] - Also, a 50th anniversary class reunion dinner on Friday night at the Ahoskie Bed and Breakfast. Anita TERRY Taylor – Contact Person. Email: ataylor93@cox.net. Phone: [757] 420-4472

Anita TERRY Taylor [1], Milton ADAMS [1], Tony ADAMS & his wife Monica [2], Dan HARRELL & his wife Sonya [2], Bill LEONHIRTH and his wife Sharron [2], Carmen and Florence MINTON Defasio [6], Richard MOORE and his wife Carol [2], Shepard “Shep” OVERTON and his wife Ruth plus cousin Cleo HARMON from the Class of 1957 [2], Robert and Myrell NICHOLS Blowe [2], Alfred and Ola RAWLS MATTHEWS [2], David and Daisy PARKER Miller [2], Sidney Jones [1] and Hoyt TODD [1]

Class of 1955 [10], Class of 1956 [24], Class of 1957 [20], Class of 1958 [27], Class of 1959 [26]
GUESTS: FACULTY, ADMINISTRATION AND THEIR SPOUSES: Nancy Acree and Pel Jones

REMEMBER: EACH DAY, WE POST NEW STORIES FROM OUR HIGH SCHOOL DAYS AND NEW PHOTOS FROM THE ANNUALS PLUS PHOTOS FROM THE PERSONAL COLLECTIONS OF OUR CLASSMATES ON OUR AULANDER WEBSITE AT: http://www.aulander.blogspot.com ALSO, ALL PHOTO ADDITIONS APPEAR ON OUR FLICKR PHOTO SHARING WEBSITE AT: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35677085@N05/

Further, updates for our class events and the current addresses for about 95% of our classmates, from 1955 through 1959, are posted at our Aulander website. At the top of each column, on the Aulander website, there is an index for both the left side column and the right side column. The right side column posted photos can be enlarged for better viewing on Flicker. Photos posted on the left side column can be enlarged, in fact, they are even larger than the ones on Flickr. All photos on Flickr may be enlarged by a click on the photo. IF YOU WISH TO SEE THE PHOTOS OF YOURSELF AND YOUR CLASSMATES BUT DO NOT HAVE A COMPUTER, GO TO YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARY AND ENTER ONE OR BOTH OF THE ABOVE WEBSITE ADDRESSES IN ONE OF THEIR COMPUTERS FOR USE BY PATRONS. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM FINDING THE WEBSITES YOUR LOCAL LIBRARIAN WILL ASSIST YOU. ENJOY!

Home Addresses, Phone Numbers and Email Addresses: Classes of 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958 and 1959

HOME ADDRESSES, PHONE NUMBERS AND EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR MEMBERS OF THE CLASSES FROM 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958 AND 1959

CLASS OF 1955

Charles and Irene BAUGHAM Futrell

274 Riverbend Rd North
Goldsboro, NC 27530

(919) 734-0148

Winston BYRD
6173 Embry Bend Road
Lincoln, Alabama 35096
[205] 763-9251 [cell]

*Sherwood and Becky DILDAY RAWLS
202 Sheriff Garrett Road
Ahoskie, NC 27910
[252] 345-6272
rawls202@clis.com

*Dick and Becky DUNNING DeCoste
1705 Duval Drive
Greensboro, NC 27410
[336] 288-5146

*Bill and Peggy HALL Stoffregen
10805 Honeycutt Road
Raleigh, NC 27614
[919] 847-6308

Herman and Daphne JENKINS Dupont
8639 Devon Drive
Norfolk, VA 23503
[757] 588-8554

Joe and Jenny COOKE JENKINS
[See Class of 1956]

Fred and Barbara LASSITER Andresen
139H Millennium Road
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-3271

*Robert and Marion LASSITER Dilday
138 Dilday Road
Colerain, NC 27924
[252] 332-5902

*Percy and Lynette MITCHELL Bunch
210 Holly Hill Road
Murfreesboro, NC 27855
[252] 398-4630

*Jo Ann MYERS Freeman
301 Cooper Avenue
Windsor, NC 27983
[252] 794-3193

William and Carolyn BURDEN PEELE
113 Broad Street
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-0698

*********************
DECEASED: Leslie "Dick" Butler, Donald Hale, Bobby Jenkins, Vernon Hoggard, Toby Powell & Mary Lou Minton
******************************

CLASS OF 1956

+Charlie & Bonnie BARNES PARKER
360 Toulon Avenue
Wilmington, NC 28405
[910] 793 6327 [H]
bonniebparker@bellsouth.net

+Ken and Janice BAUGHAN Lowden
209 W. Ash Road
Sterling, VA 20164
[703] 430-4140

* Sonny and Donna BELL
741 Brookwood Drive #5
Olympia Fields, IL 60461-1543
[708] 481-2179 [H]
[708] 263-3569 [cell]
email: earl.bell3@gmail.com

*Katherine [Kathy] BURDEN
Box 61
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-0105 [H]

Kay BYRD Marshall
417 W. Bernard Drive
East Bernard, TX 77435
[979] 358-0258 [cell]

+Bill and Gail CHAMLEE
2523 SE Vicksburg Street
Bartlesville, OK 74006-7583
[918] 335-0817

Joe and Jenny COOKE JENKINS
3933 South Virginia Dare Trail
Nags Head, NC 27959
[252] 441-7665

*Lance and Marcella COOKE Cockerham
7818 Huntsman Blvd.
Springfield, VA 22153
[703] 455-6522
ltcockerham@verizon.net

*Molly COOKE
8612 Burling Wood Drive
Springfield, VA 22152
[703] 569-6527

Bob and Violet COOKE
230 NC 561W
Ahoskie, NC 27910

*Earl and Linda FARMER
500 Boyette Road
Four Oaks, NC 27524
[919] 963-3588
farmer622@earthlink.net

+Bobby and Minerva HALL Matthews
202 Rogerson Avenue
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-2871

*Jerry and Betty HARRELL
1598 West State Highway 258
Galena, MO 65656
[417] 357-6088

* Buck and Michele HOGGARD
4057 Maple Drive
Chesapeake, VA 23321
[757] 436-0728
email: hogge5@cox.net

Ray & Lurleen JONES Hobbs
310 North Chestnut Street
Woodland, NC 27894
[252] 587-2301

* Robert " Bobby" LASSITER
810 St. John-Millennium Rd.
Aulander, NC 27805-9701
email: rgl@embarqmail.com
[252] 345-1416

+Jean Ellen ODOM James
310 Stanwood Drive
Greenville, NC 27886
[252] 756-1662

* Mary Ann ODOM Castelloe
219 Millennium Road
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-3641 [H]

+Lloyd W. PARKER
2341 Big Ben Drive
Greenville, NC 27858
[252] 355-7435
parkerlwp@embarqmail.com

* Pete and Elaine PARKER
22 Loyal Lane
Weaverville, NC 28787
[828] 645-0415
email: peteelaine@verizon.net

+ John and Valentine POWELL Hurin
9550 Crown Ridge Drive
White Lake, MI 48386
[248] 698-4246 [can not travel]

* Bettie Paige RAWLS Terry
Roanoke Rapids, NC
[252] 678-4830

Bob and Marion RAWLS Auker
Rt. 1, Box 149A
Roaring Springs, PA 16673-9602
[814] 224-1225

+James[Jim] and Jean RAWLS
4006 Shiland Drive
Greensboro, NC 27406
[336] 674-2512
jrawls2@triad.rr.com

*Sherwood & Nora RAWLS
206 Snipes Street
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-5451

George and Elizabeth ROUNDTREE Jenkins
201 Cherry Street
Woodland, NC 27894
[252] 587-5371

+ Jim and Anna ROWE Summerlin
310 East Brookside Drive
Bryan, Texas 77801
[979] 846-5004 (can not travel)

William and Annette SHORES Blowe
St. John – Millennium Road
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 332-2463 [H]

* Alice SKINNER Lassiter
P. O. Box 281
148 Millennium Road
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-6371 [H]

* Eddie and Geraldine TERRY Newsome
P. O. Box 1309
Grandy, NC 27939
[252] 441-9181

* Robert Lee TODD
211 Jack Branch Road
Windsor, NC 27983
[252] 348-3081 [H]

NO ADDRESSES FOR:
Ida Mae WILLIAMS whose mailing address is Windsor

DECEASED: Annie Lou HARRINGTON, Sidney MITCHELL, Evelyn and Elwood (Buddy) JONES, Dinah OUTLAW, Paul McCASKEY, Frances MINTON LASSITER.
*****************************
* PEOPLE ATTENDING
+ PEOPLE NOT ATTENDING
****************************

CLASS OF 1957

CONTACT PERSON

SKIPPER ROWE
*Skip & Esther ROWE
8100 Denbur Drive
Charlotte, NC 28215
[704] 532-9720 [H]
[704] 763-7537 [cell]
GROWE9@carolina.rr.com

* Jackson R. & Nancy BELL
8538 Glen Eagles
Naples, FL 34120
239-304-1305
jacksonrbell@aol.com

Arleen CONGLETON Beasley
Box 74
Battery Park, VA 23304
[757] 357-4894
[757] 803-5765 [cell]

Mary Sue CRISP [no address]

*Leroy and Rachel DEMPSEY Morris
P. O. Box 344
201 N. Commerce Street
Aulander, North Carolina 27805
[252] 345-3601
[252] 287-6177 [cell]
email: lrmorris@roadrunner.com

*Floyd and Collene HELMS
661 West Cutlar
St. Pauls, NC 38384
[910] 865-4473 [H]
[910] 734-0821 [cell]

+Evelyn Hoggard
206 Wiccacon Road
Colfield, NC 29722
[252] 356-4432
[252] 209-1223 [cell]

* John [Jack] W. and Elizabeth JOHNSON Schoeb
2529 Bogese Drive
Petersburg, VA 23805
[804] 733-3613
Schoeb2@msn.com

*Ellis and Mary Francis LASSITER
P. O. Box 363
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-9871
934 St. John-Millennium Road

Alfred & Ola Ray RAWLS MATTHEWS
P. O. Box 124
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-0236
[252] 287-5433 [cell]

*Richard and Carol McCASKEY
31120 Collosse Road
Carrsville, VA 23315
[757] 562-6593

*James W. and Barbara NELMS Connor
312 Woodlawn Drive
Williamston, NC 27892
[252] 789-4173

Larry and Rachel PARKER Bolton
1223 Willowbrook Drive
Suffolk, VA 23434
[757] 539-6566

*Joe PEELE
3509 Taberna Drive
Greenville, NC 27834
[252] 355-7334

*Lawrence and Nancy PITT
3305 Sawyer Way
Toano, VA 23168
[757] 566-3998
[757] 869-3246 [cell]
lpitt@cox.net

* Reggie and Dorothy TERRY
561 Ballahack Rd.
Hertford, N. C. 27944
home: 252-426-7742
cell:252-312-6199

* Shirley TERRY Hammond
3224 East Ocean View Ave. Unit #10
Norfolk, VA 23518
757-480-0072
757-348-8488 [cell]
email: sterry2456@aol.com

*Raeford and Shirley Sadler
105 Jerry Lane
Ahoskie, NC 27910
[252] 332-2671
[252] 395-0631 [cell]

DECEASED: Nancy Lou COOKE, Carl DUNNING, Jimmy HOGGARD & David “Jabo” JOHNSON
************************

CLASS OF 1958

CONTACT PERSON

DONALD LEGGETT
*Donald & Mary LEGGETT
Post Office Box 192
Rich Square, NC 27869
[252] 539-2489

Gene and Barbara BARNES Davis
109B Jernigan Airport Road
Ahoskie, NC 27910
[252] 332-4758 [H]
[252] 332-4750 [cell]

*James and Emma Lou FARMER Bridgers
143 Ray Farmer Road
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-5091
lubrid@embarqmail.com

*Sue HUGHES
6675 Lake Island Drive
Lake Worth, FL 33467
[561] 432-8676

*David and Mary Ann LASSITER
844 St. John - Millennium Road
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-1617

*Charles and Loretta MITCHELL Eichhorn
1010 Lamp Post Lane
Greensboro, NC 27410
[336] 299-6783
ceichhorn@triad.rr.com

Wilson and Cynthia MYERS
426 North Main Street
Broadway, NC 27505
[919] 258-9978

Adolph and Molly ODOM
107 Bull Hill Road
Windsor, NC 27983
[252] 794-5272

William "Bill" and Janice ODOM
2213 Richmond Street
Hopewell, VA 23860
[804] 541-9146 [H]
[804] 894-0139 (cell)

*Phil and NancyPARKER
10 Lanier Lane
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
[919] 942-6559

+Marjorie RAWLS Clark
2345 Stonehave Road
Kernersville, NC 27284
[336] 869-5456

*Bill and Shelba RAWLS Kessinger
6 Earcken Fern
Bluffton, SC 29910
[843] 816-1177 [cell]

Harvey and Becky SHORES Blowe
851 St. John - Millennium Road
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 245 - 8781

*John and Judy WILLIAMS
838 St. John - Millennium Road
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-5601

DECEASED: Jimmy Hoggard, Jimmy BURDEN, Joseph HARRIS, Mayo JACKSON, Emma LASSITER and Robert NELMS.
*************************

CLASS OF 1959

[CONTACT PERSON]

* ANITA TERRY TAYLOR
Jim and Anita TERRY Taylor
2000 Miller Ave
Chesapeake, VA 23320
(757) 420 4472
ataylor93@cox.net

*Milton & Ann ADAMS
129 Sterling Rd
Georgetown, KY 40324
abitofheavenfarm@bellsouth.net

*Tony and Monica ADAMS
550 Center Grove Rd
Ahoskie, NC 27910
[252] 332-6103

*Dan & Sonya HARRELL
109 Deer Path
Williamsburg, VA 23188
Chy64@netscape.com

Sidney & Rhonda JONES
1520 NC 11 S
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-1761

*Bill & Sharron LEONHIRTH
2440 Camelback Rd
Richmond, VA 23236
sleonhirth@usa.net

*Carmen J. & Florence MINTON Defazio
81 Lynford Rd
Richboro, PA 18954
[215] 355 9783

*Richard & Carol MOORE
718 River Hills Dr.
Fenton, Mo. 63026
Phone: 636-305-0014
e-mail: richcarolmoore@sbcglobal.net

*Robert & Myrell NICHOLS Blowe
Millennium Road
Aulander, NC 27805-9701

*Henry Shep and Ruth Overton
P. O. Box 12368
Ft. Pierce, FL 349-2368
[772] 595-1823
5807 Balsam Drive

David and Daisy PARKER Miller
327 Sugar Hollow Rd
Fairview, NC 27803
[828] 628-3225
davidm38@bellsouth.net

Alfred and Ola Ray RAWLS MATHEWS[See Class of 1957]
P. O. Box 124
Aulander, NC 27805
[252] 345-1761

Edward TAYLOE [no address]

*Hoyt & Peggy TODD
507 East Main Street
Aulander, NC
[252] 345-5311
Hoyt@coastalnet.com

DECEASED: Virginia PARKER, Rose LASSITER and Emma Pearl LASSITER
*************************

QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS TO: earl.bell3@gmail.com or call [708] 481-2179

Enlarged Pictures of Classes at Aulander High School from 1953 through 1959

If you wish to enlarge the pictures for a particular class or all classes go to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35677085@N05/ or simply click above on CLASS PICTURES ON FLICKR

Once it opens, bookmark it so it will be easier for you to return to the website.

You will need a Yahoo email address to use as your I.D. to use Flickr. Yahoo email addresses are free. I have one only to use the Flickr website. Everything is free including use of the site and the email address.

Also, everyone can add their own pictures to our Flickr website for sharing with all of the graduates from Aulander High School from 1953 through 1959. Enjoy!

If you have problems using this website contact me at:

earl.bell3@gmail.com

Class of 1950: Identification of Class Members

First Row (seated) - Julia Morris, Eileen Burkett, Martha Ann Parker, Nancy Dunning, Louise Davidson, and Inez Todd.

Second Row - William Slade, Janet Britton, Betty Lou Brickhouse, Jane Castelloe, Rodanthe (Pete) Perry, and Sidney Rogerson.

Third Row - Jackson Terry, Sherwood Rawls, Don Muse, Thomas Hall, Alvah Bradley, and Stanley Dempsey.

Identification of Class Members by: Nancy Dunning Acree and Sherwood Rawls

IF YOU WISH TO VIEW AN ENLARGEMENT OF THIS PHOTO, TWO ARE AVAILABLE: ONE BELOW, IN THE LEFT HAND COLUMN AND ONE ON FLICKR PHOTO SHARING.

The Hound's Around: The Sam Batts, Community House and Chowan River Dancers

“THE HOUND’S AROUND”: AULANDER ENTERS THE TIME OF ROCK AND ROLL, ASSISTED BY THE DANCING FEET OF THE SAM BATTS, COMMUNITY HOUSE AND CHOWAN RIVER DANCERS, 1954, 1955 and 1956.

Beginning in early 1954, we favored three places for food, music and companionship. At the outset, we were four sophomores and one freshman at Aulander High School in Aulander, Bertie County, North Carolina. Our after school hangout, Sam Batts' Café, combined the best food with a jukebox for listening and dancing. On Friday nights, the Aulander Community House came alive as we played music by the sharing of our 45s at dances that ran from 7 to 10 P.M.. These town destinations were supplemented with our nightly jaunts to the roadhouses along the Chowan River, from Winton to Colerain. Their jukeboxes and dance floors provided an additional place where we improvised and personalized our dancing styles. Most often, these hangouts were our socializing places, except on Saturday and Sunday nights or when some unavoidable conflict intruded. During these times, the five of us, four from the Class of 1956 and one from the class of 1957, danced tirelessly to a mind altering music labeled rock and roll by some disc jockey from a distant place called Cleveland. Much of our energy flowed from our enthusiasm and commitment, as a group of dancers, to finding the radio or television stations, record shops and jukeboxes to instruct us plus locating a sustainable number of reliable, safe places to workout. Our pursuit of the radio stations playing this “disturbing” music, was a day and night obsession, enhanced by the first generation of rock and roll disc jockeys who had come out to play. On the slowest nights, we would ride "the square," an area defined by heading north from the stoplight in Aulander, to the corner where Charlie and Lloyd Parker lived, then a left west to the first southbound surfaced road, south to the Aulander - Roxobel road and then east, through Bloodfield, to the stop light. On these drives, that we deliberately slowed to a crawl, someone was always working the radio dial looking for THE music. While our knowledge was limited, our curiosity was boundless, as we assimilated this “outrageous” music designed to satisfy our young souls. Of course, we had never heard of Muddy “Mississippi” Waters who once commented that without the blues there’s a hole in your soul! We would have replaced the word “blues” with the phrase “rock and roll!”

Nighttime was THE time for locating rock and roll DJs because of the increased capacity to find distant stations. Our favorite D.J. laid down his licks, from Buffalo, New York, beginning at 7 P.M., Aulander standard time. It was one of the nation’s first powerful rock and roll stations serving twenty states and parts of Canada [see: http://www.hounddoglorenz.com]. His theme was a slow, dirty, lowdown, funky tune that he interrupted with a hip, cool voice announcing: “The Hounds Around!” His lead music was similar to a Bill Doggett piece but played even slower. Our favorite theme song, that he frequently used, was called “The Big Heavy!” played by some cat calling himself “Cozy Eggleston.” We thought the Hound was just so cool! He referred to everyone as “Real Cool Cats!” all in a falsetto whisper using a low-keyed, measured, soft, strung-out cadence and a slight hiss at the end of each declaration. At this time, Wolfman Jack listened to the Hound from his home in Brooklyn and would later admit that he copied the format and much of his ground breaking style.

Another source for the music was a radio station, with programming that aimed to satisfy the musical preferences of the local brothers and sisters. It broadcast from Henderson, NC, with hip- talking DJs featuring all the soul singers who were attempting to cross over to take a little change from the pockets of white teenagers. I remember one of their DJs introducing Laverne Baker with “and now here comes Miss Laverne Baker, the hip shaker and a heart breaker!” The on-air comments by these DJs revealed their awareness that the station’s audience now included a rapidly increasing number of white teenagers from all over the Roanoke Chowan region, northeastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia.

In our dance group there was not a single spectator, everyone wanted to dance and, believe me, we did! Sam’s Record Store, owned by a brother, just off the main drag, in Ahoskie had an excellent collection of the music for us to consider. Also, he provided record players so that we could listen to the music before deciding what to buy. Obviously, Sam had a significant financial incentive in educating us on the music. We were his avid students! We proved, beyond doubt, that when teenagers are highly motivated to learn, in or out of school, the sky is the limit! While we did not always agree about the music, there was no doubt that we became an imaginative, hard working and information-sharing group of rock and roll learners. No study group in school could hold a candle to our cooperative embracing of this new music. We read, listened, watched and, most importantly, immediately applied our new knowledge on the dance floor. This approach is nothing less than a very modern, state-of-art learning strategy!

Remnants of the old ballroom dancing music of our parents still peculated at our social events, however, a new frantic style of dancing emerged riding the tidal wave created by songs like Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” [April, 1954], Little Richard’s “Tutti Fruiti” [1955], Chuck Berry’s “Maybelline” [1955] and Joe Turner’s “Shake, Rattle and Roll” [1954]. These songs were on the jukebox at Sam’s Café in Aulander, available for purchase from Sam’s Record Shop in Ahoskie and on the roadhouse jukeboxes along the Chowan. In these early days of rock and roll music, the "appropriate" styles of dance were diverse and hugely improvisational. Only later, did the artist and their record companies, begin to cut records for the purpose of creating a new dance to increase their profits. Without much discussion or planning we developed a routine that flourished from early in 1954 to the summer of 1956. For those of us in the Class of 1956, it was the time of our sophomore, junior and senior years at Aulander High School.

The scale of the change in popular music was substantially larger than we knew. Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, Floyd Dixon and many more artists were introducing the city of Chicago to Mississippi Delta and East Texas roadhouse blues. The blues and church music, now called gospel, heavily influenced the birth as well as the direction of rock and roll. The signature instrument is the piano, in spite of the commercial emphasis, in the 1950s, on lead harmonicas and, later, electric guitars. If you have a heart, that churchy piano makes you lay your head over to one side as it sets up a song with a mellow introduction, then carries the melody to so many beautiful places just before it lays down the heavy licks on the most soulful parts for a bottomless list of rock and roll classics. Of course, the black folks who moved from Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas to urban Chicago would not find the anticipated land of milk and honey. Their hard lives in this “Promised Land” gave the Delta blues a harder and more hip, cynical edge. When I hear the soulful harmonica players of Chicago it always brings back memories of the music I heard walking down the streets of Aulander in 1950s. The music to which I refer includes the funky versions of “Night Train” and “C. C. Rider” plus nearly all of the music of country singers like Hank Williams, the elder. In the mid-1950s, we knew absolutely nothing about the music of urban America. It was a golden edge for jazz with many of the nation’s finest performers in action including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Red Garland, the Duke and the Count, and many, many others. If I had known that John Coltrane and Nina Simone were born in North Carolina, out of unearned respect I would have listen to them very carefully. For me, I entered that magical world in the dorms my first year at Mars Hill College in the Blue Ridge of the Old North State. It was called "progressive" jazz which was and is, as one of Dave Brubeck’s LPs stated, “red hot and cool!” Sadly, these great jazz musicians were outside the range of our musical sensibility.

In these years, I do not remember a single Buddy Holly song on the jukeboxes in or near Aulander. Looking back, it seems that Madison Avenue poorly marketed music in rural-based small towns, like Aulander. At this early date, record distributors seem to have more of a say about what we listen to, even more influence than television, radio or mass marketing. Elvis might have been big after his six appearances on the Dorsey Brothers Stage Show, however, we rarely if ever danced to one his songs. Simply, we had large voids even in our conception of rock and roll music and that fact rendered our appreciation of these pirate vibes fascinatingly eccentric.

Our take of this rapidly changing music is expressed, in part, by our initial reaction to Elvis on television. On January 28, 1956, the date of his first national appearance, I was watching his first T.V. gig at Bill Chamlee’s house. On Saturday night, we regularly watched the Dorsey Brothers Stage Show. Elvis came out and sang a medley of “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” “Flip, Flop and Fly” and “I Got a Woman.” As far as I was concerned “Shake, Rattle and Roll” enjoyed a better cover by Joe Turner or Bill Haley, especially Joe Turner, who was my favorite singer of music for fast dancing. Also, I viewed “Flip, Flop and Fly” as a song he owned. Further, Ray Charles was without peer “getting down" on “I Got a Woman.” Probably most revealing was that when Elvis started gyrating across the stage we were, literally, in the floor laughing. He seemed like some odd, novelty singer, with a nervous, out-of-control pelvis. Little did we know, that we were watching the beginning of the tragic career for pop music’s biggest icon and a singer who would later be canonized at Graceland.

Another barrier to immediately and accurately figuring out Elvis that night was the bizarre mixture of pop music during these days. It was a time when novelty songs held their own on the nation’s jukeboxes with the fading romantic ballads, sung 40s style, and the building shaking throb of rock and roll. For example, some of my favorite, novelty songs included Andy Griffin’s “What it Was, Was Football!” [1953], Nervous Norvus singing “Transfusion” [1956] and, later in 1960, Larry Verne’s “Please Mr. Custer, I Don’t Want to Go,” which became number one on the national charts. All these songs played to a very receptive national audience. At this early stage, even rock and roll had no unity of message or form. It was simply wild and that only made us love it all the more. For, this quintet of dancers we did not view the music as a protest against our elders or the inherited dominate culture. We certainly did not view ourselves as being on the cutting edge of some social movement. Simply, the music was fun and, above all, much of it was perfect for dancing.

One other factor of importance, for a local perspective on the people’s music, is the fact, that in Aulander, a competition existed between various types of popular music. The wash and grease racks of my dad’s Gulf station witnessed a daily battle between hillbilly and soul music. Our one radio was constantly being shifted from one type of music to another, always over the protest of someone. I liked a little of both, however, rock and roll, often influenced by both these musical preferences, preached for me. The sirens of it could only be silenced by hours of dancing.

In the mid-1950s, Aulander might have been a small town located in farming country, yet, we found plenty of places to dance. First, as previously mentioned, the jukebox at Sam’s Café was a magnate for many us after school. As we walked to Sam’s, one guy or the other, would lead on a song like “Since I Fell for You” with an extended “You” and the others would followed him into singing it, with as much harmony as we could muster. We had good training for singing these romantic songs from all our years of making a joyful noise giving voice to the magnificent hymns that filled our churches! One night, standing under the town’s one stoplight, a perennial place of much debate, conversation and occasional mischief, a general agreement emerged, at least among the guys, that the best place to take a young woman on a date was, yes, believe it or not - a revival. Of course, this opinion was subject to much disagreement as were most topics in dispute under the halo of the Aulander stoplight. This same style of good humored argument could be heard or participated in at Red Lassiter’s barbershop, Stacy Nelson’s Drug Store and Francis Tayloe’s department store. In those days, if you harbored a deep abiding wish to lose a debate, go argue with Francis Tayloe and your need vanished. As we puzzled over one of his stories about politics and living, it became painfully evident that he had forgotten more than we knew!

Back to the café of one Mr. Sam Batts, our primary after school hangout. It is common knowledge that he was the best cook! He definitely had his own way of doing everything and, when it came to food and manners, he was a perfectionist, at least in his café and in his own mind. Rumor had it that, at one time, he had been a cook in a big hotel in Washington, DC. All we knew about him was that Sam cooked the best plate lunches, burgers and fries that a down-home, red-blooded American teenager could covet. Also, in the mid-1950s, he had a well-stocked jukebox filled with rock and roll. We danced to the numerous grooves on it by Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Joe Turner, the Platters and Bill Haley. Our daily routine was to go straight to Sam’s after school, lean into the food and then dance to the jukebox’s most pulsating music until propriety and keeping family relations harmonious required us to go home.

Most of us loved Sam’s quirkiness especially his occasional chases, with a big old knife, after some wise cracking boy. The way we saw it, all of them could use the run to work off a little steam! We knew he had a big heart and cared about us. Why not? We ranked among his most loyal customers and, probably more importantly, every afternoon his place came alive with our energy.

During these years, the deal involved dancing at the Aulander Community House every Friday night We played our 45s on a small portable record player. It possessed an excellent dance floor. On many hot, steamy nights we danced until we were soaked with sweat. After four or five consecutive fast dances, we would step outside in the night’s cooling air to briefly recover from our exertions. Even with television increasingly consuming our time, we did not need a fitness program to improve our health. As Jackie Wilson would later sing, we worked out, early and often! On these Friday nights, without planning, a routine evolved for those of us who loved to dance. We rarely missed dancing on a Friday night. Now, the guys viewed it as “square” to arrive at the dance with a date, however, it was even less cool to leave the dance without a lady. Simply, for some mysterious reason, we the people, who certainly could not be viewed as very cool, preferred seeing what the night would bring. As the 10 P.M. witching hour approached the music slowed down, the Platters moved in with their friends, brought twenty pieces of luggage, and dominated the music. Without a doubt, at the Aulander Community House, on Friday nights, the time between 9 and 10 P.M should be viewed as magical! It was an experience that helped everyone appreciate the joy of just being alive and young!

Every other night of the week, usually when sports permitted, we began hanging, especially in 1956, at the roadhouses between Winton and Colerain on the “beautiful, blue” Chowan River. I am not sure we ever knew the names of these places. We knew the essentials; namely, where they were located and how to get there. We harbored only one demand, that they have a jukebox and permit us to dance without interference.

Our parents knew very little about this routine, however, Aulander in those days was a very different kind of place. Most people did not lock their doors or remove their car keys at night. In fact, we had one convict, on a low security work gang, who stole the same car in Aulander three times. When someone asked the owner of the car, why he did not remove the key, he replied that he “would not live in a town where it was necessary to remove his car key!”

Sports dictated the nature of our nightly jaunts to the joints on the Chowan River much more than parental direction. Simply, in football season, since we did not have a lighted field, we practiced in the afternoons. During basketball season, the practices ended about 9 P.M., thus, we headed for Winton later at night and often did not return home until 1 or 2 in the A.M. Of course, our mothers knew enough. My mom, who was not a big fan of the judgment exercised by teenagers, always warned me about the dangers of such gallivanting, however, she never raised the subject with my father or said to me “do not go to those places anymore!” Thank you mother!

These haunts on the Chowan were a little rough. Their clientale included sailors from the Norfolk naval base and fights did occasionally occur. The owners as well as the customers knew we were just kids looking for a place to dance and have fun. No one ever bothered us and we certainly did not bother a solitary soul. In 2009, it is hard to imagine that anything like this is even possible. It is a small measure of a wonderful time when most teenagers, who called Aulander home, were assured of a congenial, protected and sensible adolescence. None of us were drinking, smoking or threatening anyone’s safety. Also, we were not protesting against anything. We were just moving on, nothing more or less than a group of friends, in love with dancing and committed to finding places that allowed us the freedom to “bust a move.” We were definitely some of the Hound’s “real cool cats!

In the time of McCarthy and the Red Scare, we were comrades of a different kind. In our view, the foundation for our bond did not flow from the usual sources but rather it originated in a collective embrace of a scintillating music, mastering the techniques of it and, most importantly, joyously, together, stomping it all out with our best moves. My comrades in these musical escapades were my classmates from Aulander High who answer to the names of Jenny, Anna, Pete and Skip! With the greatest affection, I say to y’all - thank you, thank you, thank you!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

1995 Reunion - The Class of 1956 - Aulander High School, Aulander, NC

Friday, July 24, 2009

Aulander Elementary Schools, Aulander, NC - 5th Grade - 1944

FIFTH GRADE - AULANDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - 1944 [LEFT TO RIGHT]:

SIXTH CHILD: LAWRENCE DUNNING

FOURTH CHILD: MELVIN HALL ?

TEACHER: TIP BAZEMORE?

Anyone able to identify the people in the picture please send the information to Earl Bell at earl.bell3@gmail.com

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Aulander Wins Bertie County Basketball Championship and Sportsmanship Awards, Spring, 1955

From: THE HERTFORD COUNTY HERALD [March, 1955], published in Ahoskie, NC “Aulander Boys, Colerain Girls Are Bertie Tournament Champs”

Aulander. For the first time in three years the Wolfpack of West Bertie High School has suffered a defeat at the hands of a Bertie County team. Coach Joe Acree’s Green Demons of Aulander rode rough-shod over the defending champions Saturday night in the championsip game of the tournament and when the final whistle sounded the score stood Aulander 67, West Bertie 51.

The two teams will now meet on a neutral court to determine who will represent the county in the regional play-offs since West Bertie was the winner of the regular season play.

No less exciting was the finals in the girls’ division which saw Colerain defeating Merry Hill by a score of 51 to 48. The Colerain girls, defending champions were edged out for the season play by Merry Hill but came back to take the tournament championship on Friday night.

Other action on Friday night placed the Aulander girls as consolation winners over Windsor by a score of 36 to 34.

The Colerain boys won consolation honors in their division by defeating Windsor on Saturday night, 44 to 42, in a thrilling ball gam.

Team sportsmanship awards were given to the Aulander boys and to the West Bertie girls.

The selection by the coaches placed the following boys on the all-conference team:

Wilbur Castelloe, Windsor; Bubba Peele, Aulander; Jack Mitchell, West Bertie; Tommy Bazemore, West Bertie, Carroll Britt, Colerain.

In the girls’ division the following were honored as all-conference selections:

Guards: Treva Daniels, Colerain; Becky Dunning, Aulander; Peggy Hall, Aulander; forwards: Ann Barnacascel, Merry Hill; Valentine Powell, Aulander; Carolyn Taylor, Colerain.

Misses Daniels, Dunning, Hall and Barnacascel were selected for the second consecutive year.

Attendance at the tournament was very good. Entertainment was furnished at halftime of each game.

PICTURE Inscription: AULANDER – A happy Aulander group faced the camera after defeating West Bertie in the final round of the tournament. They received trophies for the tournament championship and sportsmanship. Left to right: Sonny Bell, Paul McCaskey, Bubba Peele, Bro Parker, Pete Parker and Billy Chamlee. Back row: Thomas Powell, Dick Butler, Skipper Rowe, Reggie Terry and Jackie Bell.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Aulander High School Reunion - 18 April 2009

Aulander High School Reunion - Classes of 1955, 56, 57, 58 and 59

Friday, April 24, 2009

Class of 1955 - Trip to New York City

Aulander High School - Champion Boy's Basketball Team, 1954 - 55

Members of the Team

FIRST ROW [left to right]: Sonny Bell; Paul McCaskey; Bubba Peele; Lloyd Parker; Pete Parker, Bill Chamlee

BACK ROW [left to right]: Thomas Powell; Dick Butler; Skipper Rowe; Reggie Terry; Jack Bell

thanks to Skipper Rowe for the above picture from the newspaper in 1955