......LHS News......
Originally sent August 24

Sorry to report the passing of Joe N. Mitchell, Jr., 68, of Altus. Joe passed August 22 after a lengthy bout with cancer. Many will remember Joe's father, longtime Lawton physician Joe Mitchell and wife Molly, both deceased. I believe Joe Jr. may have attended LHS his senior year.
Services will 10:00am, Wednesday August 25, Prince of Peace Catholic church in Altus. Burial will follow in Highland Cemetery in Lawton, under direction of Kincannon Funeral Home of Altus.

Also, Barbara Louise (Burrow) Gold Phelps, 79, of Duncan passed on August 18. Barbara graduated LHS in 1949. She married Jimmy Gold in 1949, had one son who preceded her in death. She later married William H. 'Bill' Phelps. She is cousin of '56 classmate Ebb McDuffie. Services were Monday August 23 in Duncan with burial at Highland Cemetery in Lawton.
Extended obit and guest book at: www.granthamfuneralhomes.com

From the eMail bag:
Reese Russell, '56, emails that his brother - Jerry Russell - is seeking information on Tommy Nelson, who would have been in the '58 class. They were best buds in school. Jerry moved to Tennessee in '58 and graduated there but would like to connect with Tommy if anyone knows his whereabouts!?Anybody?

"My husband and I are going on our 21st cruise in October! It's called the Canada/New England cruise and sails from Quebec to Ft. Lauderdale Florida."
Ann (Sherratt) Theobald, '59

"Glad Jimmy Powers is doing well with his knee surgery. I also had knee surgery and am doing good. I hope to start back at tennis in Sept. Mine was not a replacement, thank goodness. I would love to say "age" had nothing to do with this, but I'm sure it was part of it.Wish I could remember all the fun stuff from the past. Sounds like we all had lots of fun."
Sonya Reynolds Homan, '54

And.....more memories....
"I certainly remember the bingo at Vaska on Friday nights. My whole family went (5) and we won a lot of stuff, six packs of Pepsi, groceries and my dad won me a long sleeve lime green western shirt with black diamonds on it. I wore it for years until I "outgrew" it."
Frankie (Kurtz) Browning

"May not remember all the names of movie theaters in Lawton, but I remember the Lawton, Dome, Palace, Ritz and the Vaska, drive ins, Mt Scott, Hankins and Austin. Liked going to the drive in when was young, because we could go up front and swing. Also liked going to drive ins on 4th of July because they had lots of fire works. "
Geneva (Harris) McIntosh, LHS 62

"Our own classmate George Bridges' ['59] mother Darlene Bridges played the role of Mary in The Easter story film that was filmed in the Wichita Mountains. I, too, remember going to either the Vaska or the old Lawton Theater downtown to see the movie. When we fist moved to Lawton in 1950, we lived at 1705 Cherry; all the neighborhood children would walk up to the Vaska on Saturday mornings for the westerns/cartoon, etc. And yes, I remember playing bingo there, too! Ah..... what fun we had!"
Carlana (Fitch) Murray, '59

"The movie was called "The Lawton Story" and was probably filmed in the early '50s. It used mostly local people and was centered around the Easter Pageant. The star (I guess you could call her that) was a child actress named Ginger Prince who was probably 10 or so years old and who I immediately fell in love with (I was about the same age). The World Premier was held at one of the Lawton theaters, I think The Dome, and was a big deal. The movie's name was later changed to "The Prince of Peace"."
Mike Keeran, '56...

"Nancy says she went to see Sally Rand with her parents, well Lance Carden ['59] and I went to see her one afternoon and told our parents we went to see "Rommel the Desert Fox". I think that Lance's uncle may have been Ms Rand's pianist. If I have dis-remembered this, Lance can correct me."
Ben Ansley, '59

With more perspective on this....
"Sally Rand was in Lawton for the opening of my Restaurant "The Robertson House" One of my badder ideas. She gave a performance of her famous fan dance at the Lawtonian for the benefit of Lawton Community Theatre and was guest of Opal Ford (who almost drove her crazy). One of the Robertson girls was her pvt secretary."
Dan Glascock, '59

"Great picture of David Whitwell and his wife. I too saw Sally Rand as kid. I remember she threw her fans above her head just as the stage lights went out. Oh, the shock!!"
Frankie (Ingraham) Kinderman, '56

Major congratulations to '59 classmate Judy (Mattoon) and hubby Leon Perry. Celebrating 50 glorious years on September 3. Both retired from Lawton Public Schools. Way to go guys!

I had occasion last week to visit with Doug Kemper who has recently returned to the Lawton/Medicine Park area! Doug, class '63, is directly involved with the building of a Museum of Natural History at Medicine Park. The new museum, slated to open in 2012, will feature a wildlife zoo. It is to be located across from the Winery on highway 49 (west side). Sounds very exciting and you can visit the web site (below). I know Doug was involved with the aquarium that opened in Jenks, OK few years back and I believe similar projects in Washington state. http://www.mpmns.org/

Still have people asking for old LHS yearbooks. If you have yearbooks you do not want, especially '40's -'50's, let me know! Still more memories to come!

Finally!.... a break in the heat, as fall gets ready to blow this way! Georgia