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Nathan Hale High
School
50th Anniversary - September, 2009
Nathan Hale High
School was officially opened on September 1, 1959. We would
like to make this special occasion a reason for the entire Hale
community to celebrate the history of our school.
Our first official
planning meeting was very productive. The mother-daughter team
of Suzy Hamilton-Dennis '72
and January
Lambert-Mathews '91, will chair the central planning
committee. I'm sure that January will get her son, the 3rd
generation Ranger in the family, involved as well. He's
currently a student at Hale.
We would like to have
representatives from each graduating class on the planning
committees. If you have an interest in helping with this
special event, please contact us, or come to a planning meeting on
the 3rd Thursday of each month. We meet at 5:45 pm in the main
office conference room at Hale.
Alumni, students, parents,
teachers and staff are welcome to attend.
Let's help our future Rangers at MacArthur Elementary.
They are collecting labels from any Nestle Pure Life water
bottles. The
labels will be redeemed for fitness & sports gear for the
students through
Nestle's Go Play
program.
Drop your
collected labels by the main office at MacArthur, BEFORE
10/1/08.
May 12, 2008
RANGERS GET A NEW GYM FLOOR
Our sincere thanks to Jim Bunnell and his
crew from Tri-State Floors. They have helped us
save some important pieces of our history.
We asked them to try and save the lettering from
the old floor for us, as they removed it.
We plan to auction off the pieces or find some
other way to raise money with it, to benefit Hale athletics
during the school's 50th Anniversary.
and many other current & former Ranger event photos now on
check back often... video clips coming soon
We just received a box full of
the old Ranger basketball game scorebooks from Coach Wally Knapp. We're in the process of scanning them to add
to the new
Ranger Sports Archive section of the web site.
The 1962-63 Hale Invitational
Basketball Tournament is the first one that is available.
We have plans to eventually add a forum
or bulletin board to the alumni web site, but until that happens,
you can visit with other Hale Rangers on the Nathan Hale HS Yahoo
Group.
The group was started back in November
by Ralph Seegren, Class of '93 and is open to all Hale alumni.
It is currently experiencing rapid membership growth. Join us,
and see what everyone's chatting about.
ALL PROCEEDS from the sale of these DVDs directly
benefits Hale's Athletic Dept.
September 2007: This
Fall we were able to contribute another
$350 to Hale's athletic dept.
This money came from the sale of football game DVDs over the past
year.
The check was presented to Hale's Athletic Director, Tony Peters.
He was grateful to receive this support from Hale alumni.
Their budget was cut again this year because they are no longer
getting pop money that they counted on for a variety of team needs.
Tony Peters
Hale Athletic Director former Sooner & NFL Safety
Kevin Busch
Head Football Coach
Fall 2006: The day after Hale beat the Edison Eagles and
advanced to the semi-finals in the All-City Tournament, the Alumni
Foundation was very pleased to present a check for almost
$540 to Hale's head football coach,
Kevin Busch. This money came from the sale of vintage Hale
football film DVDs, over the summer.
He was very grateful to receive this unexpected support. They
have a constant need for additional financial support for uniforms
and other essentials for the team.
Coach Busch says the the Rangers have a serious chance of having a
winning season this year, and would love to see more Hale alumni
come out to the games.
The Alumni
Foundation would like to encourage additional direct financial
support of the Hale Athletic Department from any alumnus who has the
means help out the sports programs at the school.
You can make a
tax-deductible
donation, in any amount, through the Alumni Foundation, and specify
ANY school program that you would like to direct those funds to.
For more information, contact us at
info@nathanhalealumni.org.
Posted 8/27/06
NATHAN HALE
YEARBOOKS FOR SALE
There are a
limited number of old yearbooks available to purchase from the 1970's
through the 2006-07 school year.
If you
are interested in purchasing one, please contact
the Nathan Hale Alumni Foundation at info@nathanhalealumni.org
ALL PROCEEDS from the sale of
yearbooks goes
directly back to Hale's current yearbook program.
Each class
year also has it's own
"News & Announcements" page.
Use the
Directory to visit
them.
The Awww... of the day:
8/19/08
We received a note & photos this morning from Lanette Giese '74.
Her brother, Jesse Brown, Class of '69, had an unusual patient at his animal
clinic in North Carolina yesterday.
A Bengal tiger at
Tiger World
Conservation had given birth to two cubs. She killed one
of them and dropped the other in the water.
The conservation facility's regular
veterinarian was not available so they rushed the two day old cub to
Cabarrus Emergency Clinic where Jesse practices.
Our latest report is that, thanks to
Dr. Jesse, the cub was stable and should survive the ordeal. She was
picked up by Tiger World's vet staff today.
Note Jesse's hand-made "Caution" sign.
Be sure to pick up the Aug '08 issue of Oklahoma
Magazine. There's a 2-page feature article about Steve
Pryor, Class of '74 and his great new blues CD, Cardboard
Luck.
photos from '71 Patriot
yearbook
Familiar Figure Back As Area IV Superintendent
7/28/2008 TPS Press
Release: Veteran educator H.J. Green has
been named the Area IV Superintendent at Tulsa Public Schools,
returning to the district he began his career in over a half-century
ago.
“It feels good to be back,” Green said. “I’ve spent
a lot of years with the district —’57 to ’87 — and I have a lot of
fond memories.” Green recalls that when he started at TPS “the
district was very segregated. Central was somewhat integrated and
certainly so was Webster, but the rest of the schools were
segregated. It was also a time of very rapid growth. The schools
were much larger than they are now.”
Green is a Tulsa mainstay, beginning his career at
TPS as a teacher and coach before moving on to the role of
principal at Hale High School. In 1973 he began what would be
eight years at the helm of a newly-desegregated Booker T. Washington
High School, a stint that won him kudos for his handling of a
potentially volatile situation.
"TPS is fortunate to have enticed one of Booker T.
Washington's magnet program founders back to the district. Mr.
Green's experience and integrity will be valuable tools on TPS'
journey to performance excellence,” said TPS Superintendent Dr.
Michael Zolkoski.
Lt Col
Doug Stall,
Class of '81,
"retired" from his law firm last year and is back with the Marines.
LTC Stall is currently serving in
Iraq, but began sending updates to his classmates while he was still
training for his current mission.
Doug writes: "As part of the
largest mobilized force from Oklahoma since the Korean War, I count
myself fortunate to take part in this deployment and historical
event".
7/28/08 Straight from
the Ranger's Mouth... There's an article, written by Doug, in
today's Tulsa World titled
"A leader's open letter from Iraq"
WELCOME HOME, BILLY!
6/19/08
www.NewsOn6.com A Tulsa soldier returned home Thursday
after a tour in Iraq.
It was a picture perfect homecoming for Staff Sergeant William
Ree, Class of '94. His mother, his wife and three little girls
greeted him at the airport.
Sergeant Ree spent a year in Iraq with the 325th Medical Unit.
He says that experience changed his outlook on life. "Everyday
things you take for granted. From seeing real grass and real trees
to driving your own car. Having a family to come home to everyday.
Things like that," said Staff Sergeant William Ree.
Now that Sergeant Ree is home for good, he and his family are
planning a well deserved vacation.
VIDEO CLIP:
Commissioner Steve Shelton is appointed by the
Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
August,
2007: Steve Shelton, Class of '73, is a
new member of the state
Commission for Rehabilitation Services.
He's only the second disabled commission member
since it was established in 1993.
The commission is the governing board for the
Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services,
which annually serves more than 190,000 Oklahomans
with vocational rehabilitation, employment and
educational programs. It also helps determine
medical eligibility for Social Security disability
benefits.
A senior application programmer and consultant with
Fidelity National Information Services, Steve has never allowed
blindness to become a barrier to achieving his goals.
Commissioner Shelton began his career in 1977
after graduating from East Central University with a bachelor’s of
science degree in mathematics.
He was a client of the Department of
Rehabilitation Services’ Visual Services/Vocational Rehabilitation
program, which assisted him with his education and job placement.
This assistance was a key factor in building the foundation for a
successful information technology career.
Commissioner Shelton has devoted countless hours
and resources to help people with disabilities achieve their full
potential and improve their quality of life. He was elected to four
terms as president of the Oklahoma affiliate of the National
Federation of the Blind and currently serves as treasurer.
Additionally, he served 11 years on that national
organization’s scholarship committee, during which time over $1
million was awarded to deserving students with visual disabilities.
The commissioner completed two appointments to the Oklahoma
Rehabilitation Council, was a long term volunteer with Boy Scout
Troop 479 and currently serves as a deacon at First Presbyterian
Church of Edmond. Shelton and his wife Barbara have three adult sons
and now reside in Edmond.
ANOTHER AMAZING
RANGER
In January, 2008
we posted the obituary of Mike Chittom to the Class of '69 Memorials
page, noting that he was an active volunteer at Celia Clinton Middle
School, through Tulsa's Rotary Club and their Adopt-a-School
program.
The following
press release was issued by Tulsa Public Schools on April 8, 2008.
School
Library Renamed in Honor of Volunteer
A man that
dedicated his life to an area elementary school is now
forever immortalized in that school’s library. A committee
appointed by Board of Education president Gary Percefull
approved creating the Mike Chittom Library
at Celia Clinton Elementary. Chittom was chairman of the
Rotary Club of Tulsa’s Adopt-A-School committee for Celia
Clinton. The club adopted the school in 1993 and spent the
next decade-and-a-half donating office furniture, clothes,
landscaping and mentoring readers.
Chittom
passed away Jan. 17 at the age of 56, the day after
attending a pizza party at the school. Administrators
brought in grief counselors to help students cope with his
death.
“Mike was
an incredible volunteer,” said Celia Clinton Principal Cindy
Taylor. “He worked here for ten years, every day.”
In 2003
Chittom spoke about his relationship with the school:
“This summer, with school out, a little girl started calling
me every week to go to church with her. That church, which
is a poor one, ministers to all the poor people in the
neighborhood where our adopted school is located. I finally
went and, much to my surprise, there were at least 10
children from our adopted school there. They all ran to me
and hugged me,” he said. “…I have six sacks of love notes
and letters of appreciation from children who I was lucky
enough to help. There is no greater reward on this Earth
that I know of.”
4/5/08 For those of you who
caught KU's win over North Carolina tonight... did you happen to
notice Win Case's (c/o '81) son, Jeremy (#10), playing at the
end of a very important game? Keep your eyes open for him
Monday night.
Eugene Field Elementary Principal, Cindi Arnett-Hemm,
Class of 1973, has been named the TPS District Administrator
of the Year by the Oklahoma Association of Elementary School
Principals.
The annual award lauds administrators that maintain
high expectations for their students and staff and show evidence of
outstanding contributions to their school and community.
Hemm will be honored during a luncheon this summer.
She’s also in the running for Oklahoma Administrator of the Year,
with the winner attending a recognition ceremony in Washington, DC.
Nathan
Hale Alumni Foundation has donated funds to start an
indoor herb garden at Hale.
The school
received a $10,000 grant to make improvements to the outdoor Nature
Center (aka Pride Ctr) next year. They have plans for some new
raised beds that will be used for vegetables and herbs.
HARDSCAPE MATERIALS in Bixby has
offered to donate pond supplies to renew the water feature in the
Center.
The indoor herb garden will
give students the opportunity to have a trial run before going on to
large-scale gardening next year.
The harvest from the herb
garden, and outdoor Nature Center, will be used in the new Culinary
Arts magnet program. Botany, Biology and Special Education
students will contribute to the gardening efforts.
Stephen
Kearney, Class of '67 has been teaching/coaching at
the Oklahoma School for the Blind in Muskogee, OK for 33 years.
UPDATE:
KOTV-Channel 6 News did a great story about
Stephen's wrestling team on Jan 24, 2008.
Announcing the
marriage of
Paul Cooper, Class of '65
and
Donna Blackwell-Runge, Class of '68
on
December 20, 2007 at Poipu
Beach,
Kauai,
Hawaii
The couple first met when
Donna's family moved next door to Paul, from St.
Louis, MO in 1965. Paul
was about to start college at the University
of Tulsa and Donna was a
Sophomore at Hale when they began dating.
After a two year relationship,
the couple went separate ways but rediscovered each other when Paul
inquired about Donna's fate after Katrina, to find that her
New Orleans home had been devastated in the
storm.
Both had previous marriages
ending in divorce and after a 40 year separation, they discovered
love has no time limits.
Stroke of Genius:
Abstract painter Brad Ellis
has come a long way from exhibiting his artwork in old warehouses.
Sometimes the best artists go most of their careers without success
until late in their lives, but Ellis proves an exception. After
moving to Texas in 1987, he settled in with a collaborative group of
artists in Dallas’ Deep Ellum neighborhood.
Their makeshift warehouse
shows paid off as galleries and private dealers lined up to
represent Ellis, yet he manages to stay humble—which makes him that
much cooler.
"I’m primarily motivated by
the work of other artists,” remarks Ellis. “There is so much great
work being created right now by artists all over the world in many
different kinds of mediums so it’s really an exciting time to be
alive and to be making art.”
Creative people find
inspiration in a variety of muses. “I used to follow the Grateful
Dead and saw about 80 shows from coast to coast,” he recalls. It’s
no wonder then that his work incorporates an element of musicality.
A harmonious balance of vibrant colors, lines, shapes, forms and
textures makes his paintings foyer and museum ready.
“My art philosophy is pretty
simple,” he insists. “Paint for paint’s sake!”
Brad's chosen medium is primarily
encaustic, oil, acrylic and collage on canvas. Visit his
web site to see his current work:
www.bradellisart.com
Eddy Stewart,
Class of '85, is the founder and national president
of the Southern Lawmen Motorcycle Club.
Eddy writes:
After several years in law
enforcement, I had an idea to get a small group of
friends together to go on motorcycle road trips. The
idea continued to attract interest and the
Southern Lawmen Motorcycle Club (SLMC) was formed
with its headquarters in Springfield, TN. Our next
chapter is currently being organized in Manchester, TN.
The club is 70% law enforcement and 30% firefighters,
EMS, Prosecutors, Military, etc., (these categories also
include retired and honorably discharged).
When a
need arises, we organize and hold benefit rides to raise
funds for those wounded in the line of duty or for the
families of the fallen. We are developing a
"Scholarship program" to begin in the 2008 year. 100%
of the benefit funds go to the recipients. None of the
club members receive a paycheck. 100% of their time is
donated. We are showing our appreciation for those men
and women who serve and protect our country and our
communities.
Wally Trepp '72
Paul Clarke '74
Wally Trepp '72, Paul Clarke '74 and Rob Trepp '71(no sr photo) have just
opened a new venture - the Sunset Bar & Grill in the London
Square shopping center at 5800 S. Lewis in Tulsa.
~ Live music in the evenings,
Wednesday thru Saturday ~
~ Salads, soups, burgers, steak, seafood, kids meals ~
~ Dinner Monday thru Saturday - Closed on Sundays ~
~Coming soon...... Lunch ~
(click on the logo to visit the
web site)
John Dougherty, Class of '64, and Steve
Lee, Class of '68, are members of the very popular Tulsa group -
The Fabulous Mid Life Crisis Band.
Larry Wofford Named TU
Bovaird Professor By Tulsa Business
Journal - 7/24/2007
After carefully
considering candidates from across the nation, The University of
Tulsa named Larry Wofford (Hale Class of '66), TU alumnus and
Tulsa business owner, the next Davis D. Bovaird Chair in
Entrepreneurial Studies and Business Enterprise.
The endowed chair is one of the highest honors in TU’s College of
Business Administration. Established on Jan. 1, 1983, by Bill and
Marian Bovaird, its primary goal is to develop a better
understanding of business enterprise and the entrepreneurial process
among students, faculty, the business community and the public.
As Bovaird chair, Wofford will take
the position of associate director at TU’s new International
Business and Entrepreneurship Institute, which opens this fall.
Wofford will develop an entrepreneurship program for TU students
focusing on entrepreneurial innovation and opportunity campus wide.
He will also teach an entrepreneurship course for graduate students,
as well as an independent study course.
Wofford is not new to the TU family.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and a Master’s degree in
business administration from TU, and he was professor of finance and
real estate at the University from 1974 to 1987. Wofford also has a
Masters of liberal studies degree from the University of Oklahoma, a
Ph.D. in finance and real estate from the University of Texas at
Austin and is a certified urban planner.
Today, Wofford is owner and president of C&L Holding Corporation,
which owns and operates Route
66 Harley-Davidson and the 5 & Diner restaurant in Tulsa,
Okla. His store has been honored four years in a row as one of the
Top 100 Dealerships in North America by Dealernews magazine.
THANKS,
STEVE!
The
NHAF is on the hunt for Ranger items to put on display
during Hale's 50th Anniversary, in 2009.
You
can thank [or blame] Steve Stephens for his donation of 3
issues of the 1967/68 M.A.T. MuDD - Hale's Mu Alpha Theta
math club newsletter.
We
didn't know that this school publication even existed until these
copies arrived in the mail this week, along with an original 1968
Commencement Program.
According to the '68 Patriot yearbook, the MuDD staff members were
David Taylor, Frank Creamer, Doug Brecht, Will Roy,
Wayne Barnes and
Diana Henderson.
It was
more like reading a copy of the National Inquirer than a math club
publication! These issues should bring memories of day-to-day
life at Hale flooding back to those of you who roamed the halls
during the 1967-68 school year.
We'd
love to have copies of the rest of them for the Class of '68
archives, if anyone still has some stashed in their attic.
We'd also like to hear the stories behind some of the ribbing and
innuendo.
While
looking for more info about the M.A.T. newsletter, we also
discovered that the 1968 Key Club had it's own publication -
The Mondo Key Hole. These would also be a great addition
to our Anniversary displays and archives (hint, hint).
Contact the
NHAF if you have items to loan or
donate
for our "in school" Anniversary displays.
Greg Schober, Class of '72, is
a member of a very popular band in Oregon called "The Touchables".
From the band's bio:
For those of us old enough to remember the late
1960s, The Touchables show is a foot tappin’, feel good, fast-paced
trip down memory lane. For the younger generation, The Touchables
deliver an up-close and personal history lesson on the roots of
classic Rock and Roll.
According to their
web site, the band's history includes gigs with these
nationally-known artists:
CHARLIE DANIELS
BAND
CHUBBY CHECKER
BEACH BOY’S ‘DAVID LEE MARKS’
EDDIE MONEY
GRAND FUNK RAILROAD
HERMAN’S HERMITS
JOHNNY RIVERS
LOVERBOY
MARK LINDSAY
MERILEE RUSH
PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS
SAWYER BROWN
THE GRASS ROOTS
THE KINGSMEN
THE MONKEES 'Micky Dolenz’
THE SUPREMES
ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS
TOMMY JAMES AND THE SHONDELLS
Be sure to pick up the July, 2007
issue of
TULSA PEOPLE magazine.
The cover article is about Tulsa's young (under 40) "Movers and
Shapers". These are the up and coming professionals who
"capture the spirit of a city on the move, and are dedicated to
making Tulsa a better place".
Channing Barker, a 2007
graduate of Bishop Kelly, is one of the four young leaders featured
on the cover. She is the daughter of Patti Olzawski-Barker,
Class of '77.
Channing says this about her mom
Patti, "My mom moves me and