Good morning! Here's the write-up about the Alumni Association, with a little football thrown in. Please send it out to everybody.
Hi! As you may or may not know, I have the honor of being a Nacogdoches High School Alumni Association (NHSAA) board member. Many of you are members of NHSAA, but for those of you who aren’t, I’d like to give you a little information about the Association. Since the inception of NHSAA in 1994, our board members have made scholarships a priority. We have gone from awarding one scholarship in 1995 to sixty-five this year (2009-2010 school year) for a grand total of $484,000 toward higher education. We met recently to discuss this upcoming school year and what NHSAA can do to support the students of NHS. We have a few things in the works. Our first big event is the 11th Annual NHSAA Golf Tournament to be held at Piney Woods Country Club on Friday, September 17, 2010. If any of you are interested in playing, the entry fee is $200 per 2-man team or $100 per participant. It includes free range balls, tournament play, cart and lunch. The guaranteed pay outs are: 1st place $600/team, 2nd place $400/team, 3rd place $250/team. If you would like more info, you can contact me at 936-615-7885 or the Alumni Office at 936-462-1403.
Membership into the Alumni Association is open to all NHS former students, as well as family and friends who are interested in supporting NHSAA and the pride and history of Nacogdoches High School. Membership is for life and the cost is $100.00. Out of the 300+ graduates from 1974, 43 are members of the NHSAA.
Also, the Alumni Brick Plaza at NHS has laid over 4,300 bricks since its dedication in 2002. For $50.00 per brick, you can buy a brick for yourself, current and past students of NHS, teachers and faculty, etc. Wouldn’t it be great if 1974 had a brick for everybody in our class (or at least more than any other class)?!! As of today, 41 members of our class have bricks.
And another thought - at our age we’ve pretty much ran out of gifts to give each other, our spouses, parents, siblings, etc. NHSAA memberships and bricks make great birthday and Christmas presents! As an added bonus, the NHSAA is a 501(c)3 organization and your contributions, including the membership fee, brick purchase, and even the entry fee for the golf tournament, are tax deductible.
If you want any information on anything associated with the Alumni Association, including pictures of the Brick Plaza, lists of scholarship recipients, the new store, email addresses for other classes/reunions, etc., you can go to the NHSAA website at http://nhs-alumni.org. If you have never visited the NHS Alumni Association office (really more like a museum), you should stop by and see it. It is filled with old yearbooks, pictures, memorabilia, even a file cabinet full of issues of the Dragon Echo.
With the beginning of school comes FOOTBALL! Monday night, August 23, I attended ‘Meet the Dragons’. It may not be football weather yet (I think the heat index was well over 100), but the feel of Fall was definitely in the air. Being in the stadium rekindled my school spirit. Do you remember "our" days? We lived for football games, whether it was to play, to cheer, to perform, or just to meet up with friends. Our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and neighbors came to the games. The bleachers were always full. The parking lot was packed. We had convoys following the buses to out of town games. Football in Texas was (and still is) one of the most honored traditions we have. We were very fortunate to grow up in the times we did, when football was still a very important part of our community. Unfortunately, times have changed. Kids are ‘different’ today - but really, they are the same. I watched the cheerleaders, the twirlers, the drill team, the band, the football players Monday night. They have the same spirit we had, only they don’t have the support we did. I went to a couple of games last year and couldn’t help but notice that almost half of the crowd left after the half-time festivities. The players noticed it, too. When the football players were presented Monday, they announced that they have come up with a ‘chant’ they are going to say at the beginning of each 4th quarter, and encouraged the crowd to learn the chant and say it with them at each game. One of the players made a plea to the crowd, though, and asked that they (we) stay past half-time this year to join in on the chant. It has to be discouraging to the players when half the crowd leaves. And how many times is a game won or lost with only a few minutes left on the clock? The second half is oftentimes the best half! They need our support. They want to hear us yelling for them. They want to see us standing up cheering them on. These are their days - days that will be etched in their memories forever. Let’s try to make it as memorable for them as it was for us. I have already bought my season tickets and plan to attend every home game and, of course, the Lufkin game (in Lufkin this year). If you don’t live in ‘Doches, see if there’s a game close to you. Feel the spirit again. Believe me, you will.
Here is the 2010 NHS football schedule:
9/3 Little Cypress Mar - Away - 7:30
9/10 Lufkin - Away - 7:30
9/17 Carthage - Home - 7:30
9/24 Pine Tree - Away - 7:30
10/1 John Tyler ** Homecoming ** - Home - 7:30
10/8 Whitehouse - Away - 7:30
10/15 Marshall - Home - 7:30
10/22 Kilgore - Away - 7:30
10/29 Jacksonville - Home - 7:30
11/5 Hallsville - Away - 7:30
"The Boys of Fall" by Kenny Chesney
"When I feel that chill and smell that wet cut grass
I'm back in my helmet, cleats, and shoulder pads,
Standin’ in the huddle listenin’ to the call,
Fans going crazy for the boys of fall.
They didn't let just anybody in that club.
Took every ounce of heart and sweat and blood
To get to wear those game day jerseys down the hall.
King of the school, man we're the boys of fall.
Well it's turnin' to face the stars and stripes.
It's fighting back them butterflies.
It's call it in the air alright, yes sir we want the ball.
And it's knockin’ heads and talkin’ trash.
It's slinging mud and dirt and grass.
It's I got your number, I got your back
When your backs against the wall.
You mess with one man you got us all, the boys of fall.
In little towns like mine it's all they got.
Newspapers clippings fill the coffee shops.
The old men will always think they know it all.
Young girls will dream of the boys of fall. ...
You mess with one man you got us all the boys of fall.
The boys of fall.
We're the boys of fall."
Hope to see you at a game! - Pam Sitton Latham
Jack D. Yates, Jr., 62, passed away peacefully Tuesday, January 18, 2011, at his home in Houston, Texas. He was preceded in death by his father, Jack D. Yates Sr.; his stepdaughter, Leisha Tartamella; and grandson, Cameron Tartamella of Houston. Visitation will be held from 2 until 4 p.m. Saturday, January 22, 2011, at Laird Funeral Home. He is survived by his wife, Wanda Yates of Houston; his mother, Helen Yates of Nacogdoches; son, John Yates of Thornton, Colorado; son, Kyle Yates and wife, Katie, of Birmingham, Alabama; daughter, Amy Kuberski and husband, Matt, of Fort Worth; brother, David Yates of Nacogdoches; and four grandchildren. Jack was born December 18, 1948, in Lufkin, Texas, and moved to Nacogdoches shortly thereafter. He spent his early years hunting, fishing, playing baseball and most other sports. In addition, he enjoyed gardening and working on cars. His favorite passion in life was fishing, and that joy lasted throughout his lifetime. He could be found most weekends on Texas' lakes bass fishing with his buddies and competing in tournaments. His love of life and sense of adventure kept life interesting and exciting for Jack and Wanda. They took many trips together exploring the Smoky Mountains, where they shared their vows. Jack's many friends and family members cherish their time with a man who lived life large and was loved by many. In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation to the charity of your choice. To offer condolence or to sign an online register book, please log onto www.lairdth.net. Laird Funeral Home.
