A crosstown rival becomes a Hurricane head coach

JHS just named Jo Beth Mathis as its new head volleyball coach. Then named Jo Beth Carmack, she was the star of Nettleton's Class AAA state champion volleyball team that, regrettably, beat our Class AAAA state champ Hurricane for the Overall state title in the fall of our senior year. (The small inset black and white photo of Blair Huckabee playing volleyball in her bio entry below is from that match at the then-very new ASU Convocation Center.) I actually got to know Jo Beth some years later, in the late 1990s, when she was the coach at Lyon College and I was working at the Batesville Daily Guard newspaper. Twenty years after triumphing over JHS, she will be leading the Hurricane on the court starting next season.

Classmate bio: Blair Huckabee Dean

Name: Blair (Huckabee) Dean

Family: Husband, Derek; sons, Crockett (11) and River (6); dog, Zack

Location: Jonesboro, Arkansas

"Active” is the word Blair Huckabee Dean says would probably have best described the way her high school classmates would remember her, and the word that would best describe her now.

It would be hard to argue.

In high school, Blair started on the state championship volleyball team, was a cheerleader on a squad that made nationals our senior year, and played tennis.

Today, as an associate professor in Health, P.E. and Sport Sciences at Arkansas State, she runs marathons, advises educators around the world about physical education for children, serves on at least six boards related to physical activities and children's health, and she's the mother of two growing sons.

“The most important thing I’ve done is earn the title Mom,” Blair says.

Blair met husband Derek Dean while attending Arkansas State, where she graduated with a master’s degree in 4 years. “He played football at ASU and we stumbled upon [each other] in the classroom -- the rest is history,” Blair recalls.

They were married in 1993 and sons Crockett (right, below) and River came along in 1997 and 2001, respectively.

"I can't talk about my family without mentioning a life changing moment when River was diagnosed with Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS),” Blair said. “My son's fight with GBS became a big athletic competition my family was competing in. It was God, the Deans, the doctors, and the treatments versus everything the illness could stack up against us.

“Whether that was the unbearable nerve pain in his feet, the paralysis of his lower body--or all the other effects that go along with having GBS--to us, it was a fight we were determined to win together. We all held on till the end and the interesting thing is that competition has been one of the most positive, life-affirming, incredible experiences ever.”

Coming from a long line of educators, including her father who taught theater at ASU and her mother who had several positions in Jonesboro schools, Blair said she knew she wanted to be a P.E. teacher in the 8th grade. But after teaching private and public school a few years, she “discovered that blowing a whistle was not my calling” and moved on to being a college professor.

And, yes, she runs marathons. In mid-April, Blair will be running the Boston Marathon along with a cousin named Mike -- former Arkansas governor and recent Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. (He is to the right of Blair in the picture below; the other guy is Dean Karnazes, an ultramathon runner who Blair describes as "the fittest man in the world...I'm serious.")

Blair has run in so many marathons that she thinks other people might find it boring.

“People get tired of reading/hearing about the ‘26.2’ and most people know I love to run...and to most people that is the least bit interesting. But one thing they don't know is that it is not necessarily the ‘running’ that I enjoy most but the journey where and with whom running takes me.”

Running once took Blair to Greece with friend Bridgette Lloyd Inboden (JHS class of ’87) to run the Athens Marathon. After finishing the original 26.2-mile route, Blair and Bridgette decided to leap a railing, with security mysteriously absent, into the Panathenaic Olympic Stadium, where they did a victory lap around the ancient, but off-limits, site.

“We were chased out of the stadium scared to death for our lives. I’m not sure what the security guards were yelling … it all sounded Greek to me. Huge lesson learned … don’t trespass in foreign countries where they don’t speak the Arkansas Drawl.”

Virtual Golden Times

I just found this on the Jonesboro High School page thru the Jonesboro Public School website. The Golden Times is now on the internet. Stop by and see what's currently going on at JHS almost 20 years since we graduated!

The way it was: March 25, 1988

By late March of 1988, the school newspaper was really starting to look like graduation was drawing near.

The front page of the March 25, 1988, edition of the Golden Times included a story naming the 56 seniors who would be honor graduates, and a story on the upcoming April 30 prom promising the “Time of My Life.”

The above photo, in the lower left corner of the front page, shows (from left) Brian Haggbloom, Greg Murray and Stephen Hester acting in “The Nerd.” Brian was playing the part of Axel Hammond, Greg was Willum Cubbart, and Stephen was “The Nerd.”

JHS’ FBLA’ers were competing for district awards on page 4, and on page 5, the JHS Quiz Team had conquered the sub-regional. “I was pleased by our high scores and our margins of victory,” some guy named Myatt said, rather cockily.

Two of our classmates were signing to play sports on college scholarships. Kim Sims, the “red-head who could fire the ball across the net with a vengeance” according to the article, signed to play volleyball at Arkansas Tech.

Randy Bullock, who juggled football, basketball, baseball and being a first-chair bass singer in regional choir, signed to play football at the University of Central Arkansas. (He would later play at Northwestern State in Louisiana – I remember getting some comments from him and fellow classmate Brandon Rowlett after their team beat Arkansas State in Jonesboro in the early 1990s).

In his back page column, David Bennett promised a “suitably sick, twisted, obscene fate” would be awaiting everyone with his year-ending column in two months.

Come Out of the Woodwork!

If you've been reading this blog at all and you went to Jonesboro High School at any point in time, or if you taught at JHS, leave a comment and say "Hi". Even if you've commented on earlier posts, leave a comment here to let us know you're there and if you're coming to the reunion in October!

[In case you were wondering, we plan to get information out about registration soon. Don't think you've been forgotten. When that information gets sent out I will leave a post on the blog. If you have any questions, please email: jhsclassof1988@gmail.com]

10 years ago: The Westside school shooting

A few months before our 10-year class reunion, the world's lens zoomed in on Jonesboro for several days after four middle school girls and a teacher were shot and killed by two boys at Westside Middle School on March 24, 1998. I remember how weird it was to see people and places I knew on TV 24/7. I also recall the crushing sadness that enveloped me.

I remember the day vividly because, as an assistant editor for the Batesville Daily Guard, I was at the school a little more than two hours after it happened. The school was cleared of students, parents and teachers by the time I arrived, but it was still heart-wrenching: bulletholes in the brick walls, blood stains on the sidewalks, and the constant whir and hum of news helicopters circling the school.

The Columbine High School shooting in Colorado followed a year later, and just last April, I was again working in the middle of the world's biggest news story when 32 students and faculty were gunned down, before the shooter killed himself, at Virginia Tech, just 30 miles from my Roanoke, Virginia, home.

I longed for our high school days when Mr. Williford was about all the security we had. Did any of us ever really think something like Westside or Columbine was possible back in 1988?

Remembering Jeff Meredith

(An unsigned tribute to Jeff Meredith appeared on Page 2, typically the opinion page, of the February 26, 1988, edition of the Golden Times. Jeff died on Feb. 6, 1988, after a long battle with cancer. Much of that tribute is reprinted below)

Jeff has been described by friends as sweet and “just an all-around nice guy,” but he was so much more than that. Jeff always had a wonderful smile that lit up his face for everyone. Though popular, he was never a snob. He was a fun person to be around. He was a friend – and a peacemaker – to many people. He was a very caring person, and even through his illness he continued to think of someone besides himself.

Jeff knew he was going to die, but he always wanted to know what he could do to help others. He would have done anything possible to relieve the pain and worry felt by those around him. He forgot his own physical suffering to comfort his family and friends who were suffering mentally.

Through his illness he demonstrated the rare courage to have faith and deal with his situation. He tried to live each day to the fullest. He was a Christian, and those around him could tell just because of his personality. It was his Christian faith that helped him get through the rough times; he placed his whole life in that belief. His faith was so strong that it even enabled others to deal with his cancer.

Jeff died at such a young age that it does not seem fair. But in the short time he was here, he touched so many lives in so many different ways. He believed he had a purpose for being born on Earth, and that once he accomplished that purpose, he died in peace. So, as hard as it may be, we should try not to be sad that Jeff is no longer with us. Instead we should be thankful for the times we shared with him, and remember them fondly.

Jeff is healed now. He wants us to remember him as he used to be, and let the good memories be a comfort to many in the future. No matter what, we will always have memories of Jeff, wearing his trademark baseball cap and a grin, clowning around at football games …

The way it was: February 26, 1988

Sadie Hawkins was “goin’ country again” on the front page of the February 26, 1988, edition of the Golden Times. There had been a Hawaiian phase to the annual “girls ask guys” dance the year before.

“I think people really enjoyed last year’s change, but there were several requests for the traditional theme,” said Marcie Brooks, a Student Council member. Whatever happened to her?

Kristy Dobson, whom I described not very eloquently as the “six-foot terror on the other side of the net” for JHS volleyball opponents, signed to play volleyball at the University of Tennessee. Kristy was a tough competitor in sports, but certainly never a “terror” personally -- quite the opposite.

They weren’t our classmates, but Page 8 featured lots of future political power. Sophomore Dustin McDaniel, now Arkansas' attorney general, talked about his visit to a political rally for George Bush … the elder George Bush, that is, back when he was Vice President Bush. Yes, McDaniel is a Democrat now, but enjoyed a very Republican event back then. And there was junior Jason Willett, who would eventually become state Democratic Party chairman and is now running for mayor of Jonesboro, winning Mr. Kool as Tiffany Tiger.

Regular school things kept happening too: The photo at top, taken by Stephen Hester and appearing on Page 3, shows JHS-88ers Charles Brinkley, Chris Harris, Kathy Williams, John Works and Craig Schuchardt working with pulleys in a physics class.

Under 30 and SPOILED!

[Thanks to Ashley Thompson Day for forwarding this to me. She thought you guys would enjoy it! I know I did! I don't know who wrote it or I would credit them.]

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what, with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning uphill BOTH ways, yadda, yadda, yadda!

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that.. I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a freak'in Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email! We had to actually write somebody a letter...with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!


We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids' and the graphics sucked! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, that was just too bad!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your bum and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little brats!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove or go build a fire ... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled!!!!!!!!!

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980! Oh yea, and a seatbelt was Mom throwing her arm across your chest every time she hit the brakes.

Regards,
The over 30 Crowd

After School

I picked my daughter up from school today and while I was waiting, I watched from afar (the primary building is across the street from the high school) as the high school kids left the parking lot in their various vehicles. I tried to remember what I did when school was out for the day. I remember many times waiting in line at the light on Caraway and Main to turn left and talking to everyone in the other line. I'm SURE I went to band practice often during marching season.

As I watched these kids take off in utter happiness, I tried to recapture that feeling of freedom. No responsibility. No bills waiting on you in the mailbox. No kid in the backseat begging to go to Sonic for a Cherry-Vanilla Dr. Pepper. No briefcase full of work sitting next to you in the car. Just freedom.

How did you spend your free time after school was out for the day? Did you go to a job? Did you go straight to a pool in the summer months? Or the mall? What was your free time filled with during high school?

Classmate bio: James Lindeman

Name: James Hale Lindeman

Family: Wife Brigette, daughters Amanda (11) and Jordyn (9)

Location: Warsaw, Indiana

Three years after graduation, James Lindeman put Jonesboro in the rear-view mirror, wanting to see what was “out there.”

“On a whim, I moved to D.C. and hung out for a year and a half,” James remembers about his becoming a “nomad” at age 21. “From D.C., I packed up my Civic hatchback and made my way to Aspen, Colorado, for a year. After that, it was New Orleans for a year and a half and from there, Key West, Florida, for almost 5 years.

“Along the way, I met great people who I'm still close with today, ate a ton of great food, and had a blast seeing what else was ‘out there.’ "

James has skied some of the hardest trails at Aspen and in the Swiss Alps, jumped out of airplanes over Louisiana and Mississippi, and scuba-dived off the Florida Keys and the Grand Cayman Islands.

But he says all of that pales in importance to “being with my kids and being a great dad and husband.” He and his wife Brigette in Indiana are raising Jordyn, 9, James’ daughter from a previous relationship, and Amanda, 11, James’ stepdaughter. (Amanda is left, Jordyn right in picture below)

James is an owner/operator of 10 CiCi’s Pizza franchise units in Virginia, Maryland and Indiana. But his road to being a successful pizza entrepreneur reflects his nomadic spirt.

Besides tending bar at his many stops, James also owned a jet ski business in the Florida Keys and has been both state-licensed and nationally certified as a massage therapist. Some 13 years after high school, James earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University ... with the help of college credits beginning at Arkansas State and stringing through the University of New Orleans, two Florida community colleges and Florida Atlantic University.

James said that, of all the places he’s lived, his time in Key West had the most impact on his life. “It's a place I spent quality time in, a place where I was welcomed, and a place where I learned to invest and give back to relationships that will last a lifetime," he said.

As for his Jonesboro days, James said that he suspects his JHS classmates might remember that he had his own apartment at age 17, that he worked at Pizza Inn and that he once organized a trip to Six Flags in St. Louis.

“I don't know that I did too much to be remembered by, other than quietly holding my own academically and socially,” James said of his high school years. “Maybe my female classmates remember that I was always the friend and never the boyfriend, unfortunately enough for me ... who knows?”

So with both his business and family thriving, is there anything else “out there” for James?

“A (crazy) personal goal I've had for years is to graduate law school from the University of Notre Dame...maybe when I'm 50?”

JHS Names New Football Coach

JHS has just named Randy Coleman (JHS Class of 1992) as Jonesboro's new head football coach. Coach Coleman comes to JHS after four seasons as Valley View's head coach. Coleman also has ties to our graduating class. His brother Rusty Coleman graduated with us in 1988. Read the whole article here.

Classmate bio: Kevin Myatt

(This is the 1st in a series of JHS Class of 88 mini-biographies. Since no one else wants to be first, and to give everyone else an idea of what these will be like, I am posting a mini-bio of myself up as an example for those that are to come. Others on what will hopefully be a wide cross-section of classmates will follow.)

Name: Kevin Myatt

Family: Wife, Erica, married in 2005; dog, Cindy, 9 years old, (found as a stray in Cushman, Ark.)

Location: Roanoke, Virginia

Unlike many of his classmates who left town soon after graduation for new adventures, Kevin was 26 before he got out of Jonesboro and 29 before he left Arkansas, but he’s found a home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

A scheduling change – choosing to take journalism in the 10th grade when all the typing classes were full -- charted Kevin on an unexpected career course over the next two decades. He spent 8 years writing for The Jonesboro Sun (getting an Arkansas State journalism degree during that time), 3 years as an editor at the Batesville Daily Guard, and then moved to Roanoke, Virginia, in late 1999 to become a copy editor at the Roanoke Times.

In Roanoke, he incorporates an old love into his work, as he writes a twice-weekly weather column for The Roanoke Times and maintains a weather blog for the newspaper’s Web site, Roanoke.com.

Each May, he assists a local meteorology teacher in leading high school and college students into the Plains to observe severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. The team has had its vans banged by golfball-sized hail and shaken by 70-mph winds, but has succeeded in close encounters with powerful thunderstorms and a few tornadoes each of the last three years.

"A lot of storm chasing is not as exciting as it's shown on TV -- there's a lot of driving and waiting," Kevin said. "I think last week's deadly tornado outbreak in the South underscores the need to give young people who might go into meteorology as a career a real-life experience with severe storms.”

But Kevin would rank his weather column and chasing tornadoes below two other developments since moving to Virginia.

(1) His closer walk with the Lord and involvement in Christian ministry. He currently serves on the vestry of a 1,000-member evangelical Anglican congregation.

(2) Marrying his wife Erica in 2005. Erica and Kevin share work and faith together -- she is the editor of a local feature section at The Roanoke Times, and she often sings at two different churches in Roanoke. In fact ... she sang to him during their wedding.

“I was a little geeky, but harmless,” Kevin recalls his high school days. “I was generally friendly to those who spoke to me or got to know me, but not outgoing at all.

“Today I’m much more confident – assured in my geekiness, you might say – and much warmer and fuzzier – literally fuzzier since I usually have a thick beard.”

Classmate bios are coming!

I hope to get a long-awaited series of classmate mini-biographies started very soon on this blog.

2 things to remember as we begin:

(1) What one has done or how much one has accomplished since graduation should have no bearing on being a part of the reunion. We're proud of our classmates everywhere and the mark they have made on the world, but when it comes to October, we don't care about all that, we just want to see you.

(2) There's no way I'm going to get to nearly 300 classmates in the 7 months between now and graduation. I would consider getting a tenth of that, about 30, as a major accomplishment. These bios are intended to give a snapshot of our class, not a complete mosaic. That said, Marcie and I are working on a list that will be diverse in race, location, education, professions, etc. Please don't feel we're snubbing you if you're not included. We are open to your suggestions, of course.

Nobody ever really wants to be first in something like this, so, at Marcie's urging, I have reluctantly agreed to put my own bio up first just so (1) no one else will have to go first and (2) everyone can get a feel for what these will be like so that you -- hopefully -- will be eager to answer the questionnaires you have received or may receive in the future. My writing background makes me absolutely abhor writing about myself in the third person, but I want to give you a feel for how these will go, so I will allow myself to be the guinea pig. My apologies in advance if it seems pompous.

I hope to have that up in the next day or two.

Coach Barry Pruitt Celebrates Win No. 500!

Speaking of Coach Barry Pruitt and the Jonesboro Hurricane basketball team back in the day—I had to post this current bit of information on the current JHS team and Coach Pruitt's 500th victory! Here's another story about the best Seven Under The Sun. Congratulations Coach Pruitt!

The 3-point shot

If you follow basketball at all, it may seem like the 3-point shot has always been part of the game. But the 1987-88 season was the first for the 3-point shot in high school basketball, a year after it had been introduced in college play.

Its arrival at the high school level was just in time for the Hurricane to take advantage of the long-range shooting talents of our classmate Terry Scott, pictured above.

When Terry was on, he could launch a barrage of 3-pointers that would easily rack up 30 or more points, and our Hurricane would usually win when he was hot.

Blytheville was the state runnerup the year before in boys’ basketball, and held a No. 6 statewide ranking when the Chickasaws came to Hurricane Gym in late January of 1988. Jonesboro was sitting on a 9-6 record, riding the up an down waves of its 3-point shooting.

Despite Blytheville’s high ranking, JHS and Blytheville fought a nip-and-tuck battle. The Hurricane went up by 1 at the end of three quarters when Terry drained a 30-foot 3-point shot, and JHS led 53-51 with just a few seconds left.

JHS’ defense kept Blytheville away from the hoop as the Chickasaws tried to score a tying basketball. One of the Chickasaws’ star players, Robert Mays, had only one option: Fire a shot from 25 feet out.

It hit nothing but net, and it was worth 3 points. Blytheville escaped JHS 54-53.

Terry Scott had hit a similar long-range 3-pointer late in the game to get the Hurricane out of a jam against Westside earlier in the season.

Since we graduated, the Hurrricane basketball team has become a perennial state powerhouse, capturing state titles in 1994 and in 2007. Coach Barry Pruitt is still there, having recently scored his 500th career coaching victory.

The way it was: February 1, 1988

Things were pretty quiet on the JHS campus as we turned the corner on the new year, sliding downhill toward graduation.

Front-page stories in the Golden Times included a preview of “The Nerd,” the dinner theatre play set for March. Keith Salter promised it would be “the best dinner theatre yet,” and it would seem that many participants and attendees would, years later, agree that it was. The cast included our classmates Greg Murray, Kelly Morris, Stephen Hester, Brian Haggbloom and Charles Brinkley.

Stephanie Owens wrote a front-page story looking into the costs of graduation year and entering college. Those of you who have kids approaching that age now know best that we only thought it was expensive back then.

Speaking of costs, the most amazing thing to me in these old papers are the ads for the 99-cent Whoppers at Burger King and 39-cent Chicken Littles at KFC. Can you even get a small drink for that little today?

Reunion Meeting Reminder: February 2

Reminder for in-town classmates, there will be a reunion meeting Saturday, February 2 @ 5pm at the Associated Engineering Offices. For those that are able, we will go out to eat afterwards.

Drive north on Church St. toward the railroad tracks. Church St. deadends at the Associated Engineering office (green building) parking lot. The address is 103 S. Church- go through the gate to the double glass doors.

The building is the old Caldwell Furniture building.

If you are in town, please try and come.

To date we have found 196 classmates out of our graduating 296. We still need to find everyone so keep sending in addresses and emails! We appreciate everyone's help!

"Never Say Goodbye"

Who was your favorite band in high school? If your are female, I know Bonjovi is at the top of your list. I remember many nights cruising and listening to "Slippery When Wet". I think Janet Stallings and I played it until the tape disintegrated. Jon was the ultimate long-haired guy. Amazingly, he is still just as sexy... His concerts must be awesome today... A bunch of 40 year olds throwing their underwear on stage. Now if your male, I know your saying "Appetite For Destruction" by Guns n Roses. Unfortunately Axl did not remain as attractive or successful... I know they are pretty mainstream. What other bands did you crank while cruising?

New Blogger Alert!

Get ready for a new blogger to appear in the coming days. This JHS classmate was involved in many high school activities including: Camerata Singers, Mu Alpha Theta, Beta Club, Cheerleading and French Club. She was also a cast member of several JHS dramas and musicals. I especially remember her playing "Rosie" in "Bye, Bye Birdie"—one of my favorite musicals. Thank you for volunteering to help post!

Snakes, Whips & Skulls

Who's ready for the new Indiana Jones movie, "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" coming out in May? I love me some Indiana Jones. I've got the vision of the young "Indy" in my head, so I hope they sprinkle some cinema magic on him so he resembles the Harrison Ford from the 80s so I won't be too disappointed. They've already done some great Photoshop work on his movie poster. :-) What's you're favorite "Indiana Jones" movie? If you're a child of the 80s, you've got to be a fan of Dr. Jones.

Great 80s TV

Guess what I am watching right now? My favorite TV show from high school. Can you guess? It's "Miami Vice"!! I remember videotaping the show on Friday nights because I was always at a JHS football game performing with the band. I would get home and watch my favorite show and just dream, dream, dream about Don Johnson. That show embodied all of the decadence that was the 80s. Neon colors, big hair, loafers without socks, Don Johnson. It's good stuff people.

So what were some of your favorite 80s TV shows?

In Memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was first honored with a national holiday in his name on January 20, 1986. Stevie Wonder created a single, "Happy Birthday" in 1980 in support of making King's birthday a national holiday. There was also a tribute song recorded and dedicated to him in 1986 called "King Holiday". It was sung by a group of 80s artists including: El DeBarge, Fat Boys, Lisa Lisa, Teena Marie, Menudo, New Edition & Run-D.M.C.

Drama Queen?

In searching my brain for a post, any post having to do with high school or the 80s (you people are more than welcome to help post, just send me an email and you can be added as an author) I thought about this. If you could go back to high school, is there something you wish you would have tried? Or something you wish you could have changed? Either one. I always wished I would have tried out for a drama production or at least helped out backstage. Always thought about it but too scared to get up there and audition. I loved Mr. Salter's speech & drama class, though. That gave me a little fix. I always thought life would be so much fun as a musical even though I can't sing. Now it's your turn. If you're lurking and haven't commented, now's your chance.

Hey Trendsetter!

Have any of you paid attention to the state of today's teenagers? The Seniors of today have morphed into one general-looking person. Most of the girls are rail-thin, have long hair, wear jeans that show some of their crackage and look like they are 25. The boys all have wind-swept hair and look like they've stepped out of an add for Old Navy (notice I didn't say Benetton, which ROCKED the 80s). I look back through our JHS yearbook and see wonderful individuals! Sure, the girls had crispy-sprayed big hair and wore tapered jeans and the guys wore ripped Levi 501s and thin cotton ties but we all had our own unique look.

What was a favorite outfit or look that you rocked in the 80s?? I think mine would have to be my faded Guess jeans (tapered, of course) that had an authentic rip which occurred in Madame Guillaume's French class. I had a lumberjack-ish flannel shirt (before Kurt Cobain made them stylish) and big, big hair! The outfit was completed with my black high-top Reeboks and white scrunch socks. Ah! Those were the days.

Now, lets hear from you!

Who Needs Encyclopedias? Use Wikipedia.

Remember the cumbersome set of encyclopedias we had to use in high school (ours were from the 70s so it wasn't the most updated info). I'm sure you do like I do now and just "google" a search to find an answer to almost anything you'd like to know. By the way who knew "google" would become a verb? Then again, who ever knew we'd communicate like we do over the internet (probably Al Gore). But if you ever yearn to use an encyclopedia again, use one that is continually updated. It's called "Wikipedia". "Wikipedia (pronounced /ˌwiːkiˈpiːdiə/ or /ˌwɪkiˈpiːdiə/) is a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project. The name Wikipedia is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a type of collaborative website) and encyclopedia. Wikipedia's articles provide links to guide the user to related pages with additional information. (from Wikipedia)" You can find so much in here. I even found information on Jonesboro High School. Check it out.

The big snow

Our senior year had something special: A big snow.

It wasn’t the typical 2 inches of slush that melts 3 hours after the sun comes out, like is more typical of Arkansas. What fell on January 6-7, 1988, was 8-10 inches of ski-quality powder that stayed on the ground more than a week. In fact, some of you did ski Stroud hill.

Having just come back to class the previous Monday after the holiday break, we got out Wednesday through Friday, leading into a weekend.

We probably shouldn’t have been out that Wednesday. Superintendent Bill Beasley decided to cancel classes that day in anticipation of the big snow on its way. But the snow didn’t start until about 4:30 that afternoon. I guess he made up for it the following Monday when we went back to school even though most of the secondary roads were still covered by snow and ice.

The photo above from the yearbook shows our classmates Meredith Fairhead, Stephen Watkins and Ashley Lincoln, along with Meredith’s junior class sister Margaret Fairhead, trudging back to class one of those early days the following week. Looks more like Duluth than Jonesboro!

Many of you who were in band have an unhappy snow memory later in 1988. What was a pretty puny snow in Jonesboro in February was much heavier to south, and the band was prevented from making a trip to an event in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. If my memory serves, the bus made it as far as Trumann before the decision was made to come back to Jonesboro. Perhaps some of you “band geeks” can enlighten this “weather geek” about that.

We only had a few little snows during our sophomore and junior years, but our ninth-grade year had so many snow days that we had classes on some Saturdays – Janice alluded to this in a comment to the entry on David Hawkins’ death.

The JHS band had an interesting experience returning from the Fiesta Bowl parade that year, and a few of our more musically inclined freshmen classmates got to be part of it. The band got delayed on its way home by heavy snow across parts of New Mexico and Texas. They finally got home to find half a foot of snow here as well.

Do you have any snow memories from high school?

At Least Some Things Don't Change...

Found this clip with Dick Clark rocking in 1988! Even though Ryan Seacrest has been co-hosting from Times Square since 2005, Dick Clark is still ticking along with his commentaries in the studio (It's good to know at least some things never change). This clip looks and sounds like every other "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve" specials with some exceptions. At the end of the clip is a young John Stamos and Heather Locklear along with Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and a view of a very young Dick Clark. Have a Safe and Happy New Year everyone and if you're at home, watch the ball drop in Times Square with Mr. Clark—it's still the same since 1988 (if you forget Ryan Seacrest)!

JHS Golden Hurricane Marching Band

Yes, I was a band geek, but proud of it! Band was a very important part of my high school (and junior high) life. Most of my good friends were in the band and it allowed us to showcase our talent and have some of the best times I've ever had in my life. Whether on the bus or on the parking lot of the high school in 150 degree heat, we were having a ball. We all felt Hurricane pride when we marched in the various parades and gave our all in marching and symphonic competitions. We endured being called "the banana band" by other marching bands and sulked while we watched the band from Hope pull their equipment out of an 18-wheeler. I've tried to pinpoint my favorite band memory but there are too many. However, I would love to hear some of your favorite band memories!!

What 80's Fashion Statement Do You Wish Would Make A Comeback?

I was talking to some friends the other day about what 80's fashion statement we wished would come back in style. I thought about it and my vote is big hair. I think back to what I did to style my hair in high school and, although I used A LOT of product on my hair, nothing compares to the damage I do to it nowdays with the straight iron. Back in the day, you used mousse, a hair dryer (preferably with a diffuser), a pick and some Aqua Net and you were done! Alas, teasing and scrunching have now been replaced with flat ironing and shine serum.
So, big hair is my comeback wish. What about you?

Coach Riggs

I have to post a blog about having Coach Riggs for a biology teacher in 10th grade. I can't think of any teacher I would have rather had during a time that I am having to dissect something. Do any of you remember playing the "Who Gets the Dark Coffee/Spit Stain on Their Paper He Was Handing Out" game? When he would pass out papers, he would lick his fingers and, since he had been drinking coffee, would leave a stain on your paper. I remember comparing them with Janet Stallings. Also, he had the skeleton in his class that we would surround with food during the canned food drive. Not to mention the very old and scary Panchos cheese dip that was in his desk. I loved his class because he was just....so Coach Riggs! Any thoughts? Anyone? Anyone?

Hello Out There!

You can see by the sitemeter information that the reunion blog is receiving lots of visitors (the sitemeter icon on the blog records visitor information and you can see where the visitors are from). Now I realize that there are accidental visitors as well as true "JHS Class of 88" alumni that come read the blog, but it's pretty cool how many people it shows that come by. Now if we could get as many people commenting as are just reading, that would be so much more interesting and fun. Some people have wondered how to leave a comment. Click on "comments" under the post and choose one of three ways. If you have a blogger account choose the first option (then people can click on you and find your blog to leave you a note), the second is to choose "nickname" and sign in your name, the third is to post "anonymously" and you don't have to put your name. And if you would like to post on the blog and relay your memories of our class or the 80s, please email jhsclassof1988@gmail.com and I'll add you to the author list.

Have a Merry Christmas!

And watch out for the reindeer...

Chances of a White Christmas?

Fast forward this video to 2:20 and see if you recognize the JHS Class of 88 member talking about the chances of a white Christmas for the Roanoke, Virginia area...

Remembering Mr. Hawkins

Those of us who went to MacArthur knew Mr. David Hawkins. I was sad to find out he passed away yesterday. I remember him as one of my favorite teachers growing up. Mr. Hawkins moved down to MacArthur from the high school our 9th grade year to teach physical science. He had a great sense of humor and made his classes fun and interesting. Mr. Hawkins taught in the Jonesboro School District for 32 years and retired from teaching in 2006. To sign the online guest book go to www.emersonfuneralhome.com.

Big "J" Rocks The House!

The year was 1986 of our Junior year around Homecoming. Remember Spirit Week where we all got to dress up? Well, I remember the Juniors having a meeting in the auditorium and we discussed what we wanted to do as a class to show our "spirit". Instead of doing something "easy" like harassing the sophomores and dressing up like "nerds" and putting signs on us that said "proud to be a sophomore" like the seniors had done to us the year before; we decided to be unique (as always). Someone suggested we dress in the style of the "world's oldest profession and their managers" (can you tell I'm trying not to say the slang-words or what?). Instead of dogging on the sophomores, we decided to wear signs on us that said, "Proud to be a Senior!" and "Seniors for Hire!" I remember that some members of the class of 1987 got a "little" upset and ripped signs off some of the juniors. After that meeting in the auditorium I remember Caprice Lasley standing up and with two foot stomps and a clap starting a chant that spread throughout the room, with everyone yelling over and over, "Big Juniors Rock the House!" Anyone else remember this or am I the only one?

The way it was: December 18, 1987

As our senior year closed in on Christmas, Jonesboro High School precipitated an international incident.

Don’t remember that? You must not have read Page 4 of the December 18, 1987, edition of the Golden Times, where a banner head screams: “JHS delegates walk out of UN.”

It turns out that JHS’ first-ever team in the Arkansas Mock United Nations got assigned to be Barbados. “Once in the General Assembly, the true insignificance of Barbados shone through,” the story, by Travis Justice (Class of ’89) stated. So the five-member team that included four JHS-88ers (Fran Bailey, Shea Burns, Chris Harris and Melinda Stringer) walked out.

But that political brouhaha couldn’t hold the front page when the Mr. Kool pageant was coming up in just 34 short days.

Joining the Mr. Kool preview on the front page were Kelley Gibbard being crowned Miss Hurricane, the National Honor Society inducting 32, the naming of our class’ “Who’s Who” and William Cheatham being named the 1987/88 winner of the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citzenship Award.

“He wants to attend the University of Arkansas, major in pre-med and pursue a career as a general surgeon,” the article on Cheatham states. No mention of wanting to be a principal or marrying Marcie Brooks.

I’ve caught up on fall issues of the paper so that I can now post each new edition on the actual date it was published. The next Golden Times issue is not until Feb. 1, so I’ll have some time to start profiling a few of our classmates for this blog.

Working in High School

I went to work at Hays on Washington in downtown Jonesboro on my 16th Birthday! My best friend Mike Hawkins worked there and put in a good word for me... you know how hard it is to get one of those coveted "Stockboy" positions. That was some of the most fun of my life! Everyone was so laid back .. except the Manager. He thought it was life or death if we didn't get the shelves "faced" (to pull everything to the front so it looks full) or if the Always Save Toilet Paper was running low. Mark Morris ('86) also worked there. He was our boss and we always gave him the respect he deserved ... since he was a Senior at the time. We had to wear white shirts and a tie. At first, we wore the square knit ties. Later we decided it would be more cool to find the oldest, ugliest ties from our dads/grandads. That was our way of sticking to the Mgt.

I remember in the summer they usually had a hot dog stand out front of the store. When the stand closed down, they would give the left over hot dogs to the stockboys. One time, a co-worker ran into the stockroom and asked "Mr Morris" if he could go on break cause he just got some free HOT DOGS. Without blinking an eye, Mark asked "Did you get me one?" When he replied "No", Mark said "Then you got some COLD DOGS...get back to work!" The rest of us just busted out laughing! The customers that visited the Washington Store were a HOOT! I remember one lady asking if the "Tomato Ketchup" was better than the regular Ketchup. (Maybe you had to be there!) Sometimes after busting it all night to get the store stocked some of us would drive to West Memphis to eat Krystal hamburgers. I still LOVE Krystals ... I can't believe they did not make it in Jonesboro! Some of my coworkers included Mike Hawkins, Jason Grubb, Mark Morris, Mickey Ryan (HHS), Joe Crumpton, Sydney Linderman, and Lawrence Williams (at Woodsprings store). Lawrence was in a Hays commerical juggling oranges to "Benny and the Jets".

At graduation, Mike & I thought it would be funny to send Benny Hays (THE MAN HIMSELF) a graduation announcement. The next week at work, the Manager called Mike and I out to his car ..... Mr. Hays had a gift for us because we were the only ones that sent him an announcement. If I remember it was a thick, green towel!

Working in High School was one of the best times of my life. There was no bills or mortgage... just had to make enough to put gas the my 1974 Dodge Challenger and have some left for dates. I saved up money to buy a leather "Members Only" Bomber jacket. If I remember correctly, it cost $250 in 1987. I still wear that jacket to work! What a great investment! (However, Tonya says it is time to give it up!) NEVER! I at $3.35 per hour (my starting rate), I worked over 80 hours just to buy that jacket.

So tell me about where you worked during High School!

The Era of Reaganomics

Since our country is gearing up for the presidential elections next year, I thought a post about our 80s president, Ronald Reagan was in order. Now, my memories of Reagan are pretty "warm and fuzzy", probably because I didn't pay too much attention to politics in the 80s (I wonder why?). This video is a raw look at the Reagan presidency and shows both the positive and negative opinions of him as president. There is also footage of the assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr. Since it's on MTV, of course there is 80s music and commentaries from musicians and actors—and that alone makes it entertaining.

Just a Waste of Gas...

Cruising. You know you did it. Everyone did it. Now that I look back and I'm old...such a waste of gas. :-) But it was only $1.08 gallon back then, and not almost $3.00 (like now in Jonesboro). So much fun, to not have to worry about anything REALLY important like kids, mortgages and bills. I found this video on Youtube of someone cruising in Jonesboro (it's amazing what you find on there). It goes kind of fast, and it's kind of long but it's set to a catchy tune and shows all the major cruising streets of Jonesboro. You can find it here. Of course the Nettleton cruise was always the most popular...down Nettleton, turn around at Sonic, back up Nettleton, left on Caraway and right into Burger King. Go around the drive through and back down Nettleton and go again, and again, and again. Good times, good times. :-)

Speaking of Indians...

Since I mentioned the "Indians" in the previous post it reminded me of hanging out at the ASU football games on the hill. It was much more fun sitting there on the cold, hard ground with friends than in the nice, comfortable seats with your parents. :-) I don't know when they stopped letting people sit there, I guess when they built the fence around the field. Anyone know when they stopped that? Also, I remember going to the Indian Fieldhouse to watch ASU basketball games, as well as a few concerts. I went to "The Pointer Sisters" there. But, actually I didn't watch the basketball games I hung out at the top of the bleachers with the other kids. These are junior high memories rather than high school, but memories from the 80s nonetheless. By the way, does anyone have any favorites for the Indian name change?

Indian Mall Becomes "Caraland"

Yes, "Caraland" will be the new mall where Indian Mall once stood. I guess since the "Indians" are getting a new name as well, it only makes sense to makeup a new name for the new mall too. We weren't sure what was going to happen to the mall not too long ago, but now it's official.

Stop! Go Back!

So we were watching TV this past Saturday flipping through channels and we pass through the VTN Network. Then we think we see a familiar face. "Isn't that Stephen Hester?" So we go back and check it out. Sure enough it was (Stephen was an extra in the movie, he says he got paid $10 for his efforts). We were seeing "The Pretender", filmed by the Christiano Brothers here in Jonesboro in the mid-80s. Of course I had to watch the whole thing. There is a slew of JHS alumni in the film as well as shots of the JHS football field, Annie Camp, downtown Jonesboro, Central Baptist church (which is no longer there) and the old Piero's restaurant. The clothes are wonderfully great and truly 80s. You'll recognize 3 JHS graduates. Two were a year older than us and one has a real career in movies/TV to this day. The Christiano Brothers also produced two other movies with our very own drama teacher, Keith Salter in the leads. You can also find these here as well.

Danger! Death Scene!

Frankenstein's monster roared with anger, throwing a rope around my neck -- choking my very life away. As my consciousness began to slip, I fell to one knee and then...ooh, fuzzy bunnies!

Strange what goes through one's mind as everything around him ceases to exist. This event happened during one of our last rehearsals for the play Frankenstein. In this scene, the Creature (good friend Greg Murray) was supposed to choke me to death using a chain found in Victor Frankenstein's laboratory. However, for rehearsal, we simply used a rope, thinking it would be less likely to actually kill me (though we used a real chain in the actual play -- which I guess means that if it did kill me, that would have just added to the drama). Anyway, I was supposed to get my fingers between the rope and my neck, and then just "act" like I was dying; however, Greg was always too damn fast, and I never could get my fingers where they needed to be in time. On this particular day though, Greg was truly inspired, and he choked me until I really passed out.

After each rehearsal, especially the later ones (which this was), Mr. Salter would evaluate and critique our performance. The thing to keep in mind here is that after I passed out, Greg let me fall to the ground, where I lay until the scene was over. No one at this point even knew what had happened (eventually I woke up on the floor -- disappointed the bunnies were gone). When Mr. Salter got to my performance evaluation, everything went pretty well until he got to my "death scene". He wanted to know what the hell I was doing; why was I being such a doofus?

Apparently my real-life death throes were too awkward and staged, which makes me wonder that when I really do die, will anyone actually believe me?

By the way, Victor Frankenstein was played by Donnie Keshawarz, who has been seen in shows like 24, Lost and The Sopranos. Check out his IMDB page here. Too bad I didn't keep in touch.

Devazier Steps Down

Here's an update on Hurricane football for people that are out-of-town. Coach Jim Devazier has stepped down as the head football coach at Jonesboro High School. A new coach has not been named. More information on this here.

80's Music

In case you have forgotten what Duran Duran looked like..check it out!

Great 80's Music

Hellooooooo classmates!
First of all, thanks to Marcie for the awesome intro on the home page! It took me a minute to get in because I can't remember passwords, something we didn't have to deal with in high school. Just locker combinations and I struggled with those because I wasn't good in math :)
I am glad to be blogging on our reunion website, although it's impossible for me to believe it's been 20 years since graduation. I can't be that old, can I??? Well if I am, that means YOU are too so, nah.
My first blog HAS to be about 80's music because that is such a big high school memory for me. I, of course, was into the English bands. My favorite being Duran Duran. The 80's was the decade that introduced MTV and ran the network as a Music Television channel and not the RTV - Reality Television station it's turned into today. You could count on MTV to play a Duran Duran video every two hours (just in case you were wondering) and in between those two hours I was introduced to the other music my friends loved and played when I was in their vehicles.
The 80s also saw Van Halen, not Van Hagar, "Jump", Michael Jackson when he looked like the Michael Jackson that Katherine Jackson gave birth to and Wham! before George Michael found "Faith". It was also the time that my tenth grade boyfriend introduced me to my favorite male singer of all time....Sting (thanks Mike). That was some good stuff!!
If I've left out your favorite band, I'm sorry and feel free to leave a comment about your favorite bands of the 80's.
When I think of the 80's, high school and great memories....I think of 80's music.

The way it was: Nov. 20, 1987

The Class of ’88 led a pair of sports champions in the fall of 1987.

The volleyball team, pictured above (OK, I snagged this from the yearbook, as the print quality of the newspaper version was awful), won the Class AAAA state championship in Conway.

The wildest thing about that: The team was losing in the state semifinals against Bryant, when the lights went out in the University of Central Arkansas’ arena. Play was stopped until the lights could come back on, the momentum switched, and JHS rolled.

The football team, meanwhile, won a share of the AAAA-East conference title with a 4-1 league record. Conference titles in football were few and far between for JHS in later years. In fact, this might have been the last one.

On the front page of the Nov. 20, 1987 edition of the Golden Times, Felicia Willett wrote about the upcoming Miss Hurricane pageant, and Stephanie Owens wrote about Perry Black’s speech in which he urged JHS students to “Say no to dope, yes to hope.” Does anybody remember that?

An editorial on page 2 lamented the weak spirit of Spirit Week. Apparently, costumes were not allowed in class on certain Homecoming theme days.

“For seniors this was their last Homecoming, and for some, it will not be remembered as their best ever.”

New Blog Author on Deck...

I'm excited to get another woman onboard as a blog author. Hopefully she will post sometime this week or the next. I just found out she loves reality tv as much as I do, she was in the JHS Marching band, a member of Thespians and the French Club and she is also married to another JHS 1988 Classmate. She lives in Arkansas but not in Jonesboro. Care to take a guess who the new blogger is? I know she will keep you entertained. :-)

I'd love to have more contributors to the blog. If you are interested in posting from time to time, please email us and I'll add you as an author. And if you're reading the blog, please leave a comment, I know lots of people are reading! [One tip on commenting, you DO NOT have to have a blogger account, just post anonymously and leave your name at the end to let us know who you are.]

It's finally Christmastime...

Here's a little 80s Christmas to start off the season...