Attitude Adjustment Seminar

Dear Everyone who was there and those who couldn't make it,

My goodness, I had no idea how well that seminar would work! I just thought it was a clever name for friends who want to sit around a campfire and visit, but it was much more than that! It was like hitting your reset button. My attitude is definitely better. All seems well with the world more so than it did before the seminar. It was like gathering with tons of cousins. If you didn't know them, you got to know them. It didn't matter how well you knew them, you still shared that common bond of childhood in the same little town, in the 50's.

Everyone there had interesting stories about themselves, but two days wasn't long enough to hear everyone. John Fred alone needed three seminars back to back to share a small fraction of his stories!! Holley and Doug are still into their genealogy, but I think Doug is prouder of Sue's heritage than his own. He has discovered that he is married to an Indian Princess while he on the other hand is still a commoner. Hey Doug, since Kate Middleton married royalty, I don't think she is a commoner anymore. Maybe you can coast on Sue's heritage and be whatever the son of a chief is called.

Saturday, Richard Spencer brought his homemade deer chili to go on the hotdogs. I was impressed that he could make such delicious chili, but then, in my family, periodically I have to pull my husband over to the stove and refrigerator and again explain the differences. I'm not used to a man that knows how to cook! I would give each volunteer credit for his/her food contributions, but I was so busy stuffing my face that I forgot to find out who made what! It was all good. Thanks.

Jean Vail came with her husband, Don, but I kept forgetting his name, so I just called him Pablo (Picasso) because he looked like a professional artist or sculptor. Well, he could have looked like a professor, but I chose artist. It was fun seeing them both. Glad you guys came.

Jewel Scates was there and I want you to know that the marines have nothing on him. He told me a story about the time he marched in the band in a Mardi Gras parade carrying a tuba. That part of the story sounds like a fun experience, but a tuba gets heavier and heavier with time and after marching all morning, the members of the band were tired and hungry, so the band leader decided to take them out of the parade and give them a break. (By the way, there were several parades going on all over New Orleans.) Before the band could rest, they found themselves walking into another parade. The bandleader assumed that this parade was about to end, so he made his band fall in line and march and play in that one. After way too many hours and yes this could be an exaggeration, the band realized that they now were in a parade that had just started!!!!!!! That meant all afternoon of marching and playing unless they could get out of it. I'm not sure what the ending of this story was other than Jewel had permanent shoulder injury from hauling that tuba all day! So don't anyone say anything if you notice him with a gimpy walk and one shoulder hanging lower than the other. He never was the same after that Mardi Gras trauma. Sorry for all the mistakes I may have make in the telling of this, Jewel. Feel free to make corrections since you were the one there and not I.

I asked Judy and George Hanson when they first started dating. I always think it is interesting when a boy and girl grow up in the same town and know each other for years before that spark catches fire. George swears he had a crush on Judy for years, but was too shy to ask her out on a date. Finally, he got the nerve and called her on the phone and asked her to go out with him. Did she say yes or did she say no? Either one of those responses would have been kinder than what she told him. Miss Timmons told this poor shy boy that she wanted to think about it and for him to call her in a few days!!!! Excuse me? What kind of response was that? No wonder you guys didn't try to date very much. Judy nearly ruined it for all of us! Anyway persistence paid off. George was braver than most. He dutifully waited the designated time and then called her back to see what the answer was. The rest is history. They have been a cute couple for several decades.

Of course, Charlie as usual was the perfect host. While the rest of us visited, he broke branches and threw them on the fire. At times he even used a power saw to cut up the bigger tree trunks. The bonfire was always burning. He cooked enough sausages and wieners for an army. For those who weren't there, just try to see him in his khaki overalls standing over a hot grill making sure everything was charred to perfection?

I know Marilynn did a lot of work behind the scenes and we appreciated everything she did. The only story that I have to tell on her is that even though the Sat. events were to begin at 1:00pm, she arrived that morning hoping for an early fishing trip out on the lake. To her surprise no one was there and the cabin was locked. Now this is the person who sent out the schedule of events. It's not like she wasn't aware of when what was happening. Anyway she waited by the picnic tables. She waited and she waited. She was sure that any minute she would see the dust trail of a speeding truck barreling down the driveway toward her and the locked cabin. She didn't. No one called her on her cell, but apparently Mother Nature doesn't need a cell phone. She had been trying to call for the last hour, but Marilynn had successfully ignored her calls. Finally, Marilynn had to stop looking for the truck and go search for a secluded gully surrounded by shrubs and trees. What perfect timing, while peeking through the branches, what does Marilynn see, but a big truck barreling down the driveway!!!!!

When it was time for Janet and I to caravan back to OKC, poor Jackie Walker was trying to tell us the easiest way out of the "wilderness" and back on the highway. It was so simple to her because she lives in the area, but Janet and I couldn't have been more confused if she had been trying to give us directions to the moon! She kept drawing little squiggly lines and mentioning turn offs. Her map was beginning to look like a flock of chickens with muddy feet had run over the paper. Finally we gave her permission to give up on us. She walked away shaking her head, not unlike the way I do sometimes when my husband opens the oven door to retrieve a cold snack. Thanks, Jackie for trying. You didn't fail. It was just an impossible mission. And, if you were wondering, Janet and I miraculously made it back to OKC and on the same day!!! Janet and I really have amazing navigational skills when it's a life or death situation.
Love to all,
Sidney

Sidney always gives great reports including several stories I didn't hear. I didn't hear Jewel's tuba story, but did hear of his more than 40-year career with the railroad, including an impressive "first day on the job" in 1966 which started with helping clear a 34-car derailment in freezing weather. Everyone else kept sneaking off to sleep or warm up, but Jewel wanted to keep the job, so he kept on in spite of everyone else....I wonder how many of them ended up with a successful railroad career and retirement?

The untold story of Doug and I and our genealogy is that Doug drove all the way from his home to St. Charles, Mo. to meet my uncle and pick up some historic family photos that were found after my aunt's death. Because of their fragility, my uncle was unwilling to mail them, and I probably wouldn't be able to get there from Texas for a long time, so Doug went way outside his zip code to bring them to me at the AAS. But then I would drive way outside of my zip code to do something important for almost any of you. That's what family does.

One of the best insights I received from this AAS it that this class is "extended family" to one another. Oh, a suggestion for Sidney and Janet and others who are directionally challenged...I hear that GPS units have come way down in price:)

Thanks again to Charlie and all who came.

Holley

Wow Sidney,

What a great memory for details. I'm sure there will be pictures to follow to evidence the stories we heard.......(all but mine.....I hope). (BTW Sidney, I liked your version better than mine....it was more dramatic.)

Thanks to all of you who toughed out the wind on Friday evening. You had to have someone hold your chair when you got up to keep it from blowing away. But it was still loads of fun sitting around the campfire. Then Saturday was just perfect. The breeze was pleasant and we had a beautiful day. The hot dogs were wonderful and tasted better than any I've ever eaten. One of the best AAS meetings we've ever had. (And I did catch a fish.....!!!!)

Marilynn

Attitude Adjustment Seminar

Friday, November 22, 2013

Attitude Adjustment Seminar - 2013 (Pictures courtesy of Doug Smith and John Aldriedge)

Monday, May 2, 2011

Comments on AAS

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

April 29 and 30, 2011