Straight From The Hart

The Class of 61 We started out early that morning in ’49; Twas our first day of school, we were feeling so fine. Leaving parents and siblings for an adventure so new; Who could have guessed where it would lead us in 2002? Country schools now long gone, names like Detherage and Bolles At High Prairie and Bacon, we answered the rolls. Phillipsburg and Washington, we walked down gravel lanes There was Dry and Dusty, what was it called when it rained? Some started out at Adams, Oh, the memories we share; Gathered in lines up the staircase, for our day to prepare. Harry Truman was President, most cars were still black; TVs? – we didn’t have them, didn’t know there was a lack Of things we would soon find we couldn’t live without; Life was simpler and slower, of this there’s no doubt. First strangers, then best friends, we soon made our way To our groups and our cliques, though some changed day by day. There were teachers we loved, and I fear some

This column was published in Lebanon newspaper 10.05.16. Monday of this week marked an important anniversary in the history of the U.S.  What were you doing 59 years ago on October 4?  I was a freshman in the Lebanon Junior High building and I remember so well sitting at my desk as our teacher told us that Russia had put a satellite in space.  I was only 14, and science was never my strong subject,  so I didn’t understand at the time the historical significance of this event.  I only knew my teacher was very concerned that day. The Soviets called the satellite “Sputnik” which is the Russian word for satellite and it was launched at 10:29 p.m. Moscow time on October 4, 1957. According to NASA’s history website it was about the size of a beach ball and weighed 184 lbs and took about 98 minutes to orbit the earth on its elliptical path. It traveled at 18,000 miles per hour.  At its farthest point from earth it was 584 miles away and at its closest point it was only 143 miles away.