Delmar (Lee) Reynolds recorded the below speech from memory

Two Key Speeches from the 30th C.H.S.
Class of ‘59 Reunion, Camp Columbus, Hixson,TN.,
August 19, 1989

Recorded by D.L. Reynolds

Mickey Barker: "Dan Anderson has asked me to lead this off; nice of Dan to present me the whole class without format or warning, but I’ll have a go at it.

"Let me welcome all of you to this 30th reunion of our class. Has everyone had a good time and gotten enough to eat? (Nods and applause from the audience)

"Good. I notice a great many changes that 30 years have brought to a number of faces and bodies - and I count myself among them- but we had a number of obscure people in our class and we had a number of queens (Mickey pauses, grins. The audience laughs) and for want of a better word, a number of kings.

"Now its my observation that some of the best-looking people of 30 years ago haven’t worn so well, while some of the more obscure people have blossomed into world-class knockouts. Naturally everyone within the sound of my voice is in the latter category (Mickey grins; audience laughs).

"I notice we have with us two of our former football players, Lanny Davis and George Derryberry. It’s hard for me to remember much about our football team, other than that our win/loss record was 2-9 our senior year. That’s correct, isn’t it, George? You were the quarterback that year, weren’t you? It was 2-9 and not the other way around, despite all these years of wishful thinking, wasn’t it?

(George Derryberry, a prominent Chattanooga law attorney, laughs good-naturedly . The audience laughs also).

"One of my strongest memories of our football games is when we played Soddy-Daisy and Lanny Davis here tackled their all-City player, Hank Lupton. Lanny hit Lupton as he crossed the scrimmage line and got knocked cold as a trout. They had to carry Lanny off on a stretcher. Do you remember that, Lanny?

Lanny Davis: "Yes, H–l, what they told me when I came to, anyway." (audience laughs)

Mickey Barker: "So our football program wasn’t all that great, although it could have gone 0-11, and besides, it was the coaches’ fault, anyway, wasn’t it? (nods, applause, scattered audience laughter).

"But if we lacked a bit in football, we made it up in basketball, didn’t we? (audience nods and applauds). We went to the state finals at least once and we had about an 85% win all around, didn’t we? (confirming nods from the audience)

(To me:) "Delmar, how many people showed up today? I saw you counting heads. 73? That’s a good number, and now I ask, do we have anyone here who traveled further to attend this shindig than Paul Robere here who flew in from, and I’m not stuttering, Bang- Kok, Thai-land? ( Mickey asks this in a comical manner, sticking his neck out and crossing his eyes. Everyone laughs)

"I thought not. That’s some sort of record in itself. Of course, if Sparky Brown is here, not tellin’ where he flew in from! Sparky can make us all clairvoyant! (wild audience laughter).

"I’ve heard a lot of reminiscing this evening but nobody’s mentioned one thing and I want to bring it up. If you wanted to be in a club, Chattanooga High School was the place to go. We had clubs for everything, didn’t we? Key Club, Bulldogs, Jr. Optimist, Boosters, Jr. Lions, Bop club, Hot Rod club, Future projectionists ...if it existed, City had it. But who remembers City’s Private Girls’ clubs? (Most hands go up). How many were there, anyway? All right, who here tonight was a Penguin? (Linda Rhoden and Susie Turner Crouch’s hands go up)

Who was a Lamplighter? Who was a Nomad? (Several hands go up) Who was a Starduster? (Other hands go up) Now I’ve got a good one: who will admit that she was a Hi-de Ho’er? (Several hands go up amid laughter and applause)

(Mickey continues:) "I’m just kidding around up here, folks. I’ll be the first to acknowledge that I always wanted an invitation to one of those famous Hi-De-Ho weekends at Camp Ocoee. Who here ever went to a private girls’ club dance? (All male hands dutifully go up) Who will admit that he didn’t? (No hands go up)

"Something else I remember that I haven’t heard anyone here mention: I don’t know about you, but before I went to Law School, I rarely cracked a book. I spent all my time - nearly every Friday and Saturday night - out in the parking lot of the Tally-Ho restaurant. Who used to cruise the Tally-Ho? ( a scant few hands go up) What were you people doing, anyway, studying? Anyway, Mr. Tally - goodness, I hate to say this because he goes to our church and he has terminal cancer - but 30 years ago Mr. Tally was a real firecracker and we City High boys used to nearly drive him crazy using his telephone. Mr. Tally had a telephone inside his restaurant. We kids used to put a nickle in it and talk for 2 ½ hours. Mr. Tally got tired of it and took the phone off the wall and bolted it to the ceiling. Then he put a ladder behind his counter and if you wanted to talk on his phone, you climbed that ladder to do it. Nobody talked for 2 ½ hours anymore. Some City High boys set fire to his menu sign out in the parking lot one night and burned it up. (A pause) Lots of fires got lit out in that parking lot. ( Mickey smiles knowingly. The audience laughs)

(Mickey becomes serious): "While I’m up here I want to say something about a member of our class who is here today. Odin Woodward here has made a big success and I’m mighty proud of him." (Odin "Buddy" Woodward is a minister; audience applauds)

"Who remembers Raw Meat Rogers? (Nods and laugher from the audience) Raw Meat wore a black leather jacket with "Born to kill you all" in red leather letters on the back and he was about the meanest guy who ever went to Chattanooga High School. (Mickey nervously looks around and asks, in a mock- scared voice) He’s not here tonight, is he? (Audience laughs). Anyway, City finally did the unthinkable and played Central in football and about 20 Central High people decided to steal our City High flag on our flagpole. Raw Meat caught ‘em at it. He fired up his motorcycle and did a wheelie right at ‘em and drove it through the crowd revvin’ and all 20 Central people broke and ran in all directions. (Much audience laughter)

"We had mighty good times at City, but who looked after us the whole time? Who first took us under her wing thirty-three years ago (since Fall, 1956)?

Voice from the audience; "Good Gawd, that’s a long time!"

Mickey, seeing the opportunity, answers with a grin: "That’s just what Miss Pryor said!" (Prolonged appreciative laughter and applause from the audience).

Class of ‘59, I give you our class sponsor, Miss Katherine Pryor."

(Miss Pryor slowly rises to her feet. The entire class rises with her and stands applauding while she makes her way, slowly and with the aid of a cane, to the podium.)Miss Katherine Pryor: "You know, there’s nothing finer than a ‘59'er. I heard those words 33 years ago and they’re just as true today as they were then. I look around tonight and I see clean-cut, successful people, happy people, good people. We had a good class then and we still have a good class- a close class. We wouldn’t be having these reunions if we didn’t. When I took you folks 33 years ago, I didn’t just take you for the time you were in City High School - I took you for life. You’ll always be my children and I’m proud of you all. God bless you all and I say again, There’s nothing finer than a 59'er."


End of this excerpt. That Mickey was able to make this witty speech on no notice whatever impressed me and I wrote it down from memory later that same night. Any mistakes in it are my own and are unintentional. D.L. R. July 10, 2008