Leon1959

Leon High School

Tallahassee, Florida

Class of 1959

To view other months/years of the countdown, click here to go back to the Countdown 1958 Page.

Below are calendars and headlines, followed by memories of the quarter.

If the menus above don't work for you, try the text menu at the bottom of the page

Home Attendees 45th Reunion In Memoriam 50th Reunion Memorabilia Directory

July 1958 Headlines

(courtesy of http://dmarie.com/timecap/)

Jul 3 - "Andy Williams Show" premieres on ABC (later on CBS & NBC) Jul 6 - Alaska becomes the 49th state

Jul 7 - Pres Eisenhower signs Alaska statehood bill

Jul 8 - AL beats NL 4-3 in 25th All Star Game (Memorial Stadium, Baltimore)

Jul 10 - 1st parking meter installed in England (625 installed)

Jul 12 - "Li'l Abner" closes at St James Theater NYC after 693 performances

Jul 14 - Col Saddam Hussein & Iraqi army overthrows the monarchy

Jul 14 - General Abdul K Kassem forms a military govt in Iraq

Jul 14 - Iraqi army overthrows monarchy; republic replaces Hashemite dynasty

Jul 15 - Pres Eisenhower sends US troops to Lebanon; they stay 3 months

Jul 17 - King Hussein declares himself head of Jordan/Iraqi federation

Jul 20 - King Hussein of Jordan breaks off diplomatic relations with UAR

Jul 24 - Ted Williams is fined $250 for spitting at Boston fans again

Jul 26 - Army launches 4th US successful satellite, Explorer IV

Jul 29 - Pres Eisenhower signs NASA & Space Act of 1958

Jul 31 - Anti-Chinese uprising in Tibet

COUNTDOWN TO GRADUATION - JUL-SEP 1958

CONGRATS!

Congratulations to all you Seniors, then and now. Becoming a Senior in 1958 was an accomplishment, as is becoming a Senior in 2008. As they say, old age ain't much fun, but when you consider the alternative, it really ain't so bad, eh? Still looking forward to graduation next year (1959) and the 50th reunion next year (2009). It's sounding like a great reunion is being planned and it'll be fantastic to see old friends again.

Top 10 Hits of Jul 1958

(courtesy of

http://retrocharts.com/retrocharts/1958-July.html)

US Top Ten:

1 Everly Brothers All I Have To Do Is Dream / Claudette

2 Four Preps Big Man

3 Max Bygraves Tulips From Amsterdam / You Need Hands

4 Vic Damone On The Street Where You Live

5 Platters Twilight Time

6 Buddy Holly Rave On

7 Pat Boone Sugar Moon

8 Connie Francis Who's Sorry Now

9 Elvis Presley Hard Headed Woman

10 Marty Wilde Endless Sleep

August 1958 Headlines

(courtesy of http://dmarie.com/timecap/)

Aug 1 - US atomic sub USS Nautilus 1st dives under North Pole

Aug 1 - 1st class postage up to $0.04 (had been $0.03 for 26 years)

Aug 2 - Jordan & Iraq disolve their Arab Federation, after 3 months

Aug 15 - Buddy Holly weds Maria Santiago

Aug 17 - Bonnie Hoffman wins LPGA Kansas City Golf Open

Aug 17 - World's 1st Moon probe, US's Thor-Able, explodes at T +77 sec

Aug 18 - Betsy Palmer joins the Today Show panel

Aug 18 - Fidel Castro makes a speech on Cuban pirate radio Rebelde

Aug 18 - TV game show scandal investigation starts

Aug 18 - "Lolita," by Vladimir Nabokov, published

Aug 18 - Floyd Patterson TKOs Roy Harris in 13 for heavyweight boxing title

Aug 19 - NAACP Youth Council begin sit-ins at Oklahoma City Lunch counters

Aug 23 - China PR resumes fire on Quemoi & Matsoe

Aug 27 - USSR launches Sputnik 3 with 2 dogs aboard

Aug 29 - Air Force Academy opens

We Are Seniors! For Real!

Back in my January through June episode, I said how we became Seniors as soon as we got out of the 11th grade. Well, that's true, because I don't recall telling anyone during the summer of '58 that I was anything less than a Senior. HOWEVER, when September came and we actually entered the High School as real Seniors, that was definitely different. At our first assembly, when they told everyone else to remain seated while the Senior walked out ... Aha! We had arrived! And do you want to actually hear our Senior Class President Robert Parker make that announcement? Well, you can! Thanks to Judy Stallworth, I've got the recordings below. Judy was a Sophomore when we were Seniors and she got hold of a 45 RPM record with a bunch of 1959 sounds on it, with narration by Skip Draper and editing by Dede Keyes.

Judy is the younger sister of Bill Stallworth, who is my brother-in-law, married to my sister Marylin. Evidently, Judy had that record transferred to a CD and she gave me a copy a couple of years ago. I've held onto it since, ready to spring it on you as soon as we got to our Senior year. So, scroll down and check it out!

I've also put a copy of this on our Memorabilia page, just so it doesn't get lost.

If anyone is in touch with Skip Draper, you might mention this to him. I don't have his current email address.

Top 10 Hits of Aug 1958

(courtesy of

http://retrocharts.com/retrocharts/1958-August.html)

US Top Ten:

1 Kalin Twins When

2 Everly Brothers All I Have To Do Is Dream / Claudette

3 Dean Martin Return To Me

4 Elvis Presley Hard Headed Woman

5 Marty Wilde Endless Sleep

6 Max Bygraves Tulips From Amsterdam / You Need Hands

7 Four Preps Big Man

8 Buddy Holly Rave On

9 Perez 'Prez' Prado & His Orchestra Patricia

10 Connie Francis Stupid Cupid / Carolina Moon

Moving On Toward Graduation

Since I've included that neat recording, I'm not going to add any lame comments about the headlines and top ten songs like I usually do. I think I'll just end it here and maybe come up with some more interesting stuff between now and graduation.

If these recordings spur any memories or if you have any photos, recordings, or other memorabilia from our Senior year, please send it on and I'll include it in my next update.

September 1958 Headlines

(courtesy of http://dmarie.com/timecap/)

Sep 2 - National Defense Education Act was signed

Sep 5 - "Doctor Zhivago" by Boris Pasternak published in the US

Sep 5 - 1st color video recording on magnetic tape presented, Charlotte NC

Sep 6 - Mary Ann Mobley (Miss), 21, crowned 31st Miss America 1959

Sep 8 - Paul Anka opens Asian tour in Tokyo

Sep 9 - Race riots in Notting Hill Gate, London

Sep 10 - WJCT TV channel 7 in Jacksonville, FL (PBS) begins broadcasting

Sep 12 - US Supreme Court orders Little Rock Ark high school to integrate

Sep 20 - Ferhat Abbas forms Algerian govt in exile (Cairo)

Sep 20 - Martin Luther King Jr stabbed in chest by a deranged black woman in NYC

Sep 21 - 1st airplane flight exceeding 1200 hours, lands, Dallas Tx

Sep 22 - US nuclear sub USS Skate remains 31 days under Pole (record)

Sep 24 - 1st welded aluminum girder highway bridge completed, Urbandale, Ia

Sep 28 - Guinea votes for independence from France

Sep 28 - France adopts constitution

Sep 28 - USAF selects Thor over Jupiter rocket for mass production as ICBM's

Sep 29 - "Summertime Blues" by Eddie Cochran peaks at #8

Sep 30 - French Guinea becomes independent republic Guinea

A Few More Details

As I was playing this, I wrote down what I heard and some of these details are omitted from the list above. That #16 introduces our May Queen, Karol Anne Kuersteiner. See photos below of the event. Click on either photo for an enlargement.

Some detail on #19: That's Coach Sexton giving the pre-game pep talk for the Homecoming game with Daytona Mainland, where Leon won 51-0 and where Mary Lillian Jones was the Homecoming Queen.

On #24: Mrs. Johnston is announcing that Laura Lee Potter is doing a Science Fair project on warts and inviting anyone with warts to come to room xxx to take part in the experiment. (I don't seem to remember that :)