Fort Meade High School - Fomehiso Yearbook (Fort Meade, FL)

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Next I went to Atlanta and after giving a concert I was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Hall Hammett. Mrs. Hammett before her marriage was Miss Celeste Edwards. Hall was then chief announcer for Atlanta Journal radio station WSB. One of the outstanding features of the program was a number by the famous trio, Pearle Clements, Alleen Hancock and Mildred Bergquist, who were once notes of my human pipe organ. They told me after the program that Edith Yearwood was the proprietress of a large beauty parlor on Peachtree street and that Rachel Carruthers was English teacher in the University of Georgia at Athens. My next concert was given in Gainesville, where I found Pate Yearwood was instructor of athletics for the University of Florida, and that Maurice Deshong was chief executioner at Raiford. Also Lillian Smith had just been elected Governor of Florida. As I was already in Florida I decided to con- tinue my visit, so the next day found me in my winter home in old Fort Meade. Mrs. Peeples was still head of the Mathematics department, with Alice Bovvers as her assistant. Mrs. Peeples told me that she was planning a cruise in the Mediterranean with her brother, Capt. M. C. Doke, and his wife, for- merly Miss Edna Hodge. Beulah Hudson was also a teacher in old F. M. 11. S., teaching English, and Hanson Watson, the most religious of all, was pastor of the First Methodist Church. One day during my stay in Florida I made arrangements to give a concert in Miami, so 1 went to Tampa to catch a train and found the great station was owned and operated by Johnson and Gabriel. The two had married Audrey Palmer and Alleen Mayo, so it seemed to be the old partnership all the way around. I was indeed surprised to find that Wilson Collins was pilot of mv plane. He proved to be an expert but almost caused me to be pulled for driving on the wrong side of a cloud. Just before giving my concert that evening I received a note from Richard Langford, attorney, requesting me to join him at lunch the following evening. At dinner next evening Richard told me that Helen Dampierre was head nurse at the Orange General Hospital in Orlando and J. P. Dalton was a sur- geon in New Orleans. A few weeks later as Spring was drawing near I began my tour back through the North and West. My first concert was in Birmingham, Ala., where I saw my friend. Borden Ray, president of the Southern Business Conference. I had a long talk with Borden about the members of the class of ’27. He told me that Francis Maddox was the owner of a packing house in Kansas City, also that he had read in the paper about a number of the class. Marguerite Keller and Lorena Smith were models for the latest fashions in Paris and Leola Buchan had made a world record for swimming the English Channel. Now, no happier days could T mention than those spent seeing my old friends and classmates of fifteen years ago. It is with a feeling of pride that I have watched them play the game squarely, overcome the obstacles and difficulties of life, and be of service to mankind. r p Page Twenty-six

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