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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE NEWSLETTER #189
November 21, 2003
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Dear Subscriber:

My friend Travis and I were leaving the school cafeteria after
lunch that November day in 1963.

We were halfway out the door when a familiar tone came from the
public address system. Unusual since all the daily P.A.
announcements came during first period in the morning. Only
special announcements came during the day and they were rare.
We paused at the door to listen.

It was Mr. Middleton's voice. Mr. Middleton was the Junior High
Principle. Since the cafeteria for all schools in Morton, Texas
was in the Junior High building Mr. Middleton had control of the
P.A. in the cafeteria.

He said President Kennedy had been shot at in Dallas.

It has been 40 years ago but I think Mr. Middleton said
something about the president being wounded in the shoulder.
The principle made the obligatory statements of go to your next
class and so on...then the tone that indicated the message was
over.

Travis and I walked the block back to the high school building.
As I said, it's been 40 years ago but as we walked I think we
talked about girls (a more or less constant topic during that
15th year of our lives) and who would be stupid enough to shoot
at the president. It didn't occur to us Kennedy could have been
seriously hurt. That was outside our realm of imagination.

I think my next class after lunch was algebra but I'm not sure.
I do remember taking my seat and the teacher wasn't there.
Unusual. Something told me this was not going to be a normal
Friday.

The teacher came into the room. I think she was crying. She
was dabbing at the corner of her eye with a Kleenex. She
offered the class a weak smile but said nothing. Among my
teachers in high school there were smilers and frowners. This
particular teacher was usually a smiler so her demeanor was out
of character. She sat down behind her desk and the public
address speaker came on.

It was the school superintendent. What's this all about, I
thought. The superintendent seldom talked on the P.A.

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was dead, he said. Afternoon
classes had been canceled. Rural busses would run in one hour.

"Wait a minute". I said to the class. "They told us a few
minutes ago that he'd been shot in the shoulder. This is
crazy."

No one was listening to me. The kids were filing out of the
room. The girls were crying. I guess there were a couple of
guys crying, too, but when you're a teenaged boy, you're not
supposed to cry...especially around the girls.

I guess I walked home. I don't remember. Starting with that
P.A. announcement and for the whole weekend my existence was a
blur of TV broadcasts...everything in grainy peripheral reception
black and white (in Morton, most of our TV antennas were taller
than the utility poles. The closest TV stations were in Lubbock,
60 miles away. It seemed like we were constantly adjusting the
vertical and horizontal hold).

I do remember one friend calling Saturday morning and asking me
if I wanted to play some catch. I said no. As I hung up I
wondered if that kid didn't realize the world had stopped.

Some guy named Harvey Lee. He wore a tee shirt. The Dallas
police all wore Stetsons. Roses scattered in the back seat
of a limonene. A Dallas cop was killed. They found a rifle.
Ladies wearing those funny 60s glasses bawling.

My friend Mike called. We're watching it all on TV he said.
Come on over.

It was Sunday. I walked to Mike's house. Sunshine on my face.
Too pretty a day for November and for what was happening.
Before the screen door shut behind me Mike said some guy just
shot Oswald.

We and the rest of the world watched Washington, DC during
the funeral. The Rum, Rum, Rum, Roll of the muffled drums. The
dead president's little boy stepped forward and saluted. A
riderless horse with boots turned backward in the stirrups.
The clop clops as the horse-drawn wagon bearing the casket went
by. Dark clothes. White gloves. The marching band played a
melody that sounded like crying.

"You're not crying, are you?" Mike asked me.

"Me? Of course not. You?"

"Not me." Mike said as he turned his head away.

I watched but I couldn't believe. This is crazy, I thought.
The tube took us back to Dallas. Oswald was dead. This is
really crazy.

Back to Washington. The widow. The kids. The flame. Taps.

Monday night. Mom fixed chicken. Our house was usually an
active and noisy place but not that night. Our concentration
was still on the television. America was still trying to sort
out what had happened Friday. Walter Cronkite was on the
screen.

"It's hard to believe..." I remember him saying "...but there
have been other things happening in this world in the past
three days."

Cronkite reported on a house fire somewhere in the South that
killed 6 people and a special report on a phenomenal new singing
group from England that called themselves The Beatles.

A big black mark was drawn on my calendar of life. The days
before were permanently separated from the days after November
22, 1963. Care-free days were now a memory. In front of us was
Selma Alabama, Viet Nam and Watergate. Camelot, real or imagined,
was history.

I can still see his face. I can still hear his words.

"Ask not what the country can do for you. Ask what you can do
for the country."

Don Vanlandingham
Cloudcroft.com

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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
2. VILLAGE NEWS
3. INSIDE THE SHOP -- SKI PALACE
4. CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- NEW MEXICO SYMPHONY
5. Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
6. COMING EVENTS
7. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
8. CONTACT INFORMATION
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LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
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Another swing back to sunny this week but the winter chill has
taken hold. No new moisture. Highs in the low-50s. Lows in
the upper-20s.
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VILLAGE NEWS
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An auxiliary of the volunteer Cox Canyon Fire and Rescue
department is in it's organizational stage. It's a chance for
those that support the efforts of the volunteer force to
participate. The mission of the new auxiliary will be to lend
support to the efforts of the firefighters including fund
raising, logistics and maybe even helping out around the
firehouse. Interested in helping those that are helping us?
Call Andy...(505) 682-3084 or Hans...(505) 682-4664 or Jim
at (505) 682-3719.
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INSIDE THE SHOP -- SKI PALACE
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Furnishing snow-play enthusiasts with the best in equipment
and apparel for over 20 years. We have all the major brands and
can fit you for a trip to Ski Apache the day before so there's
no waiting in rental lines. Whether you're buying or renting,
the best equipment and best prices are at Ski Palace. Located
on Hwy 82 in Cloudcroft. For more information, see the our 
web site on the Shopping page of Cloudcroft.com:

http://www.cloudcroft.com/shopping.htm

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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- NEW MEXICO SYMPHONY
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Are you ready for some great holiday entertainment?

http://www.nmso.org/

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Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
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Q - We want to visit Cloudcroft and bring our dog. We never
travel without him. Is there lodging there that accepts pets?

A - There are several. Go to our web site

http://www.cloudcroft.com/

and click on the lodging button.
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COMING EVENTS
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November 21 -- Moscow Boy's Choir. Flickinger Center.
Alamogordo. 437-2202

November 22 -- Cloudcroft Chamber of Commerce banquet.

November 28 -- The Lettermen. Holiday Music. Spencer
Theater. Alto. 888-818-7872.

November 29 -- Santa Land opens. Cloudcroft.

November 29 -- Lake Lucero Tour. White Sands.
479-6124

December 3 -- High Noon Book Discussion Group. Cloudcroft
Library, 12pm. Book: Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy
Toole.

December 6 -- ULLR Fest. Cloudcroft.

December 6 -- Cloudcroft Art Society Holiday Art Show and Sale.
Old Red Brick School House. 10am to 5pm.

December 7 -- Cloudcroft Art Society Holiday Art Show and Sale.
Old Red Brick School House. 11am to 4pm.

December 13 -- Pet Parade. Burro Street. Cloudcroft.

December 20 -- Christmas in Cloudcroft. Zenith Park.

December 24 - Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, 7pm.
Cloudcroft United Methodist Church

Cloudcroft Art Society meets the second Sunday of each month,
2-4pm, in the Old Red Brick School House. Call (505) 682-3004
for more information and details on the Cloudcroft Summer Art
Workshops.

Would you like to help deliver meals to the homebound around
Cloudcroft? Monday through Friday deliveries. Call the
Cloudcroft Senior Center at (505)-682-3022. For information on
other Senior Center services, see their web site, listed on the
Cloudcroft.com Links button.

http://www.cloudcroft.com/links.htm

Mountain Garden Club meets every third Monday of each month.
Call (505) 682-2910 for more information.

Senior Van from Timberon to Alamogordo leaves the Timberon
Lodge promptly at 8:30 every Tuesday morning.

Free Vitals Clinic. Cloudcroft Senior Citizens Center, every
Wednesday. High Rolls Senior Citizens Center, first Thursday
of each month.

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For an online calendar of area events, click the Events Calendar
link in the left column of our home page:

http://www.cloudcroft.com/index.html

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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Dear Newsletter:

My wife and I have been going to Cloudcroft since we were
dating. Next year, we are celebrating our 50th. wedding
anniversary.

We purchased our first cabin in Cloudcroft in 1974. In 1981 we
purchased our dream home and perfect acreage overlooking the
white sands and the mountains by Las Cruces. We started
remodeling, adding and improving the property. Twenty two
years later, we had our family dream home in the beautiful
mountains of New Mexico.

October 30th, somebody broke into our home and fire destroyed
it totally. The home was gone but the reason we have continued
to go to Cloudcroft remains. Wonderful memories, beautiful
and peaceful surroundings and most important, wonderful and
friendly people.

YES, we will rebuild. God Bless the firefighters, the police
and sheriff departments and the great help from Michael Nivison
and many other volunteers. THANKS and God bless all of you.

Ignacio & Elva Cisneros

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Dear Newsletter:

I get a real chuckle out of you kids, 55 no less. Just wait
'till you reach going on 80 and then you will be having some
thing to write about.

The wife and I have been coming to Cloudcroft off and on for
40 years, but 5 years ago we decided we had traveled enough
and now spend the summer, May till October, at Chalet RV
Village. It sure is nice not to have to feed hungry cows, move
water in the field and bale hay.

The winter home is here in Sweetwater, TX, but you can bet we
will be in the tall pines come May.

We sure enjoy your newsletter each week. Keep up the good work.
 
Marshall Pior
Sweetwater, Texas

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Dear Newsletter:

The dogs might not have liked the hour late dinner with the
time change, but the things the cats said are not repeatable.
Come spring they are not one bit thankful that you are feeding
them an hour earlier.

According to our cats, we never do anything right!

Patti Hooper
Fulltime RVer,
anywhere USA

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Dear Newsletter:

I turned 52 on November 2. Somedays I feel 18, and other days
I feel 80. I guess that's why they call it middle age.

Shirley Alford
Las Cruces

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Dear Newsletter:

Yo the dentist.

Isn't it amazing. They wait until they get both fists in your
mouth and then several utensils - then they ask you all these
questions. My dentist says this is Dental course 101.

Then when they are through --- comes the lecture on what you
didn't do and what you should do. Of course that goes in one
ear and out the other without stoppage. Thank God for selective
hearing also.

Allen Johannes
Meridian, TX

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