14A
LIFESTYLES / The Charlotte Post
Thursday, January 9,1997
Reunion cause for celebration
Continued from page 8A
at Second Ward.”
“I think about school back
then,” Chisolm added. “If you
did something that wasn’t right,
the teacher would send home a
note to your parents and you’d
better take it.”
“Amen,” said another class
mate.
And of course, they had fun.
“We had dances - sock hops,
we called them,” James said.
“They were fim.”
“Those dances were chaper
oned,” Eva Huston, 80, said.
“They would give you a certain
amount of time to get home. If
you didn’t make it, there was
trouble.”
Members of the class were
achievers. Under the leadership
of principal Jefferson E.
Grigsby, attendance in the ‘30s
and ‘40s averaged in the 90 per
centile and the size of the facul
ty and student body doubled. In
1966, the student body topped
1,500.
In 1967, plans were
announced to expand Second
Ward. A committee report to the
school board said Second Ward
had insufficient office space, no
toilet in the health room and
“inadequate ventilation.” The
school board announced that $2
rmlhon would be appropriated
to improve the school and make
it a vocational training center. It
would be renamed MetropoHtan
High School and reopen in 1971.
In March 1969, with desegre
gation decisions looming in the
high courts. Second Ward
became one of seven black
schools to be closed so students
could be sent to white schools.
Closing the schools did more
than end segregation, alumni
said.
“Oh, it hurt,” Booton said.
“But we saw the handwriting on
the wall.”
There was always a “hidden
agenda,” he added.
“Our school was located in a
municipal area,” Booton said.
“They announced that it was
going to be made a vocational
school, but that didn’t set well
with people. It would have
taken a lot of money, time and it
would have left a lot of people in
Umbo.”
But people accepted the
change for progress, Booton
said.
“Integration isn’t an easy
thing to tackle, challenge or
complete,” he said.
No matter what obstacles
have been placed before them,
members of the classes of ‘36
and ‘37 have remained true to
their school and one another.
“We are celebrating our 60th
anniversary,” Booton said.
“Dear Lord that’s a lifetime to
“Amen,” Huston added.
Image incorrect, workers say
Continued from page 8A
Capozzoli. “I would tell some
body, “Well, I’m going to work
with the Postal Service.’ And
they said, “Well, you better take
your bulletproof vest.’ “
Capozzoli said some of his
trainees only amplified the
stereotype by donning T-shirts
that read: “Don’t Mess With Me,
Fm a Postal Worker.”
While the T-shirt message
embraces that infamous, on-the-
edge image, Halkitis said that
in reahty, there is little founda
tion to support it.
Halkitis has witnessed only
one incident of violence involv
ing a postal employee during his
33 years as a postid worker. It
was an episode, he said, in
which a substitute mail carrier
struck a station manager and
was subsequently jailed.
If any time of the year is ripe
for creating stressed-out postal
workers, it's the Christmas sea
son. The U.S. Postal Service
processed 18.7 billion items this
holiday season, a 4.5 percent
increase over last year.
But letter carrier Tipton said
she was braced and ready.
“It’s busy, but I’ve been doing
this for 16 years,” said the 35-
year-old Gary resident. “You
know it’s coming, so you just
have to set your mind and do it.”
In the meantime, letter carri
ers and other post office workers
will have to continue to combat
public misperceptions about
their jobs.
A public relations gesture has
been initiated in the form of a
Lake County Customer
Advisory Council that meets
monthly with post office person
nel so that citizens can learn
about postal products and ser
vices.
Having letter carriers speak
for themselves also helps get the
word out about their job.
“It’s not just walking up and
down the street,” assured
Tipton, who said she must also
make sure her dehveiy truck is
properly maintained, while also
being responsible for casing, or
sorting, mail.
Mail-dehveiy people also like
to point to another aspect of
their career.
“When letter carriers hire in,”
said Halkitis, “they have to take
the civil service exam. The test
is hard. These people are not
stupid people, but in every
instance they’re portrayed as
being bumbling idiots and
rejects.”
Swank award
T"
Members of the Swank Social Club gathered recently to
mark its 62nd anniversary. The group presented severai
awards inciuding retirement awards to Waiter Diai, ieft and
Wiiiiam H. Yongue. Both retired in 1996.
Fashion: Well-heeled is well-dressed
Testimonial
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To look affluent, you have to
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Part of a man's being well
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putting his best foot forweird -
and that means taking proper
care of shoes. There is nothing
worse than a $1,500 suit with
a cracked and battered pair of
shoes.
Shoes take more punish
ment than any other article of
clothing, so they need special
care.
The first lesson about shoes
is to own plenty of them.
Rotate shoes with a minimum
of one day between wearings.
Leather retains moisture from
the perspiration in your feet,
and that moisture will eventu
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Also, all footwear materials
compress when you walk.
They need time to bounce
back. Alternation automaticeil-
ly prolongs the life of the
shoes.
You should invest in shoe
trees. Just as a suit needs a
sturdy hanger when it's not
being worn, so shoes should be
treed while in the closet. This
way, they will retain their
shape. The shoe trees should
be removed after a day or so to
allow air circulation. There
are two basic types - wooden,
which tend to absorb moisture
from the shoes, and plastic,
which are lightweight and
good for travel.
Always use a shoehorn when
putting shoes on. It prevents
the back of the shoe from
breaking, and ensures that
the heel will continue to fit
snugly throughout the life of
the shoe. For travel, shoe bags
prevent the soiling of accom
panying clothing. Turned
inside out, the bag makes a
handy pohsher.
Thin soles should be
replaced immediately, and not
with a less expensive half
sole. Half-soles tend to squeak
and also alter the wearability
of the shoes, since they throw
off the last, or leather form, of
the original sole. Heels should
also be replaced at the first
sign of wear. If you allow
heels to get too run-down,
even your posture can be
affected.
Suede or buckskin shoes
require a soft wire brushing to
keep the nap from matting.
Suede tends to get shiny with
dirt, and brushing breaks the
dirt loose and restores a lush
texture to the leather. Patent-
leather dress shoes should
receive the same care as other
footwear. When they seem a
little the worse for wear, they
can be rubbed with a thin coat
of petroleum jelly to keep
them from cracking.
If your shoes get rain-
soaked, put in shoe trees and
let them dry out slowly at
room temperature. Keep them
away from forced or abnormal
heat. Don’t ever put them
near a radiator - the heat will
crack the leather.
Polish frequently. Leather in
its natural state is part of a
living hide lubricated by oils
secreted through the animal’s
skin. Leather still needs this
lubrication when it is worn on
your feet. Leather shoes
should be regularly cleaned
with saddle soap, followed by
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Avoid cheap commercial pol
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“A lot of men use a synthetic
wax,” said Peter O’Donnell,
the New York spokesman for
J.M. Weston, maker of fine
French shoes. “Those waxes
are not absorbed by the
leather. Instead, they coat the
shoe with an artificial shine.
After a few wearings, it begins
to flake off, leaving a white
residue.”
O’Donnell recommended
either natural beeswax or a
good quality cream polish.
A final tip is always to polish
brand-new leather shoes
before wearing them for the
first time, since they are espe
cially prone to scuffing and
scratching just out of the box.
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you subscription,
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circulation dept.
@
704-376-0496
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