Gleaning Facebook: Mother's 95th Birthday

Here are lots of pictures from our family party today on my Mother's 95th Birthday. Some from my sister Joan and some from my sister Carol.

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From my sister Joan Shaw Turrentine's Facebook-

Eurilla Davis Hyatt
Terrell Shaw looks so much like your father.

Wendy Williams
What a fabulous celebration. I so love Ruth and am thankful for all the ways she has influenced our family. Maybe I’ll let her favorite chauffeur take her riding in the model A again 

Judy Hyde Allen
Beautiful family!!

Ace Theshepherd
So good to see all of you!!!

Linda Camp Gentry
Beautiful!!!!! Priceless!!

CeCe Baker
Such a great photo! 

Beth Shaw
Is Mia already doing duck lips for photos?

Clara Pharr Stance

Beautiful lady

Jeneve Hutcherson Brooks
Happy birthday to a wonderful and beautiful lady. Thank you for setting such a great example of intelligence,graciousness, and caring. We love you, Jeneve and Harold

Ken Freshour
Happy Birthday Ruth. You are a special friend.

Lisette Lewis
Beautiful picture!

Beverly Todd Goolsby
Happy Birthday Ruth! You are a wonderful, caring lady! I know you enjoyed your day with family!

Frank Norris
Hey, Ruth. Happy Birthday!

Judy Hyde Allen
Happy birthday, Ruth!! Enjoy your wonderful day!!

Annette Winningham
Happy Birthday Ruth, love you always. 

Tersi Bendiburg
Happy Birthday to her!

Elise Brackman
Precious birthday friend. 

Charlotte Woodring
She looks lovely, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Angie Shaw Bryant
She looks amazing!

La Donna Turrentine
Beautiful!

Susan S. Carter
Happy Birthday Aunt Ruth

I love you

Elaine Snow
HaPpY Birthday to a very special lady, Ruth Baird Shaw. 

CeCe Baker
Such a wonderful picture! Happy Birthday!

Charles Baird
I LOVE YOU AUNT RUTH.

Elsa Jensen Davis
Ruth you are still beautiful!

From my sister Carol Shaw Johnston's Facebook -

Photos from Mother’s 95th birthday party today. Thanks to Lyn Davis and family for hosting it.

From my sister Janice Shaw Crouse's Facebook:

Gleaning Facebook: Befouled Executive Mansion

Bob Doster
Let's just hope that they dislike them so much that they unelect them.

Paula Dickinson
If you can’t say something positive, just go take a walk.

Terrell Shaw
Our nation is under active attack, Paula. I take walks every day. I also love my country and our imperfect (and self-describedly so) and wonderful Constitution. I'll continue to speak out till Daniel's hauls me off.

And, Paula, I beg you read the actual indictment. 12 Americans on a grand jury decided a patriot named Robert Mueller and his team of prosecutors had sufficient evidence for them to endorse that statement. It outlines one of the worst crimes against our Republic in history. #PutinAsset cannot bring himself to support getting to the bottom of it. If one cannot stand up to support this investigation, I just cannot understand that.

Laurie Craw
I'll say something positive for you, Terrell. We have a free press, public school teachers like you who taught us to read the news, and we can vote. And we have freedom of speech to express our "negative" opinions, too. America is great already!.

Julie Adair
I am positive he is evil.

Susan Cherones
Heres something positive: if good people like Terrell keep speaking up then change can happen!

Julie Adair
They are going to have to douse the White House with sage to get rid of all the bad mojo he spurts everywhere.

Susan Polkinghorn
"Just go take a walk"? When half of the 2016 voters, and Putin, have destroyed this country? "Just go take a walk"? No. I will work every day of my life to get this s***bag and his posse of bullies out of the Oval Office. It is my duty as a patriotic American and as a decent human being with compassion for others.

Charles de Young
History will study these times hard, and do better to keep these things from happening again. We hope..

Gleaning Facebook: Who Is That Mustachioed Feller?

From Jan Crouse's Facebook - My cover picture is of Mother being escorted to her seat at my younger sister, Deborah Shaw Lewis's wedding. Note Terrell Shaw's mustache! Lyn Davis and Debi can be seen in the background.

 

Gleaning Facebook: Two Couples

 This picture just captures the essence of these two men. One cold, pouting, self-obsessed, insecure; the other is warm, loving, engaging, and confident.

In case anyone is confused, the man who has 5 children by 3 wives, cheated on all of them, including possibly paying off porn stars to keep his secrets, and who didn't take part in raising his children when they were younger, is... the white guy.

Gleaning Facebook: North Heights YoungTales Club

Rome City Schools put these pictures of the YoungTales Storytelling Club at North Heights Elementary, under the leadership of "Miss Jane" Cunningham.

 

Gleaning Facebook: Burnita Burton

 Burnita Burton was a wonderful woman, my friend (strange to say) and one of my heroes. I still miss her. I count two of her sons as among the closest friends of my lifetime. Few days pass without moment of sadness at the memory of losing Cleve in 2010.

One of the interesting things about reaching, oh, 40 or 50, is realizing that a few of your parents' friends and some of your friends' parents have become peers or even friends themselves. That is true of several from my parents' generation in our church - Jeanne Holt, James Sanders, Mary Craven, Dot and Bobby Storey, Joe Tarpley, Bob Candler, and several others.

One of my high school friends was Connie Love. Connie was my close friend Ron Kennedy's girlfriend our senior year. One night we "rolled" Connie's yard (why would you "roll" your girlfriend's yard, Ron?) and I was terrified her Mama & Daddy would catch us. Years later Connie's "Mama," Jean Love, became one of my closest co-workers and teacher-friends.

But I can think of no member of my parents generation who became a closer friend than Burnita Burton. She was a school board member during my first few years as a Floyd County teacher. She was a leader in my church from my fifteenth year till her death. She was a leader in AARP, the retired Federal employees association (as a spouse of "revenooer" Joe), etc. I jokingly called her my "manager". She'd call and ask me to do a singing program for one of the many groups she was part of, even dropping by our house to pick me up and driving me to the event. She was just a very interesting and dedicated and practical person.

By the way, does anyone still use that form: Mrs. attached to a husband's name? It's been a long time since I've seen it. Sheila has been listed as "Mrs. Terrell Shaw" a couple of times over the last 46 years and it's always been a shock to see it. Why should Sheila bear my name with nothing of her own name a part of it? Weird.

Michael J. Burton is busy writing his auto-biography a chapter at a time each spurred by a photo pulled from some pasteboard box, bureau drawer, or dusty album. What a hoot! I am enjoying every word of it, partly because our lives have touched so frequently since I first caught sight of the big sign he painted that stood on the grounds of Trinity Methodist Church when Daddy became its pastor in February of 1962. Is there a picture of that sign, Mike? So far most of Mike's pictures have elicited stories from my own life!

Here's his post today:

 

Burnita was a mild mannered woman who never held a paying job after she became married, but was full of vim, vigor, and vitality when it came to volunteer activities. She did everything in a Methodist Church that a lay person could do - Methodist women president, lay speaker, conference representative, Board of Trustees and at various times on all the different Church committees from Pastoral Relations to Finance - which meant she was always on the Church Council. Usually when the Church opened it’s doors she was there.

Her other love was the PTA (Parent Teacher Association). She served in every capacity of that organization including being President of several local schools associations; District President and I think North Georgia President. I followed in this strong affiliation with an organization that did what it said. Parents and teachers met once a month to discuss students, the school and how the students could be best benefited educationally. I saw first hand how this worked when my children started going to Cave Spring and I became President. The cooperation and mutual support fostered by the interaction of teachers and parents (and students) was astounding.

When I started teaching Art in Cave Spring K - 12, Pepperell K - 12, Coosa K- 12. Armuchee K-12, ES Brown K -6 and Krannert K - 3 the county graciously awarded me $400.00 to buy art materials for my students. How many students? Cave Spring 500; Coosa 1000; Pepperell 1000; Armuchee 800; ES Brown 200 and Krannert 200. Let’s say approximately 3,000 students every two weeks meant I had a little over $.10 per student per year. (Side note - Bill Amos taught at Model K -12 and Ellen Brazelton taught at Alto Park K -8 and Garden Lakes K -8)

PTA was my salvation. I spoke at every one of the PTAs associated with my schools and raised another $700 - $800 dollars which helped immensely. Unfortunately, I was present when the John Birch Society destroyed the PTA in this area. They would somehow select a nominating committee that would then present officer candidates who when elected would immediately tear up the PTA charter. A travesty that reverberates to this day. They would then establish “booster clubs” who supported athletics and education was an after thought. No real by laws or rules just a bunch of folks raising money. I hope to get on this soap box again.

Against this backdrop, my mother decided to run for the Floyd County school board. She was the first woman to ever be elected to public office in Floyd County and because of her genial personality was loved by most folks and respected by the other Board members. That is not to say it was not a hard fought campaign. She would go to all the mills at shift change - maybe 6:00 AM at Celanese and Pepperell, the mill in Shannon and Kraft and Plant Hammond. She would speak at all kinds of clubs and church groups. A much better campaigner than me. Every where she went there were hecklers who thought women should be barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen (Some of them Birchers). Well ….they had not reckoned with Joe Burton. He would quietly go over and tap them on the shoulder and ask if they wanted to step outside for a private discussion. Wisely, none of them took advantage of this opportunity. My Mama and Daddy were an awesome team.

In this photo You can see where I did my part painting campaign posters on plywood which we would put on saw horses in the backs of pick up trucks and park around the county. Behind me, you can see my first home - a 10 foot by 52 foot single wide trailer (520 Square feet of living space for a family of 5.) Notice too the lack of vegetation since the place had been strip mined. It was second hand and I think my Daddy and I paid something like $5,000 for it (He Co-signed the note). That trailer was a home full of joy and excitement for the next 12 years. Since I was young, healthy and full of vigor also (like my mother) it just made everything a pleasure and a challenge. Times they were a changing.

Gleaning Facebook: Mama's Babies

Here are the seven Shaw kids as babies. Just cellphone pics of the framed baby pictures on Mother’s den wall.

1. Janice the premier sibling.

2. A very very young Joan.

3. This one, the cutest, smartest, and most humble of the seven, is me.

 

4. This one is toddler Carol, the median sib. Is this on Main Street in Milstead, maybe?

5. Deborah Ruth --- no studio pic for the fifth child of the student pastor --- she doesn't appear downtrodden by the poverty.

6. Sharlyn Beth, born in Griffin.

7. The long-awaited completion of the Perfect Seven, David.