News from RIT - Racing

The Formula Race Team at Rochester Institute of Technology was the top finisher at this year’s California SAE Collegiate Design Series event June 16-19 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. 

RIT took the championship against 58 teams from around the United States, across Canada and from India, Venezuela, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil and Sweden.

William A. Ricks

http://billricksofsoperton.blogspot.com 

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Slideshow: Phouc Vinh Personnel

The day that the "Fish" and I did a complete grease job on the deuce-and-a-half because we didn't trust the Mech Maintenance boys to do it properly. Norris Lee DeFisher of Rochester, NY, and William Alvin Ricks of Soperton, GA.  Actually the Fish grew up in Williamson, apple country,  just outside the city.

As always, click on the Slideshow to stop it, view larger images, and read captions if I wrote any. It would be nice to have some contact with the guys who still can remember.

William A. Ricks

http://billricksofsoperton.blogspot.com 

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Southern Friends - worth repeating

FRIENDS: Never ask for food.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Always bring the food. And lots of it.

FRIENDS: Will say "hello."
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will give you a big hug and a kiss. More than one.

FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Call your parents Mom and Dad, and often.

FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Cry with you. And for you.

FRIENDS: Will eat at your dinner table and leave.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will spend hours there, talking, laughing, and just being
together. Then do the dishes before leaving.

FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you. And most
of the time know you better than you do yourself.

FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowds' backends that left you. Then
walk beside you in the front of the crowd.

FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, "I'm home!" If you are not home
they will wait.

FRIENDS: Are for a while.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Are for life. And then some.

William A. Ricks

http://billricksofsoperton.blogspot.com 

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1985 Six-Toed Kitten

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July 3, 1985

We wonder if boys nowadays have fun finding unusual things in nature. Back when they were young, Shawn Cox and brothers Jimmy and Donny Waters examined a kitten and found that it had 6 toes on each of its front paws. Knowing that it was newsworthy, they took it to the newspaper.
In 2010 with easy digital cameras in most families, we're wondering why we hardly ever see six-toed kittens on Facebook. "Are the good times really over for good?"

Others that week: Lions Club ladies night with widows invited, Lion of the year Gerald Shurling, softball, and assorted head shots of Jimmie Sue Mullen, Ruby Johnson, and Mrs. Ennis Warnock.

William A. Ricks

http://billricksofsoperton.blogspot.com 

Be sure to subscribe for daily email delivery of 'Bill Ricks of Soperton'

1980 H. Henderson, High Rise Artist

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July 2, 1980

When James Windsor bought the old bank building for the new headquarters of the Soperton News, he was taking on a challenge. Some of the original wiring in the attic was still in use with ceramic insulating holders to separate the two bare wires. We spent many a Saturday mopping gallons of tar on the metal roof. The exterior trim had been repainted so many times since the building was erected in 1912-13, that it was peeling like thick tree bark.
Windsor hired one of the area's premier paint companies to do a jam up job. They came in with a bucket truck and pressure washer with lots of detergent and bleach to return the mildewed marble to lustrous alabaster. Most of the paint flakes were washed away. But the paint crew refused to scrape down to bare wood before priming, so the project stopped. Other painters gave it a try, but they did not have the perseverance. Finally somebody showed up to do the job.
H. Henderson was his given name. We never knew where he lived or where he had come from. He claimed to have been the subject of a Reader's Digest story about his career of painting skyscrapers.  He was the right man to take care of Soperton's one and only skyscraper.
Mr. Henderson is shown with his number-one helper, but he had several young men on the job, whom he disciplined rather sternly while on the job, but seemed very friendly to each other when off site. The photo shows how smooth they prepared the wood, primed and finished with Sherwin Williams 10-year vinyl, the best available at the time.
Scaffolding was erected to reach the highest windows, and the young men liked to yell down at young ladies who passed by. We had only one problem after half the job was finished. One Wednesday night after delivering the newspapers to the post office, we went upstairs and found that a few feet of window frames had been primed without adequate scraping. We hid all the paint and taped a note on the window "Get back to scraping. We will see you tomorrow."
When you go by the old building today, you will find one of the finest finished buildings in the town, all to the credit of H. Henderson and his "boys".
A little secret: Henderson invested some hard long hours for his first three days, but knowing that payday was near, he completed the week and was so happy to have cash in hand, he had the boys back to work every Monday.
It was always an interesting sight every Friday afternoon when he and the boys took their money and headed across the tracks to Lowell's.

Others that week: Lions Club ladies night meeting, Barron and Lee Gillis with their flag, more Amtrak photos.

William A. Ricks

http://billricksofsoperton.blogspot.com 

Be sure to subscribe for daily email delivery of 'Bill Ricks of Soperton'

1975 The McLendons

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July 2, 1975

I hope their friends will do some good natured ragging when they see the McLendon "kids" perched on the cannon at Fort Frederica. Lucretia, Lisa, and Bart were with J. E. and Jeanne and other newspaper associates at the annual Georgia Press Association convention.

Others that week: 5 GPA awards, work at SPC, softball, forming new stadium seating, Sparks (Warnock) Pond, Elmer Drawdy, tennis at FBC.

William A. Ricks

http://billricksofsoperton.blogspot.com
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WAIT! It's still me!

Look different.

Not intentional.

I accidentally lost my blog design, so I used the new design tool for blogger.

One of the templates looked better than my old design.  I chose it, and the only thing I changed was to keep the blog title color dark green and continue to use "Georgia" for the main text.

Hope you like it.

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William A. Ricks

http://billricksofsoperton.blogspot.com