Summer-Fall 2006 Banks Newsletter

BANKS Summer-Fall ISSUE 2006Martha Banks King Banks News/Announcements Aunt Ophelia Welcome back Anderson!

Shelly

Ben Berrane, (18 year old son of Shelly Anderson), recently graduated from York High School, Yorktown, VA, and is on a crosscountry road trip for the summer.

Elizabeth Deguio (33 year old daughter of Shelly Anderson) lives and works in the Outer Banks yeararound.

David Berrane (24 year old son of Shelly Anderson) is currently studying Environmental Science at VCU in Richman, Virginia. During the summer months he is a forest ranger at Jockey‟s Ridge State Park in Kill Devil, NC. Andy Berrane, (25 year old son of Shelly Anderson) is an electrician living in Aurora, Colorado with his wife and two year old son.

Uncle Groves Grandson of Bill Banks, Dan Coles (24 year old son of Donna Dodd) graduated from Appalachian State University, Boone, NC with honors. His double major was Business Management and Political Science. His

GPA was 3.94.— and he made the Chancellor‟s List.

Taylor Coles, 22 year old son of Donna Dodd, is working for Hilton Hotels in Durango, Co. for the summer months.

He will graduate from Durango‟s Ft. Lewis College in December with a degree in Business Management in the hospitalit y industry.

Donna Banks Dodd

Uncle John Kelley Higgins, daughter of Lisa Banks Kimball; granddaughter of Charles and Dee Banks, Charlotte, has been inducted into the National Honor Society.

Charles Banks (Grandpa-be-proud) Matthew Banbury, son of Jim and Susan (Banks) Banbury and grandson of Charles and Dee Banks, is spending his junior year of college in Tokyo, Japan. He is keeping a diary of his stay on the net.

You may see shades of grandpa in his writing. Go to www.japanbury.blogspot.com and read all about his adventures in Japan. It's fun to read and is keeping all his relatives in stitches with his adventures.

(See back page of newsletter for a sampling!)

cluding two days at Corfe Castle for August and September. Thomas and Ginger Dixon were helpful in making suggestions about the logistics and filling them in on the historical significance. Bob and Susan will have plenty to share at the October, 2006 reunion! Have a safe and wonderful trip!

Aunt Alice Daughter of Rusty & Karen Terrell, Alicia and husband, Harold Speers welcome their new daughter, Brianna Reagan Speers.

She was born at 2:49 am on May 27, 2006 at Stephens County Hospital. Our little bundle of joy weighed 7 lbs 6 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. She has a small fracture in her shoulder bone and parents were told to keep her arm pinned inside of her shirt for about one week and it should heal nicely.

Thomas Marion Banks Family Sunday, October 8th 71st Reunion Saturday, October 7th Cemetery Cleanup

Inside this issue: A Soldier’s Reason Matthew Garrison

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Ed Banks retires from P.3 Georgia Forestry Commission after 32 years!

Charles Banks’ novel, P.3 Steel Warrior brings back memories for Steve Garrison Matthew Banbury A Real Man

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Uncle Marion

Proud Father, Mother & Big Sister (Harold, Alicia & Kinsey) are doing fine.

Peter Banks recently landed in the hospital after a particularly good night of bowling. Sources say he jumped up and down, doing some kind of victory jig when . . . .

Oops, that darn hip!

Peter is fine now. Do we have to remind you to act your age, Peter?

Russell & Karen Terrell

Peggy Banks was in and out of the hospital for several months during the winter months. She is doing much better now. We hope you continue to improve, Peggy. And we certainly look forward to seeing you and your wonderful family again in October!

Aunt Martha Susan and Bob King have planned a trip to Britain, in-

Mark your calendars now!

Summer-Fall, 2006 More from Aunt

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Viola’s Branch

Matthew Garrison with his beautiful wife, Becky and their new son, CJ.

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My son, Matthew Garrison is still in Baghdad Iraq.His wife, Becky gave birth to a new baby boy on February 22nd, Matthew Clyde Garrison, Jr. "C.J." Matt got to come home for 16 days, when the baby was 7 weeks old. It was very hard for him to return leaving his new son behind.

He was promoted to Sgt. He will be back in December.

We are all very proud, but scared at the same time he is in such a bad place, please keep him in your prayers.

Iâ€&#x;m submitting a poem that he wrote last year called A Soldiers Reason.

Susan Delura Garrison

Summer-Fall, 2006

EMAIL to Donna Dodd from Ed Banks:

Hi Donna, The big news from our house is my retirement. The date was Feb. 1 after 32 years with the Georgia Forestry Commission. And yes, retirement is wonderful! It is like resting at the end of a long journey. It doesn't seem so long ago (1966) when I began my first job with the Forest Service in Groveland, California. Remember visiting me there at the Groveland Inn when your family was returning from the Philippines? I didn't know you were coming but just happened to drive into town in my MG. I remember my shock to hear you call to me from the sidewalk that day.

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Christian values that our Grandparents made real for us to follow.

I am hoping that my son and grandson will be as devoted to Family and Christian values as their ancestors were. Passing on these traditions is the best thing we older folks can do.

I have a little gift for you and Diane at the reunion this year. Remember the old walnut tree at the Farm House where we used to swing? It died a few years ago but I saved some of the wood. I had a small bowl made for each of you from the limb that held our swing. It should hold a few good memories.

Eddie Banks—1966

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Those were great days, especially when I married Marlene and we made our first home there in the Sierra mountains. We moved quite a bit and after working several other jobs, came home to Georgia. It was time for me to settle down and Daddy Banks offered to sell me part of the farm. I can only thank God for making the arrangement because it is the one place on earth I really love. And it's not just a love of the land. It is all the memories of family that linger here and the

Steel Warrior, by Charles W. Banks, brings back memories for cousin Steve Garrison To: Charles From: Steve Garrison Enjoyed your book. In it you mentioned the USS Ajax. One day I was transporting steel deck plates from the Kearsarge to the Ajax. My 40 foot utility boat would not come out of gear and there was no way to back down as I approached Ajax. There was an Army boat tied to a sea painter, the aft accommodation ladder, or the port side of Ajax. I chose the Ajax. Actually dented it's side. There was some damage to the 40 footer, but as it was wood, it gave and the damage was not significant. Anyway, the mention brought back memories I appreciated it. Steve

Winter-Spring, 2006 From the journal of Matthew Banbury, an exchange student from the University of North Carolina currently attending classes at Gakushuin University in Tokyo, Japan

Real Men...

I guess I was expecting breakfast to be served...and I was a little hungry since it was the beginning of the day and everything. That isn't to say that food wasn't prepared as usual, it was just...wrong. Everything about today's breakfast was absolutely wrong...as in INCORRECT. Right now, I don't care about respecting cultural differences or being tolerant of the different ways other societies do things. This totally was NOT breakfast.

I walked into the cafeteria and stood in front of the glass shield that protects the old ladies from us, waiting for this particular one to hand me my morning meal. She gave me a plate with two hot dogs on it, buns included. Oh she is so lucky she had that glass shield today or there would have been two very white, western hands around her neck. I picked up my CHOCOLATE milk (what is this elementary school?) and moved on.

So far I've got two hot dogs (for breakfast), and chocolate milk. I make my way to the table that usually has dressing or soy sauce. Today there were only two giant bowls. One bowl was filled

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Each had a very large spoon. I guess these colors were for my hot dogs, and I assume they wanted me to put them on my hot dogs with those big spoons, so...that's what I did.

Now, I've got two hot dogs with red and yellow on them...chocolate milk.

I sit down. I drink some chocolate milk. Pretty tasty. I take a bite of one of my red and yellow hot dogs.

A mouthful of red and yellow flew from my mouth making way for some delicious boiling hot green tea to wash away what I had OH STUPIDLY ASSUMED was mustard. The red was definitely ketchup, but oh my god that yellow...... was WASABI. Yellow Wasabi!

And there was enough yellow in that bite to last you the rest of your life if you were eating sushi everyday.

My sinuses are still in the cafeteria ...

Of course everyone else thought it was just hilarious.

"Why did you put so much on there?

“Jeez, you're right! It only had the EXACT color and consistency of mustard and was being served alongside of HOT DOGS.” Besides, why am I complaining about whether or not it's mustard when the real problem lies in the fact that I'm eating hot dogs for breakfast?

Matthew Banbury

Did you know?

Banks The Name

English and Scottish: topographic name for someone who lived on the slope of a hillside or by a riverbank, from northern Middle English banke (from Old Danish banke). The final -s may occasionally represent a plural form, but it is most commonly an arbitrary addition made after the main period of surname formation, perhaps under the influence of patronymic forms with a possessive -s.  Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Bruacháin „descendant of Bruachán‟, a byname for a large-bellied person. The English form was chosen because of a mistaken association of the Gaelic name with bruach „bank‟

Real men eat Wasabi for breakfast!

Matthew Banbury Grandson of Charles Banks

Got Some Banks Scoop??

I‟d like to thank all who contributed to this edition! Our next newsletter is scheduled for publication in January. We welcome your news, announcements, recipes, stories, and story ideas!

You may phone me at 770-421-1122, email me at donnabdodd@yahoo.com, or send your SCOOP through the US Mail to: Donna Dodd

134 N. Lakeside Drive Kennesaw, GA 30144