The Class of 2022 was in for a surprise when they celebrated their graduation at the Springdale School District. In addition to honoring the recent graduates, the event paid respect to four exceptional veterans who, had they not decided to serve in the military, would have graduated in 1956. Known by their endearing nickname, “super seniors,” Carl Stults, Bobby Burke, Charles Leroy Moon, and Bob Self were among the veterans who received honorary diplomas with the graduating seniors.
These four young guys were all seniors in high school in 1956, yet none of them graduated from Springdale High School. Carl Self revealed, “Springdale didn’t recognize the GED at the time, but I took a test when I joined the Air Force. I eventually graduated from Little Rock Central with a diploma. It wasn’t until they got together for lunch one day that the school district learned about their missing diplomas.
The Class of 2022 was delighted to learn that these “super seniors” will be participating in the graduation ceremony. It was a lesson in sacrifice and honor as much as a celebration of their accomplishment. Jared Cleveland, the superintendent of Springdale, delivered sentimental letters honoring the heroes’ bravery and devotion from U.S. Representative Steve Womack and Governor Asa Hutchinson during the ceremony.
They served both during and after the Korean War, according to Womack. They weren’t thinking about themselves or asking themselves, “What about me?” at the time. They performed their duty. Isn’t that the authentic essence of America? The instructors paused to recognize the outstanding accomplishments that each veteran has made since enlisting in the Air Force in 1956.
These four extraordinary guys finally earned their long-awaited diplomas from their alma mater, after 66 years. It was a just reward for all of their hard work. “Once a Bulldog, Always a Bulldog,” as the saying goes.
Greetings on your honorary diplomas, Bob Self, Charles Leroy Moon, Bobby Burke, and Carl Stults! Their devoted dedication to our nation is incredibly admirable. We are fortunate to live in the wonderful country we do today because of courageous people like them. By sharing this story and expressing our gratitude, let’s honor these men for their incredible achievements and selflessness.
Fleetwood Mac star Stevie Nicks finally reveals what life changing advice Prince gave to her
She spent the night working on a song that would end up becoming the lead single from Nicks’ 1983 solo album “The Wild Heart” and the single went to No. 5 in the U.S. Billboard Top 100.
After writing her song ‘Stand Back” she asked for a meeting with Prince and 20 minutes later they were introduced to each other for the first time in a studio in Los Angeles.
Nicks said Prince listened to her song, inspired by his “Little Red Corvette” classic and went straight over to the keyboard to start adding his own parts.
He then got up, gave her a hug and left.
“He spoiled me for every band I’ve ever had because nobody can exactly re-create — not even with two piano players —what Prince did all by his little self,” she said in the book “Rock Lives.”
Nicks said as much as she admired Prince, she avoided a romantic relationship with him because she appreciated their musical connection.
“He spoiled me for every band I’ve ever had because nobody can exactly re-create — not even with two piano players —what Prince did all by his little self,” she said in the book “Rock Lives.”
Nicks said as much as she admired Prince, she avoided a romantic relationship with him because she appreciated their musical connection.
“I really wanted a musical relationship, and I had smartened up, even then,” she explained. “You’ll break up and never speak again. But he wasn’t interested in just that.”
In turn, Prince’s “When Doves Cry” was inspired by Nicks’ song “Edge of Seventeen.”
The Fleetwood Mac star said that she was heavily into drugs when she collaborated with Prince.
“The eighties were pretty bad drug years for me,” Stevie Nicks told The New Yorker. “And Prince was not very into drugs. And the fact that he ended up being on a lot of pain medication just blows my mind, because he was so against it, and he gave me so many lectures about it.”
The “Gypsy” singer said Prince warned her about her drug use. “I’d talk to him every once in a while on the phone, and we’d talk for hours, and he’d go, ‘You gotta be careful, Stevie.’ And I’d go, ‘I know, I know.’”
Following his death Nicks said, “My sadness is that he did die of an accidental drug overdose. He’s up there looking down, saying to me, ‘Sweetie, I can’t believe it happened either.’”
It seems Prince was right to be worried at the time as Nicks ended up in rehab twice. The singer checked into the Betty Ford clinic in 1986 for her cocaine addiction, and then went to another hospital in 1993 for her addiction to Klonopin, which Nicks said she was over-prescribed.
But in 1986, Nicks spoke to a plastic surgeon about her nose. The doctor told her she had burned a coin-sized hole in her nose from her cocaine abuse.
“I said, ‘What do you think about my nose?’” the singer recalled. “And he said, ‘Well, I think the next time you do a hit of cocaine, you could drop dead.’”
Following her conversation with the doctor, Nicks decided to check into the Betty Ford clinic. The move helped turn her life around and arguably saved her career and her life.
Thank goodness she had a conversation that set her on the right path. It sounds like it came at just the right time.
It is, however, a tragedy that Prince couldn’t get off the harmful opioids that he was on. Nicks’ story just confirms the musical genius he really was and how generous he was with his talent.
He will always be a musical legend, missed by millions.
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