Friday, May 9, 2003

Headlines---

Classified Ads------Leasing Industry Help Wanted

    1st Q New Business Equipment Leasing Grew 9%

        Matsco---Is it True?

            Cartoon----Kids

                Great List of Leasing Industry Resources

                    Alexa Ranks Leasing Association Web Sites

                        Two Versions--Free & $49.95 per year

                    Ten Year Treasury Note Breaks Record

                Jobless Claims Exceed 400,000 for a 12th Week

            What Lessors Are Saying About. . .Healthcare--ELT Newsletter

    Pat Hickey appointed COOO for CIT Specialty Finance

News Briefs---

    Sports Briefs---

        Highlights in American History

This Border ##### Denotes Press Release (Not Written By Leasing News)

Classified Ads------Leasing Industry Help Wanted

Jobs Wanted: http://65.209.205.32/LeasingNews/JobPostings.htm

[Headlines] 

### Press Release #####################################

Equipment Leasing Industry 1st Quarter 2003 Report Shows New Business

Volume Grew 9.0 Percent, Net Portfolio Numbers Also Increased

Statistics Show Signs of Improvement for Economic Recovery

Arlington, Virginia The Equipment Leasing Association’s

(ELA) First Quarter 2003 Performance Indicators Report (PIR) shows that

new business volume grew 9.0 percent over new business volume in 1Q

2002. Total net portfolio numbers increased 3.7 percent, giving

encouraging signs that the economy is beginning to pick up. The PIR

study is conducted quarterly by ELA, which provides a variety of data,

including customized market analyses, to ELA members and organizations

involved in the $204 billion equipment leasing industry. The survey is

conducted among approximately 20 major leasing companies on a quarterly

basis, affording trend analysis across all major performance areas.

Other 1Q PIR Findings:

* The total number of employees declined 4.42 percent, a

continuation of the weak employment market seen in previous quarters.

Affecting this number was one surveyed organizations significant

reduction in work force in 1Q 2003.

* Credit approval ratios decreased 1.3 percent compared with the

1Q 2002.

* Average losses remained stable when compared to the previous

year.

* Lease payments within 30 days (on-time) are up 110 basis

points compared to 1Q 2002, another positive sign of economic recovery.

“The report shows encouraging economic news compared to the first

quarter of last year, and even from Q4 2002,” said Ralph Petta, Vice

President of Industry Services for ELA. “All the key metrics are looking

up in terms of higher new business volume, decrease in delinquencies,

lower charge-offs, and increased productivity from existing employees.”

The PIR tracks the performance of prominent leasing organizations in six

key areas. Because the same companies were tracked and used in the

analysis, the PIR provides fairly reliable trend analysis. Each

illustration reflects the data provided by those companies responding to

that particular question. Typically, not every company polled responds

to every question.

Financial decision makers needing more information on leasing should

visit www.LeaseAssistant.org, which provides information on how to

choose a leasing company, the top 10 questions to ask before signing a

lease, a glossary of terms, and more.

Organized in 1961, the Equipment Leasing Association (ELA) is a

non-profit association representing companies involved in the dynamic

equipment leasing and finance industry. ELA's mission is to promote the

leasing industry as a major source of funds for capital investment in

the United States and abroad. Headquartered in Arlington , Va. , ELA has

more than 800 member companies and a staff of 27 professionals.

Equipment leasing was estimated to be a $204 billion industry in 2002.

Visit ELA online at http://www.elaonline.com.

###

Participants in the 1st quarter 2003

Performance Indicators Report

ADP Credit Corporation

Amsouth Leasing Corporation

Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation

Computer Sales International, Inc.

Dana Credit Corporation

De Lage Landen Financial Services

GreatAmerica Leasing

Farm Credit Leasing Services Corporation

Fleet Capital Leasing

John Deere Credit Corporation

JP Morgan Leasing Inc.

Hitachi Credit America Corporation

Key Equipment Finance

LaSalle National Leasing Corporation

U.S. Bancorp Leasing & Financial

Wells Fargo Equipment Finance

http://two.leasingnews.org/temporary/1Q03Graphs.htm

[Headlines] 

### Press Release #############################################

Matsco---Is it True?

We have asked President Matt Shieman for a confirmation or denial. We

are asking readers for further confirmation regarding information in the

“rumor” stage. What we have comes from a very reliable source, but

we would like more substantiation before printing.

[Headlines] 

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Cartoon----Kids

http://two.leasingnews.org/cartoons/KIDS.jpg

[Headlines] 

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Great List of Leasing Industry Resources

http://www.leasefoundation.org:80/IndustryRsrcs/

[Headlines] 

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Alexa Ranks Leasing Association Web Sites

These comparison are compiled by Leasing News using Alexa and should be viewed as a "sampling," rather than actual count from the website itself.

The Alexa tool bar works on most browsers. They are partnered with Google. You may download their free tool bar.

To learn more about how the rankings work: http://pages.alexa.com/prod_serv/quicktour_new.html

[Headlines] 

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Two Version: Free ( text format) $49.95 yr ( html/website) Free 30 Day Trial

http://www.leasingnews.org/contact_us_news.htm

This edition is also available in an "up-grade" format, html, where you may

click on the headlines to go to the story, plus is also in this "new" format

posted daily on our website--- http://www.leasingnews.org/contact_us_news.htm

[Headlines] 

Ten Year Treasury Note Breaks Record

Thursday's auction saw rates fall to the lowest level on record.

The yield was 3.700 percent, down from 3.960 percent at the last auction on Feb. 12. The record low was set in 1976, when the government began selling 10- year notes on a regular basis in 1976.

The notes will carry a coupon interest rate of 3 5/8 percent with each $10,000 in face value selling for $9,937.80.

A total of $18 billion in notes were sold out of bids totaling $21.9 billion.

Demand is low, while supply is very high. The mortgage industry along

with the credit card industry appears to be carry the most demand as

automobile loans are down. The consumer is carrying the borrowing

marketplace.

[Headlines]  

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Jobless Claims Exceed 400,000 for a 12th Week

By BLOOMBERG NEWS

WASHINGTON, — Applications for initial unemployment benefits exceeded 400,000 for a 12th consecutive week, the Labor Department said today, the longest stretch since the economy was emerging from a recession in 1992.

Jobless claims dropped to 425,000 last week from 453,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said. Some economists consider claims above 400,000 a sign of slack demand for workers.

Companies are trimming payrolls to shore up profits after the weakest three months of consumer spending in a decade.

"These persistently high claims pose a significant threat to the prospects of a second-half upturn since weak job conditions make consumers more cautious about spending," said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities International. Claims reached a 13-month high of 459,000 in the week that ended April 19.

Federal Reserve policy makers kept the benchmark interest rate at the lowest since 1961 earlier this week and said they expected growth to pick up later this year.

Economists had estimated that claims last week would fall to 440,000 from the initially reported 448,000 a week earlier, based on the median of 35 forecasts. The less-volatile four-week moving average of claims rose 3,250, to 446,000, the highest since mid-April last year.

The number of people continuing to collect state unemployment benefits rose to 3.665 million in the week that ended April 26. That was the highest in six months.

"What is worrying is that continuing claims continue to rise," said Astrid Adolfson, an economist at MCM MoneyWatch in New York. "It confirms that the jobless are having a lot of trouble finding jobs. The bottom line is there is no improvement yet" in the job market.

[Headlines] 

________________________________________________________________

What Lessors Are Saying About. . .Healthcare

Equipment Leasing Association ELT Newsletter

In the April 14, 2003 issue of Fortune magazine, medical products and equipment was ranked number three in a list of the fastest growing economic segments. (They projected 15.5.% growth in 2003.) Good news for leasing? Healthcare often has been cited as a "bright spot" for lessors. But will that translate to new business for all lessors? According to the companies already in the business, anyone wishing to jump into the healthcare pond better do their homework.

“Last year was tough for the leasing industry, but healthcare was contrary to that,” says Rick Wolfert at GE Healthcare Financial Services, which is approaching an enviable 30% growth this year already. “But, it is a special niche that runs on its own drivers.”

John Everets, HPSC, Inc. says, “Healthcare is not something you can enter tomorrow morning. It takes a great deal of specialized knowledge. Underwriting the credits is different from an industrial credit or general business credit.”

“A lender in that market,” adds Rich Miller, DVI Financial Services, “needs to understand numerous aspects: government regulation, reimbursement and technology. It’s complex.”

With healthcare being 14-15% of the national’s GDP, however, some companies will not be deterred. A recent Equipment Leasing Association and R.S. Carmichael & Co. joint study on the healthcare market shows that new medical equipment leases totaled $5.8 billion last year, a figure expected to grow at an annual rate of 8.5% to $7.4 billion in 2005. (Visit www.elaonline.com/ELAStore for a copy of the study.)

But, a growing market does not means it is a good market for everyone, says our sources. They predict mistakes will be made.

“This is a marketplace that’s going to be viable in terms of growth for a long time,” adds Everets. “But, whether it’s viable credit-wise is a different story. Many people who try to finance in this market just don’t understand it.”

One look at troubled and bankrupt healthcare financial companies such as National Century Financial, accused of over-funding clients, and HCA, once a poster child for scandal but now toeing the line, also should make people cautious. Overall, corporate governance is under the microscope and anyone wishing to enter the healthcare financing market can learn valuable lessons in those scenarios.

Over the last 15 years, equipment needs have changed, market players have shifted, and new needs for healthcare, overall, have emerged.

“These are challenging credits. Equipment is being invaded by technology and today’s residual value may not be there tomorrow,” says HPSC’s Everets, who has been involved in the healthcare leasing market for 27 years.

Andy Little of Fleetwood Industries says, “When I started at Copelco we were doing large ticket items in the hospital marketplace financing CTs and MRIs. But, today’s market is much more focused on doctor’s offices, imaging centers and other out-patient facilities.” Little says that 99% of their business is in the physician marketplace and imaging centers.

“Hospitals seem to get most of their funds from equipment pools, local banks and bond issues. They are not turning to the marketplace for funding,” says Little. “There are fewer hospitals to serve now and they aren’t acquiring as much.”

A growing trend of hospital consolidation and growth in out-patient facilities has changed the market, but lessors now serving healthcare financing needs say the biggest change is in the equipment itself and the regulations healthcare providers must deal with.

Miller says, “Healthcare is highly regulated from a state and federal government standpoint. For instance, to open a center you may need to apply for a certificate of needs.

Additionally, healthcare residual-setting takes on new meaning.

“Interestingly, obsolescence in healthcare is driven by the practitioners and patients,” says Wolfert. “They request upgrades in order to maintain their franchise positions and market share. They see something in an ad and want it.”

Upgrades also are quite different from most equipment types. “We call these ‘forklift upgrades’,” he adds. “You have to take the old equipment out and bring in a whole new piece of equipment. It’s not just a software upgrade.”

Technology changes aren’t all medical devices, either.

“Computer systems are big,” says Miller. Security and privacy issues are beginning to change the IT needs of healthcare providers.

New HIPPA regulations will help make IT investment in healthcare to grow to $24 billion this year, adds GE’s Wolfert. “It will be like a Y2K scenario. Not only do healthcare providers want increased productivity but will now need to meet privacy regulations.”

Says DVI’s Miller, “For instance, now to get a prescription, a pharmacy needs special equipment for customers to sign so you can’t see who else signed to get a prescription before them. When you go to a doctor’s office, now they don’t call your name, they call a number. A lot of new laws are causing people to upgrade technology for privacy reasons.”

Privacy aside, other productivity needs are arising from digitizing delivery systems to bedside information gathering and sharing.

Needing equipment, however, isn’t the same as being able to pay for it. The reimbursement issue alone is a topic to give any lessor heartburn.

“Reimbursement varies on a state by state basis and different insurance companies reimburse differently,” Miller says. “Ten years ago, reimbursement on an MRI was $1,000. Now, it’s $400. How are your lessees going to pay you?”

The government, ever the wild card, can pull a lot of “surprises,” agrees Everets. “They are trying to rein costs in. And, that’s the revenue stream we are financing. Ultimately you have healthcare needing more equipment more and insurance trying to pay less.”

Yet, between the healthcare providers and the government, are providers of equipment and technology who like to sell their products. What is a lessor to do?

“Get a full understanding of regulatory issues that come with healthcare, including reimbursement,” says Miller. “Get a good handle on the technology. Every manufacturer is different. Some have a ‘continual’ model where they upgrade their models ongoingly. But, some manufacturers come out with new technology that is not ‘upgradeable’.”

The bottom line is it all comes down to people. “To be successful,” says Wolfert. “You need make an investment in people who understand the healthcare industry and its unique drivers. It also helps to have experienced people who have gone through some of the healthcare market changes.”

Even with all the knowledge in the world about how to participate in this market, will the healthcare leasing market remain bright? Everets believes there will be less leasing and more financings.

“Leasing is attractive and it isn’t. Businesses will have an increased section 179 deduction, which will drive many away from leasing,” he says.

But some believe there may be more leasing.

“Most healthcare providers don’t have cash to buy equipment,” Miller says. “A lot of providers are looking to finance over time. So we see a combination of both leasing and financings. They only can take on a certain amount of debt.”

The healthcare market, overall, is clearly poised to be one of the larger markets to serve as the population ages and we all live longer. Even economic downturns don’t seem to greatly affect this market.

“The economic downturn didn’t really slow things down,” says Little. “Doctors keep acquiring equipment because they need it. Also, they are seeing their reimbursements shrinking so they see an opportunity to become more full service. Why send someone away for imaging and ultrasounds when they can do it right there?”

With all this new “need,” one would expect heady competition among lessors. But, according to our sources, competition isn’t a big issue.

“Companies move in and out of the marketplace. We haven’t seen anyone new coming in making a big splash,” says Little. “Basically, it is a lot of the same players under different names. People come into the industry and get acquired.”

DVI’s Miller adds, “In healthcare, small ticket and medium ticket varies. A lot of players want to get into small ticket because of its credit scoring nature and its tie to vendor programs. Larger ticket items require more structured finance and therefore you need to understand the industry better for residual setting.” That may be one reason why competition remains fairly flat.

“There has been a lot of ‘spin’ that healthcare is the place to be,” adds Wolfert. “But you better have a well-developed strategy, and you have to have the expertise and talent to execute that strategy.

“There are a lot of companies that look from time to time to get involved in healthcare. Some stay for long haul and other dabble,” says Miller. And, from the lessors we spoke to, dabbling isn’t profitable.

[Headlines] 

__________________________________________________________________

#### Press Release #############################################

Pat Hickey appointed Chief Operations Officer for CIT Specialty Finance

DUBLIN, – CIT Specialty Finance, an operating group of CIT (NYSE: CIT), today announced the appointment of Pat Hickey to Chief Operations Officer. Mr. Hickey will assume overall responsibility for Operations and Information Technology (IT) and will be based in the newly expanded Dublin service centre.

Mr. Hickey joins CIT Specialty Finance from GE Capital where he was Director of Operations and IT. Prior, Mr. Hickey held senior-level positions as IT Director at both Woodchester Investments and Cornmarket Financial Services.

Terry Kelleher, Managing Director of CIT’s European business, views this as a key appointment for CIT. “Pat has a wealth of experience and knowledge, together with a strong track record of delivering process efficiencies and service excellence. We are delighted that our platform for growth and expanded service centre in Dublin has attracted such an experienced professional.”

As Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Hickey will play a key role in delivering service improvements and eBusiness solutions to both vendors and customers.

About CIT

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT), a leading commercial and consumer finance company, provides clients with financing and leasing products and advisory services. Founded in 1908, CIT has nearly $50 billion in assets under management and possesses the financial resources, industry expertise and product knowledge to serve the needs of clients across approximately 30 industries. CIT, a Fortune 500 company, holds leading positions in vendor financing, U.S. factoring, equipment and transportation financing, Small Business Administration loans, and asset-based and credit-secured lending. CIT, with its principal offices in New York City and Livingston, New Jersey has approximately 6,000 employees in locations throughout North America, Europe, Latin and South America, and the Pacific Rim. For more information, visit http://www.cit.com.

[Headlines] 

### Press Release ###########################################

News Briefs---

Rates on 30-year mortgages near lowest level on record

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/128/economy/Rates_on_30_year_mortgages_nea:.shtml

Greenspan cautions against government regulation of derivatives

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/128/economy/Greenspan_cautions_against_gov:.shtml

Heavy storms again pummel Kansas/Missouri area

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/F05F5DFA0086A96986256D21

001336C1?OpenDocument&Headline=Heavy+storms+again+pummel+the+bistate+area

Retailers report sluggish April sales

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20030508-1320-economy.html

Inside Google

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/5782580.htm

Citigroup names new head for global equities division

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/128/economy/Citigroup_names_new_head_for_g:.shtml

Latin Billboard Awards

http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/photos/0503/latin/images/pic1.jpg

http://www.ajc.com/homepage/images/latin0509.jpg

Madonna thanks France for opposition to Iraq war

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_778320.html

[Headlines]  

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Sports Briefs---

Shula gets six-year deal as Tide coach

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/0503/09tide.html

- Niners re-sign backup QB Rattay

http://www.theredzone.org/news/showarticle.asp?ArticleID=23

Favre’s house tops $1.3M on eBay

http://www.packersnews.com/00coverart/0508FavreFCFri.jpg

http://www.packersnews.com/archives/news/pack_10175117.shtml

Summerall leaving Fox

http://www.theredzone.org/news/showarticle.asp?ArticleID=22

[Headlines] 

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Highlights in American History

    1607- the first Episcopal Church service in an English colony took place at Cape Henry, near Jamestown, Virginia, when the Reverend Robert Hunt celebrated the Eucharist. The event was reported as follows: “ We did hang an awning ( whish is an old saile) to three or four trees, to shadow us form the sunne, our walles were railes of wood, our seats unhewed trees till we cut plankes; our Pulpit a bar of wood nailed to two neighboring

trees.”

    1773-An American creation, the first newspaper cartoon was “Join or Die,” designed by Benjamin Franklin and published in Philadelphia, PA, in his newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. It was printed in the first column of the second page. It depicted a snake cut into segments representing South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and New England.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may09.html

    1783-The Purple Heart, the first honor badge for enlisted men and noncommissioned officers, was awarded to Sergeants Daniel Bissell, William Brown, and Elijah Churchill of Connecticut regiments, for meritorious action in the Revolutionary War. They were entitled “to wear on facings over the left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk, with narrow lace or binding.” http://www.americal.org/awards/ph.htm

http://www.purpleheart.org/

    1796-William Blount and William Cocke of Tennessee, elected by the Tennessee legislature, present their credentials to the US Senate. They were refused seats because Tennessee was not admitted until June 1, 1796. They were elected again on August 2, 1796, and took their seats on December 6, 1796. Blount was impeached for concocting a plain to aid the British, but the procedure did not pass the US Senate, however during the trial he was elected to the Tennessee Senate, and eventually and became Speaker of the Senate. http://www.lexrex.com/bios/wblount.htm

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000570

Cocke assumed the role of US Senate in the next term until the legislature

elected another person ( in these days the state legislature elected US

Senate representatives). He later moved to Mississippi, served under

General Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812, and afterwards was appointed

Indian Agent for the US. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000572

    1800-birthday of John Brown, Abolitionist leader born at Torrington, CT, and hanged December 2, 1859, at Charles Town, WV. Leader of attack on Harpers Ferry, October 16, 1859, which was intended to give impetus to movement for escape and freedom for slaves. His aim was frustrated and in fact resulted in increased polarization and sectional animosity. The first civilian killed by John Brown's raiders at Harpers Ferry was a free Black man. History has made him the legendary martyr of the abolitionist movement; even Walt Whitman wrote a poem about Harpers Ferry. Unfortunately, the real facts are “He was a complete failure in business. He welshed on his debts. He almost certainly was insane. And in 1856 he nearly plunged Kansas into civil war by ruthlessly murdering five helpless members of a mildly proslavery family, in the process “ splitting open heads and chopping off arms and fingers.” Dixon Wecter, The Hero in American (1941) http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/jbrown/master.html

http://www.johnbrown.org/

    1813-General William Henry Harrison turned back a siege of Fort Meigs by Shawnee military leader Tecumseh and British general Henry A. Proctor. Harrison was to become the ninth president of the United States, but for only a month,

as he contacted pneumonia from a cold and died in office ( the first president

to die in office ).

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may09.html

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh9.html

    1843-birthday of Belle Boyd, notorious Confederate spy who later became an actress and lecturer was born at Martinsburg, VA. Belle Boyd at 18 became a famed spy for the Confederacy during the Civil War, stealing weapons, secrets, and helping prisoners to escape. She was arrested several times, once deported to Canada. She authored a book about her exploits. Following the war she became an actor and lecturer, continuing in that profession until her death in 1900. She married three times, her last marriage to a man 15 years her junior. She once shot at a man who was calling on her daughter and refused to marry her. Author of the book, “ Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison,” she died June 11,1900 at Kilbourne ,WI.

http://www.civilwarhome.com/boydbio.htm

http://www.travelwv.com/bell.htm

    1862-Confederate forces at Norfolk, VA, evacuated the city in costly move, leaving valuable material for the Union army. Norfolk and Portsmouth were occupied on May 10, and the naval yard at Gosport, VA, was burned, in reality

ended the Confederates ability to build metal ships and make major repairs to their navy. http://www.civilwarhome.com/merrimacbirth.htm http://www.civilwarhistory.com/navy/CSSNavy.htm

    1862-At Hilton Head, SC, General David Hunter, commander of the Department of the South, issued orders freeing slaves in South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. Not having congressional or presidential approval, the orders were countermanded by President Lincoln on May 19^th, ordering Hunter to retract his proclamation as he http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWhunter.htm still feared that this action would force slave-owners in border states to join the Confederates. President Jefferson Davis and the he leaders of the Confederate Army were furious when they heard of Hunter's actions and orders were given that he was a "felon to be executed if captured” President Lincoln explained to the New York Tribune,

“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it."

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWhunter.htm

    1868-First known as Fullers Crossing, then Lakes Crossing, the name was officially changed to Reno (Nevada). It was named after General Jesse Reno, a Union officer of the Civil War. When the Comstock load was discovered in Virginia City, the nearest large city was Reno, thus it became popular and is still known today as “ The Biggest Little City in the World.” Its six-week residency requirement for divorce became law on May 1,1931, making it a popular city. At the time, it was the major “gambling city” in the United States, and prostitution was legal in several surrounding counties. It was the Las Vegas of its day, today primarily visited by people living in Northern California, although visited by tourists from around the world for not only gambling activity, but the surrounding “ghost towns” and surrounding old West towns such as Carson City, its capital, Virginia City, and other cities in the California gold country.’

http://www.cityofreno.com/.

    1899-African American John A. Burr patents the rotary-blade lawn mower.

    1909- Alice Koller Leopold birthday. She wrote Connecticut's equal pay and minimum wage bills in 1949, her freshman year in the Connecticut Assembly.

The next year she was elected the Connecticut's secretary of state. She then served as Director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1953- 61, and was the Assistant to the Secretary of Labor to aid and develop programs for women. She was a strong advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment.

The mother of two, she had created her own toy company before entering public life.

    1910-pianist Bob Zurke born Detroit, MI, died February 16, 1944

http://www.parabrisas.com/d_zurkeb.html

    1914-President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation asking Americans to give a public expression of reverence to mothers through the celebration of Mother's Day. Carnations have come to represent the day following President William McKinley’s habit of always wearing a white carnation, his mother's favorite flower. This year, families in the United States and Canada will celebrate Mother's Day on Sunday, May 14, 2000.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may09.html

(The first Mother’s Day was observed in 1907 at the request of Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, PA, who asked her church to hold service in memory of all mothers on the anniversary of her mother’s death. The newspapers of the day reported

this event and it continued the next year at other churches, now annually, the second Sunday in May.

    1914- Hank Snow, one of the fathers of country music in Canada, was born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. He was heavily influenced by singer and yodeller Jimmie Rodgers, and began to perform in his style in the early 1930's. Snow made his radio debut about 1933 on CHNS in Halifax, and three years later made his first recording for Victor, the company with which he remained for four decades. He settled permanently in Nashville, Tennessee about 1950, and became a US citizen in 1958.Snow became a regular on the Grand Ole Opry in 1950, the same year he recorded "I'm Movin' On," which became one of the most successful singles of the first 50 years of recorded country music. His other hits include "Golden Rocket" and "I've Been Everywhere." Hank Snow was indicted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1976 and into the Juno Awards Hall of Fame in 1979.

On this date in 1994, on his 80th birthday, Hank Snow received an honorary degree from St. Mary's University in Halifax. The presentation was made in Nashville, and he spoke to the graduates via videotape.

http://www.hanksnow.com/

    1918---TV Journalist Mike Wallace turns 85, born Brookline, MA.

    1928-birthday of Pancho Gonzales. Richard Alonzo “Pancho” Gonzales, tennis player born at Los Angeles, CA. A self-taught player, Gonzales won the 1948 US National Singles Championship and repeate4d in 1949. He turned pro and won the world’s championship from 1954 through 1962. Gonzales was an aggressive, temperamental player who rarely trained. Died at Las Vegas, NV, July 3, 1995.

    1939 –birthday of Ralph Boston (National Track & Field Hall of Famer, Olympic Hall of Famer: gold medallist: long jump [1960], silver [1964], bronze [1968]; broke world long jump record 5 times, the last at 27 feet, 5 inches [1965]) http://www.hickoksports.com/biograph/bostonra.shtml

    1939 – Glenn Miller records "Stairway to the Stars" with Ray Eberle, one

of the most popular singers in the 1940’s..

    1941-Billie Holiday records “ God Bless the Child” (Okey 6270)

http://www.cmgww.com/music/holiday/bio.html

    1942—Attorney General John Ashcroft born Chicago, Illinois.

    1944- Jimmie Davis, who was a successful country singer as early as the 1930's, became governor of Louisiana. Davis, the composer of the country standard "You Are My Sunshine," later resumed his music career.

http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/davis.html

http://www.pbs.org/riverofsong/artists/e4-jimmie.html

http://www.etrecordshop.com/jdtribut.htm

    1945- Steve Katz birthday: vocalist, guitarist and harmonica player with such bands as the Blues Project, Blood, Sweat and Tears and American Flyer.

http://www.altx.com/katz/katzbio.html

http://www.rdrop.com/users/rickert/steve-solo.html

    1949-Singer/pianist/composer Billy Joel was born in Long Island, New York. His hit single "Just the Way You Are," won two Grammy Awards in 1979, and has since become a standard. The album from which the song was taken, "The Stranger," is reported to have sold more than five-million copies. Joel's other hit singles include "My Life," "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me", “ We Didn’t Start the

Fire,” “Piano Man,” and "Uptown Girl."

http://www.billyjoel.com/intro.html

http://www.billyjoel.com/

http://www.billyjoelmusic.com/

http://billyjoel.8k.com/

http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/2256/billyjoel.html

    1953—Top Hits

Pretend - Nat King Cole

Song from Moulin Rouge - The Percy Faith Orchestra

I Believe - Frankie Laine

Mexican Joe - Jim Reeves

    1954-Chet Baker Quartet first concert, Ann Arbor, MI.

(Saw him play many times. He always sounded “flat,” but then I dated a girl he used to date, and enough said.)

http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/shop/shopmain.cfm?CatalogName=bakerchet

http://www.chetbaker.net/

    1959- 16-year-old Wayne Newton made his Las Vegas debut at the Freemont Hotel. That first booking, scheduled to last two weeks, stretched into three years. Newton went on to become king of the Vegas showrooms, earning close to $20- million a year. He has been seen live by over 12 million people, more than have seen either Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley in concert.

    1960-The U.S. Food and Drug Control approved the “birth control pill.” It was developed over a five year period by Gregory Pincus, a biochemist at Worchester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Shrewsbury, MA, and John Rock, a gynecologist at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA> It used synthetic progesterone and estrogen to repress ovulation in women. The first clinical tests were performed in 1954. The project was initially commissioned and funded by birth-control pioneer Margaret Sanger and heiress Katherine Dexter McCormick.

    1961—Top Hits

Runaway - Del Shannon

Mother-In-Law - Ernie K-Doe

A Hundred Pounds of Clay - Gene McDaniels

Hello Walls - Faron Young

    1961-Perhaps still germane today, Speaking before the bigwigs of network TV at the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters, Newton Minow, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, exhorted those executives to sit through an entire day of their own programming. He suggested that they “will observe a vast wasteland.” Further, he urged them to try for “imagination in programming, not sterility; creativity, not imitation; experimentation, not conformity; excellence, not mediocrity.”

    1961-First baseman Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles became the fourth player to hit grand slams in consecutive innings. Genitle hit his homers in the first and second innings of a game against the Minnesota Twins and added a sacrifice fly as the Orioles won, 13-5.

    1964 – Great jazz trumpet player, and now singer, found his recording of "Hello Dolly!" on the "Billboard" music chart in the top spot for the first time in his 41-year music career. Later, ‘Satchmo’ was cast in the movie version of "Hello Dolly!”. When the song hit Number One, it pushed out the Beatles “She Loves You.” He had another top pop tune also sung by Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, but he is best remembered for “ Mack the Knife.” http://tinpan.fortunecity.com/riff/11/frame/h2.html

In the many old recordings, when Louis Armstrong played, you could

always pick him out. He was the most influential jazz man of the

20^th Century. http://www.redhotjazz.com/louie.html

http://www.louis-armstrong.com/

http://www.satchmo.com/louisarmstrong/props4pops.html

    1969—Top Hits

Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The 5th Dimension

Hair - The Cowsills

Hawaii Five-O - The Ventures

Hungry Eyes - Merle Haggard

    1965 - Vladimir Horowitz played his first public concert in 12 years at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The audience applauded the piano virtuoso with a standing ovation that lasted for 30 minutes.

    1977—Top Hits

Hotel California - Eagles

When I Need You - Leo Sayer

Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder

Play, Guitar Play - Conway Twitty

    1984-The Chicago White Sox defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6, on a Harold Baines home run in the 25^th inning. The game, the first 17 innings of which were played the day before, was the longest extra-inning game by time, 8 hours, 6 minutes. The teams then played their regularly scheduled game of nine innings, making a total of 34 innings in two days.

    1985—Top Hits

We are the World - USA for Africa

Crazy for You - Madonna

Don’t You Forget About Me - Simple Minds

There’s No Way – Alabama

    1987-Switch-hitter Eddie Murray of the Baltimore Orioles became the first play in major league history to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in consecutive games

http://users.aol.com/barbramusc/hello.html http://www.omega23.com/books/s5/satchmoarmstrong.html

    1997-Peter Peterson presented his portfolio in Hanoi, becoming the first Ambassador to Vietnam after the end of the Vietnam War. Peterson, a former Air Force captain, had been held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for 6.5 years after his bomber was shot down near Hanoi in 1966. He was released in March, 1973. The United States had not maintained formal diplomatic relations with Vietnam since its previous ambassador, Graham Martin, left Saigon by helicopter in 1975 as the city fell to t North Vietnamese forces.

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