As president of Cities Service Co., Jones could be considered the original "frequent flier," traveling as much as 150,000 miles per year. Whenever he traveled, he always carried large sums of money with him, usually including a $10,000 bill in a gold money clip and another $75,000 in cash in a briefcase. It often became a joke to his friends, who said that it wasn't unusual for Jones to leave his satchel of cash in restaurants and airplanes. According to those who knew him well, he often made impulsive purchases with his cash, like asking the price of a painting he saw on a wall and peeling off $40,000 from a role of cash to purchase it on the spot. But he also was extremely generous to those in need. He once gave a $300 tip to a waitress at a hotel coffee shop because he said "that woman was worried as hell about something." He also bankrolled expensive medical care for the mother of a golf caddy who carried his clubs just a few times. While the caddy said nothing about his mother to Jones, the oil millionaire heard the woman's hard-luck story from a professional golfer and promptly handed what was described as "a startling amount of cash" to the golf pro and told him to "do something about it."

               On March 1, 1962, Jones was en route to Los Angeles for a fishing date with President Eisenhower in Mexico when his plane crashed on takeoff at Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport) in New York City. All 87 passengers and 8 crewmembers aboard American Airlines flight 1 were killed, making it the worst single plane crash in the history of U.S. aviation at the time. A story in Newsweek noted that the plane plunged straight down into Jamaica Bay's Pumpkin Patch Channel moments after takeoff, landing in knee-deep water and exploding on impact, shaking houses up to six miles away and strewing debris over an area a quarter mile wide. One witness said, "It happened as if something reached up from the earth, grabbed [the plane's] nose, and pulled it down." The black bag Jones had carried to his seat was recovered and found to contain $35,686 in cash and $7,500 in traveler's checks. An additional $16,500 in cash was found on his body, including the $10,000 bill in his money clip. Before his habit of carrying large quantities of cash was revealed, speculation by observers suggested that Jones was carrying the money to help the campaign of former Vice President Richard Nixon, who was running for governor of California.

               The funeral for W. Alton Jones was attended by 1,100 people, including President Eisenhower, numerous airline presidents, oil company executives, government officials and business leaders.

  Each month during our 50th Anniversary we will be featuring portions of the soon to be published book about the history of the W. Alton Jones Campus  by Todd McLeish   

Photo courtesy of CITGO Petroleum Corporation   

Dennis Rebelo, President, Alex & Ani University Professional Development Center led several facilitators who provided practical advice at a July 25th seminar for the Whispering Pines sales staff and some of our clients.  The program was inspirational, educational, engaging and fun!  Please click on this link to learn more about Dennis and his qualifications.  Contact him at 401-952-6632 or email him at askdennis@hotmail.com .   

In the upcoming months we will be showcasing 4 additional facilitators who participated in  this retreat:  

1. Brian Trahan, Director of Education Services at The Center of Phenomenological Leadership
2. Patrick West, Owner, New Dreams Media
3. Jorge E. Garcia, Director of Workforce Agility, Atrion Networking  
4. Margaret Batting, President & Founder, Eleve Image Communications 

• Complimentary Wine Pour with Dinner
• Upgraded hors d'oeuvres
• 10% discount on parties of 40 or more

As an added bonus to the person who books the event, we are extending a complimentary dinner and bed & breakfast for two (based on availability).