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5/24.2011

JUST A REMINDER FOLKS. I HAVEN’T BEEN SLACKING. THE BLOG WAS RELOCATED TO A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN INTERACT MUCH LIKE FACEBOOK IF YOU CHOOSE:

http://reitz67.blogspot.com/

So click on over there and catch up on what you’ve been missing!

4/24/2011

Happy Easter all. I’ve decided to start a regular blog that you all can interact with and comment and such. Now that the bulk of the work is done, I probably have time to administer the blog.

Here it is: http://reitz67.blogspot.com/  It’s built on Blogger, a Google product. There may be some adminitrivia that you have to do to participate, but it isn’t a complicated thing.

If you’ve never participated in a regular blog, at the bottom of each entry there is a “comments” link that you use to respond to the blog post. Once you try it, you’ll find it to be about as natural as any online conversation

4/21/2011

Got an order for a directory from Lana Steele along with a little note:

    Just a note to say thank you. You’ll find a check enclosed for the CD. Thanks to you, I’ve received emails from people after 45 years and it is a rather surprising and odd feeling at times, but one that I’m glad to have experienced.

Just a few physical directories left. We’ve got an unlimited number of CDs however. The next project is the yearbook in PDF format for those of you who have lost yours. You’ll recall my trauma on losing mine in the house fire

We will begin this little project when we get back from vacation in the stinkin’ desert (AZ).

4/19/2011

As a fundraiser, we are selling a CD containing the 44th Get together group photo and the individual feeder school photos. 5 bucks plus 2 for postage and packaging. Call Linda at 425-3255 or email her at linday7632@gmail.com for a copy. We won’t run out of these like the printed directory. Likewise, the directory is available on CD for the same price, without the disadvantage of my mistakes; the CD is always current to the best of our knowledge. I was actually thinking of offering a subscription offer but have to think it through for feasibility and fairness. Some folks wanted the book; others prefer the CD. Depends on whether you are a computer person or not, I guess.

We’re developing several other ideas to raise funds including a weeks stay in a luxury Gulf Coast condo. Again, in the planning stages. Have seen photos of the place though. Outrageous with a beach view to die for. This will be an incredible opportunity for a wonderful vacation in prime real estate. Stay tuned for details.

And of course, if anyone thinks that based on the 44 that this is an effort worth supporting and wants to chip in a contribution to the general fund, donations are always welcome. Checks made out to the Reitz Class of 1967. All funds go directly into class activities and little details like postage and envelopes and that kind of stuff. People have suggested that we set up a PayPal account or a merchant account, but even if that is in the cards, it is a way off. Can Branded Merchandise be far behine? - Reitz 67 mugs, T shirts etc., etc It’s more than I can bear to think about right now. I’m not saying it’s out of the question but later......much later.......

Also to clarify, if you filled out a survey form at the get together, you are under no obligation to fill out the online survey unless you have an email correction or address change. I want to emphasize that if folks don’t update us with their information changes, Linda’s whole effort will just blow away in the wind. Keep us in the loop of your lives. It’s a West Side thing. It’s a Reitz thing. If you didn’t fill out a survey at the 44 or if you missed the 44, here’s your chance to get your 2 cents in. The survey s here www.reitz67.com/html/survey.html. Just click at the bottom of the page. You will be directed to the survey site. Then use your back button to get back to where you started.

And I want to reiterate the pride I felt in my adoptive class in the spirit they demonstrated in attending and celebrating and mingling and rubbing elbows and renewing friendships and meeting new people they didn’t know in school at the 44. I hope to see the same thing in my own class in May of 2012.

Makes me mad. Your yearbook had several names wrong themselves. That sure don’t help matters any.

4/17/2011

Delighted to discover that my own class of 67 back in NJ is planning our 2012 reunion for Memorial Day weekend so it is unlikely that there will be any scheduling conflict for my adoptive class reunion here in Evansville! What a relief.

Getting a little embarrassed about high praise from you all. I want to make sure everyone understands that there were a lot of other people who helped and who continue to help. That is the whole secret of this thing - dedicated volunteers who do what they promise and help us anticipate those niggling little details that no one can keep in their own head without risk of having it explode. And wouldn’t you know it, I’m working with detail people who never forget. Me, I’m all for “guidelines” that give me a little room to fudge and improvise.

In addition to canvassing everyone about reunion ideas, we are also collecting a list of other Reitz related events that happen at various times in the year. I think we want to set a date that will encompass those activities as well so that we have a variety of things going on for folks travelling from afar - like cruise ships as they offer a variety of activities for each port. Hopefully something for everyone.

Some have suggested the last week of September to tie in to the Fall Festival. How many Nut Clubbers do we have in the class? Will attending a Reunion then interfere with their Nut Club activities? Nut Clubbers, let us know your thoughts on this.

The Tekoppel book came from Marcia Staton Cameron by the way. Carolyn Hoos Scavone gave me a really strange long narrow photo of a school play and some other photos. Impossible to identify folks because they were all made up to play their characters. I’ll post it soon. It was so wide I had to use two scans and now I have to put it back together. You’ll see it soon.

Getting terrific responses to the get together:

 
Just a big "thanks for the memories" of our 44th Reitz get together!! Terry and I had such fun seeing everyone and catching up on all the latest in everyone's life. Time does fly by so quickly and having the time to sit and chat and not have to yell over loud music made the evening so enjoyable. The attention given to remembering those who have passed on was so nicely done and you could have heard a pin drop during the slide presentation. Gives us even more reason to plan to be at the 45th reunion. I can think of many who were unable to be at this one and many who live locally and did not come. Sure hope you will make plans now to attend. For those who traveled long distances to come I applaud you and hope to see you back next year. The hair may be more gray or thinning, the pounds may have caused your "horizons to broaden", the wrinkles may have allowed you to become more distinguished in appearance, the aging process may be slowing you down but the time for smiling and hugging old but familiar faces was never sweeter and thanks to all who helped to make that possible this year. See ya' all in 2012!!  Terry & Linda Gamblin

Got an email from Ed Branch - More Pix. Give me a little while to get them posted under “Yet More 44”

4/14/2011

Got a lengthy email fron Bryant and Tonja Duncan, here’s part of it:

We went fishing atthe Boehne Camp pond one time even though it said not fishing. We got
to thinking that maybe those fish might have a disease and went back home.

One time we got off the bus to get home early since we were the last ones 
to get home. We started hitch hiking and a real nice lady picked us up
and took us home. She told us it too dangerous to be doing that. 

There are many more stories, but get togethers like the one Saturday brings
up memories that we were once young kids.

Thanks Again and Much Love to you and Linda,
 

4/12/2011

Linda and Milton had dinner with Jess and Nancy Searle to see them off on their way back to Tacoma. Joined by Barb Wimberley Yates and Debbie Ricketts Effinger.

Had lots of comments and messages both emailed and FB. All positive and indicating that they’ll be back next year. I am moved that so many old friendships were renewed. I think back to some of the things I wrote months ago that I hoped would happen and my fondest wishes seem to have come true.

    It is the year of joy for renewed friendships and sorrow in the loss of old friends
                                                Introduction to the Spring 2011 Class Directory

       Reunions are funny things. You think about all the people you’d want to see but you know won’t be there so you decide you won’t go. You think of all the people you didn’t like who will probably be there so you decide you won’t go.

    The problem with this kind of thinking is this: First, you’d be surprised what 40 or so years will do to a person. Take a look in the mirror to realize that! You aren’t the same person who graduated all those years ago. Neither are your classmates. It’s never too late to make friends; its always too late to renew lost friendships.

    You might be the person someone else was dying to see and you won’t be there. You might renew or create a new friendship that will further enrich your life. You make so few friends in this life. No one knows what will happen in the next, so take advantage of the time we have left above the dirt.
                                             www.Reitz67.com/reunions.html

    Seeing it unfold in front of me had emotional impact for me. It’s not just Reitz people specifically, it’s about people in general

Finally, there was so much going on on the 9th that it is often hard to remember everything. I didn’t remember that Debbie Branson Wells was in a reshoot of Centennial. She was and I have replaced the official Centennial shot with the one where she was included. Susie Woolley Shaw did miss the Scott School photo, or so she thought; it is on the bottom of the More 44 page.

Keep those photos flowing in to us. We’ll post them as we get them.

4/11/2011

A lot of what I imagined would happen has. We haven’t just generated a buzz. It’s more like a roar. I heard Facebook had to put on a new server just to handle the Reitz traffic. Just kidding. I imagine I’ll see a big spike in website traffic when I look at the stats.

The “official” class and feeder school photos are up and some of the candids are up too with labeling that probably needs correction. I know most of the graduates, but I’m weak on spouses names except my own. We deliberately tried to get photos of everyone, every table. We don’t want to overlook ANYONE. Each of you is so important to the complete picture of Reitz and this community. Each of you played a part in what became of the class. Your story is part of our story. I still think we ought to do thumbnail biographies of everyone. When I get a chance I’ll do one of me so you get the idea. I can add them to the pictures as a pop-up or something like that. Anyway, think about it.

 So far no negatives about the event, but we are open to constructive criticism from anyone. Next time we’re going to have a better sound system for sure.

We’re also starting to tally the survey responses. We’ll publish the results here

4/10/2011

Well, how that we’re on the backside of the “Rev up for the 45th” get together, and with a few hours of sleep under our belts, I have to say that I had a great time with people that I might not have even known if life hadn’t taken a sudden turn in 1998.

I won’t say that now is the time to start planning for the 45th reunion. I think we’ll save that for tomorrow. Today will be a rest day but I’m sure Linda will be taking stock on the class finances, the Directory inventory both print and CD and chiding me for failing to print a name tag for Bob Ogura. Certainly we will begin the process of reviewing the photos and evaluating what went right and what we will do better at next time.

And to think we were going to have a few people over to the Howell Shelter house this spring to get the planning started for the 45th. So keep visiting the site and Linda’s Facebook stuff. We’ll start working on getting the photo album ready for all of you. If you have shots of the table where you were sitting, please forward them along. I know there were many informal small group shots we would love to share with others. It was a pretty big room and not everyone had the chance to talk to everyone.

If I didn’t get to talk to you personally, know that it was my intention. Thank you all for getting over to Linda - she was absolutely overcome with the joy of seeing you all again in one place. And thanks to the classmates who worked so hard with us in the morning of and before and after the festivities to make this event happen:

    Nancy Layson Burke, Patty Qualls, Bob Willis, Tom Waterman (in spirit), Beth Grosheart Swope, Barbara Breedlove Walsh, Margie Hagerman, Susie Woolley Shaw

And thanks most of all to the graduates who set aside some time away from daily life to make it happen. We hope we have exceeded your expectations and that you will attend next year’s event. Those of you who offered your time for the 45th......becareful what you ask for.......Linda has a list.........

Linda was thinking about growing older and that maybe we ought to be doing reunions more frequently...Just some more food for thought. And while you’re thinking about that, pick up the phone and call someone and tell them all about the gathering. We need to keep the momentum going.

Email from Donna Abell:

Linda, a great big thank you to everyone who put in the time and effort to make the class of 67 get together such a wonderful experience.  When I decided to take a chance and attend, I had no idea there would be so many there and I was afraid I would not know anyone.  The picture name tags were awesome.  Even though I did not stay the entire time, it was a great evening and so much fun to see everyone.  I am looking forward to next year and I hope those who were unable to attend or did not want to attend well hear how much fun the evening was and will make the decision to be present next year.  Great job!  Donna Abell Hight

We have put up a survey which mirrors the survey which we distributed at the event. It can only get filled out once, but can get edited if you change your mind. If you didn’t get to go, you can still have your opinion heard for when you attend the upcoming event.

4/9/2011

Hard to believe that today is finally here. The next time I think of doing something like this, someone please put me out of my misery. Actually, with all the help and offers of help, this should be a piece of.............it should go fine. We do ask that everyone who is bringing a digital camera to send us copies of your photos so that we can post them here. Let’s be modern and post them for everyone to see instead of stashing them in drawers.

4/8.5/2011

Just found out that Tommy Lee Waterman is flat on his back, doctor’s orders. He’s on 4 day bedrest. Tom was going to emcee this event. Guess who’s elected. Many are called, few are chosen. Let the Chinese guy do it. He’s got no ax to grind. He’ll play fair, he doesn’t know anybody!

4/8/2011

Well, Dennis Reed says that he’s not lost. Just moved to Phoenix AZ. Dennis had Linda fooled. She was on the trail of a Colorado cowboy. One of those word of mouth tips set her straight. That’s the way the last few classmates will be located though. Somebody knows something and doesn’t realize that they hold the key.

Well, we’re down to the wire but I’m getting overruled on background music. Seems that Midwest music back then was different to what I was listening to on the East Coast. I don’t remember it that way. I was in Nebraska in the early ‘70s. The unluckiest squirrel in the whole USA, by Donna Fargo? But then again, I thought that Charlie Pride was dead a long time ago....Patty and Linda are throwing their two cents in so that it will be more representative, or so they say........

I’m burning CDs of the Directory that include Dennis Reed for when we run out of books and it looks like it’s gonna happen. And we were puzzling over whether to print 100. Ha.

We’ve started to hear from folks who have arrived from out of town. Susie Woolley Shaw called. R. Ed Branch should be in now. Dejong Malin says he will be on the road as I write.

Gary Malin and his wife are on their way. Dennis Cox and his fiance are on the road as well. Plans are being made and unmade. We’re losing a few attendees but gaining a few too. It will all work out fine.

We learned this morning that sadly, Sandy Isaacs Simm’s mom passed away yesterday, and so she will not be able to attend. We understand however that her mom will be shown on Sunday at Alexander West. I’m not yet sure about times.

Linda found Betty Stearman’s family near Bosse field and got a photo for the memorial page.

Also folks, don’t forget the scanner will be there. If you are one of the folks missing a high school photo or missing a current one, bring one. We’ll scan it on the spot; if you’re missing a current one, we’ll shoot it right then and there! Free studio photo shoot sponsored by the Reitz class of 67. Cheaper and faster than Olan Mills! I can see the headlines now

4/6/2011

Feels like we’re in a funnel sliding faster and faster to the Spring Get Together. Everything seems well in hand. That makes me nervous; we must be missing something.

Got photos of Art Mitchem from his sister and some of Ron Bell too, with more of Ron coming from California.

Got a note from Terry Hurt:

    I want to thank you and everyone else that helped put this book together. It almost brought tears to my eyes seeing how much we have all changed over the years. I was sorry to see how many have passed on. Please let everyone know how much I appreciated this book.

What I’m hoping to find, and I’ll have to rely on everyone else to tell me is how much everyone is, appearances apart, really still the same. You know how every now and again, you find yourself reverting to the childhood you when you are with your parents? Wonder if that happens with your high school pals?

4/4/2011

Linda spoke with Carolyn Becker in San Antonio and she emailed back with a new photo and her email address. We also got a photo of Gary Burkhart from his family. We responded by sending them some of his old school photos which they did not have any longer.

Brought the computer projector instruction manual home tonight to read up on how to operate the thing. We’ll see how well I take to instructions on Saturday night!

Linda is sending out the out of town directories.

Bob Willis is putting up a sign at the Howell Shelter House in the unlikely event that someone shows up there. It seems hard to imagine after Linda tried to cover all the bases, with the website and email for the connected, and phone calls for those who weren’t.

Linda was rereading this blog and discovered a goof on my part (the pleasures she derives from this kind of discovery is one of the reasons she keeps me around) On 3/15/2011 I said Karen Johnson Jorgensen when of course I meant Diane Johnson Jorgensen. She won’t believe that I did that deliberately to see if anyone was paying attention. I don’t know why she won’t accept my story!

4/3/2011

Linda said we should mention the numerous “anonymous” donations that have been made to the class funds from various classmates. I said that mentioning them made them a little less anonymous. Well, it’s mentioned.....and greatly appreciated. hardatworkI’m preparing CD editions of the Directory to bring to the event. Well, bulk CDs are cheaper, but then you have to buy sleeves. There are always little things involved that you don’t think of until you actually do them. I always say if you can’t make two trips to the store to get everything you need, it must not be worth the effort. That’s the way it is with home improvement, so why shouldn’t it be that way for preparing for this event?

It’s time to take stock of reservations, nametags and background music and the memorial presentation. Here’s a photo of Linda taking stock.

At the end of the day, it is sometimes easy to forget why it is we did all of this. Then we get a note like this:

    I hope you are not too exhausted to enjoy this gathering when the day arrives.

    I just wanted to send a short note to say how very grateful I am for all you, your husband and all the others on the committee, have done to put this together.

    Especially when it took on a life of its own and starting growing so rapidly beyond expectations.

    Thank you for rallying to the cause, making the necessary adjustments and keeping it together for all of us.

    I just spoke with my mom and with Darlene again today, and I am so much looking forward to arriving Thursday afternoon.

    Even though there is rain in the forecast, these will be sunny days in my heart for sure.

    Thanks in large part to your vision and efforts.

    Thank you thank you thank you!

Now I remember!

4/2/2011

Well, we are a week away from the big event. Final preparations are underway. Although we have been coy about saying who is or isn’t coming, it has been amazing that people have become motivated to travel to get here from so far away. We now have over 180 paid reservations, with assurances of some folks who couldn’t come to break bread but plan on stopping by anyway. Although much overused by the young, I have to say that this is truly awesome. For many this will be a first event attended. For others, the first in many years. We know that this is a leap of faith for you and appreciate the confidence you have in our efforts. We hope to justify that faith and continue with bigger and better for the reunion next year.

We have also been thinking deeply about the passing of years and lost classmates. Linda has been concentrating on getting then current photos of those in the class who are gone for my memorial presentation. We got this from Bob Burdge’s daughter on the 10th anniversary of his passing:

You are absolutely right about pictures. That's what I have to remember my dad. Today  marks 10 years that he passed away. I miss him a lot and thank you greatly for scanning that pic. You can discard that picture you have, I have tons of copies. Well so far the site looks really good and I really thank you for thinking about my dad like that. I know my Dad would greatly appreciate being remembered by people he grew up with and went to school with. God Bless

I have to admit that I haven’t engaged in an activity in a long time that has been as rewarding as working on this site and the directory. It puts in perspective the everyday complaints and concerns to which many devote their lives. It may have taken me all 62 years to realize, but family and friends and their memories of us are the only legacy we each of us will leave behind that is of true significance. The rest will become tomorrow’s landfill or living on the Westside, I should say the stuff of tomorrow’s yard sale.

Speaking of stuff, send in your checks for your preordered directories. We need to know how any we are going to have available for attendees of the get together. Also, we will be making available CD’s containing a computer based version of the directory in the near future. This will always be current.

3/30/2011

More photos. Linda shot a pic of Eugene Helfert who corrected our caption on the Armstrong School photo. “That’s me,” he said. We’re going to get pictures of  Linda Peerman from the families. Linda picked up a photo of Edgar (Ned) Sartore.

3/29/2011

More pictures, of Kareleen Bell and Tom (Shinnaman) Christianson. More attendees to the Big Event continue to come in. I think over 175 classmates and guests qualifies for that title. I guarantee that there is someone coming that you want to see again.

Got the memorial slideshow ready to honor your lost friends.

oldmyNow for some classic late 60’s tunes (that’s where my vinyl collection centers, being an ex long hair and all. Credence, Doors, Country Joe, Airplane, Beatles, Stones, Procol Harum, Byrds, the Grateful Dead, CSN, Donovan, Carole King, JT. A little background “period” music goes a long way.) I was lucky enough to digitize most of it and then store it close to the floor so all the CD’s survived the house fire. (The Lennon shades didn’t make it through the fire)

Linda’s banding up the directories for pre-orders. Should be enough for sale at the event too. We’ve got Nancy Layson Burke to handle the distribution and sales end of things with the book.

Patty Qualls and Barbara Breedlove and a team of dedicated volunteers will be working on table decor and I’ll be checking out the lights and sound to make sure the technical stuff is ready. Another team is hauling Ice and soft drinks. Folks, the planning is almost over, reality is setting in. This is really going to happen, and HOW!

3/28/2011

Now that my step daughter’s wedding is over with, it’s time to tackle preparations for the get together in earnest. We’ve located a PC based projector, so now we put out the call for an old portable Movie Projection Screen. Anyone got one collecting dust in the basement or attic? Otherwise we’re going to have to hang a sheet; that’ll work. The last time I actually saw one was in a Westside yard sale. Should have picked it up cheap, but who knew?

We’ve been getting some last minute reservations and that’s great. People with unsettled schedules are reporting in and in favor of attending. Advance sales for the directories are continuing as well. And, it’s never too late to send in photos of yourself back in the day or even now sent in to Linda for inclusion on the website and on the Directory CD when it becomes available. We’re also developing some fund raising ideas as well, but we’ll be talking about in more detail at the get together - please no talk about talent shows. (“My Dad’s got a barn! We could put on a show!”). I prefer branded merchandise myself.

I’m going to tell you right up front that if the only current picture of you is a postage stamp photo of you hugging on your grandkid that you are gonna get your photo took. If the only image on your Facebook page is you riding a horse from a 100 yards out, you’re going to get your picture snapped. If you bring one with you that you like better than the one we have up on the website, bring it with you. I’ll have the portable scanner with us to capture the image and you can take the photo back with you.

3/25/2011

Milton here again. Well it’s been an eventful couple of days.

First, we got the call from Evansville Print Specialists. The directories are printed, bound and boxed and awaiting distribution for the pre-orders and sale at the Cottonwood Center. $5 for 40 years of history. Cheap at twice the price. Like the get-together, we’re not trying to make a killing, just trying to make it pay for itself. Most of it is actually right. For those of you who waited too long to get your current photo in the directory, our apologies. We had to put it to bed (that’s printer talk for “get on with it”, the non-profane way of saying it). Yes there are a few typos, we may have even left some folks out. During the conversion between a MS Word format to MS Publisher, I lost some stuff and had to recreate it. Believe me, none of it was intentional or personally directed. We had a lot of material to sort through. We dare say that most of it is correct FOR NOW. It is, and can ever only be a snapshot through the fog of time. The website, however, is dynamic and changing and if you tell us, we will keep updating it as long as we are able. We are making changes to the directory too, and are considering making them available on CD to those interested. More on this later. I’ve also corrected some of the errors I’ve discovered so that CD will be more complete. Only 6 classmates to locate yet.

Next, we did get some photos from folks. Karen Phipps Poole was the last photo to get included. People dropped of photos or mailed them in to us or emailed them in such profusion that we reversed Bob Burdge and Richard Lashley. Thanks so much to Gail Lashley for gently correcting us. Roger Cox showed up and we got his picture, Peggy Phillips Rhodes and Darlene Buchanan Rhodes mailed some in; Chuck Bryan showed up and decided he wanted a hat on his picture to cut down the draft. Patty gave us an updated photo of Nancy Ours Davis too. It didn’t make the book but it’s on the website and also in the directory file

Then, I went to drop off a copy of the directory to Patty Qualls to show her the results of some of her contact work and ran into Donna Abell in person. I don’t know why I should have, but just like Mike Pyle before her, I knew who she was before she was introduced. It’s like seeing a photo of the Empire State Building, you recognize it, but it’s not like standing there in front of it looking up.

The Courier Press took a really good press release about why we had to change from the Howell Shelter House to the Cottonwood because of the sheer volume of interest, missed the back story entirely, in a thoroughly pedestrian exhibition of journalistic missed opportunity and turned the best story to come out of the Westside and Reitz since the end of football season into a calendar event entry with all the life of a plain white matchbook cover that says “Close cover before striking”.

I went over to Wal-Mart and told them we wanted to buy 60 two liter bottles of pop. I was hoping they’d bring them out in 12 pack pallets, the same way it gets to them, but sure enough, they wheeled out a shopping cart full of loose bottles. Loading them into my Dakota so they wouldn’t roll around was fun.

Oh, Linda reminded me to say that this party of ours ain’t gonna be like McDonalds. No drive thru meals. Consider it a courtesy to your classmates to give Linda a call and make arrangements to pay for a reservation so we can lock in numbers for the caterer. Last Call. We have name tags to print, too.

Finally, Linda talked with Delores Overbey Howard and convinced her that this get-together was going to be something else, and that convinced her to come even “if no one remembered me or I didn’t remember anyone.” I doubt that will be the case, and the name tags should be helpful in that regard too.

3/22/2011

We received photos of Richard Lashley and Robert Burdge from their families for our Memorial page. We also found out from his family that Steve Schnarr is in South Carolina. We hope to get more details soon.

3/20/2011

Judy Scheller was kind enough to bring over a couple of pictures of Steve Capps. We also got a more recent picture of Nancy Ours too. We’re getting down to 6 missing classmates. Amazing. 9 months ago, we never thought we would be where we are now. When Milton first got the notion of a get together before the official reunion, we never ever thought we’d get such a hearty turn-out. As the project of an unofficial ad hoc committee now turned official, we truly hope that this kind of event foreshadows what a great event the 45th can become. Put your thinking caps on, ‘cause the scheming and plotting has already begun!

 

3/18/2011

Photos of Darlene Buchanan Rhodes and Peggy Phillips Rhodes, so two fewer lost classmates now with photos. Also received a $25 class fund donation. Don’t know whether it was meant to be anonymous or not so until we know, mum’s the word. It is one of several.

3/17/2011

Kris Searle, Jess’s sister, had a classmate who was a brother to Katherine Preston, one of our last few lost classmates. Well to make a long story short, she’s lost no longer. Thanks to Kris and all of you that have contributed that tidbit of information that has either located or made location possible!

Linda talked to Kate Preston. She attended Reitz in junior/senior years, but you can be sure she’s on the website browsing around right about now. I think she was a little surprised that someone had taken the time to find her. Of course throughout this process, no one ever thinks they’re lost!

3/15/2011

Located Peggy Phillips Rhodes, Darlene Buchanan Rhodes,  and Karen Johnson Jorgenson. Got new photos of Karen Phipps Poole and Karen Campbell Klingle. John Wayne Reutter now has new contact info. Hilda Whistler changed her email.

We also contacted Charles Euler and got a current photo of Shirley Bohn Euler, a newer photo of Milt Stirsman from the family, and thanks to the Wegener family for a photo of Eugene and to the family of Rick Cameron. Our thanks to all the families that have dug through their photos and refelt their loss to provide recent photos of our late classmates so we could honor their memories.

Got a message from Jess Searle with some regret over not being able to fit in Howell Shelter house:

    Thank you for the update. I would guess with the total attendance of 160+ that some of the other schools have a greater % of attendees. You've done a great job on this whole project. It amazes me that some are adamantly disinterested but for the rest of us its coming at a good time.

    I just put my bid in for April so I should know in a week or so if I got the days off for the shindig. When you started talking about maxing out Howell park I started thinking about Burdette so I'm sure you guys looked at it too and it must of had some problems.

    I was kind of looking forward to seeing Howell Park again as I spent many hours there as a kid. I remember at one time they had a locomotive engine there that you could climb around on, and I spent a lot of hours at the pool. Then when I got a little older we spent a lot of time on the par 3 golf course.

    My cousin Philip and I got in trouble with the law there once when the zoo had a traveling exhibit there with animals in wagon type cages. They tried to blame an injury to one of the exotic cats on the 2 of us but we were, for once in our lives, innocent.

    I am amazed at your success and persistence in this venture since I got a call from you 9 months or so ago.

    You missed your calling you should have been a detective with the P.D. or a PI.

    Kenny Martin expressed similar thoughts.

    3/14/2011

In addition to having a great meal and a great time at the April 9 event, the newly reconstituted Reunion Committee will also want you to give some thought to next year. We’re not looking for answers; we’re looking for questions. What kind of things should we be thinking about when we begin planning? Of course, there are the obvious: Place, date, time, menu, activities, etc., but are there any other things to consider? I can think of a few but I don’t want to put words in mouths. We’ll talk a little bit more about this in April; put your thinking caps on till then.

3/13/2011

It’s time to close out the Directory so that it will be ready for the printer. That means that any photos that are on the way or meant to be sent or hidden away till you get around to it are not going to be in the book. It’s not like pictures for the website. We can change that pretty much any time, but ink on paper has a different finality. I’ve tried to make the photos you have all graciously sent as printable as possible, but some of you folks must be positively camera shy. The heart of the book is Linda and Nancy and Patty’s work - the contact information that allows you to get in touch with each other and that is about as good as it’s going to get. We’re still working on the last few but it’s slow going.

So, we’ve pre-sold 2/3’s of the books so far. We’re going to print about 125 of ‘em. If you haven’t put in an order, you can get ‘em at the get together. If you’ve pre-ordered and you’re going, you can pay your $5 and pick’em up at the Cottonwood Center. If you can’t make that, let Linda know, send in your $5 plus $2 and we’ll mail it to you.

3/12/2011

Well we took one look and found that it is real, so we booked the Cottonwood Center. Met Donna Ward, Reitz ‘65. It has a kitchen with working space and a fridge. It has a PA system with wireless mike to make it easy for me and Waterman to carry on. The “dance floor” is ideally suited to set up the food serving area and the entry leaves plenty of room for Directory sales and name tag distribution and general sign-in stuff. I took a photo so between this link and Linda’s Facebook page, everyone gets a preview of the place.

I know. I don’t know how she does it either. But she does and more power to us for it. On Friday, look under the Courier Press westside edition headline “Reitz Class of 67 Busting Out!”

3/11/2011

Well we didn’t think it would happen but it did. We are so many we busted out of Howell Shelter House. On the one hand, we didn’t want to put on the brakes after we quickly discovered that this was going to be one of the biggest class turnouts ever. We also admit that when we first booked Howell Shelter House, we had no idea that there was so much pent up desire to get together. We would have been nose to nose and toes to toes. The new place, the Cottonwood Center, is remodeled and looks terrific and is a lot bigger. We are going to the place tomorrow to make sure the reality matches the Facebook page. Look at Linda’s Facebook page to see the pics.

The photographer in me said, “Hey, this place has a 3 step tiered stage. That’s great for group photos!”

But the basic mission of the event is the same. It is casual, it is alcohol and smoke-free, but there will still be plenty of good food, dessert, soft drinks, door prizes, and plenty of photos and memory sharing and story swapping the likes of which has not been seen in a long time.

We will be letting people know about the change by this notice, email, phone calls and we will advertise in the Westside edition of the Courier Press. So if you’re reading this and you have people you keep in touch with, let ‘em know!

3/9/2011

We are full up for reservations for the get-together. We never imagined that it would become as big as it has. It gives us great hope for the Reunion next year.  It may be too late for the get together but it’s not too late for ordering the Class Directory. $5 if you’re getting it local; add $2 bucks for postage and handling if you’re out of town.  If you don’t have a high school picture but don’t want a big blank there, send in a picture from way back when by email to linday7632@gmail.com. Remember that this photo is the one on your name tag if you’re planning on going to the get together. Don’t be the polar bear in the snow storm. The book is going to press on Monday, 3/14/2011. We are on the last push for photos until then. Got one from Carolyn Sue Young Kyte’s family today.

Thanks to the children of Barb and Gary Alvey for photos which can be found on the Memorial Page, and also for the family photo which now graces the Class Mates page. If any one knows where they went to grade school, please email Linda if you would.

3/7/2011

Privacy issues. Remember, if you don’t want a picture up or your email published, let us know and we’ll remove it. It’ll be harder for folks to get in touch though.

Nancy Layson Burke provided a photo of Cynthia Masterson Hines and you can see the results of our picture taking yesterday

3/5/2011

Lots of photos. We’ve resorted to using 8th grade photos where we can’t get anything else. Mike Duncan, Roger Cox photos today. Sharon Cooper came across with a bunch from her archive. The other Scott School homeroom photo showed up too. Help with the names is always appreciated.

3/4/2011

Photos for the Directory - that’s the big push before the thing goes to press next week. Susan Turpin Gibson, a more recent photo of Milt Stirsman; a visit to Linda meant a new photo for Linda Gray Sanders.

More door prizes than you can shake a stick at. We’re going to try to save some of the good will for the reunion next year!

3/1/11

We’re not ones to blow our own horn but when someone sends something like this, it’s hard not to want it here:

You and your team of people are just too good. The picnic and now a booklet. I hope that everyone totally appreciates what all of you have done and the hours spent doing it. I DO! See you in April.   Steve Jarboe

Well, it’s going to be snug and we’re taking Phyllis Niehaus Happe’s advice and getting the Don’s Cleaners Tent - probably for the name tag and sign in tables to maximize the room inside  but the one thing we don’t want to do is miss out on a classmate just because they procrastinate.

2/28/2011

Things have been so busy that this has taken a back seat.

First, thanks for the feedback on the class directories. Within 3 hours of an email and the announcement below, we presold about half the 100 books we were thinking of ordering. Since the 23rd, about a dozen people have sent checks, or included book money in their checks with their get-together reservation payments, speaking of which, we are just about at capacity, so my joke about doing the Superbowl thing is coming true! (see 2/12/2011 entry). So truth be told, the priority now is to get as many missing photos as possible so the directory can be sent to the printer as complete as possible. SO. If you’ve got an email change, or an address change, or a senior picture or a current picture that you’ve been waiting to let us know about, DO IT NOW. First, we don’t want you to be represented by a gaping hole in the book. Second, without a senior picture, your name tag for the get together is also going to have a big blank space next to your name. I need to take the book to the printer in about 10 days. That’s the real deadline for the book. After that, if you’re attending April 9, get me that old photo anytime right up to the date. Remember to bring in those class photos. We’ll have a scanner and laptop at the event.

Additionally, we’ve gotten photos of Richard Cameron, Carol Tarr Boeke, Regina Stevens Reuckert. Gerry Rainey brought photos of himself and his late brother Larry. We took a picture of Gerry Perdue, and Dennis Cox sent us a photo of himself on the links. We stole a photo of Jane Bauer, and now have a senior photo of Beverly Leach and current photos of Carol Roettger Henry and Lana Steele. Ed Branch now has a brace of photos old and new. Russ (Hicks) Douglas also graced us with a photo. All these photos have been posted on the site and included in the class directory. I wish we had the money to print in color but we don’t. The directory is going to be 80 pages with a heavier cover in a handy 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 size.

2/23/2011

Here’s the dilemma: In the distant past, i.e., 20 years ago, the EVSC was flush. Reitz Industrial Arts printed the directory for nothing. This is now. Even with a 10% discount donation, the cost of digitally printing a hundred  80 page plus cover directories will result in a cost of just under $5 a copy (Actually $4.64). 150 brings it down a dime a copy to $4.54). So do we print a hundred and risk spending class funds that may end up with an inventory of unsold directories? Or do we take orders at the Spring event so we are not dipping into the existing class fund reserve? Any thoughts?

People, we are now at 102 paid attendees. Send your reservation checks in right away quick!

2/21/2011

The reservations continue to roll in. This may be the biggest turn-out to any class event since the 10th reunion

More from Ed Branch:

The work you and your husband are doing to assemble class information on this web page is of great historical significance. After all, we will all, one day be gone. The web page may be for many of us our only legacy. Perhaps the only piece of historical literature enabling our children's children to know who we were and a little bit about what we did. It has that much significance for me anyway. And I think you both again for making it happen.

Belated thanks to Nancy Layson for doing the drive-by photo shoots that resulted in pix for Karl Dosch, Gary Toy and Carl Johnson. Props to Patty Qualls for the photos and information she has collected. Tom Waterman is now on board as well.

Well, the Gang of Four had another meeting and the agenda is starting to fall into place. The only thing we can reveal for sure is that the caterer will be serving promptly at 5pm.

So send in your checks by Feb. 28, and on April 9, bring your appetite, bring your cameras, bring an open mind about what class events are like, and be prepared to have a fun and memorable evening. (Milton is truly looking forward to meeting you all in person)

2/19/2011

Got this from Ed Branch:

Where in the world has Ralph "Ed" Branch been since graduating from Reitz? 1967 - 70: US Navy - Criminal Investigator, USA and Vietnam Service. 1970 - 74: San Francisco State University: Double major: Clinical Psychology and  Sociology for Marriage and Family. Part-time employment -private body guard and agent with Burns Detective Agency San Francisco. 1974 - 79: Corporate Security Executive: California, New York City and  Washington, DC. 1979 - 84: Private Security Executive Protection Consultant and trainer: USA, Central America and Southeast Asia. 1984 - 90: Financial and Administrative Management: Credit and Forensic Accounting: USA. 1990- present: Office Management; Access Technology testing and training - Working with blind and visually impaired consumers in California. 1994 - present: Certified "Advanced Therapeutic Massage Practitioner", California.Present to 2012: Looking forward to the next REITZ 67 Reunion! Yahoo!

2/18/2011

Photos from Sharon Cooper Barker and David Hale and Ed Branch is planning on flying in from Sacramento because “you never know how much time you have left and you may not get another chance”. Wise words from the West. Went to Willard Library on another marriage certificate hunt to locate the last few folks. Sometimes more information results in more confusion. So the jury is still out on Mildred and Peggy Phillips.

We have also decided to fill out the memorial page with achievements, military information and other memories. So if you have information about our classmates passed, let Linda know and we’ll post it. Marla Oberhausen is the first of such records.

2/16/2011

It seems like moment we ease up on the search for the last few classmates, they end up finding us! We’re in touch now with (Ralph) Ed Branch who tells us that only his parents insisted on calling him Ralph. So anyway, Ed Branch is in Sacramento CA working to help blind people. A worthy occupation indeed.

We also discovered that Shellan Washington is really Shirley Washington who is here in town.

Went to visit Vince Oberhausen on Franklin St. where he graciously loaned us a photo of Marla much more contemporary than her high school photo. He had stories to tell.

2/12/2011

The warm weekend is making us think about April more and more. We’re more or less holding up on our endless search for the last few classmates and hounding everyone for pictures of themselves in favor of publicizing and cajoling people to come to the get together. On the one hand, we want everyone to come. On the other, the shelter house is only so big. We’ll figure it out so that it all works out. Maybe we’ll do a Superbowl gig with a big screen outside so latecomers can see the festivities in the shelter........Linda said to stop going over the top.

Some folks have been asking about why this person or that person isn’t listed on the site. Well, here’s our thought process on this. As far as the get together, we’re being as inclusive as we can. We’re being a lot more open about the get together than we are the website. We’ve extended invitations, for example to folks that went to grade school with us but not to Reitz. The website we’re holding open to folks that went to Reitz between 1963, freshman year, and 1967 senior year, graduate or not. Same for the directory.

Incidently, Centennial folks might remember Mrs. Overfield, a teacher who passed on February 7. An excerpt of her obituary:

overfield eveyonne”EVANSVILLE, Ind. Eveyonne Anne (Klein) Overfield, 80, of Evansville, passed away Monday, February 7, 2011, at Columbia Healthcare Center. She was born January 25, 1931, in Evansville.
She graduated from Bosse High School in 1948 and was active in the reunion committee for many years. Eveyonne graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Evansville in 1952. She started teaching first grade at Centennial Grade School and taught until 1956 when she started having children.”

2/10/2011

Just when we felt like we were hitting a wall, Patty Qualls picked up the ball and is coming through with pictures of Randy Peay and Margie Hagerman. We also got the address for Dan Acker.

The photos are up and the checks and reservations keep rolling in. For the first time we’re thinking about the capacity of the Howell Shelter House. They say it’s 150.

We talked to Dan about getting a picture of Gloria; similarly we are talking to the Stirsman family about getting a good picture of Milton.

2.6.2010

Got High School era photos from Chuck Bryan, Mike Springer and DeJong Malin. Anybody that missed the photo sessions because of work, send those photos in. Also got photos of Bonnie Hamby Knowles and David Gwaltney. Reservations continue to arrive for the Spring get-together. Milton put up an announcement on Insight Channel 7 as well as Friday’s Courier Press West Side edition.

2.4.2011

Well, despite my best efforts to be very explicit about our get together this April NOT being THE reunion, I guess I have to confess that it is a reunion of sorts. The article that was sent in called it a Spring “Event”.

2.3.2011

Do you remember swapping senior pictures with your best friend (BFF, now). Well, Marcia Staton and Susan Turpin Gibson must have done that so that we could get a senior photo of Susan. She’s going to send a current one herself.

2.1.2011

Linda is making sure to notify all those without computers of the Spring get together. She has recruited Jay Ayres to help with phone calls. BTW, don’t be surprised if you’re on Facebook and get a friend request from Dan McCaffry. He’s turning into an enthusiastic newbie. Barbara Breedlove Walsh sends her greetings from Florida. Linda says “Grrrrr....”.

1.31.2011

Linda heard from Karen Sue Campbell who mentioned that there was another classmate who had to leave school early. You may remember her, Suzanne Boyd Parker, who went on to become a nurse at Deaconess but who sadly passed away in 1984. We’ve added her to the Memorial page. She also spoke to Dan McCaffry who is in Ft. Collins, CO working as an insurance claims person in the region, hence the stories about him in Wyoming, which is part of his territory.

You know, we should get more information about what everybody ended up doing for a living than we have. Some seems common knowledge, but many occupations are unknown. Maybe we can get a better idea at the get together in April.

1.29.2011

Located Karen Sue Campbell and Regina Mae Stevens using marriage records from Willard Library. Geneology search techniques are very effective. We also got a good address for Susan Turpin Gibson in Kuttawa KY from Marcia Staton. Marcia was one of those who were made to leave school early.

Another mystery. Steve Jarboe noticed that the dates on the Jerry Berfanger we had on the memorial page didn’t jive with someone who should have been 61 this year. So we are taking him off the page and back in the B’s until we can confirm things one way or the other.

1.27.2011

Photo from Mark Hahn arrived in Linda’s email this afternoon. More checks from attendees to the get together arrived today as well.

1.26.2011

Bob Willis convinced Linda to join Mylife.com. She has been going to town. The directory is going to be really complete!

Here’s something we thought you might like to read from Angela Hempen Long from snowbound Brooklyn NY:

    I want you and your husband to know I've enjoyed visiting the Reitz67 website enormously.  I doubt I will make it to a reunion or any get together, but since you contacted me, every few days or so I find myself popping back in to see a new photo or read a new story.   I've surprised myself by the level of grief I feel at learning of  the death of a person I haven't seen in 40 years, and rejoice at seeing - and comparing - old and new photos. Thanks again for your efforts, and I hope your new knees serve you as well and as long as the old ones did.

Got a new email for Mary Scott Dennis. Found Judith Austin Fox. One less lost classmate. Less than 20 to go. We may not get pictures for everyone, people may not be interested, but when we’re done, ALL the people in our class will have been located. Everyone.

We began thinking finding everyone was the point of this all. It has turned out to be all about what happened along the way. What continues to happen; what will happen at the April get-together. The final destination is just the anticlimax.

1.24.2011

Great photos of Centennial groups and West Heights (a new page cause we hope there are more photos out there) from Carolyn Hoos Scavone. As always, help with the names is always appreciated. Of course, Linda already has out her magnifying glass.....Also reorganized to give Scott School its own page.

And got a photo of Tom Hert.

To continue the thought from the other day, stay updated, especially now that we’re going to be putting together the class directory.

Reservations are starting to roll in for the get together. The way the weather has been, we’re thinking of naming it the Spring Thaw......Remember, even though it’s a while off, we need to get your money in by Feb 28 so that we can lock in the number of attendees for the caterer. Thanks everyone!

1.21.2011

Paul Beck has a new email. Let us know if you change it. It’s as easy as sending us an email. Your new address is embedded in the email! This holds true of email, physical address, phone numbers. Stay updated.

Got a picture from Steve Frohbieter. and corrected a name duplication in the Centennial 8th grade photo.

1.19.2011

The people that are coming to Howell Shelter are enthusiastic and excited. That’s great and what we were hoping for. There are people who can’t come because they have plans well in advance. That’s unfortunate, but if this turns out the way we hope, we’ll do more! Then there are people who don’t want to have anything to do with us. That’s a shame but hardly a reflection on us and not our loss.

Got a photo of Mike Beckerle in the mail and one of Phil Peckinpaugh via email. We really look forward to seeing the mail lady, not just because she’s nice, but she’s been bring us lots of pictures. Email is far more interesting now that we get more than zillion-time forwarded off-color old-people jokes in our in-box.

1.17.2010

The lost weekend, perhaps? Actually not; we got pictures from Dianna Becker, Dan Riddle, Barry Weissmann, Rosemary Elpers Blaize, and a great shot from 1959 of Marilyn Brinker and Susie Barnett in the West Terrace playground. People are starting to send in checks for the Spring get-together even though it is months away. Tell that to Linda and Nancy Layson and Patty Qualls. They’re already plotting and scheming about fun things to do while we’re there. Anybody want to be on the clean up committee? Just kidding. By the way, Alan Seegert sent us an email with regrets that he would not be attending the spring affair unless we moved the get together to the far far far northwest side; i.e., Alaska.

By the way, we’re down to about 20 classmates to locate. If you know them and run into them in and about town, let us know. Also, if you haven’t already done it, get that photo of yourself in so it can be included in the class directory with then and now photos and current contact information for your classmates such as has not been available in over 20 years.

1.13.2010

We are getting a pretty enthusiastic response to the Spring get together. Of course the proof is in the pudding. Steve Jarboe said he wasn’t sure if he was coming but he was sending $12 bucks in anyway because it is a worthwhile endeavor that deserves to be supported. Thanks.

Linda finally talked to Jay Ayers, who’s happily living in Haubstadt. Gave him the website address, got his email. Probably see him in April! Got an email address for Karen Pfettscher Long.

1.12.2011

Beth Grosheart Swope found some material that helps solve some of the mysteries on the Lost page. Several have been taken off because they weren’t in the class; just received their diplomas in 1967.  Several now have last known addresses which you know Linda will investigate to the full extent of the law using modern skip tracing methods. I can’t tell you how many classmates commented “How did you ever find me?”.  Linda and Nancy are nothing if not, shall I say, persistent. That’s a term I can use without getting in trouble.

Linda is beginning to email for reservations for the get together. We need to know by Feb. 28. The meal and soft drinks are included. Booze involves liabilities for which we are not prepared. A bar requires a licensed bartender. We want to make this a pay for itself affair.  And all the reminiscing is free.

1.11.11

You don’t see that date too often.

Photos from Francis Riger and Harold (Joe) Reimann. More later...It’s later. Linda got a photo from Ginger Steele Moser in the mail.

1/8/2010

Photo from Bill Schaffer in Lake Placid, NY (remember the crocodile?). But in addition, Nancy Layson Burke talked to Carol Roettger Henry, in Seymour TN; Sharon Helfert is located in Evansville; Clarence Helfert  is is in the wilds of Boonville.

Francis Riger sent us an email with a picture. We think he sent the wrong file or he is living happily in Newburgh as a minivan.

1.7.2011

11 years with Linda. Here’s to many more.

Thanks to Jess Searle for keeping us honest. Sometimes we get so involved in moving forward that we don’t look back to where we’ve been with the site. Typos and a missing photos are fixed. Photos promised from Lionel Phelps and Eddie Merritt who is back amongst the living.

Photos of Earl Rider then and now!; Kenny Benton retrieved by Nancy Layson; Lionel Phelps decked out in a tux and Mark Wortman examining a sample by mail. A great picture day.

1.6.2011

New Pictures from Norma Naab - 6-1 West Terrace and a photo from Pam Williams. We read in the paper about Ralph Dierlam passing away. Ralph started at Reitz and transferred to North.

1.5.2011

Well, it’s been a hell of a weekend. I don’t know how nurses do it. They take care of dozens at a time. I’m having trouble with just one!

We’ve been doing pretty good, except killing off Eddie Merritt by putting his photo next to Milt Stirsman’s high school pic on the Memorial page. I told Eddie on the phone that he was okay as long as he could talk on the phone.

Email addresses for Thomas Hert, Diane Johnson Jorgenson address located, James Auton definitely in Minot ND.,

1.1.2011

Happy New Year! New names on the photo of the West Terrace Band. Too bad the EVSC has seen fit to discontinue instrumental music in elementary school. As a former woodwind player throughout my school days, I hate seeing this trend across the country [my]

Dona McBride’s memorial service tomorrow at Pierre.

12.31.2010

Got pictures from Carolyn Raber Toopes, Brenda Lilly McDaniel, updated photo for Paul Beck (now on Facebook) and a great Tekoppel 3rd grade photo from Brenda. Finally, got a bunch of 15, 25 and 35th year reunion photos. Working on the name tags but at least the photos are up; they needed a lot of work to bring them back from the past.

12.30.2010

Linda’s back home. And finds a photo of Judy Rider Moore in the mail. Hopefully a picture of Willard Rider will follow.

12.29.2010

About a week ago Linda sent out a few postcards hoping to get photos from some classmates. Jackpot! We got photos from Kathy Yeager Marcussen and Mary Scott Dennis.

Got email info from Marlin Fanton and Judy Rider Moore and was able to move her brother Willard Rider from the Lost page since he’s in New Haven IL.

Linda’s getting out of Gateway Hospital tomorrow so I’ve got to clean up after myself. The blog entry is going to be short tonight! As soon as she settles back in and we get the therapy lined out, I’ll get on the reunion pics. We have a bunch from the 25th (1982) from Jess and Nancy Searle as well as Debbie Branson Wells’s.

Finally, apologies to Marlin Fanton (not Minton, which came from an EVSC Reitz directory). Looking forward to seeing you in April.

12.27.2010

New photo from Nancy Layson of Ed Erikson at his antique store on Main St. and Karl Dosch too. Pulled some updated photos from the 2002 reunion for Terri Clark Maurer, Larry Baughn, Karen Phipps Poole, Ronnie Martin, Ron Allega, Jeanette Weiss. Also got a recent photo of Mike Temme from Facebook.

Will get more photos from the 1997 (30th) and 2002 (35th) reunions up later.

Linda’s surgery is over and she’s fine until the therapists start torturing her tomorrow morning. Hospital wi-fi is not bad at all.

12.26.2010

Picked up a giant packet of photos from many reunions from Debbie Branson Wells via her brother Bix and Tina Mornaweg. Going through them now but will probably need some help in identifying everyone.Will begin posting them as soon as the knee surgery allows.

Beth Grosheart Swope was in town for the holidays and squeezed a stop into our house to drop off a photo of the Tekoppel 7th and 8th grade band and offered some help on Debbie’s photos.

12.24.2010

Rats. We stopped by Aztar (the welcome center, not the boat boat since they don’t allow cameras in the casino proper) to try to get a photo of Phyllis Day but she took two days off.

Debbie Ricketts gave us Tom Shinnaman’s email address. He’s in Bristol, IN.

12.23.2010

Fixed an error we knew about but never fixed till now. Tom Townsend is in Princeton, not Evansville. Opened the mail today to discover a photo of Diana Blake! What a nice Xmas present.

But we also found out that Art Mitchem, who has been in failing health, passed away  yesterday.

12.22.2010

Shocking and sad news. Dona McBride passed away sometime between the  weekend and yesterday. Details will follow. Linda only recently got a recent photo from her.

Linda talked with Harold “Joe” Reimann. She had to wait for him to latch the gate to control his cows in English, IN. He has the other (Pohlein) class photo! Linda spoke with Mary Dennis this evening. They are going to share knee surgeons. James Nunn was located not in Henderson KY but Equality IL like we originally thought.

12.21.2010

The shortest day of the year found Linda having lunch with Tonja Rosso Duncan, reliving the memory of their ejection from the West Terrace school bus for refusing to stop serenading the bus driver with their rendition of  “Sad Movies”. This is just the sort of thing we had hoped would happen as a result of this little project. People reconnected with old friends, reliving and recalling old and fond memories.

We got info and a photo from Ron Owen, a new photo for Terry Williams who claimed the one we originally picked was ghoulish, and a promise from Debbie Branson Wells to bring lots of reunion photos over the holidays.

Another bit of bad news. Jerry Berfanger died in May of 1989 of lymph node cancer after having survived a heart transplant in 1986. See 1/29/2011 for an update on this one

12.20.2010

Got a time set for the April 9 thing. What’s the logic, well, it’s a meal and visiting and activities and we need to clean up and get out of there by midnight. So in case there are still folks there at 10pm and it drifts for a while, we still have time to clean.

Got new pix for Bill Majors, Sandy Ko, Susan Gordon Ward, contacted Ron Owen, in Evansville with email and heard from Ed Voliva with email.

12.18.2010

Email address for Jim Riger, out in Reno NV. Mike Temme is in Hudsonville, MI. Hope to get a new email for him soon. For those of you not on Facebook, Terry Hurt reports in that after a run in with bladder cancer, he is now cancer free. Got a photo of the Ha Ha Girls from Susan Morrison (Wehrfritz) with Janeece Scherzinger (Rohner) and Marcia Oistad (Stocker)(Click here). Located Linda Kitzinger (Brown) in Westpark Rehab, here on the west side. Mark Wortman retired this week. Evelyn “Lyn” Gulick (Wilkerson) was located in Imperial, MO.

Determined that David Palmer died in 1999 and is interred at Alexander Memorial Park. Made the appropriate arranging of his listing.

12.16.2010

An icy day in Evansville. Oh joy! But then again, it’s nearly Christmas. Linda’s doing a lot of follow-up to try to get photos and email addresses, trying to get as much done before her knee replacement surgery after Christmas.

12.15.2010

We got a photo from Paul Ensinger and an email from Barb Breedlove Walsh that helped fill in the blanks on the 5th grade Centennial photo.

12.14.2010

Evelyn Gulick and Judy Topper, the former spoken with; the latter, family spoken with. Found Linda Kitzinger too. Little by little, classmate by classmate.

12.13.2010

Linda has had an incredible day as a winter weather shut-in. She has talked with Angela Hempen Long in Brooklyn New York: (well, technically, she talked with Angela’s husband)

My husband called me after he spoke with you and I was AMAZED. You are definitely a good sleuth. I am not on Facebook - by design - and so to find me you must have really beaten the bushes. Anyway, I immediately ran to your website and just loved it. Thank you so very much for this labor of love.”

She located Michael Temme in Hudsonville, MI; Nancy Layson corresponded with Nina Smith Hayes working and living in the Camden TN area; Sharon Kracke Rapp says not to give up on her, a photo is on the way. Found Tom Hert in Bay Minnette AL; hopefully found Tom Lilly in Scottsdale AZ; and thinks she’s found Judy Rider Moore in Princeton, WV. Found William Spaulding on Fountain Ave. here in Evansville. The Lost List is getting shorter and even some of where we thought people were was wrong and is now corrected. We also have reason to believe John Wayne Reutter lives in Venice Florida but hopefully will get some confirmation soon.

Opened up the mail today, and there was a handwritten note from Ron Love, in Newark DE (pronounced New ARK DE as opposed to NEW Wark as in NJ) People in Delaware are real sensitive to that - not wanting to be associated with the city in NJ. I’m from NJ, remember? [my] Anyway, the note was just so bursting with fond memories and genuine affection for all of you classmates, and particular those in his homeroom, that it brought tears of joy to Linda’s eyes. A truly poignant moment. He asked about Daryl Lipper, Linda Lucas, Gary Malin and Bill Majors. If any of you want to get in touch with Ron, Linda has the phone number and address in her class database. He also included a photo of a skinny 17 year old kid in an Air Force uniform and a slightly heavier 61 year old with grandchildren.

It’s been a very good day.

12.12.2010

Got a great Tekoppel 3rd grade photo from Linda Gray Sanders. With ID for most. What a Xmas gift! We were going to go Xmas caroling with digital cameras in hand, but the weather appears to be putting a damper on that venture.

12.11.2010

Linda found Francis Riger in Newburgh and his email address. Confirmed that his brother James is indeed in Reno NV. She also talked to Carolyn Raber Toopes who is in Newburgh with an email address. Nancy Layson found Dennis Cox on FB, and confirmed that he was indeed in Ardmore OK. A good day for the website and database.

12.10.2010

Found Rick Smithhart and talked to him today.

12.9.2010

Located Glenn Jone’s wife on Facebook; Talked to Kathy Gooch’s parents who still live in the same place. A few less spots on the Lost Page. In this search process, we’ve also located some classmates who are categorically not interested and who choose not to participate. Nonetheless, overall, the response from our classmates has been overwhelmingly positive. The website traffic and Facebook buzz has truly been worth the effort of this project which started because I thought my yearbook burned up in the house fire but has turned into something wonderful.

Turns out that Bruce Alan Seegert knows the tour guide we had when we went to Denali a couple years ago. We replied that we would book his tour if we ever got back up there.

Nancy Layson finds Gwayne Reed’s boy on Facebook and we find a photo. Hope to make contact soon, but the upshot of the story is that we found him. Connie Welborn is located with email.

12.8.2010

Got an email from a classmate who felt we were being unduly harsh in our reaction to the delayed response to some of our requests for photos and information. Don’t get us wrong. We are in the same boat as you all are, the grandparent shuttle, basketball games, taekwondo classes, Christmas preparations, aged relations for whom we feel responsibility, work, the hustle and bustle of living our daily lives, the list goes on and on and sending out a photo gets pushed down the priority list. But just give us a call to say that you’ll get to it. We appreciate it greatly.

Got a photo from the 40th with good clips of Carolyn Becker and Julie Hollingsworth Riney. Alice was in the photo too but she was taking a little nap.

12.6.2010

Got an email address for Mary Scott Dennis, who’s here in Evansville from Debbie Ricketts Effinger.

A message for all you Facebook folks, a lot of your classmates have spouses who are on Facebook, so don’t be too quick to dismiss some stranger who has the same last name as a classmate.

I have found that there are Facebook people and then there are website people and although there is an overlap, there is also a difference. I always complain to Linda that by posting all her pictures on Facebook that it keeps people there versus the website. Then I realized that both Facebook and the website act as a big Internet cross-ruff, each feeding the other. The net result is connections remade and contact reestablished. And that is what is all about, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter how, it only matters that it happens. [my]

12.5.2010

Nancy brought over a photo of Dona McBride and we got a photo from Vicki Swope Mandeville. Talked with Karl Dosch down in Tennessee. Sounds like he’ll be up in April. Tried to track down Barry Weissman who supposedly lives close by. Now we know this neighborhood but couldn’t find the street! We think it is really just a driveway with a street name, ‘cause there ain’t no street sign.

Nancy talked to Barbara Nichol Cappy and got an email address.

12.4.2010

A gray and melancholy day both because of the weather and the memorial service for Barry Jobe. Saw some ‘67 folks there. Beverly Leach, Bob Willis, Mike Pyle, Tom Waterman, Roseanna Hayes. Others may have been there too that I didn’t recognize. (I’m not so arrogant that I would think I could recognize people I don’t really know but only by their photos! [my])It got me to thinking about how differently we look at time when we’re 61 versus 17. Makes me think that April can’t come soon enough. Tempus fugit. I learned that in High School. One of the few things that proved to be absolutely true. Time flies.

Linda found Bruce “Alan” Seegert. I’m sure he didn’t think he was lost. We had a lead that he had a son, Alan, so contacted him on Facebook. Got this little rhyme back:

          I’m no son of Bruce
          He failed to reproduce
          He took his middle name
          But still remains the same
          So please do not traduce

We then realized that Bruce and Alan were one and the same. “Commutes” between Denali AK and New Mexico on the “road not taken” to the beat of the different drummer. The ultimate snowbird.  Pictures for Alan, Bob Willis, Roseanna Hayes, Brenda Cosby Gatewood and Mike Springer, who stopped by our house to drop off his own photo, and pix of the Tekoppel band and Centennial 5th grade.

Got the contract for the Shelter house rental. It’s absolutely for sure now. Also got an answer to my question of the hour - how come so many students didn’t have senior pictures done? The answer may be partly due to the work study program at the time. A lot of folks had to go to work as soon as they got out of school and couldn’t make the photo session.

Also a technical note: in an attempt to save time, I used a file synchronization program to back up. It ended up unexpectedly setting the files back to the way they were about 7 days ago. So, if in browsing the site you discover something suddenly missing, it’s not your imagination - please let us know. I won’t be doing that again! [my]

12.3.2010

Talked with Art Mitchem’s wife. He’s been in the hospital and not doing well. Got a pic of Linda Straub by herself. Framed an 8 x 10 enlargement of Barry Jobe’s senior picture and brought it to his sister for the memorial service tomorrow afternoon.

I remembered what Milt said about people getting lost by accident or design. I’m starting to think that the rest of the people wanted to be lost. Similarly, those who we have contacted and from whom we have requested photos without response, well, after a lot of phone calls and emails and even post cards. we’ll just mark them located and leave it at that. Maybe their high school years were less than they expected and more forgettable than ours. Maybe they have been disappointed by the past reunions and want nothing more to do with them and by association, with us. If so, it is a little late for us to change their minds after 45 years. Maybe if they are open to the idea that things can change, and come to the April get together we can prove that things can be done better. Then again, maybe not. For our part, we prefer to concentrate on our original mission helping others remember each other and their friendships, not drag people through places they don’t want to go.

12.1.2010

Knock on the door and there stands Linda Jordan Jung...with pictures! Then Bill and Nancy Burgdorf sent a photo for the Class Mates page. Talked with Dianna Becker, from Huntingdon TN. Mike Springer is supposed to bring more photos tomorrow all the way from New Haven IL. We found out that Dianna Becker’s sister teaches 2nd grade at West Terrace, and that Beth Grosheart’s daughter also teaches there.  That’s what I love about this town, especially the West Side. So how come we can’t find these missing people?  I thought everybody knew everything about everybody else![my]

It has been quite inspirational actually, to see the class forming up again reflected through the mirror of time, with much of the little animosities and ambition and with the teenage angst stripped away. All that remains is comraderie, friendship and common memories of a glorious time gone by. Off the soap box.

Got hold of Mary Ann from the Howell Booster Club to inquire about our contract for the shelter house for April 9. We’re just type A I guess. She explained that she holds the contracts till she has a bunch and sends them all out at once. Awwwwlrighty. But the date is set in her calendar and that’s what counts. She’s going to send it out this week.

11.29.2010

Notice that I misdated yesterday?  Milton here. I noticed a couple of things. One, there are a bunch of folks who, for whatever reason, didn’t have a senior picture but sent us a current photo. How about sending us a photo of you when you were about that senior age to go along with your current photo so we can all appreciate how gracefully and nicely you’ve mellowed.

Second, we’ve been in contact with some folks who are genuinely and understandably irritated (that’s pissed, in French - I took 3 years in high school, so I know!) that they haven’t been contacted by anyone in 45 years. Well, here we are trying to fix that situation. In many cases, it’s not because you weren’t liked, it’s mainly because it was harder back in the day to find folks (no Google or White Pages), and not everyone was clever enough to let their fingers do the walking. We’ve discovered that in many many cases while engaged in this project. It is high time to fix that situation, and we’re trying!

And to reemphasize to those of you who didn’t actually graduate with the class, you still went through school with these folks. You were part of the class community that we are trying to reconnect. That means you BELONG here like everyone else. Welcome back is our message to you.

Karen Sears reports that Bonnie Hamby is now a Knowles in Newburgh, and that David Russell is in town. Linda will be on that info like flies on.....well, she’ll be working on that.

Talked to David Hale - he works with Richard Graves and Ron Conners, and Linda talked with Debby Story Comeau too.

11.28.2010

Bob Willis called Linda ( I got this wrong earlier [MY]) about Barry Jobe’s memorial service. It will be held at St. James West Methodist Church (3110 Hillcrest [between Tunis and Addison]) on Dec. 4, 2010 with showing between 2pm and 3pm and a memorial service immediately following. We’re presuming that Gene Backes will be presiding.

Brenda Bradshaw Becker id’ed herself in the Centennial commencement photo. She’s the 4th from the left next to Terri Coffman in the front row. Also got photos for Mike Conner and Linda Lucas Murray. Got email address from Nelson Opell too! On the flip side, the John Reutter in North Vernon IN is not ours. He grew up in Cincy. Talked with Debby Story Comeau in Florida and came away with an email address.

11.27.2010

Sandra Cantrell Ault photo received. Vicky Kowgitz Sanders [corrected 11/30 - keyboard went nuts-my] contacted with email. Still looking for Glenn Jones but found Brenda Bradshaw Becker.

11.25.2010

Even on Turkey Day, progress. Got a photo of Joe Hahn. Found Sandra Cantrell Ault on Facebook Have yet to make contact to find address and such. Time enough for that on the long weekend.

11.22.2010

Photo day: Ron Conners, Steve Schnell, Carolyn Johnston Warnick, Janet Kares! Carolyn said that our death date for Diane Price was wrong. She thinks it was in April of 1976. We removed wrong date we had. Anyone remember when? We couldn’t find it in the Browning Obituary database either.

After a Nancy Layson Burke call, Susan Gordon Ward called us back and left her email address.

We finally got hold of the Howell Park Booster Club Shelter House manager and booked the Shelter House for April 9, 2011. We were lucky to get the date. We found the greatest caterer who can do the crowd so that the total cost per person should be around $10 inclusive of food and the facility. Chicken, dumplings, veggies, desserts, soft drinks everything!

Remember school picture day? Well, here we go again for those without ephoto capabilities and Linda’s plotting group photos already.

11.21.2010

Been out of town this weekend, but Linda was working the phones. We now have a photo of Connie Hauschild and Donald Walling. We also corrected Valdeana Vincent Burrell’s name spelling everywhere on the site except for in the Mirror. Found Barbara Norrick Humphreys.

Computers are a double edged sword. They enable us to organize things quickly. Sometimes too quickly. Somehow, we ended up creating a phantom classmate named Deanna Gordon, and gave her Deana Clark’s email address. What a mess. Eventually we got it straightened out using advanced geneological research techniques. It seems that Deanna Gordon was the sister of Barbara Gordon, who of course, everyone knows was Bat Girl, who in turn was Commissioner James Gordon’s daughter. Now she is not to be confused with Deanna Clark Gordon, who is a real classmate. She’s not Bat Girl. Clear now?

While we were out of town, we were shocked to get a message saying that Barry Jobe died on Friday 11/19. We have confirmation from his father, but nothing on the arrangements. We were having a great time becoming reacquainted (acquainted for my part - my) and were very sorry to have to move his information to the memorial page. Linda had just talked with him on Wednesday the 17th.......

Barry’s service will be on December 4, with Terry Gamblin presiding. When we find out where, we’ll post it here.

11/18/2010

Tekoppel school basketball and musical group photos! Got Diane Rolley Baughn’s email address. Mike Springer says see you in April! Got his email too. Photos of Sharon Winnecke Beck and Valdeana Vincent too. Pic for Chuck Crandell and talked to Gerald Rainey

11.17.2010

Photo of Dennis Wagner, and Don Burch’s West Terrace BBall pics are posted. Connie Wilson graduated from Mt. Vernon.

11.16.2010

Some IDs for Section D of the 10th reunion photo front row from Norma Naab Wallpe, and a photo of Charles Lee! Phone call with Gerald Rainey confirmed address and email. Jim Shelton is located.

Susan Cobb Goebel provided some names for the Scott School photo. Thanks Susan! Same as I asked you - anyone from Scott have Ms. Poehlin’s class photo?

11.15.2010

Well, the new website usually takes a couple of days to propagate (be found on name servers) but it showed up already so I moved the site. We’ll keep both for a while. For those of you that moved to the new site already, apologies for all the announcements and blurbs to move to the new site. Next Monday, we will take down the old site except for a banner with a link to the new site.

Photos from Larry Broerman, Ralph Scherer, Judy Winternheimer Glines, and Charles Augenstein, and we’re still interpreting the below mentioned class and basketball photos from Don. Probably be up tonight. As usual, there will be a name issue, but we are confident you folks will solve that.

11.14.2010

Productive day. Staged a new website for the class. Should be ready later this week. We’ll have a big unveiling!

Starting to look like April 9 for the get together based on responses from folks interested in attending.

On the lost classmates front, Julian (Bob) Irvine located. Photos from Mike Stonecipher, Susie Morrison Wehrfritz, Alma Martin Shuler, and Don Burch dropped by with a handful of class pictures, most of which we don’t have yet. They’ll be up soon.

11.13.2010

We stopped by at the Gamblins for their “couples” page photo. Linda is making the best of being sidelined with her foot surgery. The mail brought a care package from Kathy Bush Lowry with a Hilltopper and Homecoming float photo. Larry Baughn is located. Been here for 20 years. Didn’t know he was lost.

Since the publication of our website announcement in the Courier Press, we have located about 10 of the people on the lost list.

11.12.2010

No single rain drop feels they are responsible for the flood, but a flood we have. Mike Conner, Ron Conner, Mike Hoppel, Mike Springer (in New Haven IL), leads on Charles Augenstein, Ralph Branch that we are working on for confirmation; the lost classmates page is getting depopulated.

Looks like this weekend we will be on the Westside candid camera tour. So if you haven’t gotten a photo in to Linda yet, don’t be surprised by the doorbell and the friendly, “Smile, you’re on the Reitz 67 website!”

11.11.2010

Linda is getting warmer. Found: Carolyn Postal (Johnson), Diane Rolley (Baughn), Larry Baughn, all in Evansville, all on the West Side. Photo of Sharon Bernhardt Harms. Connie Wilson, with us till senior year, is in Mt. Vernon, Indiana. Nelson Opell is in Albuquerque, NM.

11/10/2010

Help with an unnamed cheerleader and an 8th grade Centennial classmate from Barb Breedlove Walsh. Thanks! Both moved away before the Reitz years. Barbara is making a few withdrawals from the memory bank to come up with more Centennial 8th grade picture names. And a couple of photos from the 30th reunion.

Photos from Norma Naab Wallpe and Shirley Reinicke Sargeant, and both with SASEs (Self addresed stamped envelope! Thanks for both the photos and the consideration.

The buzz is increasing about the April get together from as far as Baraga, MI (Floyd Crawford). It has really been gratifying to see the groundswell of interest in the site, both here and on Facebook, and the idea of a get together in the Spring. For Linda and me, well, we’re way past the point where we have to do things we don’t want to do. I can tell you that this is a real labor of love. Just seeing people reminisce in front of me is worth every bit of effort expended. I can’t wait to meet some of you in person (MY) It’s almost enough to convince us to invest the $35 bucks to register a domain for the class! Then again, we may need it for the April get together grub......after all, the website we got is free.......

11.9.2010

Linda spoke with Marilee Ennis (Harper). Turns out she, like Charlotte Persohn, was actually in another class, the class of ‘57, but finished in 1967 after a very short time. Talked to Lionel Phelps who was excited about an April get together. Located Karen Kern (Calhoun)

Thanks to Pam Fogle Irwin for the PM Kindergarten and 1st grade Centennial photos and names and photo of Darlene Hines (Barnes). Thanks to Tina Mornaweg (Ritter) for the additional cheerleader and basketball names.

11.8.2010

Photos for Carolyn Hoos Scavone, Steve Ogg, Fred Ruggier and Floyd Crawford; and more West Terrace photos coming from Pam Fogle Irwin. Carl Johnson has a new email address. Lionel Phelps is in Princeton, IN. Thanks to Fabienne Hamby Aballi for name corrections for Centennial pix. Similarly, thanks to  Kathy Bush Lowry for names for the Daniel Wertz photos. Jack McKendree sends his greetings to all his Daniel Wertz classmates. Thanks again to Marilyn Brinker Brandsasse for the Roger Cox ID in the West Terrace 8-1 class photo.

We have sent a story about the website to the West Side Edition of the Courier Press. Hopefully, it will be run on Friday, 11/12/2010.

11.7.2010

Matching up on the few not found classmates with the Browning obituary site has revealed more sad news. Ralph Green, Robert Burdge, Jerry Powell (not yet confirmed) and Wyman Crow are, in the words of Bruce, several years gone by now.

On a happier note, we now have photos of Steve Appel and Randy Specht. Linda talked to Floyd Crawford up in Baraga MI and Jerry Grove here in Evansville.

11.6.2010

Tim Gerbig’s email; Charlotte Persohn Huffine’s photo; Charlotte was originally meant to be Reitz ‘52, but had to leave school. Determined to finish, she finished with us, 15 years later.

Another sad report. Karlene Bell Adams passed away 2 months ago in Princeton.

11.5.2010

Milt gave a picture of the 5 Wertz guys to Jack(ie) McKendree (who moved and graduated from Central after attending Wertz and West Terrace). Some memories recalled there and perhaps some renewed friendships. Found R. Julian Irvine through his friend Tim McMahon. Not interested. Milt went to Steve McCullough’s Auto Parts store and shot his picture. He had Milt wait while he tended to his hair.

Decided to reverse West Terrace 8-1 and 7-1 photos. The ages didn’t look right.

Got a great photo of Steve and Fraya Erwin AND Marilyn Brinker and Steve Brandsasse too. Thanks folks. Rosemary Raley located. Got a photo of Linda Brame Gamblin from Patty Qualls. Charlotte Huffines located - down the street from us. Yup, that’s right. Our neighbor. What a hoot! A lot of email and few respondents. A lot of phone call messages and no call back. Perhaps we’re getting to the end of the list of people who care at all to remember.

A vote for early April (2,9, or 16) from Pam Carroll Oldham.

my1967mynow

Milt here. This isn’t my idea. Here’s a pic of me in 1967 doing what I do best - talk,  and now, being married to Linda, now I just listen.

11.4.2010

Email and address confirmation for Steve Schnell. Turns out we’re practically neighbors. We could almost throw a rock hard enough to hit his house. Don’t worry, Steve, it’s just a figure of speech. Talked to Rosie Blaize Elpers. Rick Winternheimer’s wife says he’s not interested.

Jess is hard at work again. Even though he meant 7-1 but he said 7-2, his ID’s were confirmed. WT 3rd grade is corrected. Photos should all load now. A little carryover from the server problem of yesterday.

11.3.2010

A reorganization of the grade school photos and some Maypole photos from Daniel Wertz. Photos of Linda Jones Ogura and Bob Ogura from a couple photo of them. FTP Problems (yes, capital P) early today and last night caused me to miss updating the site as is customary, but it’s okay now. I’mmm baaaack! So is Beverly Leach Gooch, in Evansville, that is.

11.2.2010

Linda Peerman Baker passed away in February of 2005. We learned this today and posted it on the memorial page. Jess Searle has taken another shot at the 10th reunion photo with confirmation for some of his id’s from Bob Wolf. Photos for Renee Jaquess Lynn and Deloris (Dodie) Garnett.

11/1/2010

A belated acknowledgment to the Oguras for furnishing the Cynthia Heights class book.

A complaint was received that I hadn’t cleaned up 45 years of damage to the Cynthia Heights class book. Well folks, a reminder that I’m doing this volunteer style and still working. I estimate it would take about an hour per pen mark per photo and about 4 hours for coffee stains. My priority was to do the most with the least. No good deed goes unpunished.

On another front, a photo here, a street address there, a couple of “thank you for finding me”s and my faith in the class is restored. Linda and the team are pecking away at the 75 left. Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Linda Gamblin who is recovering from foot surgery and weeks of non weight bearing therapy. (MY)

10.31.2010

Pix for Karen Byrd Jaquess, Fabienne Hamby Aballi and Donna Abell Hight. Located Dennis Bacon in Florida. His sister says he’s not interested. Still working on the 10th reunion blow-up for names. Facial hair, now probably long gone, is making it more difficult.

10.29.2010

Email for Renee Jaquess Lynn and Revetta Perkins Crolley. Trying to resolve conflicting locations for several classmates. Different lists, different locations. Both may be right, one or none may be current. No  reason or information to believe one way or the other. The hunt goes on. Only about 75 to go.

10.28.2010

Linda is too much. She’s using Willard’s marriage records to try to find classmates. I have launched a Class Mates page because I think it is unusual that so many classmates at Reitz in ‘67 ended up married. Ain’t such a thing at Wayne Valley HS in Jersey! So anyway, I’m looking for photos of all the happy couples (MY)

We will be creating a page with those classmates who we have been unsuccessful in locating. Hopefully, this will help focus attention on them from everyone else in locating them. We are gratified by the offers of help that we have received. We have included some hearsay where we have it. We will be trying to get the Courier Press publish it in the Westside edition next Friday or the next after that.

Alma Martin Schuler doesn’t have a computer but her daughter does. Pat Johnson Harms has email as does Steve Appel.

10.27.2010

The buzz volume is up. We sent a bunch of messages to classmates who are listed on Classmates.com to a) come to the site, and b) get on Facebook, which is becoming the de facto standard of social networking for the class. Photo tag volume is up. We talked with Rita Gieselman Bowdish, who is good with the site, but down on reunions. Wonder why? She is also okay with the Spring Pre-union idea. Linda Darlene Hines is out in Mt. Vernon without a computer but says, “Hi!”. Thanks to Pam Fogle Irwin for that one. Sandra Overfield pix is in. She’s in Eastern PA.

Jess, I think I fixed the 10th. I have yet to add names. We do have a few. As far as 20 goes, I’m having a software glitch that might make the 40th format impossible. I’ll figure something out.

10.24-25.2010

Hit the Motherlode this weekend. Linda Lucas Murray delivered 5 West Terrace photos WITH names; we had to restructure the pages in the “Where we come from” section. Tons of information flowed. Weekends are productive because folks are home. Lots of Facebook friends made too. More details later on who was found. Just wanted folks to know about the structural changes. No we haven’t removed anything. Just moved it around. This is going to happen as more photos show up. Centennial will likely have a page of its own soon. Tekoppel, where are you. There is also a photo from Pam Carroll Oldham, and the spelling of her name is corrected. New Pix for Kathy Greene Stevens, Dana Sharp, Roger Cannon and Barbara Barrows Franckowiak. Email or locations  for Steve Ogg, Karen Pfettscher, Marsha Oistad Stocker, Gloria Paddock Robertson

Scott School 1962-3 is represented on the site now thanks to Susie Morrison Wehrfritz

We were eating lunch at the new and greatly enlarged Parkway Pizza (used to be Kozy Korner) on Broadway and noticed that they had some great Reitz pix on the wall (as well as really great hot ham and cheese sandwiches). Sorry about the reflection. They’re posted on the My Old School Page. Keep rifling through that box of memorabilia. Those old pictures are in there somewhere!

By the way, we have over 130 current email addresses and 90 current (or at least recent) photos. We’re trying to talk Linda out of showing up at your door with her digital camera, so send ‘em in. Don’t know how much longer we can restrain her. Our location efforts have yielded scores more classmates with whom we actually spoken as well. Some do not have email accounts, some don’t have computers, but they all have one thing in common: we can contact them one way or the other, either by phone or email or snail mail. Haven’t gotten an exact count but best guess is probably 60%. Plus, sadly, 37 classmates who are no longer with us except in memory. 

Milton here. My town was a bedroom community for New York City, so many of my classmates pretty much scattered, like me, although there is a solid core still in Wayne NJ. You folks are so fortunate that so many of you are still in town (in far greater proportion than my class).

We’ve heard talk about the notion of more than one Pre-union event, such as a Centennial dinner or such in addition to the all class Pre-union get-together in the Spring. The Howell Shelter house goes for $150 plus a refundable $75 deposit. It’s affordable. Just needs to be planned out. Wonder how much it would cost to hold a get-together at Parkway?

This evening, got an email from Jess Searle admitting that he didn’t attend both 8th grade classes at West Terrace at the same time. Also found out that Milton and Jess share a nickname, Bud, that they both seem to have outgrown.  It’s been a very good couple of days site-wise. We sure hope people are starting to remember why they were friends back in high school and perhaps how much they regret losing touch. Carpe diem, folks, seize the day! Make up for lost time!

10.23.2010

We did a run through of all the classmates to sync the reunion list database to the website. Wow. over 90 recent photos. We also discovered some missing classmates lost in the lists. We found Pam Fogel (not Vogel). We also discovered that Mike Williams passed 3 years ago from Glenn his brother and that Terry was in North Carolina. Mike has been added to the memorial page. Linda woke up the Specht family at 8 in the morning on Saturday and got Randy’s email address. Send in your email address unless you want a weekend morning call too!

10.22.2010

Patty Qualls checked in with addresses for Billy Beal and Alan Reininga - his email too. Roger Cannon’s email is now available as is Susie Morrison Wehrfritz who checked in from Colorado in Facebook. We think James Auton is in Minot ND. More on that later. Got a pic of Randy Babb from his wife, Jane. Also a new pic of Amy Slifer Mackey and Larry Mackey is up today. Additionally, pix for Pam Fogle Irwin, and Kathy Greene Stevens. Also discovered that Paul Elderbrook passed away in February of this year. Jared Schenk is located in Evansville as is Jane Bauer Knight.

If we sent everyone whose email we now have verified an invite to an event and only 1 in 3 attended, we’d still have more attendees than at the last reunion. And that doesn’t count the folks for whom we now have accurate addresses.

10.21.2010

Email for Pam Carroll Oldham down in Tennessee. Kathy Greene Stevens is located. Locating folks is getting more like pulling teeth.

We have discovered that it never occurs to us that someone might be looking for classmates whose whereabouts you already know. Shoot Linda an email asking if she has info on that person. It would be immensely helpful. Divorce and remarriage breaks more than the relationship. It breaks the ability to locate classmates; Changing emails, addresses, phone numbers, etc.

10.20.2010

Email for Steve Frohbieter, locations for Barb Nichol Cappe, a partial obit for Rick Cameron, locations for Hilda Davis Whistler, and lots of activity around photo identification for the Centennial and Cynthia Heights class pix. Working out how best to mark up the photo from the 10th reunion.

10.19.2010.

Lots of people have provided names from the Cynthia Heights and Centennial pix. Thanks to all. I’ll get them posted as soon as we sort through how best to identify the pix, especially where there are differences of opinions.

10.18.2010

Got email contacts from Joe Robertson, Sharon Krack Rapp (in Flint MI) and Carolyn Holmes. Got the Cynthia Hgts 7th grade class pictures up along with the 1962 class book. We’ve gotten some names on the Centennial graduation photo. Now in touch with Barb Barrows Frankowiak out in Denver (couldn’t get in touch with her while we were in Denver tho); Bob Parkman gave us his email, as did Dan Gates.

10.17.2010

Got a great pic of Don Barton. and multiple correx for Debbie Fisher Baumgartner from Westerville OH. Couldn’t have made any more mistakes for that one!

We have found that there is a big difference between the official school graduation list and the earlier phone directory since some people had to drop out or moved away. We are trying to err on the side of who was in the class versus who officially graduated. We see no reason to stand on formality. If someone was in the class, they were in the class, regardless of the circumstances of the end of their high school experience. They still went to school with us.

10.16.2010

Pix for Amy Slifer Mackey and John Reynolds. Glad to be back in Evansville and Linda is still getting info from out in the field. Email for Donna Abell Hight. Gerald Foster. Found out that Ronnie Bell passed in 1974. Linda talked to Tom Zurstadt in Steamboat Springs, CO and Janet Kares all the way out in Fort Branch, and Dottie Bays Eisenhauer out in the wilds north of Booneville and Barbara Fortner Blythe who has no email but we now have contact info. Same for Ron Love and Tom Waterman. Email contact for Valdena Vincent Burrell - Facebook too; Dan Riddle, Bonnie Roedel Brenner and Gerald Foster, the HVAC guy - he did ours and we didn’t even know he was a classmate. Been a good day for info. While I was driving the RV, she was working the phone. That’s dedication - or maybe boredom? Kansas is hillier than I remember and windy (huge wind turbine farms out there). I draw no comparisons to Linda in the interests of matrimonial bliss.

Is there a concensus developing here? Now I’m just some guy from New Jersey but it seems like you folks need to have a get-together next year in addition to your reunion - a Pre-union somewhere here on the Westside - may be a carry-in or a Marx catering thing at Howell Shelter house, or a Parkway Pizza Party- nothing fancy, just cheap and good - but it would be an opportunity to survey for the reunion and see how it could be done different this next time. Name tags with the senior pictures, group photos by grade school - lots of stuff that could be done, slide shows, 8th grade graduation pictures- personal histories. These things are supposed to be fun, right?.  Just my two cents. If you see this happening, get in touch with Linda or Nancy or Patti

Speaking of 8th grade pictures, we need ‘em from Tekoppel and some of the other Reitz feeder schools

I returned home to find my high school yearbook in our mail box. I am ecstatic. It’s basically intact except for one page that has a picture torn out. Someone’s jilted girlfriend?  I recall my high school girfriend got excised by a subsequent one too.

10/13/2010

Brenda Lilly McDaniel located on White Pages; Not Finley OH, it’s Findlay, OH. The mail should go through now., Bob Parkman gave us his email address. Debbie Effinger talked to Tom Zurstadt. Milton has caught up with pictures, updating Barbara Wimberly Yates and Debbie Fisher Baumgartner.

10.12.2010

Estes Park later today. Snow falling up there according to the weather people. Hoping for a decent internet connection and some meaningful updates later today. Special thanks to the Searles for catching a lot of little oopsies, some typos, some misinformation inherited from 25 years ago and carried forward.  Their finds should all be corrected. Keep those cards and letters coming folks. This kind of participation is exactly what this site was supposed to inspire and generate an accurate database list.

Today the following people were located and verified: Patti Qualls reports that Janet Kares is now a Moore and living in Ft. Branch and  Martha Berry is married to hopefully a different Moore; we have a partial email for her and are working for a complete one. We got an email from Karen Byrd (Jaquess) locating her in Santa Rosa, FL.

0/10-11/2010

Sort of out of touch at the KOA yesterday. When your 3G cell phone internet access is faster than your provided free wi-fi, there’s something wrong. Anyway, Linda had a real productive time yesterday and today. She connected with Barb Fortner, John Reynolds, Valdena Vincent, Tom Waterman, Julie Hollingsworth, Alice Hall and Deloris Madden Garnett. We’ll be posting the changes and new info shortly.

Additionally we now have email addresses for the Oguras and Linda Jordan Jung.

For those without internet access or email addresses, we have received physical mail addresses and phone numbers. We have had considerable success the old fashioned way - letting Linda’s fingers do the walking. Just picking up the phone and calling from the phone book, who woulda thought! Thanks to Nancy Layson Burke, Debbie Ricketts Effinger and Patti Qualls for working those phones. Sometimes personal calls are just the ticket!

10.8.2010

Added two interesting articles about the urgings of teachers for a westside highschool in 1913. We all know the story of the generosity of F.J. Reitz. Then there is an article about a $500,000 addition to the school in 1955.

Linda took the day off, except for finding the Willard articles. We facebooked with Nancy Searle explaining our idea of a get together before the reunion. Something simple, like at the Howell Shelter house, catered by Marx’s plus some different activities just to prove that it is possible to have fun at a class event; that there is interest in getting together at all, plus, a good time could be had by all. We need to do this as a warm up to the reunion, to drum up even more enthusiasm and interaction than we have seen generated by the appearance of the website. It’s also a test of the database of classmates that we’ve developed as a corollary to the website. You know, the old “Gee, my dad has a barn; we could put on a show!” story.

If there is any interest in such an event in the spring of 2011, please let us know. If we get any kind of groundswell of interest, we’ll make the reservation later this Fall for sometime in the Spring perhaps?

10.7.2010

Linda’s been out and about again. She spoke with Gary Toy and Terry Hudson who reported that Gary Burkhart had succumbed to his childhood diabetes in 1998. Then I made the mistake of using Terry’s photo for Gary. Apologies to Terry. You sound pretty good for being dead.

We also found out that Sharon Wilson and Greg Johnson were gone. The pages have been edited to reflect this sad news. We ran into Sharon Barker (Cooper) at lunch today. Curious, I asked her how come she didn’t have a senior photo. She laughed, saying that she was probably giving birth that day. It reminded me of how differently student marriage and pregnancy were handled way back in the day

We are also about to post over 40 clips from the Reitz Mirror thanks to a generous collection from Nancy Layson (Burke) and Debbie Ricketts (Effinger)

Nancy’s mom is being shown at Alexander West between 2 and 7 this evening and tomorrow morning as well.

Linda also talked to Caroline Hoos Scavone, who says she had a collection of memories through which she would sort to find school photos from the past.

From the technical side, I got rid of the flyout menus because they were starting to bug me and since our pages are so long anyway and we didn’t have to save vertical space, having the child buttons on the side visible was actually easier. I hope you all feel the same way.

10.6.2010

The big news has nothing to do with Reitz but everything to do with High School. Another copy of the Wayne  Valley High School Embers 1967 is winging its way to me to replace the Embers that took itself literally in our house fire. The binding is a little worn but the pages are intact. We will be taking a digital copy of Reflections 67 on CD to the Reitz Media Center and Willard Library. Both did NOT have a copy. They will now. We leave them to print it out if they want to for the record.

Lots of changes to the site. Did another round of revisions on the classmates pages based on current information. Posted a bunch of Mirror excerpts. Posted a pair of photos to panorama view the old school the way it was in ‘67.

Good News. Linda has spoken with several other classmates and has confirmed their locations and email addresses. They will be posted here and on the regular student pages this evening. Sandy Ko is back from vacation and has confirmed her email address. Located Martha Berry (Moore). Confirmed Dan Acker still in Evansville. Spoke with Myrtle Sutton Hibbs. Found Tom Zurstadt in Steamboat Springs, CO. No single drop of rain feels responsible for the flood. The changes are coming in greater and greater volume as more begin to participate in the class discovery process. We’ll post as quickly as we can. 

Bad News. Nancy Layson Burke lost her mother yesterday at St. Mary’s  Hospital. Those still local will want to watch for the announcement of arrangements in the Courier-Press.

10.4.2010

Corrected an error - Ronald Martin was not listed in the Gone But.... but was shown as having passed away in the general student photos. Also found a then current photo along with his obituary and posted it this evening.

Got clarification on the Townsend/Scoles accident that they were both killed in the accident contrary to the report that we had received. Thanks to Kris Searle, Jess’s sister for this information and a photo of Phil which we will post and another West Terrace class photo. This later spawned the idea of newer photos of everyone on the memorial page (that’s what I’m going to call it from now on.)

Linda has located and spoken to Mike Pyle and Steve Brandsasse. Their information will be posted tonight. Steve is a DNR officer in Winslow and Mike is a pastor here in Evansville at the Eagle View Church.

10.3.2010

Quiet day. Linda got a call from Donna Vogel (Evans) in Seminole, FL. On the Facebook side, Bob Wolfe finally accepted one of Linda’s friend referrals. Heard that D.W. Scoles didn’t die in the crash that killled Phil Townsend, but did a few years later. Verification on this one, anyone? It was Tommy Townsend who was the team manager.

On my side of things, I discovered that my home school system (Wayne, NJ) has extra yearbooks laying around for sale and maybe they have one of my year. Mine got burned up in our house fire back in February. Needless to say, it’ll be my first phone call in the morning. The planning for my 45th reunion is just starting with a survey. Sound familiar? And yes they have a website too. If ya don’t ask, ya don’t know and without email addresses and a way to contact classmates, how ya gonna ask? Keep those emails and phone calls coming!

10.2.2010

Hi everyone, it’s Milton Yuan, Linda Lively’s husband and technical author of this website.

I told Linda that this website would generate a tremendous amount of attention and energy from many people who were once again wondering whatever happened to “what’s his/her name” - or “I should call my best friend from elementary school” and it has. We are getting phone calls and emails and Facebook hits left and right with all kinds of great information, mostly good news too! Our home office has become Reitz67 Central.

Linda, a long time geneologist for her family, is devoting the same bulldog determination to this endeavor as her own family’s past. So is a growing cadre of high school classmates.

In the same spirit, I told Linda that I thought a blog would help coordinate everyone’s efforts. Linda is going to add information about classmates that she finds to her master database. You’ll see them on the site as I post the latest information. For those of you that are going on your own searches, let Linda know so we can post it here on a regular (I’m not promising daily but close) blog entry so no one wastes what little time we have between the grandchild shuttle,  work, honey do’s and everything else that makes up this life. We don’t want anyone either barking up the wrong tree or duplicating someone else’s effort.

So like we said on the home page, email, poke, text or phone Linda with any information you come across about one of your classmates.

So visit here when you drop by the site to follow our progress on locating all 380 or so classmates. Even that’s a number in dispute between the folks with no pictures in the year book, not even an honorable mention, or not listed on the “official” school directory, or those who didn’t graduate with the class for whatever reason.

Today we got confirmation that Larry Proctor is alive and doing well on the East Side, despite a report to the contrary. We also got an email address from Larry Broerman. We heard from Cindy and Lindy Cutteridge yesterday and Chuck Crandell today. Nancy Layson has found a bunch of Reitz Mirrors which we will scan and add to the site in the near future. Linda found a Commencement program. That’s due up on the site soon. Linda also talked to Jess Searle who is out in Tacoma, WA. and she chatted with Mike Derrington too.

We are currently working on a website based survey to find out what people really want from the 45th Reunion. As soon as we get it done, we’ll post  its arrival in the blog and on the home page.

Go to the old pictures page if you want to see a current photo of Mrs. Ruth Martin our Centennial kindergarten teacher. We see her at the Marrs School Burgoo every year.

Finally, for today, Jess Searle asked that his cousin Phil Townsend and his friend DW Scoles be placed on the “Gone but not forgotten” page as they would have graduated with the class but for the car wreck in February of ‘66 in which they died. Of course, they are now there on the page.

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