WECATON NEWS REPORT !!! -- 01 OCT 2005:

Can you believe it? We're right down to the wire now, and it's only a few days until I leave for the north country and our annual alumni weekend festivities. I find it just alarming that we go from one alumni weekend to the next, at such a fast pace Let's be sure to remember to, "Keep the party alive in 2005!" Put in your appearance. We never know what the coming year is going to bring! Has another year REALLY passed this quickly? So what's up, for this one? Well, we have good news, bad news, average news, and just plain general information.

Of course, I'd love to report that we had no deaths for this bulletin period, but there actually WAS the death of WC junior high school teacher, DELMAR V. PACK, which was somehow originally misconstrued, and thought to be ROGER PACK, one of our high school teachers. I understand the two were cousins, however. Roger though, is alive and well, and I hope you all long since received my notice to correct that error, which was sent within a 12-hour period of the original, erroneous announcement. I thank the many of you who were right on the ball and very quick to get me correct information. First on the scene, not surprisingly, was 1960's THOMAS L. WOLF, JR. He was in great company, soon joined by (class year?) JANE E. GEBHART, 1960's MICHAEL WEST, teacher DAVID COLLINS and 1971's RODNEY R. GABBARD, who just happens to be related to Roger. I get lots of help on keeping the news accurate and I do so appreciate the input from each of you. Speaking of Rod, congratulations are in order for him. He and Linda, the girl who accompanied him last year, were married. Best wishes to you both, Rod!

In any case, we'll move along to those who sent general info, jokes, PSAs, etc. You all know the drill by now, and those people include 1954'S WILLIAM L. MCNABB; 1955'S DONNA G. TUDOR, FREDA FLETCHER; 1957'S SHIRLEY ANN HILE; 1958'S WILLIAM R. HOWARD, BRUCE E. CHENOWETH, RONALD D. "TOM" FEE, ROBERT W. "SMITTY" SMITH, LINDA L. BECKETT, NICHOLAS P. WOLARY; 1959'S GARY E. BARNES; 1960'S BOYD H. JENKINS, LINDA LEE SHANK, GERALD A. FULLER, JUDITH A. STALDER, DOUGLAS G. OTT, STEVEN M. KOKOT, CAROLYN SUE MCCLOUD; 1961'S SANDRA S. HOLLINGS-WORTH, SALLY L. GILLETTE, NANCY J. ERTEL, LARRY D. GILBERT, RICHARD E. KNEER; 1962'S BARBARA T. O'NEAL; and 1971'S PAMELA K. SHIPLEY. So we had a lot of those, during this period.

For me, this period of time has been rife with "WC-ing" and all the great alumni with whom I've been privileged to both speak and visit. For instance, who should be sitting in my living on September 18, but 1961's JUDY MARIE FRANTZ? Yep, Judy drove down to Florida to visit a number of folks she knows, and was kind enough to make me a part of her visit. We had a great time and I took her on, "the cook's tour," through my house and my neighborhood. It was fun, fun, fun, and over all too soon! I'll see you in another few days, Judy! Did Judy and I talk about you? Well, we just may have done that, you never know. Ask me later! According to Judy's latest e-mail, she is safely back home and has reluctantly returned to work. But we'll all see her next week.

Personal contacts also included "the usual suspects"---BRUCE E. CHENOWETH, SHIRLEY J. TUDOR, EULA FAYE BAILEY, P. LYNNETTE GARRETT (I'm still very valiantly trying to snag Lynn's husband, Frank, but so far, no luck. You see, I've got this problem. I live a thousand miles away and I'm already married. Curses!) Lynn and I are always on the phone too long, once we get going, but so are Shirley and I. I also spoke with Shirley's daughter, 1987's SHARLENE N. MERKER. They will be here on the very next weekend after I return from Ohio, so I will also be seeing them, then.

Bruce will be fetching Eula Faye from the airport on this very day, September 30, and I'll be there, just a few days hence, to run around with everybody and tour my beloved Miami Shores. I can't wait!

Also among those with whom I've had direct contact are 1960's EDGAR L. KELLY and WILLIAM M. ROHLER, as well as 1958's RONALD D. "TOM" FEE. I have to admit, it's bad news for Tom. He's got several health problems, I'm sorry to report, which are going to prevent his being there this month. As you all know, Tom never misses anything. This will be about the first time he ever has. So let's wish him the very best. As for Bill, he's still paying medical bills for his late wife's battle with cancer, so he can't make it, either, but he's getting his ducks in a row for next year. Eddie is ready and waiting to hop a fast jet to Ohio, the minute his one, big kidney stone is gone, he says. He's very anxious to see us all, too, and so happy that he was, "found." He hopes everything will resolve, just in time for him to see us all at Frisch's. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Eddie's just dying to see old pals AARON COUCH, CURTIS KEMP and RICHARD L. PHILLIPS, he tells me, as well as Bill Rohler. Yet one more alumnus who is having health problems is 1961's RICHARD E. KNEER, who is bursting at the seams to join us this year, and had every intention of doing just that. However, it's not going to happen this year. Wife Becky writes that Dick has been sick and has several doctor appointments which cannot be foregone, and they will be remaining home in Florida. They will be attending our Florida events, as usual, though. Obviously, we all wish only the best, as well as speedy, full recoveries, for all of our alumni who are experiencing any sort of health problems or medical challenges.

It seems that Woody's Supermarket was the subject of a huge discussion with a few 1960s and 1970s grads, on a different WC website. I got quite a kick out of hearing the reminiscences of Woody's, which came forth from the memory banks of a few of the younger folks. That place, hwhatever one may feel about it, is the very soul of the traditions and heritage of WC, no doubt about it! I truly hate to see it fall.

We continue to add more and more folks to our bulletin list. I'm simply overwhelmed by this and never dreamed for a moment that this "accidental effort" would grow to such proportions. It's been just about 5 years now, since it began. It seems we add a few, just about every week. For this edition, we welcome aboard 1958's BRUCE K. COPSEY,1956's JULIA DEANNA CHRISTIE, 1989's CARIN LEANN CAMPBELL (daughter of the late 1961 alumnus, BARBARA LEE HECKER), 1961's SHARON K. WENDELKEN, 1963's DAVID L. BARNES (younger brother of GARY E. BARNES), 1970's THOMAS A DORSEY, and last but not least, 1986's KEITH SIMS. So we've had quite an influx for this period. I'm especial-ly gratified to have some of the younger grads joining us. But with the addition of Tom Dorsey, we now have all four of our alumni officers included on this list. Whoop Dee Doo!!

Speaking of that, I must now share with all of you a great story about the addition of Keith Sims. Keith wrote to me, about 3 weeks ago, at the behest of 1965's alumni officer, STEVEN F. SHADE, (grandson of the late, great WALTER E.). Keith had been desperately searching for two Piratans, 1978 and 1980. He asked if I possibly could provide them for him. I could not, as I had only one copy of each of those years. We continued to exchange e-mails, though, and I detected a note of deep sincerity (and perhaps even a touch of nostalgic desperation) in his request. I began to think about it and went through some WC records, which made me realize that I had not yet had an occasion to refer to either of these editions. However, I had paid an arm and a leg for those two, so I thought I'd tell him that, and that would discourage his determination to buy them. I did, but he didn't care. He wanted them so badly, I caved in and sent them to him. So I suppose if I have to do any 1978 or 1980 research in the future, I'll be contacting Keith for reference work. Now, here is the really ironic part of this story. After it was all said and done, and Keith had the books in his hands, he revealed to me, that he is the son of Class of 1961's MARSHA ANN PYBURN. I had a big chuckle about that, and was doubly happy that I'd relinquished them to him, since he qualified as a, "generational alumnus." Keith and I sort of, "bonded," as we went through the negotiations for this exchange. I do so hope to meet him, one day soon.

Okay, so I'm now going to bore all of you with yet one MORE of my stories. When I arrive next week, I won't be driving my huge, lumbering Ford Excursion diesel, as I'd thought I might. It will instead remain parked in my drive- way and I'm even considering selling it. You see, I have acquired a new vehicle on this very day. It's at the whole opposite end of the spectrum, too. For about eighteen months, I'd been seeing this car, as I drove around. On sight, I fell in love with it, saying to myself, "Oh my, that's positively the ugliest car I've ever seen and I absolutely love it! I simply MUST have one of those, one of these days." As the months passed, my passion for this ugly car never once subsided. As fuel prices continued spiraling upward, I decided the time was right to cave in and buy one, only to find that you couldn't even beg, borrow, or STEAL one, much less actually BUY one! They are now a premium car and there is a long waiting list for them. But I called my sales rep about 3 times a day for the past ten days and voila! There it was. I got mine this afternoon. It is a 2006 Toyota Scion xB and I'm madly in love with it. You can't BELIEVE how huge it is, inside, how well it rides, how much headroom it has, and I also get 40 mpg!! Am I a happy camper or what?? What's that you say? What color is it? Oh, come ON! You all KNOW what color it is, don't you? Could it BE anything else? No!! It's red (they call it Black Cherry Pearl, so it's a dark red) and the interior is black, was there ever any doubt? It was my first choice color combo. So when you see this old lady in a brand- new red and black Toyota Scion, you'll know it's me, okay? Boy, am I ever excited! My grandsons think I'm the coolest old lady on the whole planet!

It occurs to me that I told you all I was successful (finally) in my quest to locate 1959's ROBERT L. TANKERSLEY at the request of his old pal from 1960, DANNY A. WALTERS. However, this has been my first chance to let all of you know that they have actually connected and spoken with one another. This news came to me from Danny's 1961 sister, JANET L. WALTERS, who was also thrilled to find Bob. She said he had been a big part of her childhood and school days, too. So that was just great! I have hopes of seeing Bob next week in Ohio. He is, indeed, retired from the Metro-Dade Police Department and he lives in North Miami, Florida. He is not currently married, but says he's always looking. Ha!

We remain hopeful about also reuniting two other old friends, 1960's PHILIP H. WOLFORD and WILLIAM D. DUNCAN. As you know, I did find Bill and I gave each of them the info about the other. Phil reported that he sent an e-mail to Bill and is awaiting contact from him. Phil was also kind enough to update me on the new e-mail address of 1960's DAVID A. BLAIR. Now, why on earth didn't YOU do that, yourself, Dave? With those two re- connects, I think I've found everyone who has asked me to find someone for them, with the exception of those two 1958-ers, HARRIETTE E. DOGGETT and LENA G. DEBORD. They were the best of friends, as I clearly recall, and I've been searching for Lena, in order to reunite her with Harriette, for about two years now. If anyone out there has any pertinent info, please let me know. I have no intention of abandoning this effort and I am confident I will eventually reunite them, too. By the way, Harriette wrote to me during this bulletin period, and expressed a lot of feelings about the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. We live in a country which is filled with kind and caring people, fortunately. It's sad that not ALL of us are, though. I know we all made great efforts toward doing our part. RICHARD SCHROEPPEL, son of 1955's FREDA FLETCHER, and himself a WC grad, is in the hurricane area, even as I type, making efforts to assist, particularly with animals. I'll bet there are other WC-ers there, too.

Now, listen up, gang! You can take it to the bank this year that CURTIS A. KEMP is really going to be there. I know this for a fact. He has actually pre-booked and paid for his airline flight AND he has already rented his car at the airport in Vandalia. So be sure to look for him on Friday night. He's sure going to be looking for a few of you! Also putting in a definite appearance will be that nicest of all the nice guys, 1960's BOYD H. JENKINS. He reports that he's doing okay and is leaving soon. We all look forward to seeing you, Boyd, and are happy you are doing better.

From 1957's SHIRLEY ANN HILE came the delightful news that she and fellow classmates THERESA M. MOSES and BETTY JANE HAMILTON had a great visit in the U.D. area on August 29. Way to go, girls! Keep those reports flowing through cyberspace. Be sure you all attend next week's functions, too! Speaking of our functions, let's not forget Gary Barnes' WC golf outing, either!

From that long-married WC couple, 1960's PHILLIP D. HOWARD and 1968'S MARIAN K. HUSSEY came a message that they "might" attend something on our WC weekend. Okay, Phil and Marian, it better be more than a "might!" If I'm going to drive all the way up there from Florida, you can SURELY get across a small part of Montgomery County, can't you?

A number of you responded with ways in which you were helping with the hurricane disaster relief effort and there were some very innovative reports, all of which simply served to reinforce what I've already written, regarding people being basically good. Those who pointed that out in even more innovative and creative ways, included 1959's GARY E. BARNES, 1957's SHIRLEY ANN HILE, 1958's HARRIETTE E. DOGGETT and BRUCE E. CHENOWETH, 1960's MICHAEL S. WEST, and JUDITH ANN SLIFE, 1961's JUDITH L. SAMUELS, DONNA J. RICHARDS. and NANCY J. ERTEL. By the way, Judy (Samuels) also wrote a few lines about her most recent RV travels around Florida. I love that RV life!

That brings me to the wonderful travelogue which was sent, on the continuing travels of 1960's DELORES K. "DEDE" FAHRNEY. DeDe and her friends have gone many a mile together and the trip has now ended. If there could be any negative to such an adventure, in my mind, it would be the looming likelihood that DeDe just may not be with us next month, due to all that road travel. But let's keep our collective fingers crossed on that one, shall we?

Listen, folks, we've got a couple of website updates for you. Now, as you all know, I'm no wizard when it comes to this website stuff, so I hope I get it right. Mike West, who IS a wizard with this stuff, has asked me to remind all of you to send photos and news clips. Mike posts it all to the blogspot, as he also does with my own WNR bulletins. So don't forget! To access the site on your PC, it's ( http://wchs.blogspot.com ) So don't forget! We got a specific request about that from 1961's JOHN L. MONTGOMERY and 1962's JUDY LYNN JAMES. So that answers their question.

Another of our computer whizzes, 1961's NANCY J. ERTEL, and spouse Donald Sween, have begun a travel website for booking online reservations for all the hotels, motels, cabins, dude ranches, etc. throughout the United States. To use their service, their website is as follows:
( http://members.aol.com/Sftrail/ ) So don't forget that one, either.

Crawling out from under, "the newlywed rock," was none other than 1957's LINDA L. MCAFEE. I phoned her and we talked for a while. After that, I finally got an e-mail from her. I told her that she cannot just, "newlywed us out of her life!" She has promised to do better. So far, though, I still don't have another e-mail. How about it, Linda?

Reports 1961's EDNA L. GRAY, her spouse, Richard M. Ryan had bypass surgery on August 31. He was doing all right, at Edna's last report. Edna sent along many thanks to all of you, for your continued good wishes and prayers for Dick. I'm sure he's doing great by now. We all look forward to seeing you, Edna.

On a final note, that gallivanting 1961-er, JOHN W. OBERLIES, JR., is apparently off and running, once again. His e-mail, awhile back, had been returned, with a message that he would return on September 25. So how did that go, John? We hope to see you next week!

Jo Anne McClure of 1954, wants to know if a teacher, MRS YOUNGBERG, is still alive. Does anyone know? When it comes to gallivanting, Jo Anne is probably our in-house expert, with the commute SHE does. She describes herself as a workaholic, she says, and is still working for an airline, commuting between Newark, New Jersey and Tampa, Florida. Now, THAT'S a commute! But with an airline job, Jo Anne, you surely can join us, right?

So that winds it up, folks! I positively and absolutely will NOT be writing another bulletin before I get there. This time, you can count on that. I hope to see every single face on this list, and then some, when I am in Ohio next week. So I leave you all with my usual good wishes for glowing health, great happiness, peaceful serenity, and boundless prosperity.

Ciao! -- Bonnie
- posted by Mikey @ 2:52 PM