WITH 2010 REUNION WEEKEND JUST DAYS AWAY, BONNIE WRITES:

Subject: WECATON NEWS REPORT!!!---
What a long and hot summer it's been! It's the whole country. This is the first year, since moving to Tennessee, when I've had to activate the a/c in the month of June. I'd have never been able to stand it in
Florida this year, which has been sizzling since April! As is the usual case, I've begun this bulletin, later on the same day I sent the last one (Sunday, July 25).

We'll begin as usual, with our forwarders, who are 1945's N. JEAN BR
OWN, DONALD R. THROCKMORTON; 1954's FREDA P. FLE TCH
ER; 1956's RALPH D. WILSON, DENNIS A. MICHAEL; 1957's DAR ELL L. TOBIAS, BETTY LEE CARROLL, RALPH H. WARNER, ERC
ELL P. PHILLIPS, JO CAROLYN BROWN, THERESA M. MOSES, T
HOS. D. ELLIOTT; 1958's, BRUCE E. CHENOWETH, RONALD D. "TOM" FEE, WM. R. HOWARD, RICHARD L. JOHNSON, DONALD I. MCCOY, W. BAILEY HAWKINS; 1959's JAS. L. LINDSEY, GARY E. BARNES, BETSY R. MURPHY; 1960's RICHARD S. HOLT, STEVEN M. KOKOT, WM. E. "BUDDY" STOVER, EDGAR L. "EDDIE" KELLY, Martha E. Craig, widow of RONALD P. CRAIG, LARRY M. PENDLEY
, LINDA L. SHANK, DAVID G. OTT, PHILLIP D. HOWARD, DANNY
L. WALTERS, C. SUE MCCLOUD, JO ANN K. STEMLEY, BOYD H. JENKINS, JUDITH A. SLIFE, DELORES K. "DEDE" FAHRNEY; 196
1's SHARON K. WENDELKEN, JANET L. WALTERS, CONNIE K. S
TREETE, GARY R. FRANK, SALLY L. GILLETTE, SANDRA S. MAY
O, PAUL R. BEARDSLEY, SANDRA E. BROCK, LARRY D. GILBER
T, BARBARA J. TURNINGTON, P. LYNNETTE GARRETT, DALLAS K. MATHIS, RICHARD E. KNEER, SANDRA S. HOLLINGSWORTH; 1962's JACKQUELYN S. HAINES, SHIRLEY A. SEXTON, BARBAR
AT. O'NEAL,RICHARD C. CALL; 1963's FRANCES L. PEFFLY, SA
NDRA K. MINIX, LEE JEAN JORDAN; 1964's KARL R. BURRUS; 19
67'sMARIAN KAY HUSSEY; 1969's JACQUELINE J. CLARK, ROBT
. E. THARPE, JOHN Q. KEMP; 1970's TERRY L. NEUBERG; 1971's PAMELA K. SHIPLEY, 1971's JOY I. WOLFORD, RODNEY R. GABB
ARD; 1981's D. BRIAN BRODBECK; 1985's AMY LYNN HAWKINS.

My first response to the last one came from 1961's JAS. E. CURTIS and included a request for dates. This is a good sign, as I'm hoping it means we will be seeing Jim. He's a double-header, of course, as his spouse is 1963's PAMELA J. NELSON. So we hope to be seeing you both, Jim and Pam. Thank you, Jim, for the kind words. I do so appreciate them. The pleasure is all mine. A request for that same info came from his classmate, NANCY J. ERTEL. Hmmm, could that mean we're finally going to be seeing you, Nancy?

From 1964's RICKEY A. BUSCH, we've received word of the death of his classmate, MICHAEL WAYNE MEYER. We don't have a date of death, but the news came to Rick from Mike's son, who told Rick that Mike died during the early part of July. He resided in the Atlanta area, wrote Rick, and he was interred there. Tell me, 1965's STEVEN F. SHADE, had you yet gotten word of this? We send condolences, of course, to family and all friends of Mike. According to the Piratan, Mike was a dedicated football player, throughout his high school years. Thanks, Rick.

We've also received news of the relatively-recent death of 1956's EARL R. MURPHY, which was included in a special bulletin. At this writing, we've got no date or cause of death, but I do know it's a con-firmed death. It has been confirmed by both his former wife (1958's JUDITH M. SMITH) and a family member, 1959's BETSY R. MURPHY
. I'm sure we'll receive further info at a later date. Earl had recently moved to Franklin, Tennessee, with his current wife, I learned, and was living with his and Judy's daughter until they found their own place, when he died. My first awareness of this one came from 1960's PHILLIP D. HOWARD and his wife, 1967's MARIAN KAY HUSSEY. Thanks, Phil and Kay. (Footnote: We got lots more info on Earl's passing from DOUGLAS H. HOWE, WM. R. HOWARD, BETSY R. MURPHY, and indirectly from former wife, JUDITH M. SMITH and sister, 1959's JANICE R. MURPHY. Apparently, Earl has some health problems a few years back, from which he never fully recovered. They
had discovered, back then, he had a bad heart. Odds are that he had a fatal heart attack in his sleep. His date of death was July 20, and they hadn't yet been in the state of Tennessee for even a week, as I understand it.)

As nearly as I can determine, it was July 21 when Jill K. Warlaumont lost her twin brother, who was the brother-in-law of 1960's GARY L. WARLAUMONT. I'd written previously of his illness, but only learned of his passing in an e-mail from 1960's SALLY L. GILLETTE, Gary's former wife. So we extend our condolences to Gary and Jill. Thank you, Sally, for letting us know.

Of course, as we all know, we lost JUDY A. BECKETT (Kash) to can-cer, on August 17. Just so you all know, Judy's first name was spelled with a y, not an I (unless the Piratan is wrong) and her last name was with a K, not a C, as I'd thought. Anyway, it came about quite suddenly, and as we all know, Judy was a very popular and well-liked member of our class I received a number of queries about her health and general
condition. They came from 1949'S ROBT. E. HOFFMAN (who is her cousin); 1960's SHIRLEY J. TUDOR, PHILLIP D. HOWARD, JUDITH A. SLIFE, LINDA LEE SHANK, WM. E. "BUDDY" STOVER, DAVID G. OTT, EULA FAYE BAILEY, DEVONA S. TAYLOR, NANCY E. "CO
OKIE" BOWIE. RICHARD G. "JERRY" BROWN, MADELEINE J. BECK; 1961's SALLY L. GILLETTE, JUDITH L. SAMUELS, P. LYNN
ETTE GARRETT, EDNA L. GRAY; 1963's SANDRA K. MINIX; 1971's RODNEY R. GABBARD.

On August 29, I learned of the death of Roy Parks. He was 93 years old, I do believe. Mr. Parks was the father of 1959's SHIRLEY R. PARKS and KENNETH L. PARKS, two other brothers,1957's RANDALL W. PARKS, and 1963's JERRY A. PARKS. Mr. Parks
obviously led a long, full life, but we're never quite ready to say good-bye to parents, of course. So I know we all extend our sincerest condolences to the Parks family. This news way relayed to me by my classmate, EULA FAYE BAILEY.

A note came from 1970's INDY JO GRISSOM. Indy wants to know if you, 1967's MARIAN KAY HUSSEY, were in a production of, "The King and I." So were you? Well, if you were, she says you have a spectacular singing voice. Is this true? I suspect it is, as I recall 1958
's DONALD I. MCCOY writing of teaching you some sort of musical instrument. You sure did make your mark on Indy, if that was you, Kay. Thanks, Indy.

An updated e-mail address came to me from 1956's ROSETTA PRUETT for 1955's JACK L. KNIGHT. I've sent a test message to Jack, using that address, Rosetta. So far, so good, and it hasn't yet kicked back on me. So thanks very much. If all of you would be so kind, please do tell your fellow alumni to update us, if they change their e-mail addresses. I do appreciate it, Rosetta. It rejected, but Rosetta had contacted Jack for me and asked him to e-mail me directly, in order to resolve the issue. That has worked beautifully and resolved another one of my endless goofs.

It sure didn't take long to get a response on a Florida lodging request from 1960's DAVID A. BLAIR. Instantly sending info on his request was his former high school neighbor, SHIRLEY ANN RANKIN, 1963. I put the two of them together, so Dave could contact her directly, and we'll wait for an update and see if things were successful. Thanks, Shirley.

Okay, before you admonish me about this, 1958's RONALD D. "TOM" FEE, I will tell you that I already noticed I listed you last time in 1957, and with an incorrect initial. But I also correctly listed you in 1958 with the right one. I simply forgot to erase that error before sending. (Hey, do any of you think I might be doing those little errors on purpose, just to see if you're all paying attention? Okay, I'm not! I just wanted to lead you all to think I might be that clever. But no, I'm not. I really do make those silly mistakes.)

Before I forget this, as I did in the last bulletin, I want to tell all of you of the fact that 1958's RONALD D. "TOM" FEE stepped up to the plate and told me he'd actually turned 71 in June, not 70, as I'd written. Well, that's darn gallant of you, Tom! Most of us would love to have gained a year. But we kid only ourselves when we say that, don't we? Okay, I'll change my date in the birthday book, and thanks.

It is now the following day, July 26, Monday. What a great help all of you have been, already, on helping me with all my erroneous e-mail addresses! I could never make it without you, that's for sure. Right out of the gate, I got an e-mail from 1958's RICHARD L. JOHNSON, in which he nailed down 1957's SHIRLEY ANN HILE and his classmate, JUDITH M. SMITH. As I'd expected, in both instances, the errors were mine. I'm now so aware of what you meant, 1970's GARY E. JOHNSON, when you made reference to trying to manually type so many addresses. Thanks, Richard. I was able to resolve 1955's JERRY L. DAVIS, on my own, so we've now got a total of 6 which have been removed from the lost list.

Coming through with further info was 1958's WM. R. HOWARD, who told me the IP for band director, HARRY C. HAGGERTY, is now defunct. I wonder if he has a new one, and if so, do any of us have it? Please look through your files. I'll bet we do! Thanks, Bill. Not surpris
-ingly, several of you came through with 1958's ROBT. W. "SMITTY" SMITH, and since he was so popular in high school, a lot of you had it right. Again, it was me who had goofed. Thanks for this one goes to BRUCE E. CHENOWETH, also RONALD D. "TOM" FEE (who also had Judy's), and yes, it was my fault. Did I already extend thanks to 1956's ROSETTA PRUETT for providing the connection which correct
-ed 1955's JACK L. KNIGHT, and to 1958's ROBT. H. FULLER, who ably provided current info on his 1968 sister, LYNDA A. FULLER?
Thanks, also, to 1964's RICKEY A. BUSCH for his efforts to assist with 1967's MARY JO CONDON. We didn't succeed on that one, but we'll try again. We're getting there, one by one.

Thanks is also in order for the many among you who expressed your appreciation for the bulletins and so enjoyed reading them. You are 1954's FREDA P. FLETCHER; 1955's JACK L. KNIGHT; 1958's ROBT. H. FULLER; 1960's THOS. L. WOLF, JR., LINDA LEE SHANK; 1961's JACK L. GODBY; 1970's INDY JO GRISSOM.

Being the unofficial messenger for WC alumni has provided me with great, personal rewards. I so appreciate all your wonderful comments, but I must again reiterate, I get far more out of this, than do all of you, put together. I just had the pleasure, on this very day, of being in the humble position of reuniting 1960 best pals, LINDA LEE SHANK and BRENDA J. LUCAS. It just doesn't get any better than that, believe me. The moment Brenda's e-mail came to me, through her brother, my first thought was a memory of her and Linda and how they were always together in high school. I'd have very soon written Linda to
Ask, too. But I didn't have to do that, as she was right there, this very morning, asking for Brenda's e-mail. How great is that (to be able to do that, I mean) for two old friends? Linda and Brenda, I do so hope you have a grand reunion, and I know you will. Be sure to send us a report.

A couple of e-mails arrived from 1962's MARSHA J. NELSON. But there was no text. Marsha, if you're trying to e-mail me, please try again. Your message didn't come through, for whatever reason. Footnote: I did get an e-mail from Marsha, in which she told me it was just a glitch. She wasn't trying to send me an e-mail, at all. However, it worked out well, as she did give me a really nice compliment on the bulletins and told me how much she enjoys them. Thank you, Marsha!)

Hey, I'll bet you all remember my story from a couple years ago about the, "houseguest from hell," right? Well, guess what? As I type this, my cousin, JUDITH L. SAMUELS, is having a similar experience. She's currently got her husband's first cousin from Waco, Texas, at her house. After the first couple of days, he also flew in his 13-year-old grandson. They have both been there, for days now. They keep her bathroom tied up, drink every can of pop in the house, eat all the groceries, buy nothing, and she's doing all sorts of extra laundry, cooking, and grocery-buying. They also have no vehicle, and every time they go out to eat, her husband whips out their own charge card, and the deadbeat cousin never pays for anything! Hang in there, Judy, if you can, and perhaps they'll be gone by the time this bulletin is sent. Ha! But for that one nightmare visitor, all my houseguests have been wonderful and then some, I must say. In the 43 months I have lived here, I've hosted 66 sets of houseguests, so that's pretty good.

As I type, 1958's WM. R. HOWARD is trying to track down more info on the possible passing of BOBBY JOE ROBERTS of the same class. We so far have no further info, but Bill seems fairly certain that he has, indeed, passed away. He's going to continue his investigation into this and will let me know. Bill was good friends with Bobby in high school. I still can't get a mental image of him, but perhaps some of you can. As soon as Bill is able to report anything, I'll let you know.

Other sad news includes the death of the the brother-in-law of 1960's GARY L. WARLAUMONT. He was the twin to Gary's wife, Jill. You all may recall my reporting the illness, when Gary called me a while back. We offer our condolences to Jill, Gary, and also to you. Thanks goes
To 1961's SALLY L. GILLETTE for this report.

From 1959's JAS. L. LINDSEY came a query about JAS. L. ROSE. For those of you who don't recall Jim, he's the guy who (in about 1958 or 1959) was accused of shooting his wife, LINDA MATHES, with a shotgun. I sure hope I'm not opening any old wounds here, because I'm fearing Linda may have been the older sister (younger?) of 1961's DALLAS K. MATHIS. Is that right or wrong, Dallas? (I'm thinking she wasn't because I seem to recall different name spellings.) In any case
, Jim wanted to know if anyone is aware of what has happened to
Jim. I don't know the answer to that, so is there anyone who does?

He also wanted to know the whereabouts of RONALD E. ELTER. I know when I visited Miami Shores in recent years, everyone told me Ronnie is still in residence at the home, right there where Elter Drive intersects with Cozy Camp Road. I went by the house, of course, and it looks exactly the same. Ronnie is now 71-72 years old. When I was a child, my parents would stop right by those back steps and buy eggs from the Elters. At that time, they paid a dime for a dozen. I've often wondered, since then, if that era was the origin of the expression, "a dime a dozen."

Now, here's an experience I've never before had, and to say I'm deeply flattered would be an understatement. In the many exchanges I've had, in the past couple of weeks, with Winifred L. House, we've somehow gotten very intrigued with each others' personas. I want to get to know her better. She wants to get to know me better. No, Winnie isn't WC. But it's her who put us in touch with her half-brother, 1960's RONNIE R. WHEELER. She and I have had so much communication, we've decided, one way or the other, we're going to get to know each other better. Winnie lives in the city of Florence, Kentucky, and I'm in Colonial Heights, Tennessee, of course (a large section south of Kingsport). She wants to read the bulletins, so I have agreed to place her on the readers list. I've also invited her to attend our alumni weekend, if she'd like. I'll keep you all posted on Winnie, who is our first, "foreign reader" (i.e., no spouse connection to WC). So welcome to the crew, Winnie!

On July 25, I received a great report from 1960's THOS. L. WOLF, JR., re the golf outing at Pipestone. It seems Tom's son, GREG, has worked with the organizer for that event, 1987's JEFFREY T. GILES. (Or was that you, 1988's JAS. A. MCGUIRE?) In any case, it came off without a hitch, albeit a very hot day, reported Tom, and a good time was had by all. Per Tom's report, there were more than a hundred participants and among those he was able to recall were the names of 1960's GARY L. WARLAUMONT, and son,1979's D. MARK WARLA
UMONT, CHAS A. "BUDDY" LOWMAN III, 1956's JERRY L. DAVIS,
1957's NEIL H. SIZER, GARY L. CONNER (do any of you know his class year?), and 1959's JOE E. STOMPS, among a number of others, obviously. Thanks so much for the report, Tom. You're always among my very best, "field reporters." I appreciate it.

Let's do a re-cap on our list of lost e-mail addresses, shall we? I seem to be getting a few new ones, just since I began this bulletin, and you know I don't want to lose anyone. So I want to put real focus on return-ing these people to the readers list. Still among the missing are 1945
's NORMA JEAN BROWN; 1953's JANICE K. WIREMAN (Turner); 1954's NORMA L. POPE (Blackburn), ARTHUR W. ENYART, GAYLE C. MOSES (Fowler),JO ANNE MCCLURE (Whitteaker), JOHN E. MC
COY; 1955's WM. R. WOOD; 1958's KEITH E. ANDERSON, REX E. HEETER (but I think this one will be okay, as Rex warned me about this): 1959's GARY L. SIZER, BETTY L. SCHRADER (Smith), DONA
LD G. HISEY, BILLY K. CARMACK; 1960's DONNA L. GWINN (Mills); 1961's SONJA S. BANKS (Early), R. MICHAEL FORSTYH, CONNIE M. MARCUM (Carmack); 1962's JOHN R. MIDDLETON, CAROL J. GILPIN (Hisey); 1963's BARBARA E. CRIDER (Daniels); 1964's
JANE E. GEBHART (Ferrell), JOHNNIE C. FERRELL, TERRY L. WIL
SON, KARL R. BURRUS:1965's MARY JO CONDON (Haller); 1967's ROBT. E. HALLER; 1969's ROBT. ALLAN BUCKLEY; 1971's CYNT
HIA F. AVERY (Holmes); 1985's MELISSA K. BARNES (Zimmer); 1988's ROBT. E. ZIMMER; 1990's ROBT. NED HALLER, teacher/
Coach JAS. W. INGLEDUE, former WC teacher, DAVID A. COOPER
, and band drector HARRY C. HAGGERTY. Of course, you will note the list is shorter than last time. We were able to resolve some of them. Several (as I'd expecte) were due to my own, transpositional errors. So many of you helped me with those, as I knew you would.

Among those of you who assisted me are 1954's JERRY R. GRAHA
M, 1956's ROSETTA PRUETT, 1958's BRUCE E. CHENOWETH, WM. E. HOWARD, REX E. HEETER, GARY E. BARNES, 1961's JA
NET L. WALTERS, NANCY A. HALL, ROSE MARIE WILSON, GERA
LDINA SELLARS, 1965's STEVEN F. SHADE, I know we're all very dedicated to keeping these folks in our circle. But it's now becoming so time-consuming for me to track each of these, bulletin after bulletin, and list them all, time and again, I'm going to begin eliminating names
, in the event I get no updates. So if you're in touch with any of them, and you know they want to stay with us, please tell them to contact me. I'm pretty sure I've done all I can do, in order to get correct information.
My thanks to 1960's STEVEN M. KOKOT and to 1962's BARBARA T. O'NEAL for taking the time to let me know of their new e-mail address
-es, by the way. (Footnote: Following my last two transmittals, I got back all the same rejects. I now have deleted each of them from the list, as they've been received. If any of you are in touch with any of these alumni, and they wish to be back on the readers list, please give them my e-mail address and/or send me a working e-mail for them, so I can re-enter them. Thank you.)

As is always the case, I seem to share a lot of things with all of you. Here is yet one more, though this one is just a bit sad and poignant, I think. Apparently, there was some sort of recent column in the DDN, by one D. L. Stewart, which made reference to the writer's deep feel-ings of inadequacy during his high school years. I felt deeply sorry for him, as I read the column, although I'm sure his intent was far from that of eliciting sympathy, as he composed his column for that day. But he elaborated on how self-conscious he felt in school, what a nerd he was, and how the last thing he'd ever want to do, would be to attend a high school function, which would serve to dredge up all those old, bad feelings again. As I finished reading it (this clipping was anonymously sent to me, through postal mailing, to my home address, of course), I found at the bottom of the newsprint a neatly-hand-printed entry, which read as, "Some of your WC classmates feel this way." Wow! What a jolt! My heart went out instantly to this person. I'm so sure it's a male alumnus, judging from the printing and the anonymity. I'm just as sure that person is reading this bulletin.

So to the anonymous mailer, I wish to deliver this message. First of all, I'm so sorry for your feelings of inadequacy and insecurity, even after the passage of 50 years, and fervently wish I could allay your many obvious fears as regards joining your former, WC classmates. Secondly, allow me to tell you this. In all the years I've attended these functions, and in 10 years of being the person who's written all these bulletins, I've never once witnessed one person who has ever been treated with anything but grace, courtesy, hugs, warmth, and cordiality
. This has applied, regardless of what that person's status may have been (or not been) when they were in school with us. I've yet to hear one person utter anything such as, "Gawd, did you see all those wrinkles?" or, "Good Lord, she's ugly!" or, "Goodness, is he/she ever fat!" or, "Why doesn't he/she have some dental work done?" nor anything less than a kind comment and how great it is to see that person again. Even in spite of your great feelings of inadequacy, Anonymous Mailer, I would sincerely urge you to come to the functions in October and give your classmates the chance to restore your faith in human nature. I promise you, we're really not so bad. So do think it over very carefully. We'd love to see you, even if you don't think we would. Last, but not least, at least tell me who you are. I promise to hold it in the strictest of confidence, if you wish, and maybe we can resolve whatever it is which is still bothering you so terribly, after so many years. I wish you well, whatever you decide.

Does anyone out there remember 1962's PAMELA JEAN STRADER
? It seems MARSHA J. NELSON successfully contacted Pam on FaceBook. She doesn't have her e-mail address,she wrote, but she can be contacted on FaceBook and her current surname is Adams. Thank you, Marsha, for your nice words about the bulletins, too. I appreciate it.

The amazing FREDA P. FLETCHER (1954), has been roaming around the country again with new husband, Larry L. Green. Good for you, Freda, and I'm sure you're back home by this time, and planning your next travel adventure. You two be careful out there and stay safe.

The queries have been literally rolling in, as regards plans for the 1960 class' 50th year. I'm a bit puzzled, though, by the ones who are asking for details. I've written and announced repeatedly as to what's happening for that weekend. I want to emphasize, again, the fact that I am in command of nothing! I'm merely a messenger of all the news with which all of you are kind enough to provide me.

About a month or so ago, 1961's JANET L. WALTERS advised me of a movement which was afoot at that time, to have the Thursday even-
ing at Ron's Pizza over at Marion's Pizza on Kingsridge Rd. Apparent
-ly, it has gained momentum and taken hold.. My classmate, SHIRLEY J. TUDOR, wrote and said our class will be meeting there on Thursday evening to congregate for our 50th. As with all WC events, nothing is exclusive. So that means it's open to all. I'm sure many other class years will also be well-represented. All other events are precisely the same as in previous years.

The 1960 people who have thus far responded are RICHARD S. HOLT, WM. O. WALKER, KEITH H. CLENDENON, PHILLIP D. HOWARD, JUDI TH A. SLIFE, DAVID G. OTT, MADELEINE D. CAMPBELL, PHILLIP H. WOLFORD, CHARLOTTE LEE HUEY, EDGAR L. "EDDIE" KELLY, THOS. L. WOLF, JR., EULA FAYE BAILEY, LINDA LEE SHANK, HARRIET Z. RICE, ROBERTA A. RICE
, and MICHAEL S. WEST. I'm given to understand that Shirley got responses from 1960 class president LONNIE M. THACKER and his spouse, LINDA J. SNELL, as well as JUDITH A. STAL DER. Well, there's also me, I guess. I know there will be many more of us there, and I'm sure looking forward to seeing everyone again. "The big one," is the dinner/dance, of course, and I want us to have an extremely heavy presence there, since our class will be in the spotlight and also, it's the only function which is official and supports our scholarship fund
. So be at the Saturday night function, for sure! (Footnote: It is with great sadness and regret, I must report to all of you that I received a call from Lonnie on October 2, in which he advised me it's highly unlikely he and Linda are going to be with us, after all. He cited several health issues as the reason. He was very much looking forward to seeing DENNIS A. ROSE, especially, and also quite hopeful at the prospect of seeing old pal, THOM B. THOMPSON, the class treasurer. It looks as though none of this will happen, I'm sorry to report.)

Paging 1960's LINDA L. SHANK! Did you get hooked up yet with your best high school pal, BRENDA J. LUCAS? Brenda, we're all looking so forward to your being with us in October. You be sure to be there, hear? I was privileged to be able to provide contact to Linda for her to get in touch with Brenda. I hope to see you two, together again, come October!

Ah, what fun it remains, to be able to do these bulletins! That feeling never changes, although it's now 10 years. As I return to the keyboard today, it's Tuesday, September 14, and our weekend is bearing down on us with an incredible speed. So I'm backing up to a July 25 e-mail from 1955's JACK L. KNIGHT, a fellow resident of Tennessee. We got everything resolved on his e-mail address. It's your 55th, Jack! Will we be seeing you?

Hey, we have updated e-mail on 1960's MILTON R. WOLFE. Is it possible we're going to see you next month, Milton? I'm hoping so! You have some of the best ornery stories of anyone in the whole class. You'd rank right up there with EDGAR L. "EDDIE" KELLY, WM. C. ROHLER, the late CURITS A KEMP, and AARON COUCH. You
really need to be there. I thank 1959's GARY E. BARNES for this one.

From 1958's BRUCE E. CHENOWETH, I'm hearing the knee operation didn't go as planned and he's having quite a tough time with walking. He'll be with us, though, I'm sure. He and 1961's P. LYNNETTE GARRETT had a chat about that type of surgery, as Lynn is contemplating doing the same thing. I don't yet know the outcome of their chat, though.

Thanks a million to alumni treasurer, GARY E. JOHNSON, 1970, for all his efforts to keep me updated and help me find people. I sure do appreciate that, Gary. Also, special thanks to 1963's ROSE MARIE WILSON, for her sending an update on 1961's PAULA R. WILSON, her older sister. I do appreciate it, Marie. Now, can you help me with your cousin, 1964's TERRY LEE WILSON? I've been getting inter-mittent rejects on him, too.

There is some conjecture regarding the passing of 1958's BOBBY JOE ROBERTS. I've gotten e-mail from 1965's STEVEN F. SHADE, asking for substantiation. I'm pretty sure that's all been resolved through other 1958 class members, WM. R. HOWARD and W. BAILEY HAWKINS. Both seem quite confident about it, and Bailey had even spoken with a brother of Bob's. So I hope we solved that one. His death occurred Jan. 2, 2010, and we also got a confirming e-mail from 1985's AMY LYNN HAWKINS.

At the end of July, 1971's RODNEY R. GABBARD had a coffee meeting with high school sweetheart, 1970's ROBYN L. SHEPHERD. The two of them had a wonderful visit, according to reports I received from both of them. Rod's health continues to be precarious and he was scheduled for a surgery. How has that gone, Rod, and how are you doing? We're all so looking forward to seeing you, too, Robyn.

In July, I bought a new vehicle. As usual, 1958's DONALD I. MCCOY (my insurance agent) was Johnny-on-the-spot, sending my new policy, cards, and paperwork with lightning speed. Thanks, Don, and I hope your health remains robust.

Did I tell you al I'll be hosting the Kellys after our weekend concludes? I'm so excited, I can't stand it! Marilyn and 1960's EDGAR L. "EDDIE" KELLY are coming to visit me. Those of you who are longtime readers will clearly recall how very excited I was, when I finally located Eddie. He's bringing his snazzy kilt to our weekend, so brace up, girls!

Remember, "the lucky dog," of 1960's PHILLIP H. WOLFORD? I wrote about the dog 3-4 years ago. He was injured and Phil spent $5,000 getting him back in shape. He tells me his best canine pal is doing well and he'll be with us next month (Phil, I mean, not the dog.
Ha!)

From 1961's NANCY A. HALL came a nice note with fond memories of her old friend, the late JANET L. HISEY. Nancy says she hadn't seen her in many years, but always had such fun with her, and says she's always had those fond recollections, over the years. That's great, Nancy, and I'm sure Janet's family will appreciate reading that.

On July 30, 1957's PAUL H. PETTIT underwent knee surgery, as reported by his spouse, 1961's JACQUELINE N. LESHER, at Cleveland Clinic. All her follow-up reports have indicated Paul is coming along well, albeit quite slowly. He went to to a re-hab center where he received additional care.

At the moment, I'm pretty excited about the prospect of having one of my WC friends relatively near. This coming weekend, 1963's FRANCES L. PEFFLY will also be moving into Tennessee. I'm very much anticipating a lot of antique trips, estate sales, gabby lunches, and shooting the breeze, as soon as Fran gets settled. I can scarcely wait! Fran's only daughter, Kelly, will be moving with her, as well as one of her 3 sons, Jonny. All are terribly excited. She tells me they've been trying to, "escape," from Florida for over two years, now. I know just what you mean, Fran.

Dear, dear NANCY J. ERTEL, 1961!! How terribly amusing and flattering you are, Nancy. Get this, folks! Nancy actually suggested I insert photos of our alumni, when I write of them, so everyone will recognize each face I reference in my writings. Now, I'll be the first to admit that's a brilliant idea, of course. However, I have quite enough trouble just getting this thing done and somehow blundering through the BCC format (at which I'm not even always successful). I don't even know how to do photos, Nancy, but I do appreciate your assumption that I'm brilliant enough and capable enough to accomplish that. Perhaps in my next life, eh?

Recently, I received e-mail from 1945's N. JEAN BROWN and DONALD R. THROCKMORTON, and was very happy about that, as I'd received two or three rejects on them. But as I verified the e-mail, it was the same one, so I was a bit confused. They were searching for their classmate, who is RAY ROBERTS. I found him with no problem and sent Jean his telephone number. Jean, did you and Don talk with Ray yet? I do hope so. Give us an update! We've also managed to, "resurrect," 1964's KARL R. BURRUS, who had changed his e-mail, but it wasn't getting through on the new one. So thanks for that, Karl. From 1954's JERRY R. GRAHAM came a query for the e-mail address of alumni president, 1970's THOS. A. DORSEY. So did you two get all connected?

Okay, what great fun I had today!!! It's Wednesday, September 15, and I just watched two 1958 alumni exit my driveway at 4:15 p.m. Around 11, I walked to my back porch to find my expected visitors, JAS. E. RICHARDSON and K. JUNE CRUTCHFIELD. We spent the entire day visiting and reminiscing and solving all of life's problems. We also went to one of the better local restaurants and stuffed ourselves, but we promised not to talk of that. Whoops!!! I see I've screwed up that promise. But what a great time we had together. Of course, Jim and June are both also fellow Miami Shores Kids, and as the day passed, we found ourselves fondly recalling all the special and wonderful things about growing up in that marvelous little village. So it was a great day, and thank you, Jim and June, for the effort to come and see me. They were vacationing in their time share in Pigeon Forge, not far away. I gave them the ten-cent tour of my gigantic house
, and after that, we were all worn to a frazzle, so sat down to rest a bit, before going off to lunch. My door is always open to WC alumni.

On the topic of WC alumni (obviously one of my favorite), I'm going to very gently broach an issue, which I've previously discussed. But in the recent wake of quite a number of new readers, I'm going to re-hash it, once again. I never, ever use the bulletins as a platform for either the endorsement of, or the disavowing of, any political platform, issue, or candidate. I never will. The same goes for religion, just to be sure all are aware. I'm recapping this, simply because someone recently sent me something political (which was a forward) and later questioned my failure to either re-cap it or reference it in the last bulletin. That's going to be the case for as long as I'm the one doing the typing, just to be very clear. Yes, I'll list the forwarders' names. That serves a purpose, as it puts the person's name on the list, thereby alerting school pals to the notion they're able to contact that person, through me.But there will never be recapping or references to political or religious issues. I trust we are are all now clear on that, so let's move along.

Way back in July, I received an auto-response from 1964's RICKEY A. BUSCH, but no follow-up report on your whereabouts, Rick. Did you sneak in a vacation on us and fail to tell us about it? No fair!

We've got a wonderful update on 1956's RONALD L. "PETE" BECKE TT and his 1956 spouse, CAROL A. PFISTER. They returned to their home in Alaska about the 3rd-4th week in September, following huge improvements in the status of Pete's health. This came to us directly from his 1958 sister, LINDA L. BECKETT, who's thrilled for them, of course. I know we all are. Best wishes for continued good health and good living, Pete! I know your pal, RALPH D. WILSON, will be just thrilled to read this. Thank you, too, Linda.

So many people joined the stampede to send cards to Pete, when I sent the notice. Among them were 1952's RONALD L. BROWN and his 1956 spouse, ANN C. WEIDLE, who is also Pete's classmate. I hope all those cards brought about the desired result. I sent one, too, and so did 1960's JUDITH A. SLIFE, as well as 1959's GARY E. BARNES.

Ann also reported that she and Ron were visiting their daughter in August for two weeks, and would be flying. She's fearful this may his last trip where she is able to take him along. She expressed a lot of concern about Ron's health. We all hope you had a wonderful visit, Ann, and we wish Ron well.

There is a constant flow of information coming from 1970s' GARY E. JOHNSON, alumni treasurer. I'm getting statistics left and right and it seems everyone is mightily excited and looking so forward to our big weekend. Thanks, Gary, for all the updates and lists.

Classmate RONNIE R. WHEELER and I are continuing to exchange e-mail from time to time. Like so many of us, Ronnie thought all his old school chums had forgotten him. I assured him that was not the case. Among those with whom Ron was pretty chummy were JAS. A. AYDELOTTE, RICHARD R. HAMIEL, P. THOS. SETTLE, and KEITH J. SHADOWENS. Ron, I'll let you know if I encounter any of your pals at the 50th. If so, I'll do my best to connect you with them.

It is now October 2 and soon will be time for my departure. I've gotten blips from so many in my 1960 class, now, and we never know who will or won't be there. But I hope for the best. So far, and I'll recap a few from earlier writings, I've heard from SHIRLEY J. TUDOR, KEITH H. CLENDENON, SONDRA L. MATSON, J. PATRICK LAFFERTY, RICHARD G. "JERRY" BROWN, MADELEINE J. BECK, LINDA L. SHANK, LONNIE M. THACKER, LINDA J. SNELL, PHILLIP D. HOW ARD, EDGAR L. "EDDIE" KELLY, DAVID A. BLAIR, RICHARD S. HOLT, T. BARRY RUSSELLO, THOS L. WOLF, JR., JO ANN K. STE
MLEY, DAVID G. OTT, DELORES K. "DEDE" FAHRNEY and I don't know how many more will write before I get there, or after I leave.

We welcome aboard 1964's MARILYN L. MICHEL, whose current name is Price. We hope you enjoy the bulletins, Marilyn, and we also hope to see you on alumni weekend, especially since you live right in the area. We also welcome 1958's JAS. L. CLEARY and his 1959 spouse, JANET E. MIDDLETON. They were kind enough to update me on Janet's brother's current e-mail. Up to that time, JOHN R. MIDDLETON was on my, "lost list." Also added to our readers list is 1964's LARRY D. HAYS. I hope all enjoy the read. I'm continually amazed by it all, I honestly am. We also now have 1963's RONALD D. KISSEL, a referral from close friend, FRANCES L. PEFFLY. We hope you enjoy and hope you'll attend the functions. Ron.

From 1961's RICHARD E. KNEER came a nostalgic e-mail in which he recalled building snowmen, drinking steaming-hot cocoa when he came in from the outside snowman-building, cold to the bone, made by his mother. He wrote of how much he loved her and thinking he'd be 17 and carefree forever. I loved that e-mail, Dick. It took me back to my own childhood, too.

From 1957's BETTY LEE CARROLL came a request for contact info on 1960's CHAS. A. HIGH, JR. It seems Betty saw 1956's ANITA R. MASON, and she'd misplaced his number. But I talk with Anita all the time, so I'll be sure to follow up on that, too.

Keeping a running exchange going with P. LYNNETTE GARRETT is a pretty regular thing and I look forward to my personal visits to her and Frank's home, when I'm in Ohio. This one will be no different. She wan
ted very much to reconnect with classmate, JANET S. WILLS. I got her the info and hope all went well. I also spoke with Janet's 1959 brother, GARY C. WILLS, who lives in Chapmansboro, Tennessee. He's been in Tennessee for 41 years.

The 1960 gathering at Marion's, by the way, will get going at 6 p.m. I think it's 11 or 12, but for me, I can't last that long, so it doesn't really matter which hour it ends. Ha! I guess they'll throw out all of us when we get too rowdy, anyway. Lots of WC people have apparently been hanging out at Marion's, as a matter of fact. My report from 1960's RICHARD S. HOLT, came a report about the gathering there. In mid- August, those congregated included CHAS. A. "BUDDY" LOWMAN,
III, PHILLIP D. HOWARD, GARY D. RICHARDS, ROSS A. HODGSO
N, THOS. A. WOLF, JR. WM. E. "BUDDY" STOVER, LARRY M. PEN
DLEY, and GARY L. WARLAUMONT. What a great group and I'm sure they had a wonderful visit. Thanks for the report, Richard. Also contributing to this report was THOS. L. WOLF, JR., and I'm sure he will be present for all festivities. I'm looking forward to seeing you once again, Tom.

Also checking in with numerous exchanges this time is 1961's JANET L. WALTERS. We've kicked around several pieces of news and we'll soon see one another. Janet is touch with George Houser, and I used to babysit for George and his brothers and one sister, when I was just a teenager. I might get to see him, this time. There were also a few exchanges with 1963's LEE JEAN JORDAN. We spoke of her late brother and my classmate, JAS. M. JORDAN. I told her she would be more than welcome to represent him at our gathering. I also told the same thing to the family of the late JUDY A. BECKETT.

We're all anticipating a wonderful and fun weekend, filled with seeing all our old friends and classmates. Tantamount among these events, even though it's just the third time for this event, is the Miami Shores Memories Picnic at the Payne Recreation Center in Wax Memorial Park in Miami Shores. No, I'm never going to call it Moraine City because it isn't! It raises the hairs on the back of my neck, in fact, if I hear anyone call it Moraine City. It's where I was raised, I'm proud as a peacock of that fact, and it's always going to be Miami Shores! So do join us on the afternoon of October 9. "You're gonna love it!" (No, you don't have be from there, in order to attend. All WC events are open events.) My sincerest thanks goes to founder 1958's RONALD D. "TOM" FEE, and his capable orchestrators, 1958's DONALD I. MC COY, WM. R. HOWARD (and wife Lucy), and 1957's BETTY LEE CA RROL. We all appreciate all of you, as we do all our alumni officers.

JAS. A. MCGUIRE, 1988, keeps us all well-informed on activities and gatherings of the football alumni association and I know we all very much appreciate that, too. If there could possibly be two people who are more excited about our weekend than are 1971's RODNEY R. GABBARD and 1970's ROBYN L. SHEPHERD, I'd sure like to know who they are. These two are like a breath of fresh air and I wish you both a wonderful and eventful weekend of visiting.

It was once again my pleasure to connect Robyn with an old friend from her WC days, when she asked me about 1972's TIMOTHY W. SPARKS. Boom! Finding his info and conveying it to Robyn was a snap. It took me no time at all. I hope you two have great fun and get together soon, Robyn.

From 1953's JERRY R. GRAHAM came a request for contact with 1970's THOS. A. DORSEY. So I hope we're going to see you, Jerry.
We will definitely be seeing MARIAN KAY HUSSEY, 1967, with her 1960 spouse, PHILLIP D. HOWARD. They jumped right on the trusty
Internet and downloaded their own form. We'll see you soon, Phil and Kay!

Were all of you aware that CARL W. EBY has cancer? I knew this, but for whatever reason, failed to put it in the bulletins. A reminder came to me from 1971's PAMELA K. SHIPLEY. Thanks, Pam. I given to understand his status is not good and I haven't had an update really recently, but let's all hope for the best for Carl.

This is for you, SALLY L. GILLETTE, 1961. You may recall we have recently solved all the world's problems, via the e-mail exchanges. In spite of that, though, I'm convinced we're going to have a great visit, very soon. I'm looking forward to seeing you again.

Did I tell you all that EDGAR L. "EDDIE" KELLY and wife Marilyn will be coming to my house, the week after our big weekend? I probably did, but I'm so excited, I just keep repeating it all. I can barely wait!

A few weeks back, I got a note from JUDY M. FRANTZ, 1961. Judy, I'd better see you this year, and I'm not kidding. For those of you who didn't know, Judy had some health problems, back in February, but she went back to work and is now doing okay. Make sure you come to join us, Judy! There was also a quick blip from CHAS. V. CARTER and wife, Pam. There'll be more later on their note.

Wonderfully, I also heard recently from 1961's EDNA L. GRAY, which is always a delight. Edna's husband is older now and she can't travel as much with him, she wrote. I was sorry to hear that as I've always loved your travelogues, Edna. She also wrote of sister, FLOSSIE J. GRAY, 1960, who looks like a million bucks. I want some of the stuff those Gray girls are taking! I'll see you soon, Edna.

From 1970's VICKIE JO GILBERT came news of the death of 1969's BILLY J. KIDD. His widow is, I believe, 1977's THERESA S. MILES. I understand he died on August 15, and was buried on August 19. His widow is related to Vickie, so I'm sure this is a substantiated report. I can't help but wonder how many, "Billy the Kid," jokes he must have endured, through the course of his life. I'll bet those got old. Thanks for the report, Vickie, and our condolences certainly go out to the Kidd family and all friends.

A good report arrived from 1957's THERESA M. MOSES, spouse of 1957's THOS. D. ELLIOTT, relative to the annual gathering of their classmates on August 14, at Wilson Park. Aside from the Elliotts, the attendees included EUGENIA B. BOLINGER, BARBARA CARR RAB OLD (who attended WC in grade school), BARBARA L. HILE (and WC spouse, 1956's GARY L. GAULDIN), BETTY J. HAMILTON (Bill), SHIRLEY ANN HILE (Jack), ARTHUR L. KITSON, MELANIE L. HOHN HORST, RANDALL R. PARKS (Anita), JUDY L. KREITZER, SARAH M. "JACKIE" MASON (Oscar A., Jr.), ERCELL P. PHILLIPS (Betty), CAROL J. WRIGHT, and of course, WC iconic teacher, MURL E. HUFFMAN, as well as Tom's brother, 1962's RUSSELL L. "RUSTY" ELLIOTT. Many thanks for this report, Theresa.

Believe or not, this wraps up every e-mail I've received since the last WeCaTon News Report. No, I'm not going to recap each event we've got coming up, over the weekend. Why? Well, I've done it over and over, in the recent bulletins. Surely, everyone knows the schedule by heart, by this time. Just about the time I hit the send button on this one, I'll also be hitting the road. If anyone needs to reach me, and you don't already have my cell phone number, it's 386 290-3381. Normally, I'd much prefer you use my landline (423 726-2268), but since I'll be on the road, that changes the game plan. Please do not send me any e-mail, until at least next Sunday, okay?

Naturally, I'm terribly excited and certainly am looking forward to our big weekend and seeing all of you. In some instances, I'll even get to meet some of you, for the first time. I leave you all with my usual wish for glowing health, great happiness, spiritual harmony, peaceful serenity, personal safety, and boundless prosperity. Ciao!


- posted by Mikey @ 3:07 PM