ON 28 NOV 2010 BONNIE WRITES:




---Here I am again, just like a bad penny. "Home From The Hill!!" as I'm so fond of saying, when I've returned from one of my Ohio trips. As we age, though, we get more and more attached to the old homefront, don't we? This time, I was a lot like Dorothy in, "The Wizard of Oz." As much as I enjoyed seeing everyone, I sure was looking forward to going home and sleeping in my own bed. But what a wonderful alumni weekend it was! We'll try to cover it, as we go.

First of all, though, we'll start with our forwarders, as always. They are 19
49's ROBT. E. HOFFMAN; 1954's V. JOANNA JACKSON; 1956's REB
ECCA J. POLING: 1957's PAUL H. PETTIT, BETTY LEE CARROLL, R
ALPH H. WARNER, THERESA M. MOSES, THOS. D. ELLIOTT, DARE
LL L. TOBIAS, ERCELL P. PHILLIPS;1958's NICHOLAS P. WOLARY,
W. BAILEY HAWKINS, RONALD D. "TOM" FEE, WM. R. HOWARD; 19
59'[s H. JAY CARROLL, JR., GARY E. BARNES, JAS. L. LINDSEY, BE
TSY R. MURPHY; 1960's T. BARRY RUSSELLO, STEVEN M. KOKOT,
JO ANN K. STEMLEY, RICHARD S. HOLT, LINDA LEE SHANK, WM. E. "BUDDY" STOVER, C. SUE MCCLOUD, DELORES K. "DEDE" FA
HRNEY, JERRY A. FULLER, DAVID G. OTT, LARRY M. PENDLEY, LO
NNIE M. THACKER, LINDA J. SNELL, WM. O. WALKER; 1961's P. LY
NNETTE GARRETT, CONNIE K. STREETE, GARY R. FRANK, BARBA
RA J. TURNINGTON, JANET L. WALTERS, JACQUELINE N. LESHER
, SALLY L. GILLETTE, LARRY D. GILBERT, NANCY L. HOHNHORST, CAROLE J. LEWIS, NANCY J. ERTEL, SHARON KAYE WENDELKEN
, SANDRA S. MAYO, CAROL A. MUMMA, NANCY A. HALL, PAUL R. BEARDSLEY, SANDRA E. BROCK, A. ROGER MORGAN; 1962's RIC
HARD C. CALL, JACKQUELYN S. HAINES, SHIRLEY A. SEXTON, BA
RBARA T. O'NEAL; 1963's HARRIET M. BURKE, SANDRA K. MINIX, GERALDINA SELLARS; 1969's CAROLYN JEAN COOK, ROBT. E. TH
ARPE, JOHN Q. KEMP; 1970's THOS. A DORSEY; 1971's JOY I. WOL
FORD, PAMELA K. SHIPLEY, RODNEY R. GABBARD, 1988's JAS. A. CGUIRE.

Following right on the heels of our forwarders, I want to list some of our e-mail-lost folks, who formerly included one-time WC teacher, DAVID
A. COOPER. He has kindly contacted me and sent me the correction on that. I'm still getting rejects on 1964's TERRY L. WILSON, and I sus
-pect group mailings are blocked for him. So I'll try sending it different
-ly and from a different one of my e-mail addresses and see if that will work. In the interim, if any of you are in contact, do tell Terry to e-mail me, directly, please. Also in this group are 1960's DAVID G. OTT and 1963's SANDRA R. MINIX. It's due to my using the e-mail address of ( MiamiShoresKid@charter.net ) for one special bulletin on 1959's CAROL JEAN TURPIN. Will one of you please forward it to them, and ask them to add my MSK address to their approved sender list, please?The last one is 1960's C. SUE MCCLOUD and it came back as, "over quota," and I didn't even know there was such a thing anymore. So do I re-send this one, forget it, or what? I don't know. On a plus note, I got an update from 1961's RICHARD E. KNEER, to let me know he's got a new e-mail address, so thanks for that, Dick. I've put the change on my list. I appreciate it.

Prior to my departure for our weekend, cousin JUDITH L. SAMUELS and I rushed through a number of quick e-mails. We daily send e-mail messages to each other, sometimes twice a day. So we were sort of, "stocking up for the long, dry spell." We're back to our normal, daily regimen now, and have once again solved all the woes of the world.

Also prior to leaving, I got a trivia question from 1957's THERESA M. MOSES and THOS. D. ELLIOTT, in which they wished to know if I was able to provide the brand name of the old service station which was long ago caddi-cornered from our old Frisch's in Moraine City. While I don't know the very first name (perhaps), I did remember the big, red Pegasus horse, which was emblazoned on the front, and I aslo had a friend who worked there. It was a Marathon station and it's now the area's fire station, I do believe. I'll bet lots of you remember that station, too. I was given to wonder if that wasn't the origins for the name of the old Red Horse Motor Inn, right next door. Maybe so, eh?

Plans had been made in advance for me to meet with old friend, 1958's BRUCE E. CHENOWETH, on Thursday. We had agreed to go at 4:30 p.m., even though it was early in the day, and we arranged to meet with 1959's GARY E. BARNES and wife Pat, at Ron's Pizza in Maimisburg. After I confessed, "my dirty, little secret," I learned I'm far from being alone. You see, I actually don't like Marion's Pizza. Now, I can just hear all of you screaming, "What!?!?" But no, I don't. Neither do the Barnses and neither does Bruce.

Before I go further, I will take this opportunity to acknowledge the good sense and practicality of having the space in Marion's for a group as large as those who attended the Thursday night event. I certainly will also extend praise to classmate and friend, SHIRLEY J. TUDOR, for efforts in arranging accommodations for our class' 50th anniversary gathering, which was open to all, of course. In fact, she and I just spoke at length on the phone, about two weeks ago.

All of this notwithstanding, I'm simply not a fan of Marion's Pizza. Maybe,
one day, I'll try something else on their menu, and I'll like it, who knows?
But in the interim, we four have all decided to retain our standing date at Ron's Pizza. For the calendar year of 2011, RICHARD S. HOLT has an entire schedule for meetings of 1960's fellows and those meetings will be at Marion's Pizza. He'll be sending reminders each month, so do try to make it.

Also on the day prior to my departure, I received e-mail from 1962's REBECCA J. LEIWIG. Becky informed me of the death of 1952's ERVIN GENE LEIWIG on September 10, 2010, at Kettering Medical Center. She wrote he'd suffered a long illness. Becky, was he one of your brothers? You didn't say. After researching my Piratans from 1951 through 1954, I failed to find Gene, as he was called. But in that time period, it was not unusual for male juniors and seniors to drop out of school and join the military. Perhaps Gene did that, too. I'm sure a few of our readers will remember him. His wife, wrote Becky, was a WC alumnus, also. Her name was BEATRICE A. RICE, and Becky says she thinks she was 1953-1954. Again, I found no record, but I'll bet some of you remember her, too. She died in 2007. Becky also lost her husband, Arthur Leon Vaughn, on February 17, 2010. We all offer you sincerest condolences, Becky, and thank you for letting us know.

Sadly, I must also report the passing of 1960's PAUL E. HODGSON, on July 13, 2010. His death occurred in Loveland, Ohio. I have no cause of death as yet. This was confirmed through official records by classmate, RICHARD S. HOLT. Thanks, Richard.

Also checking in with us was 1954's Rev. JOHN E. CROY. He wanted to be sure we all fondly remember his late brother, president of 1957's class, whose full name was (I believe) CHAS. R. "CHUCK" CROY, JR. I trust I'll get a correction, if that's not correct. But yes, John, I know we all remember well the many talents and great intelligence of Chuck. He was quite an asset to WC. Many remember him well and with great affection. Thank you for writing to us about him. The same can be said for 1954's WM. L. MCNABB, who was honored at our dinner/dance, as he should have been.

Before I left, I got e-mail from 1961's JANET L. WALTERS. She's in steady contact with GEORGE A. HOUSER II. "Who's that?" you may ask. Well, when I was a teenager, I babysat for George and siblings. It was four other brothers (including twins) and just one girl, Mary. I had a special bond with George, back in those days. You see, he and I shared a great love for Elvis Presley. One of our very favorite Elvis songs was, "Mystery Train." George and I played that record repeatedly and drove the other kids nuts with it. But we loved it. Anyway, George was anxious to see me again, and I sure looked forward to seeing him, too. As it happens, George has long since grown out of the awkward stages of childhood and is terribly easy on the eyes. So when we saw each other at Marion's, once again, all the women (who were admiring him), kept wondering why he was repeatedly hugging me and kissing me. Of course, I told them it was because he was madly in love with me and wanted to come back home with me. (Eventually, I did come clean, and reluctantly tell them the truth, darnit!) George, if you're by any chance reading this, it was just wonderful to see you again and I hope you'll be there, every year!)

Providing me the postal address of former marching band director, HARRY C. HAGGERTY, was 1970's INDY JO GRISSOM, who is wed to 1971's HUGH ALLEN SUMNER. I'm going to note that address, Indy. If any of you would like to have it, please advise. It doesn't do us any good for the e-mailed bulletins, but perhaps he will eventually get back on the list. Thanks, Indy. Indy has also promised me she will do a better job of planning trips, so she and Allen can join us in the future. Indy also helped me with an e-mail for 1964's JOHN R. MIDDLETON, as did his sister, 1959's JANET E. MIDDLETON, so that's one's a go. Kind words about the bulletins were also forthcoming from many of you, including Indy. They are 1955's JACK L. KNIGHT, 1961's JACK L. GODBY (Oh, how we did miss you, over the alumni weekend, Jack!), LILY K. "KITTY" BURDETTE (and we missed you, too, Kitty).

Recognizing their 65th anniversary of graduation this year was 1945, of course. That class included NORMA JEAN BROWN and spouse, DONALD R. THROCKMORTON. I had the pleasure of meeting Jean at the dinner/dance, I'm happy to report. She wrote her class is slowly dying off and, sadly, that's the case for many of us. However, it's even more reason for us to be sure to attend all the events. Let's all try to plan better for next year. It was great to meet you, Jean.

Apparently, my legend continues to grow. (I'm writing that with tongue in cheek, mind you.) From 1959's JAS. L. LINDSEY came an offer to orchestrate all those class photos in the Piratans, as I do the bulletins. Well, all I can say, Jim, is thank you so much, but this typing is about the extent of my technological capabilities. As I told the brilliant and humorous NANCY J. ERTEL, 1961, who made this suggestion, I don't even know how to do what she has suggested, much less transmit it to anyone else! But thank you for the offer. (Now, see what you went and did, Nancy! Where were you for alumni weekend, by the way?)

Please keep your fingers crossed for 1960's CHAS. A. HIGH, JR. He was once again hospitalized on our weekend, just as he was last year. Charlie has had 18 open-heart surgeries and may be looking at yet another one, who knows? He's devoted to his wife, who is partially blind and a stroke victim and he worries constantly about her care, if he's hospitalized, which can't be conducive to recovery. At this writing,
(October 11) he's in the old Grandview Hospital at Forest and Grand. If you're in the neighborhood, visit him in 4112. I was there on October 9 and he's already also seen 1958's W. BAILEY HAWKINS and WM. R. HOWARD. Keep him in your good thoughts and prayers, please.

Also needing all our good thoughts and prayers is 1960's CHAS. V. CARTER, who's family to me, as is all the rest of his family. He's been diagnosed with malignant melanoma. On September 23, his surgery took place and they removed 15 malignant tumors from the back right side of his neck, along with 9 malignant lymph nodes. They scraped and cleaned quite a few nerve endings, too, and they will become functional again, he was told. They were able to save them all. Within days, he was back inside his beloved gravel pit, and is recovering slowly. He's mobile, but there is a sort of distortion in his face (not nearly as bad as he thinks), and he won't let anyone see him (except me and his family).
He doesn't want phone calls or visits, of course. But he'd love to get encouraging e-mails and postally-mailed cards (801 Miamisburg-Sold
-iers Home Road, Miamisburg, Ohio 45342), so let's get together on this, as we've all done so many times in the past. He's going into long chemotherapy on October 25 and has a long, hard road ahead, fighting for his life. I'll be personally grateful for all cards sents. Charles is especially dear to me.

Returning from vacations is always stressful, at least for me. I find my- self wondering who ever came up with the idea of vacations being so relaxing and refreshing. Perhaps I'm on my own here, just as I thought I was with the Marion's Pizza thing, I don't know. But look at it this way.
When we are preparing for a trip, we have to get things done ahead on
outside home maintenance, arrange for pet care, clean the fridge, get the mail and newspapers stopped or held or whatever, notify our local law enforcement our house will be empty (we all do do that, don't we?), alert a couple of trustworthy neighbors and give them access, in case of an emergency, check the weather for the type of clothing we'll need, (which I completely screwed up, this time), clean the car and unload the crap already in it, so we can load the new crap, then pack and lug suitcases, fuel the car, do the last-minute run-through of the list and also the house, secure all doors and windows, and then we're on the road. Excitement abounds, until we get 40 miles away and recall the two items we forgot, right?

Then we somehow manage to rationalize all the reasons we didn't need those, anyway, and we finally settle down to the trip and getting those miles behind us. (By the way, please don't tell me it's easier to fly. It isn't! Once when I lived in Florida, I caved in to that very idea. So I did it. After getting up at 4 a.m., then finally arriving at the Vandalia terminal, a total of 11 hours and 45 minutes had elapsed. I then got my rental car, which was another 45 minutes, for a total time of 12 1/2 hours. Guess what? My personal best at driving straight through from Florida is 12 hours and 45 minutes and at longest, it was 14 hours. I also got to be my own boss on my own schedule. So they can take the flying and shove it.)

Anyway, our wonderful vacation is now concluded, and we must go back home, right? Once again, you can back up two paragraphs and read the list of all the things we must now do, in reverse. On top of all that, we've also got a mountain of laundry, which is just what I'm doing today (October 11). So I think the wonders of vacationing are all something perpetrated upon us by the travel industry, who else? I just had to share that with all of you, as I seem to do with everything, don't I? Okay, on with the bulletin.

My sincerest sympathy goes out to 1958's WM. R. HOWARD and his wife, Lucy. It seems Bill's brother-in-law is hospitalized and not expect -ed to recover. He and Lucy have been steadily visiting the hospital and Bill tells me the outlook is grim. By the time you've all read this, I don't know what to expect. I'll keep you posted, as I learn more. Bill was kind enough to give me a report on Charlie (High) when he saw him, too.

From 1960's RICHARD S. HOLT came a report on the whereabouts of our long-lost class treasurer, THOM B. THOMPSON. I guess you must have missed that bulletin of two years ago, Richard, as I'd written to you, earlier. I found Thom, long ago, and have even talked with him. So far, I've been unable to arouse any interest in him, as regards our class and classmates and returning to the WC fold. I do hope that's going to change, in future years. I do not intend to abandon the effort.

From 1961's P. LYNNETTE GARRETT came an e-mail, expounding on our great weekend and also talking about how exhausting it is, if we try to attend every event. Well, I suppose that may be true, but I'm intending to attend all of them, anyway, no matter what. If we can get ourselves through Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, we're good to go, and then we can rest. So I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. I'm lovin' every minute of it, every year! This year, I got in several visits with Lynn (and Frank), and I'm in hopes they're going to soon be on my doorstep, once again.

From 1955's JACK L. KNIGHT came a blip on locating his fellow law enforcement officer (retired, also, of course), 1961's R. MICHAEL FORSYTH. Jack say Mike has no PC, at this time, and doesn't know when he'll be getting another one. But he's in good health and faring well. When you talk with him again, Jack, tell him we missed him over the weekend, just as we did you.

Prior to our weekend, there were a couple of miscues in our time for Marion's Pizza, but I didn't quite understand that. I'd sent it out in the previous bulletin, as well as a special one. Judging from the crowd, though, I'd say most people got the message. Perhaps people did the same thing as 1959's BETSY R. MURPHY, who wrote back and told me she did get the bulletin, just overlooked the time. I'm trying to think of a way to make it more prominent, in the future.

Several messages came from 1961's SANDRA S. MAYO. Sande is in her Florida home, and we all missed her over the course of our big, alumni weekend, naturally. Since she belongs to that 1961 bunch, it's unnecessary to write that a face such as hers is an asset to any room and its surroundings. That hasn't changed. Sande is still beautiful and vivacious. She's been hob-nobbing with all her neighbor ladies and they're running around together and having fun. Good for you, Sande, and we all hope to see you for sure, come next year. It will your 50th!

A special request came to me from 1959's CAROL JEAN TURPIN. I know most of us remember Carol. She reports that her grandson has been struck with a rare form of leukemia which normally attacks only people over 60. Right away, my heart goes out to you, Carol. He's but 16 years old and was just diagnosed on July 12. The family lives in South Carolina. Carol's daughter (his mother) has no insurance on this child and the state will not help her.

So far, the medical bills are about half a million dollars. The daughter is a retired vet and Carol is retired and living on a fixed income, as are so many of us. They're really between a rock and a hard place. It seems his continuing treatment is going to take up to two years and, as is always the case with such illnesses, there are no guarantees. I've already taken the time to send Carol's e-mail as a special bulletin, but also wanted to recap it, in here. If you can help, she's got a website for him: ( www.helpjoseph.webs.com/ ) This is heartbreaking. Thanks to any of you for anything you can do.

It is now October 14 and time really does fly! On this date, I success- fully connected with yet another 1960 classmate, and possibly two. At the functions, I was provided a telephone number for JUDITH A. HUG
HES, whose surname is now Wade, by her lifelong friend, CONNIE S. BAKER. Judy and I spoke for about 15 minutes. She's currently living in Panama City Beach, Florida, but expects to return Henderson, Nevada in the early spring. Judy has two sons and a daugher, all of whom live
in the San Francisco Bay area, she told me. She also advised me my rumors are incorrect about the passing of SHARON KATHLEEN MILLAT. She and Judy are in contact and Kathy is fine and back in the Dayton area. I was happy to hear that. We'll hopefully soon be adding Kathy to our readers list, also.

While we're on this topic, I'm going to list each 1960 class member I saw, over our weekend. The list includes all the ones I saw, at all the events (and other locales), and are not necessarily the ones who were in attendance at the dinner/dance. They are JOYCE L. AUSTIN, EULA FAYE BAILEY, DAVID A. BLAIR, CONNIE S. BAKER, MADELEINE J. BECK, RICHARD G. "JERRY" BROWN, CHAS. V. CARTER (at his home, only), ANITA F. CLINESMITH, AARON D. COUCH (who joined the military, prior to graduation), DOLORES K. "DEDE" FAHRNEY,
FLOSSIE J. GRAY, JERRY A. FULLER, JOYCE ELAINE GIBBONS,
ROSS A. HODGSON, RICHARD S. HOLT, PHILLIP D. HOWARD, W
ANDA F. ESKRIDGE, CHAS. A. HIGH, JR., (in his hospital room), ED
GAR L. "EDDIE" KELLY, KAREN L. KLINE, J. PATRICK LAFFERTY,
CHAS. A. "BUD" LOWMAN III, C. SUE MCCLOUD, SONDRA LEE MATSON, J. DAVID MAYS, DAVID G. OTT, LARRY M. PENDLEY,
HARRIET Z. RICE, ROBERTA A. RICE, GARY D. RICHARDS, DENNIS
A. ROSE, T. BARRY RUSSELLO, P. THOS. SETTLE, DEVONA S.
TAYLOR, JO ANN K. STEMLEY, IDA JANE TREON, JOY A. TREON,
SHIRLEY J. TUDOR, WM. O. WALKER, DANNY L. WALTERS,GARY
L. WARLAUMONT, MILTON R. WOLFE, PHILLIP H. WOLFORD,
MICHAEL S. WEST, and THOS. L. WOLF, JR.

Counting myself, that's 45 class members. We've got 24 who are con -firmed as deceased, which would account for 69 of us. We had 147 in our class. I've heard rumors of another 14-15 who are deceased. If that's true, and I hope it isn't, that would account for about 83-84 of us. I have had so many of you who have asked where our class officers were. We had none of the four them in attendance, and no, our Home-
coming Queen wasn't there, either. Some people asked me who the class members are who filled these spots, so here they are. Serving as class president was LONNIE M. THACKER. Vice-president was THOS. D. YOUNG, Secretary was SHARON L. BORGER, Treasurer was THOM B. THOMPSON and homecoming queen was PRISCILLA J. COOL. Her senior attendants, by the way, were KAREN L. KLINE and SHARON L. BORGER.

Also, I'm aware first-hand of people who traveled inordinate distances to be with us. Coming from Nampa, Idaho, were EDGAR L. "EDDIE" KELLY and his wife, Marilyn. The Kellys attended all 4 of the events. I know for sure, because so did I, and they were at all of them. Coming from their home Quitman, Texas, were J. PATRICK LAFFERTY and SONDRA LEE MATSON, probably our only married couple from our class who were in attendance. It was sure good to see them again. Pat is now a hay farmer and loves it, he says. Sondra works in the field of computers, I think. She's still quite gorgeous, too! Also coming from Texas (Alvin) were WM. O. WALKER and WC-honorary spouse, Karen L. Murphy. They stayed with 1958's LEONARD F. KUHN and wife Pat. Eddie and Marilyn stayed with AARON COUCH, Eddie's very best high
school pal, along with the late CURTIS A. KEMP. I'm betting there were many who traveled long distances, but I don't know it.

However, I do know of 1958's RICHARD A. FAHRNEY, who practically made my whole night, when we all gathered for the dinner/dance. Dick and I had a one-on-one conversation, wherein he gave me high praise for the quality of writing in the bulletins, and especially complimented me on my grammar and punctuation, which are things for which I put forth a lot of effort. Dick, I really thank you for that entire conversation. Just that one exchange, made it very worthwhile to put forth the effort. Dick even said he thought I ought to write a book! In thanking you for your gracious compliment, Dick, I lost my point. So I'll get back to it, now. Dick is one who also traveled quite a distance, as I understand his residence is in the state of Colorado. So that's what I wanted to recognize. I keep trying to use good enough grammar and syntax to live up to English teacher, CHRIS L. CLEARY, 1961. How am I doin', Chris?

Let's go back to Lennie Kuhn for a moment. All of us who were there, I know, were so glad to see Lennie. He was having some health issues and was in a wheelchair, of course. So I know the Walkers were going to be staying with them, after our weekend. We all wish you well in your recovery, Lennie, and we want to know how you're doing. So Bill and Karen, if you're reading this, send us an update on Lennie's condition, please.

RICHARD S. HOLT continues to do some verifying and checking on the members of our 1960 class. I was able to give him a little info on a few of them, but we probably have several to go. He also continues to organize the gatherings at Marion's Pizza and send out notices to the 1960 class male members. I hope that's being well-attended. For anyone who may be interested, we've located THOS. L. RAPP and TOBY LEE JONES, in Baltimore, Ohio. I'm given to understand Tom is a doctor. They are but one of eight couples in our class who married each other. We have one or two others, who married WC people, but there are eight couples, just in our class, who married each other. I wonder if that's a record for one class year?

It is now November 4, and I received a report today on the health status of CHAS. V. CARTER and his cancer treatment. It's making him sick, of course, but he's holding his own. Pam reports that he's able to get in 3-4 hours per day in his beloved gravel pit. She says, as long as he's able to do that, it makes them both happy. She asks that we keep him in all our prayers. I assure you, I'm doing that.

Recently, I got e-mail from BOYD H. JENKINS. He wanted me to know he's still alive, but is experiencing some health woes, as seems to be so common, when we get older. Boyd has heart problems and is trying to follow doctor's orders. We all missed you, Boyd, and please try to stay as well as possible.

As we go, I do plan to get in more info on our weekend, but I'm trying to cover the e-mails, too, which keep pouring in daily, so this one may take a while to read. A lot has been happening. It's only fair I tell all of you I've bought myself a new Harley-Davidson. Yes, I have! A few of you know this, already, of course. But I've been having a circus with this, and feel as though my DNA is once again complete. I bought it October 20, so not long after returning from our weekend. My kids are having a hissy fit, and I say, "So what? Get over it!" They've settled down somewhat, now, but aren't exactly blissful about it. I, however, am! If you want me to send you pictures, let me know. I will happily do so. Among those who have sent me good wishes and congratulations are 1955's JACK L. KNIGHT, 1958's WM. R. HOWARD, BRUCE E. CHENOWETH, 1960's KEITH H. CLENDENON, LARRY M. PENDLEY, JUDI TH A. SLIFE, 1963's GERALDINA SELLARS, 1970's THOS. A. DORSEY, 1971's RODNEY R. GABBARD,

As you all know, we got a special bulletin on the grandchild of CAROL J. TURPIN, 1959. We had lots of feedback on that and I have no idea who did or didn't contribute, nor do I care. But we had some opinions who felt the grandchild was, indeed, covered. When messages arrived such as that, I forwarded them to Carol, so she could communicate directly with the sender. Among those who responded was 1971's RODNEY R. GAB BARD, who offered a new laptop for anyone who pledged $1,000. He'd won it in some sort of drawing, apparently, but I thought that was quite a generous gesture. Also responding about coverage was 1963's GERAL DINA SELLARS. I hope those people are right, but Carol indicated she and her daughter have tried every possible avenue. So we'll see.

We've got some really great news on 1958's DONALD I. MCCOY. He's getting married and it may have already happened by the time you're all reading this. I called him when I bought my motorcycle, to write insurance on it. However, his company doesn't write policies for motorcycle in the state of Tennessee, so I went through Harley-Davidson. But in the course of our exchange, I discovered his great news. So best wishes to you and your bride, Don, and heartiest congratulations from us all. We look forward to meeting her next October. (Footnote: He was to marry on Nov. 18, and I'll bet he did, right, Don?)

Among the lost of our class was RONNIE R. WHEELER. But of late, he and I have had very cordial exchanges. He's still trying to connect with his pal, P. THOS. SETTLE. So if you're reading this, IDA JANE TREON
, please pass along Ronnie's e-mail to Tom, as Tom told me at Marion's, that you are the one who shares the e-mails with him. Ronnie's e-mail is ( bupahoser@yahoo.com ) So I do hope you two get reconnected soon!

Now, who'd have ever guessed that 1960's JUDITH A. SLIFE is a nut for Halloween, and even goes so far as to channel the spirit of, "The Wicked Witch of theWest," complete with the laugh, the hat, the cloak, and all? I heard, directly from Judy, herself, that she has her house decorated so extremely, some of the children are afraid to even come near to the
door, especially if they hear her cackle. How funny!

But Judy also reported another nifty event. It seems she went to meet a few of her old WC cronies, who included LINDA L. SHANK, IDA JANE TREON, JOY A. TREON, and BRENDA J. LUCAS. This took place on October 25, I was told, and I'm still awaiting the report. How did that go, girls? You're all (except Joy) on the readers list, so tell me all about it. I thank you for the great report, Judy.

This date is Nov. 21. I'm slowly making my way through this bulletin and all the events it entails. On this day, Murl E. Huffman left my home at 8:30 a.m., after a pleasant afternoon and evening visit. We were joined by two other WC alumni, MICHAEL S. WEST and wife Sally, as well as 1958's NICHOLAS P. WOLARY and wife Marilyn. The Wests drove from Gatlin- burg, their longtime home, while the Wolarys drove from Sevierville, their home of about 5 or 6 years. We were all in agreement we had solved all major problems in the world, by the time we'd completed all the topics in our, "WC Summit." As I type, he's at the home of 1958's ELIZABETH A.
"BETSY" WERTH, in Columbia, S.C. He will continue to weave his way along the east coast, visiting various WC alumni, until he has reached his Thanksgiving Day destination, which is the home of the daughter of WC teacher, the late DONALD C. BOGAN, with whose widow he has long kept company (Marjorie).

It's now Nov. 27, and my life is passing in a blinding blur. Each time I get on here to write more on this, something pops into my life and prevents me from writing as much as I want. So I'm going to try and get more done today. On Nov. 19, 1958's BRUCE E. CHENOWETH had surgery, with the expectation he'll be able to walk somewhat better. His longtime companion, 1971's PATTY JO WHEELBARGER, called me right after, to let me know all had gone as hoped and expected, which is always good news, of course. A couple of days after that, Bruce also called, but said he wasn't feeling great just yet, but working on it. Give me another update, whenever you're ready, Bruce.

It's been a couple of weeks since I last heard from Pam Carter, spouse of 1960's CHAS. J. CARTER, who had cancer surgery on Sept. 23 and is currently in an extensive chemotherapy program for the next year. He's now completed one month, and I hope to hear an update soon. Among the many who expressed great dismay was 1961's SALLY L. GILLETTE
, who'd spent lots of time around Charles, when we were all in school.

We welcome new reader, 1957's CAROL J. WRIGHT, who came to us, courtesy of her classmate, THERESA M. MOSES. We hope you enjoy the bulletins, Carol, and do send us a bit of news from time to time. We need all those snippets, in order to keep this thing going, remember!

From 1988's JAS. A. MCGUIRE came a great photo which appeared in the Dayton Daily News, relative to the WC Alumni Football Club (who play a lot of golf, by the way, ironically) and it's a great one. I've forward- ed it to our chief blogger and hope it will soon be on the site. Thanks a lot for that one, Jim. Also, Mike, did you get that WC biographies link up -dated from 1961's NANCY J. ERTEL? She sent me an e-mail, asking about that very thing.

From 1970's CHERYL R. COLLINSWORTH came the recipe for her now-famous chicken and dumplings, of which 1958's WM. R. HOWARD is a huge fan, believe me! I hope you got that, Bill. By the way, are you reading this, RONALD D. "TOM" FEE? It seems Cheryl's husband (last name Rice) was really looking forward to seeing you and asked a few questions as to whether or not you were coming. You might want to drop him an e-mail. By the way, folks, Tom wrote to let me know his wife is in pretty good shape, following her stroke, and Tom says he's doing okay, too, except for his legs going to sleep from time to time, when he stands for too long. Well, I guess we all have our little glitches, now. I know I do.

My thanks to you, 1961's JANET L. WALTERS, for your gracious and kind compliments. But a lot of us are going to have to go a long way to even begin to look as good as you do! I'm still trying to find the secret for those 1961 people, I'll swear.

Among our missing for the 1960 50-year class reunion was DOUGLAS A. RENAS, who now lives back in Arizona. I'd heard through his brother, 1957's LAWRENCE J. RENAS, JR., of Doug's intent to join us. But then he didn't make it back to do so. When you speak to Doug again, Larry, do tell him he was missed, will you please?

From 1970's ROBYN L. SHEPHERD came an e-mail about not coming, due to the fact that 1971's RODNEY R. GABBARD couldn't make it, and she didn't want to be there, if he wasn't there. Well, darnit, Robyn. I had really looked forward to meeting you. You were missed, too, Rod. Rod had surgery this month, I believe. How's that going, Rod? Are you ok?

Does anybody out there recall a male alumnus named JACK FUSON? I have no recall of him, at all. The only one I remember is my 1960 female classmate, JACQUELINE FUSON. I've got a couple e-mails from 1965'
s STEVEN F. SHADE, requesting info on Jack, as he's trying to uncover info on whether or not Jack is deceased. I was unable to help.

NANCY A. HALL, 1961, and I have been staying in semi-regular contact and talking about the good ol' days at our ZEL church. Along with many other WC folks, we spent a good many years there together, seeing one another every Sunday, and quite often through the week, too.

So many good wishes came from so many of you, when I bought my new Harley-Davidson in October. Yes, I did buy another one. I remember tell -ing some of you, but did I tell you all. I got great e-mails from 1961's P. LYNNETTE GARRETT, 1970's THOS. A. DORSEY, 1955's JACK L. KNIGHT, 1960's KEITH H. CLENDENON, 1963's GERALDINA SELLARS, and 1958's WM. R. HOWARD, among others. Yes, I'm enjoying it immensely. My kids think I'm nuts, of course. Yes, I wrote of it earlier, but I just want to be sure everyone knows!

While I'm on here, I'm going to share with all of you, another one of my, "dirty, little secrets." Lately, I've noticed I get 1 or 2 calls, sometimes more, on Sunday evenings. Now, I'm going to make a confession. It so happens I do not ever answer either my landline or my cell phone, on
Sunday evenings between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., and I don't care who is on the other end of the line on Sunday, during those hours, I won't answer. I even have my phones all disabled then. You see, I'm a political animal and a news junkie. From 6 to 7, I'm watching the local news, then it's the national news, and then it's my all-time favorite television show of my life, "60 Minutes," which features my hero and (for me) "the sexiest man alive
," none other than Andy Rooney. So if you're a person who's trying to call me on that day, during those hours, you're wasting your time. But please do leave me a message and I'll get back to you on another day. Better yet, just do an e-mail. I always answer all of those, without fail. They're non-intrusive and I can do them when it suits me.

CAROL J. TURPIN, 1969, had several more responses about the situation with her grandchild's illness. One of them came from 1963's JOHN E. "JACK" KREBS, JR., and I've put them in touch with each other. Jack, if you have further info for Carol, just e-mail her directly. I'm given to understand, though, she's exhausted every possible avenue.

From 1960's LINDA LEE SHANK came a very gracious note of thanks for putting her in contact with her old friend, BRENDA J. LUCAS. I'm so glad, Linda, to know the two of you are back in contact. That's simply wonderful, but we did miss both of you at our 50th and I was disappoint-ed at not seeing either of you. I hope you'll both be there next year.

An invitation came from NANCY E. "COOKIE" BOWIE to visit her in her Eatonville, Washington, home. You were also very sorely missed at our 50th, Cookie. A slug of people asked about you, for sure. Cookie had hip replacement surgery around the end of October, she told me, and she is also missing her lifelong best pal, the late JUDY A. BECKETT, as are we all.

It's great news for Martha A. Craig, widow of my dear friend, the late RONALD P. CRAIG, 1960. She was having some tests run and thought sure she now has cancer, too. But she doesn't, and she sends thanks to all of us for our prayers and good thoughts. That's great news, Martha, and we all hope you're back in good health very soon.

Thanks to 1958's BRUCE K. COPSEY and 1959's GARY E. BARNES for notifying us of the passing of 1954's ROSE MARIE KOKOT on Nov. 3. She was the eldest of the Kokot family, who included 1957's LOIS M. KOKOT, also deceased, and 1960's STEVEN M. KOKOT. We offer our condolences to Steve and all the Kokot family, of course.

The husband of 1959's JANET ELAINE HALL passed away on Oct. 16. I got this report from 1960's DENNIS A. ROSE, with whom I had quite a wonderful visit, by the way,during our weekend. The name of her late husband was Ralph Adkins and it seems he died as the result of injuries from an accidental fall. Thank you for this report, Dennis, and we offer Janet our condolences.

SANDRA RAE KINNEY, 1959, has returned to our readers list, after a long absence. GARY E. BARNES sent her new e-mail address. Sandy is now remarried and her last name is Penwell. But I want to be sure she is not mistaken for 1960's SANDRA L. PENWELL, who is deceased. It is the same name, yes, but not the same person. Welcome back to the list, Sandy, and thanks, Gary.

It's past time for another long chat with 1960's EULA FAYE TAULBEE. I have my regular call list, and the only one which is up to date, at this time
, is Shirley. So I'll have to get out my list and get going on it.

A wonderful and gracious e-mail arrived from both 1967's MARIAN KAY HUSSEY and her 1960 spouse, PHILLIP D. HOWARD. They're both too kind and it's so great to be back in touch with Phil. He seems to be doing fairly well after his dual-organ transplant of a couple of years ago, so that's always good news.

My pal, 1961's P. LYNNETTE GARRETT is doubtless back in Nevada by this time. But during November, she was talking with people about planning her class' 50th, which is upcoming. I'm willing to bet that will be the biggest-ever turnout for a 50th. There was a meeting on Nov. 4, she reported, and JACQUELINE N. LESHER attended, bringing along her 1957 spouse, PAUL H. PETTIT. She also mentioned the presence of ROBERT C. ADKINS. I'm sure many others were also present.

For the moment, I'm going to return to our weekend, which has now been a staggering 7 weeks ago. I can scarcely believe that. We did have a good gathering at Marion's Pizza on that Thursday, and I got to see lots of nifty people. Frisch's was magical, as always, and never disappoints. The same can easily be said of the Miami Shores Memories Picnic. Of course, what can I say about our dinner/dance? I think it's always a big smash hit and an occasion which I immensely enjoy.

As of yesterday, my pal, 1963's FRANCES L. PEFFLY, has returned to the old Tennessee neighborhood. She's gradually backing her way out of Florida, just as I did, nearly 4 years ago. I have no regrets and I doubt if Fran will, either. As soon as she gets herself more settled and lots of her things unpacked, we'll resume our frequent visits, I know. It's great to have someone I know well, and who also attended WC, living so close. I have a few of them, in fact.

Well, guess what, folks? That covers all the e-mails for this bulletin. I'm so sorry this has taken so long. My goal is to get out about 7-8 of these each year. It takes some doing to assemble all the e-mail (and please, keep those coming) and organize the news tidbits. This edition is one which jumps around a bit, so please forgive me for that. I'll try to get lots more organized, on the next edition.

In closing, I thank each and every single one of you for wanting to read this and I leave each of you with my fondest wish for glowing health, great happiness, personal safety, peaceful serenity, spiritual harmony, and boundless prosperity. Ciao!
- posted by Mikey @ 10:58 AM