The *WeCaTon* - West Carrollton (Ohio) H.S. Alumni News (unofficial)

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

We*Ca*Ton News Report

On 18 May 2013, Bonnie Wrote:

---It took me a bit to get started on this one and it's now March 29. My

distribution goal will be May 10-17, unless it gets far too lengthy, prior

to that date. I suspect it will. We shall see. In the meantime, we begin

with our usual format, listing forwarders: 1949's ROBT. E. HOFFMAN; 1954's

FREDA P. FLET

CHER; 1955'S C. ELAINE BARKER; 1956's RALPH D. WILSON, REBECCA J. POLING,

MARGIE L

, HENDRICKS; 1957's DARELL L. TOBIAS, BETTY LEE CARROLL, SHIRLEY A. HILE,

ERCELL P. PHILLIPS, RALPH H. WARNER; 1958's K, JUNE CRUTCHFIELD, W. BAILEY

HAWKINS, DONALD

I. MCCOY, BRUCE E. CHENOWETH, BILL R. HOWARD, RONALD D. "TOM" FEE, LORNA

DOONE

TROUTMAN; 1959's GARY E. BARNES; 1960's WM. E. "BUDDY" STOVER, CHAS V.

CARTER, WM. O. WALKER. C. SUE MCCLOUD, DAVID A. BLAIR, CHAS. V. CARTER,

EDGAR L. "EDDIE" KELLY, DENNIS A. ROSE, DELORES K. "DEDE" FAHRNEY, RICHARD S

HOLT; 1961's GARY R. FRANK, SHARON K. WENDELKEN, JUDITH L. SAMUELS, SALLY L

GILLETTE; 1962's RBECCA J. LEIWIG, JACKQUELYN S. HAINES; 1963's SHIRLEY A.

RANKIN; 1970's DEBRE C. "DEBBY" SPENCER; 1973's JEAN ANN MILLER; and 1988's

JAS. A. MCGUIRE.

Our only rejects on the e-mail lost list for this edition were pretty much

resolved. There were 1954's CAROLYN R. GILLETTE, who had previously rejected

many times. I'd forgotten to remove her from the reader list and still

hoping for help on this one from her sister, 1961's SALLY L GILLETTE. There

were also1958's DONALD I. MCCOY and 1965's STEVEN F. SHADE, both of whom

rejected due to group sendings, so I sent those two under separate cover and

hope they were received, as neither rejected when I sent them that way.

Somebody out there, find me a good e-mail for 1961's LILY K. "KITTY"

BURDETTE, will you please? I've lost her and I want her back!

The ever-gallivanting 1961 class president, JOHN W. OBERLIES, JR., still had

an out-of-office reply and I still haven't heard from him. Since this

happened with the prior bulletin to the last one, I can but assume he's

either retired or gone for a very extended vacation. Let us hear from you,

John, so we know what's happening.

Speaking of class presidents, what a wonderful e-mail from 1954's class

President, JERRY R. GRAH

AM. "I hope you are aware of what a wonderful service you are providing," he

wrote. Then he went on with, "Many thanks and keep up the good work." Well,

I thank you, too, Jerry.Your kind words of thanks are so appreciated. As I

tell everyone, I've gotten far more from doing this, than have all of you

put together. It's fun, rewarding, and great to know you get to put old

friends back in contact, too, now and then. I'm fond of saying this is the

greatest accident of my entire life. Lovely words of thanks and praise also

arrived promptly, as always, from 1961's JACK L. GODBY and NANCY A. HALL,

and from 1971's INDY JO GRISSOM, along with not-so-very-belated birthday

wishes. Thank you both.

No one could've better expressed my feelings about my own school days, I

suppose, than did 1956's MARGIE L. HENDRICKS, when she wrote about the joys

of going through the teen years during the Fabulous Fifties. Wow, what a

time to go to high school, attend sock hops (do they have those any longer?)

walk around during the summers with all your friends (cars were scarce,

then), and generally just enjoy life. You're so right, Margie! I went

through every single one of my teen years during the 1950s, as did most of

my class. (Sorry, not 19, but all the rest.)

As I already wrote, the usual, wonderful, welcome words of praise again came

from several, but I didn't yet mention 1960's RONNIE R. WHEELER. My regulars

are 1961's JACK L. GODBY, NANCY A. HALL; 1963's LEE JEAN JORDAN, and 1971's

INDY JO GRISSOM. Lee Jean and I proceeded to take care of many of life's

major problems, while we were at it. There's high excitement for her

1963 class, since this is their 50th. Nancy also wrote of the terrific

cruise she took recently with husband, Pastor Larry W. Matthews, Ret. She

said a huge highlight was that of spending a day with her lifelong friend

and classmate, CAROL J. MUMMA, while in Florida. That's great, Nancy and

Carol, and I hope you had a terrific time. We still want you to come see us

in October, Ron Wheeler, and all the rest of you, too! I've got to add Ron

to my regulars list!

Excitement also abounds in the 1958 class, whose 55th is this year. BILL R.

HOWARD has sent his ideas and suggestions to all, and many are pitching

ideas into the ring, such as DONALD I. MCCOY and LORNA D. TROUTMAN. I sure

hope this will be a smashing event for all you 1958 folks. While we're on

that topic, let us all band together tightly in our good thoughts and

prayers for our dear and treasured friend, BILL R. HOWARD. He's battling

pancreatic cancer and is currently in treatment. If you're a pal of Bill

s---and who isn't?---he'll sure appreciate it.

My spare yearbooks are rapidly fading into the sunset, gang. If you have any

interest, let me know right away. Just since the last bulletin, I've had

requests I've fulfilled from 1954's JAS. N. SMITH (who want-ed 2 different

years), 1963's GAYLE E. LESHER, and I had another request from a non-WC

person, but as you all know, I absolutely will not sell to anyone who's

never attended WC. So that book stayed with me.

Thanks to 1973's JEAN ANN MILLER, who sent me two 1971 books. Now, let's

work to get these in the hands of the rightful owners. One is engraved with

the name VICKI HALL, and the second one is engraved with LINDA HOWE. Let's

find these two 1971 folks and tell them I have their yearbooks. I'm going to

be bummed, if I discover they're deceased. Please help me if you can. Thanks

so much for sending them, Jean.

Thanks to 1961's EDNA L. GRAY for reporting serious illness of 1960's ROSS A

HODGSON. He's in pretty bad shape and needs all our good thoughts and

prayers, reported Edna. He's been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, but

also has severe emphysema, congestive heart failure, and some type of

bloating and infection in his legs. Of course, we all wish him the very best

Ross is the former spouse, as most everyone is aware, of his classmate,

FLOSSIE J. GRAY. For a number of years, though, he's been in the company of

1965's LINDA S. JOHNSON. He's also been in declining health for an extended

period. Thank you, Edna.

Boy, am I ever behind. Today's date is May 18, and I've been so busy, I'm

afraid I've neglected my WC news bulletin obligations. So I've got to get

cracking today, and see if I can get current. Bear with me! I've been

steadily e-mailing with 1954's FREDA P. FLETCHER and cheering on her zest

for life. She and husband, Larry L. Green, have just bought a new RV and are

getting ready for a trip to their spot in North Carolina. Freda and I have

been sharing lots of Miami Shores memories, and God knows, there are many.

We have such a good time with those. Enjoy your new toy, Freda. (I meant the

RV, not Larry. Ha!)

For this next tidbit, we back up to latter March and recognize 1961's

RICHARD L. DOLL. He sent us news about a WC connection to NCAA basketball,

writing of an alumnus who's playing in the Bracket Buster team at Florida

Gulf Coast University. He named CONNIE FREEMAN, stating a class year of

probably 1970-1971, and says her son, EDDIE MURRAY, is playing on this team.

Perhaps some of you can identify more definitively. Thanks for that, Rich.

Also in late April, we heard from 1963's TERRY LEE WILSON, who thanked me

for the bulletin, and for mentioning his book, "Life's Too Short and So Am I

" and saying he's been able to reconnect with a few of his old WC friends,

due to the bulletin. Well, that made my day, Terry. I'm thrilled you're now

in touch with other WC alumni. What's the update on your health status? For

those of you who may not know, Terry has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

We'd all like to know how you're doing, Terry, and it goes without saying,

we're all pulling for you.

A wonderfully humorous retort came from 1958's RONALD D. "TOM" FEE, re my

mention of LORNA D. TROUTMAN, pedaling her bicycle all over Phoenix.

Remember that, Lorna? Well, Tom wrote, "When you wrote Lorna was pedaling

herself all over Phoenix, I was getting ready to pack up for Phoenix, until

you pointed out the spelling." (Pedaling vs. Peddling) Ha! Too funny! See I

told you, Lorna, you still have your fan club!

Okay, 1960's DENNIS A. ROSE, I've got no choice but to throw you under the

ol' schoolbus, whether our class president, LONNIE M. THACKER, likes it or

not! Are you listening, Lonnie? I'm doing this, not Dennis. It seems, folks,

Lonnie has had surgery on an Achilles tendon in the past year and has

also had a pacemaker implanted. Shame-y on you, Lonnie! You're our class

president and you're not letting us know what's happening with you?!?!?

Goodness, whatever are we going to do with you? On the plus side, it sounds

as though Lonnie is now doing well. So will we be seeing you and spouse

LINDA J. SNELL, come October, Lonnie? We all hope so! Thanks, Dennis, even

though I know that wasn't your intent.

We also have 1958's BILL R. HOWARD, who's currently being treated for

pancreatic cancer, as I had already earlier written, and I'm still getting

cheery e-mails from him, and that's a good sign. Make sure you feel all the

good vibes out here, Bill. We're all pulling for you, too. Bill is the big

cog in the wheel for his class' 55th upcoming celebration. I know they'll

have a great time.

Our 1958 singing troubadour and insurance agent extra-ordinaire, DONALD I.

MCCOY, continues to entertain and yes, he's back full-force, into the

insurance game. He's also assisting with his class' 55th bash. I want to get

back with Don on my insurance needs and he's already addressed my notary

public bond. Now, I want him to take back my car and homeowners insurance,

as soon as we can get all the details resolved. We're working on it,

currently.

We had a brief scare back in April when 1960's EDGAR L. "EDDIE" KELLY (aka,

the Fonz, and he truly is, even now) called to tell me he couldn't reach his

high school girlfriend, 1961's DIANA JEAN MILTON. Making matters worse, his

step-father (who's pretty elderly, unlike us-ha!) had seen a similar name in

the obits and told Eddie he thought Diana had died. Well, we got right on it

and I contacted SALLY L. GILLETTE, to put her on the the trail. She got back

to me, assuring me no one had heard a syllable about this, and she felt

certain it was a false alarm. Gratefully, it was.

Later that day, I put Eddie in contact with Diana's older sister, 1958's

MARGIE L. MILTON, and the mystery was solved, Diana was in the process of

moving and had changed her number. Eddie's step-dad was merely mistaken.

Eddie and Diana have kept in contact in recent years, with the help and

blessing of Eddie's wife, Marilyn, and she's one, cool lady, I can tell you

that. So we're glad it this worked out for the best, Eddie.

Congratulations to 1961's EDNA L. GARY and spouse Richard M. Ryan, who

celebrated a wedding anniversary in April. Dick's birthday had been on the

previous day and the Ryans took one of their trips together to celebrate.

Ditto for a couple of other 1961 folks, PAUL R. BEARDSLEY and wife, SANDRA E

BROCK celebrated number 8, just yesterday, May 17. Many happy, healthy

returns to all. Special thanks to you, Edna, for accessing my weekly

newspaper column and reading it. For those of you who may be unaware, I

write a weekly column (every Sunday) for the Kingsport Times-News. It's a

community news column and actually very similar to this very bulletin. I

write for a number of other and varied publications, too.

Our in-house real estate professionals, 1959's BETSY R. MURPHY & 1960's

BARRY J. RUSSELLO, have merged their company, The Realty Group, with

Sibcy-Cline Realtors. Their stunning photo is on the notification postcard

and they both still hold the crown for chic, suave, groomed, glamorous, and

handsome, no competition! We all wish you good fortune, Betsy and Barry. If

you wish to have them handle your real estate needs, be sure to contact

Barry at barryr@sibcycline.com or call him at 937 454-1234. I'm sure you can

reach Betsy there, too.

Two more of my devoted field reporters, 1958's BILL R. HOWARD and BRUCE E.

CHENOWETH, reported an impressive gathering, which occurred May 14. It seems

quite a crew got together and had a meal, all WC, of course. Aside from

Bruce and Bill, those present included iconic teacher, MURL E. HUFFMAN, JAS.

A. WITHAM, STEVEN M. KOKOT, VINCENT A. BRODBECK, GARY E. BARNES, FLOYD R.

BUBBLES" WILLIAMS, JR., LESTER A. WHITWORTH, DAVID L. HOWARD, JERRY L.

DAVIS, LAWRENCE L. LAKINS, Brenda K. Heiser (Vince's SO), LEONARD A. KUHN,

ROBT. T. HOFF, Dr. L. BERNARD ROSE, MICHAEL C. BAKER, BILL R. HOWARD,

RICHARD A. FAHRNEY, W. BAILEY HAWKINS, and 1933's (!) A. EMERSON FAHRNEY.

This occurred at Holly's Diner and I'm pretty sure it's in WC. Isn't this

just wonderful? I was thrilled to read of this. I was even further thrilled

when told my name had been mentioned a time or two and it was in a very

positive nature. Ha! Everyone should do many more gatherings like this, as

often as is humanly possible. It was dominated by 1958 people, obviously,

but they made sure every class was made to feel welcome. Great! Now, I got

some great photos of this event and contact Bill or Bruce, if you'd like to

see them. I also had Bill send them to our WC blogspot editor-in-chief,

1960's MICHAEL S. WEST, and I'll bet he's posted them on there, too.

Many thanks to 1957's DARELL l. TOBIAS and 1960's WM. D. DUNCAN for your

Facebook invites. I don't do the social websites. I just don't have the

time for it. I also don't want to entangle myself in yet another layer of

communication, as I already have so many. But a big reason is the fact I'm

not that into the new technology, anyway. But I value your thinking of me.

Thank you.

Hey, the annual WC Football Alumni Golf Classic is coming up July 12. I don

t know if I'll get another bulletin done before that, but reserve the date.

It's at the Pipestone Golf Club in Miamisburg and last year's event set a

record for participation, so let's break that record, this year, what do you

say? Many thanks to 1988's JAS. A. MCGUIRE for the notice. He's a driving

force behind this event.

Well, I'd like to say this bulletin is going to be all fun and smiles. So

far, it has been, pretty much. But as with all of them, we have a couple of

illnesses, in addition to the ones already listed. For starters, 1963's

SHIRLEY A. RANKIN has broken her ankle, very recently, and is at her

Tennessee home, in the recliner, recovering and watching a lot of TV. We

hope you're well soon, Shirley.

Also, the daughter of 1959's CAROLYN J. MELZONI has again been stricken with

breast cancer. We all need to send good thoughts and prayers her way. Her

name is Marsha Carmack Miller and I don't know if she is WC or not. If so,

please let me know. In any case, let's all pull for her recovery and keep

her mother in our good thoughts and prayers, also. This was reported by

1960's LINDA L. SHANK, so thanks, Linda.

From both 1958's BILL E. HOWARD and 1959's GARY E. BARNES, came notice of

the death of 1964's CHARLOTTE E. BLAND. I don't have any details, but the

notification came April 25. Upon her death, her surname was Mason. Thanks

to Gary and Bill. We also lost a 1954 alumnus, PATRICIA J. THOMPSON, as

reported by two of her classmates, FREDA P. FLETCHER and President JERRY R.

GRAHAM. She died April 25 and her surname was Clendenin. Thanks, Freda and

Jerry.

Determined to end this on a cheery note, I've saved a couple tidbits of an

upbeat nature. I had a brief exchange last month with 1960's WM. O. WALKER.

He and Karen are doing well in Texas and both hanging right in there. I

was glad to hear that. I've also talked with 1960's CHAS. A. HIGH, JR.,

whose indomitable spirit, given his circumstances and health woes, never

fail to amaze me. I'm humbled by his persistence and resilience. He

marches onward and upward, continuing to do what must be done, day after day

He's amazing.

On April 23, I had a lengthy and fun visit with my dear friend, 1958's BRUCE

E. CHENOWETH, and his significant other and also my friend, 1971's PATTY JO

WHEELBARGER.We solved all the world's problems, as we always do, and they

headed to Gatlinburg to visit MICHAEL S. WEST, and wife, Sally. As of today

they're about 40 miles from me, again, in the region of Damascus/Abingdon,

Va., and we're going to hook up again, while they're so close.

Cousin JUDITH L. SAMUELS and I, continue our daily banter and if we don't

hear from one another for a couple days, we begin to worry. Judy is

teeny-tiny again and wearing clothes she hasn't worn in 25 years, she tells

me. Gawd, I hate her! Ha! My sister-in-law, 1956's ANITA R. MASON, and my

brother-in-law, Ralph J. Osterman, spent 6-8 weeks running around Florida

and returned about the end of March. They're both all right and doing well.

Come May 25, I hope to be seen at the 90th birthday bash for the mother of

my friend and classmate, EULA FAYE BAILEY. It will be held in Cleveland,

Tennessee. Georgia (her mother) was remarried about 2 years ago, to a

long-ago high school friend who resides in the state of Tennessee. I hope

to see other WC faces there. Eula Faye and I remain in regular contact.

So guess what? That's the end of the line. I've entered every news tidbit,

every phone call, and every piece of WC news I could muster. If I've missed

anything, please send it right away, so we can get it in the next one. I

intend to continue this until 1.) I can't type anymore or 2.) I can't see

anymore or 3.) I can no longer sit upright for this long. So if you send it

I'll use it. I leave you all with my usual wish for glowing health,

personal safety, great happiness, peaceful serenity, spiritual harmony, and

boundless prosperity. Ciao!

- posted by Mikey @ 9:23 AM