WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

I'm having a nostalgic day after the death day before yesterday of an inlaw, way too young, leaving young grandchildren who adored him. Been looking for weeks at my Brownie autograph book given to me by my Grandmother Vander Meulen for Christmas, 1956. I unearthed it recently when cleaning out some 'stuff' and just have to share. One thing I noticed is that several of my grade school pals didn't end up staying in school with us. I don't remember our 'crowd' back in those days being so mobile! And speaking of mobile, off subject for a second, I had a great chat today with Jane Via who lives in San Diego. She has been declared cancer free and is back to lawyering and conducting religious services to her flock every Sunday. She is trying to cut back on activities, a true Kirkwood girl...remember, they don't teach NO in the Kirkwood Schools, so we have to LEARN how to say NO to too many volunteer jobs!

Back to autographs, most of which are dated for extra fun. Sadly, all the adults who signed whom I know what happened to are gone, with the exception of the Lowe twins' parents (who signed my book too) who are still in their home on Horseshoe Drive and doing well.
Christmas, 1956
Sharon Lowe
Karen Lowe - Sue (I think she was having an identity crisis, we used to claim different names from time to time!)
12/27/56
Allison Rose (A Sugar Creek Ranch neighbor who moved away, I remember they used to vacation in Florida, she sent post cards!)
12/28/56 Vicki Warburton - anyone remember her? I really do NOT!
1/3/57 (although I wrote 56 - see, it starts young, those habit things)
Lydia Flanagan
Mattie Hall
Joyce Moller
Jeannette Klein
A HUGE signature in red pencil Jack P T - his personality was already formed...it's the largest signature in the book!
Jamie Linton
1/9/57
Lynn Blackwell
Anne Karin Smith + Nina Smith, her little sister - they lived right down Geyer Road from Lynn and had a wonderful older all brick two story home, which even then I coveted! I thought the Smith's house was just really the tops, except Lynn's, my real favorite! The Smiths moved pretty early on as I remember. Anne had very light blonde hair, very fair complected.
Harriette H[owell] who lived in Greenbriar. Once at Camp Cedarledge we gave her a green Coke bottle full of creekwater & tadpoles...she was thirsty and drank! Was she ever mortified when she found out!!!
Linda Girard & Sandra Klefler - two who have stayed all these years
Sandy Melton - another who left
Janet Wineman & Mary Clifton, two more who didn't go on with us (Janet's address is found on a slip of paper in the book in her handwriting - Miss Janet Wineman, C/o Alexander, 508 Elm St., Braintree, 84, MA)
Joyce Ker
Susan Hayes
Susan Fuchs
2/9/57
[the late] Linda Marshall - another neighbor on Horseshoe Drive, next door to the Lowes
3/16/57
Linda English, next door neighbor of Linda Marshall
4/24/57
Susie Hayes
6/13/57
Sandra Lynn Schneider & her step-dad Bill Diebel
3/19/58
Gail Sutton, whose family went to my church and they moved away
Peggy Jackson, seems she had dark auburn hair, I barely remember her do you?
Claudia Margedant
Jody Morelock, who lived in Craig Woods and moved away; her name was mentioned recently I think on our website maybe? I think she's in a class pic there, and word is that she was a girlfriend of Mike Caldwell onceuponatime!
Ronnie Persons
The late Wayne Stine
Bobby Vogt
Becky Smith, another who moved elsewhere
Larry Gibbons
6/3/58
Kathy Watts, what a doll she was, cute, dark short, bouncy hair. She moved too..
And here's Peggy Jackson again
3/17/59
And here is Sharon Lowe again who says "From your BEST friend", and here's her poem -
"Roses are red, violets are blue, the holes in your head I can see right through!" This is only ONE of this type of poem - they are all so funny, and amazingly at this early age, a LOT are about boyz n girlz stuff! We girls sure got boy crazy early! Hmmm seems I remember that a bit!

Butch Goodrich, another of our pals who moved before KHS, signed several times, all on undated pages. This one is of interest, Butch Goodrich & Linda Wagner.

Here's another crack up - undated, "Scott Heuer & Harriette (I hope)" - he was referring to Harriette Howell. Funny, in later life Scott lived just a few houses down from the Howell's house on Big Bend in Greenbriar.

Another from Butch, "To a real nice girl sometimes"
And another undated, Mrs. Ruth Kreinkamp, our school nurse. Her son Steve who graduated 4 or 5 years ahead of us, owns a large antiques mall on Interstate 70 at Kingdom City. A few years ago I stopped in on my way home from Columbia and had my car, with KHS65 license plate, parked right by the front door. A couple of minutes after I started looking down the aisles, over the loudspeaker came "Would the owner of the car with KHS65 MO license plates please come to the front desk?" I figured I dropped something or???? Anyway, it was Steve wanting to know who was in his store from Kirkwood. He was very surprised I remembered his mom from Robinson School!! hmm, a bit further on is Mrs. K's signature again, dated 3/26/59 - I must have been in the nurse's office trying to get out of GYM.....

Another undated, Paul Halwe on whom I had a huge crush! There are other entries, the crush was mutual!
3/26/59
"The boy who traded reports with you, Roger Little" wonder what that was all about????

Sue Kraft signed with a funny poem
and 2/6/59 Linda English with such foresight:
"Roses are red, violets are blue, your face looks like leather, straight from a shoe"

Gee, we were creative little kids weren't we???

Out of order on the last page, 11/30/57:
To Leslie,
"Now I lay me down to sleep, the old Ford car parked in the street If it should start before I wake, I pray the Lord slam on the brake. From Nancy Pease." I do not remember her or her name at all. Funny though, I had some good friends with that surname in later life. Neither of them had children, but they had some cousins who lived in Kirkwood.... hmmm....