CATCHING UP - ODDS & ENDS

Here I am, as usual, madly trying to 'catch up' on something. I have several things to post to the website and here on my blog that I was sent by various classmates. I want to return them this weekend, so I have to get them posted. First, Pat Hoag gave me a few Webster-Kirkwood Times recently. Herewith some items:

OBITUARY: CHARLES 'CHUCK' BEDELL DIED SUNDAY 6/6/10, SURROUNDED BY FAMILY AT HIS HOME IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, AFTER A LONG ILLNESS. Mr. Bedell graduated from Kirkwood High School in 1965. Those who remember him know he was quite a character-friendly and lovable. He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Harriet, and his children, Todd, Danielle and Cory. Memorials may be made to Snowline Hospice, 6520 Pleasant Valley Rd., Diamond Springs, CA 95619.

In this same issue, June 11-17, 2010, is an article and obituary of great interest to me and other history buffs. Michael Henry Whitson died 6/3/10. He was a member of one of Kirkwood's oldest families. If you do not know about Quinette Cemetery at Ballas and Big Bend, please let me know. Jerome Rawlings' brother Keith saved that cemetery from certain destruction and its history is important to our community and to the story of the Civil War in Missouri. Michael was the great grandson of Henry Whitson, a slave who served in the Union Army. The story of the Civil War veterans, slaves and others buried in this historic cemetery are all worth knowing. Michael was only 65 and died unexpectedly of heart failure. He was involved in a great deal of community work and his loss will be felt by many. He graduated in KHS62, attended Turner, Pitman, Nipher and in 1965 married KHS65 classmate Mirla Wand. I must admit I know a lot about his family, but I did not realize he was married to our classmate!!! My bad! You can go here to read the full article about Michael. In that same issue there are some gorgeous color pix of KHS10 graduation festivities. You'll probably enjoy seeing the kids in red and white robes, real red, not the burgundy WE had!

While you are on the W-KTimes website, you might check out the June 25- July 1 issue for the obituary of Robert G. Blattner of Des Peres. He is the brother of KHS65 classmate Nance Blattner. Nance was planning to attend the Reunion, but that was before her brother's death. I don't see her name on the list of attendees so perhaps they are no longer planning to be here. I have Nance's new address in Florida, very near where my father lived the last 30 years or so of his life, so I'll probably see her in March when I'm there, so if you wish to contact her, let me know. Bob was a KHS70 graduate and died on 1 June.

KHS65 member's FATHER's VETERAN STORY CHECK IT OUT!

If you've been reading the blog for awhile, (hint - click "older posts" at the bottom of the page) you'll see we hear from Linda Stevens, a Viet Nam era Army Nurse, from time to time. She has led an interesting life - it appears to be hereditary. Please go here to read a great story about her father's belated Silver Star, complete with great photos. If you would like to correspond with Linda, please let me know and I'll send her your email address. She's really a great correspondant, THANKS again Linda for sharing! Maybe you should do your own blog, you could do a post a day about something interesting in your life!!! It's a great way to keep a diary of sorts or tell your life story a bit at a time.

Bob O'Neill Rides a Wheel of Fame

Check out our own Bob O'Neill, a man of oh so many talents and interests. Go here to see his latest adventure. I tried to get over there, but just couldn't finish elsewhere in time. Sorry Bob I wanted to see it! Is it still up somewhere? Let me know where if so!
I love it when our KHS65 pals make the papers! Congrats Bob for the PR and for the wonderful project. Do you know what they teach budding mechanical engineers at MIT? You guessed it, a class on building with LEGOS the modern Erector Set!!!! Seems like one could go a much simpler route to learn to play with plastic blocks...I guess it's probably more involved than "playing with plastic blocks" when it's THERE! It took Bob nearly 9 years to find all the parts to build this 1927 Ferris Wheel. Talk about sticktoitiveness!

NIPHER BAND - GREAT PHOTO!

Thanks to Mike Caldwell we can see who was who in the Band, Mr. Beattie's the leader, it's 7th grade for us. You can add names by commenting, click the picture for a larger version but I'd rather you go to www.khs65.com to add names as comments, it works better. This photo is in the second album from top, 2010 photos. Click the picture twice there to get to the largest version. THANKS again MIKE! And thanks to Alan Yount and Pete Nardie for adding names. I have created the best list I can so far of who is who, so please go to the website, khs65.com, click the 2010 album, scroll down to this photo, then read comments to see all names. Please add a comment to add more names in place of ?s OR to correct names, then I can redo the comments to include changes! Thanks! You can comment here if you prefer, and I'll transfer the info to the website, but having the names all in one place is kinda nice.

KHS65 AUTHOR PUBLISHES BOOK

Jane McClaren has written a book called Honest Eating. You can buy it at bookstores and www.amazon.com and if you bring yours along to the reunion Jane will autograph it for you. It's not your mother's diet book, I've read it and highly recommend it. You can read my review at Amazon.com, you'll see it, Wedgwood Lover the writer. Basically it's a book of Jane's experiences and what she learned from her experiences about not only dieting, but thinking about our food and our lives, and how those things interact with one another and with our own 'selves'. It is NOT a book of lectures and criticisms, nor is it a list of exactly what you can do to be thin, it's a thought-provoking hand-book if you will, that might get you thinking about your own habits and how to make them better. Left Bank Books here in St. Louis is one store carrying it. Here is the link to ORDER JANE'S BOOK at Left Bank. Click the image below to see a larger legible version~ I ordered my copy from Amazon and in their usual speedy style, I got it right away. Congratulations to Jane for the work she has done to produce this! It will be a valuable tool for many and just another example of our classmates making KHS65 look good!! I suspect you'll find some reviews of it here once some of us read it! You can post YOUR review of it as a comment, or send to me and I'll post it as a Blog Post if you prefer. As my kids tell me on the rare occasions when I do something they like, GOOD JOB!

Our Sympathies to the family of Linda Girard Day & Joal Charleville

Jim Day has alerted me to the passing of Linda's mom this week. You can read her full obituary here .

In looking for her Obituary I see that Joal Charleville's father passed away this week too. You can also read his obituary at www.stltoday.com or go here to read it. Our condolences to Joal and her family too.

May our parents all rest in peace and love...and maybe even spend some time taking pride in their children up there in the PTA of heaven.

FOR YOU KHS65 GIRLS !!!

THIS IS HYSTERICAL, THANKS PAT HOAG FOR SENDING IT!

I DON'T WANT TO BRAG OR MAKE ANYBODY JEALOUS OR ANYTHING, BUT I CAN STILL FIT INTO THE EARRINGS I WORE IN HIGH SCHOOL!

Ya just gotta love it! There was a cartoon but I can't get it to copy!
Have a great day!

KHS65 HITS MID MISSOURI WITH A BANG

Before I get started on yesterday's adventure, please note that Pat Ciapciak's name below is a hotlink. Go there to see what Pat has been doing recently - a GREAT project for a worthy cause - congrats go to Pat for making a huge difference!

Never let it be said that Ken McBride isn't persistent. He has wanted to get a group of KHS65 members together in central MO for a long time, and he pulled it off! Ken has a great interest in the demographics of our class, and our era, and is very good at putting together interesting groups of folks for interesting conversation. Eleven of us met at Arris Cafe & Bistro in Jefferson City Friday June 11th for a great gabfest! Dave Beardsley graciously chauffeured Bob O'Neill, Pat Moisio Ciapciak and myself from our Clayton & Lindbergh meeting place. Bev Schwarz Martin, Rocky Reece, Gary Schmidt, Vicky Will LaRue, Tom Ray, and Alan Yount joined us and of course Ken was there. Ken works during the week in Jeff City so he cooked up this great plan for those in the central MO area to meet there. We talked and talked, the poor waitress could hardly get us to order! We ate (great food!) and talked some more. Bev had to leave for another function later in the day, then some of the others departed, but Ken took those of us from St. Louis and Vicky to the now-closed MO State Penitentiary. We didn't take the $12 tour, but Ken told us alot about it from the parking lot. We parked right across from the old gas chamber where we could see the pathway from the basement death row door to the gate where the soon-to-be-executed were let out of the vehicle and walked down a bit of a sidewalk into the chamber. Some of the stone walls are crumbling, the buildings abandoned, and an eerie feeling floats on the air! We agreed we needed to go back for the tour! Then it was off to Central Dairy, think Baskin Robins in an old dairy building, for deliciously fattening ice cream and more talk....Ken forgot to tell Gary that we were doing the Pen first, so poor Gary waited and waited, but enjoyed the ice cream with us, just a short distance from his Jeff City home. It was a great way to celebrate our 45th anniversary. We'll do it again so more can join us. Tom Ray is an Associate Circuit Judge in Farmington, Gary is retired and taking it easy there in Jeff City, Vicky lives in St. Clair WINE COUNTRY, Alan is retired from Mizzou and playing his trumpet again in Columbia, Ken works for the Mo Highway Patrol (in what I still everyonceinawhile call data processing :-)) ), and NO he can't fix speeding tickets! Rocky lives in New Bloomfield I think, might have to correct that, Bev in the Fulton area. On the way there, we took a shortcut into Fulton which ends up right at the gates to William Woods where some of our galpals matriculated.

See all the photos at http://www.khs65.com/, but here's a teaser, what a great group of guys!!!

KHS65 MUSICIANS TOGETHER AGAIN AT HIGH C

Alan Yount has sent us a wonderful anniversary present, which arrived at my house just now, on June 10th, just as the 6:15pm time for graduation exercises to start is about to ding on the old-way-back-machine clock. Alan writes that he and Dennis Winkler, who played 2nd trumpet in Alan's dance band for 4 years, had a "trumpet reunion" recently. Dennis met Alan at Alan's mom's house in Kirkwood where they used to practice and had a jam session! Alan writes "Dennis & I both can hit "high C" again!" Thanks guys sooo much for sharing this.

The story of the trumpets Denny & Alan own is interesting too. For Alan's 60th b'day his wife bought him a 1934 Selmer Paris trumpet, the same kind Louis Armstrong, Harry James & Ray Anthony played during the 1930s. On Armstrong's CD, "Kiss of Fire", he is holding the Selmer Paris on the cover. Alan still has his S/P which he got in 1961. Dennis took his Getzen trumpet to Alan's recently, similar to what Doc Severinson used to play.

Another interesting ditty from Alan that some of you who live in the Kirkwood area might appreciate - Craig Schmitz KHS63 was killed the first week he was in Viet Nam. His name is on the memorial in Kirkwood. He too played in Alan's band, the first 2 years, on drums. The last time Alan spoke with him, just before he went into the Army, he had just graduated from SIU's undertaking school. He told Alan he was not afraid of death or dead people...what an irony!

One of these days we are going to have a KHS65 band playing at some function...my dream! We still have talent hanging around the country. Tomorrow I will see Alan and another KHS65 musician, Dave Beardsley...a bunch of us are having lunch in Jefferson City, should be a great gossipfest, will report on that next week! Again, Happy Anniversary KHS65 and thanks again Dennis and Alan!! Keep hitting those high notes! practice practice practice.....

KHS65 CELEBRATES 45 YEARS - 6/10/65

Or is the right word laments? So many of our classmates say the same thing to me, over and over, "How did this happen?"..... the time seems to have flown by. But then, when we think back year by year, or happening by happening, or child by child or in some other way, it certainly has been a long time, not so fleeting! Each of us has our individual life to review whenever and however our habit is. But as a group, we have a shared past! No, it wasn't just yesterday that one played football, ran track, babysat for neighbor kids as the Beatles debuted on Sullivan, wrote for the "Call", drove a convertible through the streets of Kirkwood, or WHATEVER.... it was really 45 years ago! The day was warm and sunny; the Class Flower Yellow Rose, a timeless symbol of friendship. We ate at the Jefferson Hotel, swam at Cool Dell... drank at................. and breakfasted at Teutenberg's. Well some of us did anyway. What are YOUR memories of 45 years ago ??? Go to the comments utility and share your memories. And while we're at reminiscing, think of how you knew those of the class who are no longer with us. Keep them in our hearts. And our blessings and prayers to those in poor health, our wishes for good medical care and hopefully recovery.

Girls, what did you WEAR??? My swimsuit matched my dress! White cotton pique with pale blue piping. My mom was such a clotheshorse, and she superimposed her will on me...thankfully as it turns out!

Paul Silman is off to a 3 day golf jaunt as I type, his birthday is today (the 9th) so he's celebrating on the links. Several of us are lunching together Friday in Jefferson City...a diverse and interesting group put together by Ken McBride who lives in Chesterfield but works in Jeff City during the workweek. Ken loves to put interesting groups of folks together and see what develops. Pat Moisio, Dave Beardsley, Bob O'Neill and I are driving together...wonder who will talk the most! Check back early next week for a report on this event!

Spend some time on Thursday, maybe over a cup of tea or a glass of vino, thinking about the day, or the time in between, and be happy we had our great beginnings and now our shared history. Graduation day was a Thursday too...

I'm curious to learn what comes to your mind when looking at the photo of OUR day. It has just occurred to me, look at that sea of white compared to the lake of red! No wonder our social setting was what it was!!! Too many girls, not enough BOYS!!! LOOK WHAT ELSE I JUST FOUND! It's Thursday evening, I put my hand into a box of KHS65 "stuff" and pulled out ONE thing, it happened to be the Kirkwood Public Schools newsletter for June, 1965. Check it out here, we're the top news!

Happy Memories to you, or as Roy and Dale would say, "Happy Trails to You".

PS: I am not at liberty to discuss WHO, but more than one member of KHS65 was nominated for the Kirkwood High School Alumni Hall of Fame! I was thrilled to see that our classmates were honored, and also that some classmates participated by nominating others!~ There are SO many amazing KHS graduates! Well, we ALL are in my opinion....thank you to all who participated!