When Gary Malin offered up his condo in Orange Beach, AL for a free week's stay as a class funraiser...er....fund raiser, he had modest expectations of our selling 50 tickets so we could raise $500 for the class fund. The general idea is always to build up the fund so that we can minimize reservation price for the 45 in September of 2012. We believe that this was one of the factors that made the 44 so successful. Westsiders are all about bang for the buck.
We have come to learn that when it comes to drumming up interest and sales and participation, our current class reunion committee does not rest on its laurels. With 7 weeks to go until the August drawing, we have logged well over $800 in paid ticket sales and commitments for a number more. The idea of raising $1000 is not beyond reason or reach. So get in touch with Linda Lively Yuan, Patty Qualls, Nancy Layson Burke, Tom Waterman, or Bob Willis for your chance at this opportunity. Remember, the availability of this condo has been extended to include some choice times in the Spring of 2012 as well as this fall.
Just when I thought we had run into a stone wall with my Wayne Valley classmates search, we hit paydirt over the weekend, and I had a chance to reminisce with two more classmates, neither of whom knew they were lost and were both grateful that they were found. It seems nearly universal; very few consciously try to lose touch with their high school group, it just happens over time, day by day as life's demands and happenstance buffet you through the years. Whether by design or not, you come to a moment of respite and your mind starts to wander to the past, and high school days come to mind along with the inevitable speculation about this one or that one. Did they fulfill their yearbook ambitions; if they didn't are they happy anyway? I admit I've run into some classmates who .... Let's put it this way, just like my old classmate (I don't seem to have any other kind), Dale Weber being listed in the dictionary under smart ass, there are a few that can be found under hateful and paranoid. "I don't remember you. Who exactly are you and why are you contacting me and why do you want this information?" I know that this is going to cause you to have to contact your federal witness protection program handlers, and you'll probably have to move again, but your high school classmates are curious about how you turned out. Now I can tell them without you having to provide a lick of information.
Anyway, not to get off too far off target, the contact process for the condo drawing was really quite different than that of locating everyone. Now it's not a case of 44 years since last we spoke. It's a few months, and guess who I talked to the other day or guess who I had lunch or dinner with a few weeks ago, or guess who's coming into town and wants to get together with a few friends to break bread. Things are happening and they're all good. You can see it on Face Book. Pictures of old friends gathering here and there; Gayle Brown is still rounding up all the Colorado and Texas people for something local. It's in the wind. It's more than nostalgia. In the past, I was always cynical about it, whether it existed or not, and if it did exist why would you feel it anyway. I feel differently now that I've seen it in action and experienced it firsthand - it's called CLASS SPIRIT and it's alive on the Westside of Evansville.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
It's Not Like Being There
We've resumed the search for the missing classmates of Wayne Valley High School (You all know by now how Linda likes to keep us busy with condo ticket drawing sales, the cruise to somewhere, the 45, the new rent house [alright, that was my idea], the memaw and papaw shuttle [or MAPS for short]), and I realized that I was missing a big part of what made the search for Reitz '67 grads so successful - input from other classmates.
It's as though we're searching in a vacuum with no background information other than what we find on the Internet. There are a few who are also looking but they are from out of town now too. Without some more information other than a name, how hard is it to find Thomas G. Smith? Now I remember him from gym class cause he always wore dark socks and black and white Keds tennies. The gym teachers used to ride him mercilessly. But there are dozens of Thomas G. Smiths in all parts of the country.
Now I don't know if it is just something about Westside folks who know and want to know everything about everyone, or whether it is just because I've been away from my own home town for so long, but I don't know parents, or relatives or childhood buddies of my classmates. I didn't go to grade school there. I went to so many grade schools it isn't funny. My dad's corporate life gave me what amounts to an army brat school history. Even if I had gone through my entire school career in Wayne, people seem more disconnected; there are so many people that we've found that say that they never get back to Wayne, or go there just rarely by coincidence than intent, because there just isn't any other reason to. And I recall thinking how sad that is. I'm not saying that there aren't aspects of Wayne that are quite endearing (and there is an active "I'm from Wayne, NJ" group on Facebook, but they are mostly a nostalgia group - you know, the "who remembers the Valley Road Sweet Shop?" kind of stuff)
Of the Reitz bunch, even those far afield keep in touch with someone. If nothing else, the Fall Festival calls you back here like lemmings to the sea, well, more like Wimpy to a burger or ....I seem to be digging a hole here.... I'll have to give that simile a little more thought. The point is that Evansville people seem to remain Evansville people even though they are living somewhere else. Everyone seems to know everyone else's parents, alive or gone, or brother or sister or niece or nephew or even more importantly, who got married to whom, and even more in most cases. To me, this is part of the magic of Evansville, part of the magic of the Westside in particular. For the travel weary, for me in particular, Evansville and the Westside have become my home. I know without being told, that not being born here, I'm not a genuine Westsider, just a pale imitation. But I'm trying, and I have come to appreciate those qualities that distinguish Westsiders and Evansville folks too. What other small city can raise a million bucks at the drop of a hat when a disaster strikes? or do it regularly for MS or Reilly Hospital or dozens of other equally worthy causes?
This town is special to me, and for those of you in the class who were born Westside people, you're special to me too. You need to see yourselves for who you are, for who you went to school with and get over all the rest of the nonsense that separates you from the special values you grew up with. I'm not admitting defeat in finding my lost classmates, but I'm saying that it is a lot more difficult to find them because I don't have the special connections that your classmates have with you. I'm going to keep looking because I'm a little hard headed about things I decide to do and with Linda's help, how can I fail?
You owe it to yourself, you owe it to your class to get back to Evansville for this reunion. We've got a year to plan it. You've got a year to rearrange your schedules and plan for it. This one's going to be something else. You've heard about how the 44 went and that was on a shoestring budget. If we could have bottled the delight of that night and sent it to you so you'd understand what happened there, we couldn't keep you away. It was truly magical. And we intend to do it again, bigger and better because now we know it can be done and what kind of support from everyone we will get. Don't hear about it from others. Experience it in person.
And although if you say I said it, I'll deny it, we've got other plans too.............something about the Cruise to Somewhere? and a 47th, ('cause we don't know if we can make it to the 50th?) and other smaller get togethers along the way. It's just ridiculous what idle minds can dream up!
It's as though we're searching in a vacuum with no background information other than what we find on the Internet. There are a few who are also looking but they are from out of town now too. Without some more information other than a name, how hard is it to find Thomas G. Smith? Now I remember him from gym class cause he always wore dark socks and black and white Keds tennies. The gym teachers used to ride him mercilessly. But there are dozens of Thomas G. Smiths in all parts of the country.
Now I don't know if it is just something about Westside folks who know and want to know everything about everyone, or whether it is just because I've been away from my own home town for so long, but I don't know parents, or relatives or childhood buddies of my classmates. I didn't go to grade school there. I went to so many grade schools it isn't funny. My dad's corporate life gave me what amounts to an army brat school history. Even if I had gone through my entire school career in Wayne, people seem more disconnected; there are so many people that we've found that say that they never get back to Wayne, or go there just rarely by coincidence than intent, because there just isn't any other reason to. And I recall thinking how sad that is. I'm not saying that there aren't aspects of Wayne that are quite endearing (and there is an active "I'm from Wayne, NJ" group on Facebook, but they are mostly a nostalgia group - you know, the "who remembers the Valley Road Sweet Shop?" kind of stuff)
Of the Reitz bunch, even those far afield keep in touch with someone. If nothing else, the Fall Festival calls you back here like lemmings to the sea, well, more like Wimpy to a burger or ....I seem to be digging a hole here.... I'll have to give that simile a little more thought. The point is that Evansville people seem to remain Evansville people even though they are living somewhere else. Everyone seems to know everyone else's parents, alive or gone, or brother or sister or niece or nephew or even more importantly, who got married to whom, and even more in most cases. To me, this is part of the magic of Evansville, part of the magic of the Westside in particular. For the travel weary, for me in particular, Evansville and the Westside have become my home. I know without being told, that not being born here, I'm not a genuine Westsider, just a pale imitation. But I'm trying, and I have come to appreciate those qualities that distinguish Westsiders and Evansville folks too. What other small city can raise a million bucks at the drop of a hat when a disaster strikes? or do it regularly for MS or Reilly Hospital or dozens of other equally worthy causes?
This town is special to me, and for those of you in the class who were born Westside people, you're special to me too. You need to see yourselves for who you are, for who you went to school with and get over all the rest of the nonsense that separates you from the special values you grew up with. I'm not admitting defeat in finding my lost classmates, but I'm saying that it is a lot more difficult to find them because I don't have the special connections that your classmates have with you. I'm going to keep looking because I'm a little hard headed about things I decide to do and with Linda's help, how can I fail?
You owe it to yourself, you owe it to your class to get back to Evansville for this reunion. We've got a year to plan it. You've got a year to rearrange your schedules and plan for it. This one's going to be something else. You've heard about how the 44 went and that was on a shoestring budget. If we could have bottled the delight of that night and sent it to you so you'd understand what happened there, we couldn't keep you away. It was truly magical. And we intend to do it again, bigger and better because now we know it can be done and what kind of support from everyone we will get. Don't hear about it from others. Experience it in person.
And although if you say I said it, I'll deny it, we've got other plans too.............something about the Cruise to Somewhere? and a 47th, ('cause we don't know if we can make it to the 50th?) and other smaller get togethers along the way. It's just ridiculous what idle minds can dream up!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Is it Always a Stab from the Past?
Got a great photo from Jess Searle, who was rummaging around in an old box. He found a circa. 1955 photo of the St. Marks kindergarten class, taught by Tom Townsend's mother. It is now a resident of the "Where we come from" page on the www.reitz67.com website. It even has the names listed. It was old and faded but I did the best I could to bring the color close to what it used to be.
We were wandering around in Lowe's the other day trying to decide how to most economically redo the new rent house (Jess asked us whether we had ambitions to be the new slumlords of the Westside.) Not quite, but then again, with CD rates as they are, real estate is somewhat more appealing. That's why they call it Real. At our age, there is very little ambition left. Linda says speak for yourself. Anyway, we ran into Cecilia Dillworth, who has worked at Lowe's quite some time. I just didn't know she was a classmate. Some of you may remember her from your memory's dimly lit West Terrace days. She moved away for a while, made it to Reitz freshman year and then went to school somewhere else. Linda got her a copy of the West Terrace 5th grade class photo in which she was a part and some other photos from the 44th. Linda says it was a touching moment. Needless to say, she extended an invitation to Cecilia (you may remember her as Doodles) to attend the 45th, in the spirit of inclusion.
And speaking of inclusion, it seems that more and more people are wanting to get included in the Orange Beach Condo Drawing at the rate of about $200 a week now. The drawing is set for the beginning of August so there's still plenty of time to get your chances, but there are always complications in our lives, grandkids that need shuttling around town and errands that can't wait or things that just pop up to complicate things, so don't wait too long. Paid chances are the only ones that will be included in the drawing. Don't be the person that wanted in and didn't get their ticket money into the pot soon enough.
We were wandering around in Lowe's the other day trying to decide how to most economically redo the new rent house (Jess asked us whether we had ambitions to be the new slumlords of the Westside.) Not quite, but then again, with CD rates as they are, real estate is somewhat more appealing. That's why they call it Real. At our age, there is very little ambition left. Linda says speak for yourself. Anyway, we ran into Cecilia Dillworth, who has worked at Lowe's quite some time. I just didn't know she was a classmate. Some of you may remember her from your memory's dimly lit West Terrace days. She moved away for a while, made it to Reitz freshman year and then went to school somewhere else. Linda got her a copy of the West Terrace 5th grade class photo in which she was a part and some other photos from the 44th. Linda says it was a touching moment. Needless to say, she extended an invitation to Cecilia (you may remember her as Doodles) to attend the 45th, in the spirit of inclusion.
And speaking of inclusion, it seems that more and more people are wanting to get included in the Orange Beach Condo Drawing at the rate of about $200 a week now. The drawing is set for the beginning of August so there's still plenty of time to get your chances, but there are always complications in our lives, grandkids that need shuttling around town and errands that can't wait or things that just pop up to complicate things, so don't wait too long. Paid chances are the only ones that will be included in the drawing. Don't be the person that wanted in and didn't get their ticket money into the pot soon enough.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Not Just the Weather is Getting Hot
As the summer heats up, so have ticket chance sales on the Orange Beach Condo. Thanks in part to a great phone campaign, our classmates have been buying chances to win that stay in the fabulous condo that Gary Malin has offered up and now with the window of opportunity opening wider, those of you with established vacation plans through the end of the year still have the chance to enjoy this vacation destination in the spring as well.
Additionally, the planning for the 45th is proceeding apace with offers of help in a variety of areas. Among them is from Ed (Ralph) Branch, out in CA, who has offered to help consolidate accommodations planning to get us some group rates for those of you requiring places to stay while in town. This can mean considerable savings at some of our local hotels convenient to the Westside. Arranging this is somewhat "chicken and egg" since part of doing this involves knowing the who, what, when, and where details of the event, and we all know that none of this is etched in stone except the anchor event on September 8, 2012. All the associated activities we are thinking about are all in some stage of planning but are not nearly firm enough to satisfy all the obsessive compulsives on the committee. I think Linda is planning a committee meet later this month to start divvying up some necessary tasks. Of course, much of the surrounding activities are organized by other groups who have not yet made their own plans public yet.
And like the guy on TV is fond of saying "but there's more!" but that will have to wait till next time.
Additionally, the planning for the 45th is proceeding apace with offers of help in a variety of areas. Among them is from Ed (Ralph) Branch, out in CA, who has offered to help consolidate accommodations planning to get us some group rates for those of you requiring places to stay while in town. This can mean considerable savings at some of our local hotels convenient to the Westside. Arranging this is somewhat "chicken and egg" since part of doing this involves knowing the who, what, when, and where details of the event, and we all know that none of this is etched in stone except the anchor event on September 8, 2012. All the associated activities we are thinking about are all in some stage of planning but are not nearly firm enough to satisfy all the obsessive compulsives on the committee. I think Linda is planning a committee meet later this month to start divvying up some necessary tasks. Of course, much of the surrounding activities are organized by other groups who have not yet made their own plans public yet.
And like the guy on TV is fond of saying "but there's more!" but that will have to wait till next time.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
An Informal Get together and the Germ of an Idea
Gayle Brown Gurksnis is in town for a week and we got together with her, Nancy Layson Burke, Patty Qualls, and Linda and Terry Gamblin over at Applebee's on the Westside (of course), and had a grand old time. Met Gayles husband Tom Gurksnis for the first time too. They're splitting their time between South Texas and their Class A RV. Turns out she's good friends with Jan Yestingsmeier Clark also in Texas. The net result of all this activity was 5 more condo tickets sold and a CD. Anyway, another example of how a drop of rain turns into a deluge.
Give Linda a little too much time without focussed activity and she starts getting ideas. Pretty soon, it's like Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney (My Dad's got a barn, we could put on a show!). Well the idea is this. Sometime in 2012, preferably not in Hurricane season, we get a bunch of classmates together to go on a cruise. We know of at least a half dozen people who expressed interest already. We also know a travel planner who should be able to get a pretty good rate if we can help fill a block of rooms on a class cruise. Hey, one cruise we went on was full of guys entered into the Big Mustache and Beard society. (I don't know what the real name of the organization is, but one of them turns out to be from Evansville!) so stranger things have happened. Linda's just turning the idea over in her head (which probably means that we're going on a cruise next year, one way or another). Personally, I enjoy the cruise ship experience (especially on the smaller ones) and sharing one with a bunch of Reitz folks sounds like it would be a hoot! Now I know that this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but then again, the idea is to keep generating new and different ways to be together doing something class related and keeping the spirit that we regenerated this Spring as an ongoing experience.
We also always invite everyone to throw their ideas in the pot for other ways the class can get together and do something unusual, different or whatever.
Give Linda a little too much time without focussed activity and she starts getting ideas. Pretty soon, it's like Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney (My Dad's got a barn, we could put on a show!). Well the idea is this. Sometime in 2012, preferably not in Hurricane season, we get a bunch of classmates together to go on a cruise. We know of at least a half dozen people who expressed interest already. We also know a travel planner who should be able to get a pretty good rate if we can help fill a block of rooms on a class cruise. Hey, one cruise we went on was full of guys entered into the Big Mustache and Beard society. (I don't know what the real name of the organization is, but one of them turns out to be from Evansville!) so stranger things have happened. Linda's just turning the idea over in her head (which probably means that we're going on a cruise next year, one way or another). Personally, I enjoy the cruise ship experience (especially on the smaller ones) and sharing one with a bunch of Reitz folks sounds like it would be a hoot! Now I know that this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but then again, the idea is to keep generating new and different ways to be together doing something class related and keeping the spirit that we regenerated this Spring as an ongoing experience.
We also always invite everyone to throw their ideas in the pot for other ways the class can get together and do something unusual, different or whatever.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
A Bigger Condo Window and an Observation
First, Tom Waterman mentioned that one point of sales resistance for Gary Malin's Condo Drawing was that the window to take the vacation was only through the end of the year. Tommy explained that some folks told him that their vacation plans for this year were already set. Would Gary consider broadening the window of time for the vacation. Linda called Gary this evening and explained the problem. Gary said that March 15 through till May was also available for consideration. And he had some flexibility until the true summer season. Similarly, the snowbird season is clearly out of the running since it is prime rental season. But if that has been the issue for you're buying a chance and those additional times work for you, give Linda a call or contact Patty, Nancy, Bob Willis or Tommy Lee Waterman.
I was talking with my classmates about how difficult it is to find people because they move around so much. I commented that previous generations were a lot less portable. My Dad was part of that different generation. He was recruited out of college by American Cyanamid (that's how we ended up in Wayne, NJ actually. I remember standing in the middle of the woods off Berdan Avenue (future home of American Cyanamid back then) and my dad said here's where my office is going to be. I said "Sure, Dad") He was right again, as it turned out. Anyway, he worked for Cyanamid for his entire working life and retired from there, only to watch it get sold, dismantled and sold off piece by piece by American Home Products. He retired at just about the right time. He'd ask me every now and again, "How come you're always changing jobs? You've had so many." And I'd just reply, "Different times, Dad, different times." Thinking back, I'd either move for other reasons than jobs, or I've had a couple of companies with whom I was really happy go belly up. As I got older and more high maintenance because of my work credentials, I got downsized a couple of times. I also got remarried (not my choice) too and that had me on the move again. I don't know whether it was Fate or luck of he draw or sign of the times, but I try to find a logic to the progression of jobs I've held. I'd like to think that there's a cumulative body of knowledge that I've acquired along the way. Thinking back, I know my folks got a lot smarter as I got older. Funny how that seems to work.
I was talking with my classmates about how difficult it is to find people because they move around so much. I commented that previous generations were a lot less portable. My Dad was part of that different generation. He was recruited out of college by American Cyanamid (that's how we ended up in Wayne, NJ actually. I remember standing in the middle of the woods off Berdan Avenue (future home of American Cyanamid back then) and my dad said here's where my office is going to be. I said "Sure, Dad") He was right again, as it turned out. Anyway, he worked for Cyanamid for his entire working life and retired from there, only to watch it get sold, dismantled and sold off piece by piece by American Home Products. He retired at just about the right time. He'd ask me every now and again, "How come you're always changing jobs? You've had so many." And I'd just reply, "Different times, Dad, different times." Thinking back, I'd either move for other reasons than jobs, or I've had a couple of companies with whom I was really happy go belly up. As I got older and more high maintenance because of my work credentials, I got downsized a couple of times. I also got remarried (not my choice) too and that had me on the move again. I don't know whether it was Fate or luck of he draw or sign of the times, but I try to find a logic to the progression of jobs I've held. I'd like to think that there's a cumulative body of knowledge that I've acquired along the way. Thinking back, I know my folks got a lot smarter as I got older. Funny how that seems to work.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Lower Requirements; Higher Expectations
We had lunch with Patty Qualls and some of her family, including her parents. Albert and Dorothy Qualls are a fixture every fall in the Reitz Bowl. As long time residents of Reitz Hill and among the most loyal Reitz backers on the Westside, it was a real pleasure to talk about things with them. Tales of raising 3 kids in a very small house, holding a wedding shower for Linda's first, a little bit of everything. It was great fun.
Ever notice how certain aspects of your personality wants to revert back to your teenage ways? Then you catch yourself and shake yourself out of it. Anyway, it's been great lately, watching all the interaction between old friends. The get together did exactly what we hoped it would. Sales for the condo drawing are ongoing. Don't forget, $10 for a $2600 condo stay in Orange Beach AL. What a deal. You've got till July 31st and then we're gonna have a public drawing.
Heard from Ed Voliva, who is back in Newburgh IN. We also will be including a new photo of Keith Reitz from his family. We will be updating both the website and directory.
Heard from Ed Voliva, who is back in Newburgh IN. We also will be including a new photo of Keith Reitz from his family. We will be updating both the website and directory.
BTW, one of the things we didn't get a chance to do in April, (it was hard enough to get the grade school pictures organized) - we wanted to do a veteran's photo. We're doing that next year for sure. And if we don't seem to be getting to it in the program, remind us. This is something we WANT to do.
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