Home for the Holidays Part Deux

Linda reminded me of a really important thing that I neglected to mention in my last post:

Our class database needs updating. While we have modified and tweaked it with every bit of information that you have forwarded to us, we know that informing the reunion committee of every move or email change is not the highest priority in the grand scheme of things.

Especially locally, with the digestion of Insight by Time -Warner cable and the subsequent ingestion of Time-Warner cable by Spectrum, those of us who have cable/internet based email addresses have had their emails changed to something that we can't begin to guess.

So if you're one of these affected folks, do drop us an email so we can keep you informed about the latest reunion news. Of course, if you've moved to enhance your status as a built-in grandbaby-sitter or a parent caretaker, or simply because it is too cold for those old bones, let us know this as well. There's no reason to drop out just because of a little thing like moving out of town! You've got people who care about you and want to keep in touch.

Additionally, the 50th reunion will also make available a new class address book, and we want to get it right, if not quite as elaborately as we did for the 45th.

Home for the Holidays

Hoping to find a lull in the annual funnel of activities surrounding the Christmas/New Year celebrations, Linda is trying to hold a little class get together at Parkway Pizza on December 20 at 6pm. Any classmate who needs a break from holiday preparations and would like to join some classmates over pizza should head on over to Parkway. What better way to start off the holiday festivities, eh?

On a sadder note, we found out late (due to some tech problems as yet to be figured out) that Larry Procter passed away at the end of last week without ceremony. We try to pay our respect whenever possible. Short of that, this blog has to serve the purpose. Larry was the guy who missed the 44th at Cottonwood because he didn't see the sign that Bob Willis posted on the door of the Howell Shelter House when we outgrew the capacity of the place. Larry did make the 45th though and I for one was glad to make his acquaintance in person at least for that once. His obituary can be found for posterity's sake on the class website.

So while we're at it, and before the opportunity is lost, a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Linda and me to you and yours. 

First Reunion Planning Committee Meeting Held

Just before the 95th Annual Fall Festival on Franklin Street, your reunion planning committee met as the class of '66 held their 50th reunion. 

Here's what we know for sure. The Reitz Class of 1967's 50th reunion will be held on October 7 at St. Phillips Conservation Club located off Upper Mount Vernon Road on Conservation Dr. For those of you who are not familiar with the location, we will publish a map, GPS coordinates, etc. It's a great venue, plenty of space, with room for a serving line and a cash bar. Additionally, they've got an outside deck, a lake, and plenty of parking. We'll be having the reunion catered by Schnitzelbank out of Jasper. For those of you unfamiliar with their catering, they prepare the food on site, in one of their mobile kitchens. 

At this point, we're working out the details of theme, decorating, and program, and the myriad other details involved in planning this very special event. We even discussed how to approach the loss of so many classmates this past year.

Here's how you all can participate in making this event a success: 

In addition to attending (which goes without saying) you can contact Linda at linday7632@gmail.com or 812-425-3255 with your current contact information. If you've moved, or changed your address, email address, or phone number, let us know so that we can include current information in the directory which I am working to update. We know that a lot can happen in 4 or 5 years. For example, here in Evansville, the purchase of Insight ISP by Time Warner instantly changed the email of many classmates, but others chose to jump ship to other vendor so we couldn't assume that all the @insightbb.com emails automatically became @twc.com emails.   Retirement, grand parental responsibilities, relocation to warmer climes all mean changes that must be made in the directory, and that's only a representative sampling of all that life throws at us that causes changes to contact information.

So that's what we know so far. We'll post as things develop. I know we've got a long time to go but the months go by quicker than we'd like. Till next time.......

Jay's Last Ride

The only time I ever
saw a picture of Jay in a tie

We said goodbye to our friend Jay Ayers yesterday. We only heard of his passing on Friday. We had every expectation that we'd see him on his bike just like we see Bob Willis every now and again. It seemed like only yesterday that we were sitting outside the Bishea building at Burdette Park for the Pig in the Park, and now he's gone and we had to share our deepest sympathies to Jan. We got to Alexander East a little later than I wanted, but I had to teach and I had to get back from Mount Vernon before we could head out. When we got there, we were greatly comforted to know that so many of our classmates took the time to do the same for Jay to help send him on his last ride.

I will miss seeing him sporting one of his special reunion shirts joking with Barry Weissmann and John Reynolds and Gene Hollencamp. At almost the same time I found out from one of my Wayne Valley High School friends that one of my classmates who had been "missing" had passed away suddenly in 2014.

Considering how many Reitz classmates we've lost in a very short time, (Janet Frohbeiter Cox, Tom Wright, Bill Wimberley, Jan Yestigsmeier, Steve Jarboe) I realized that for some of us, this upcoming reunion might be the last time we get to see old friends in this lifetime, and so I urge you all who live in those far flung places to try and make plans to join us on October 7 of 2017 just before Fall Festival for the 50th Reunion of the FJ Reitz Class of 1967 at the St. Phillips Conservation Club.

In writing for the Wayne Valley blog, I composed a statement that I repeat here:
"Time cares not where you went to school, but only how long are spun the threads of Fate, a longer length for which mere mortals can only hope."

It may be sad but it is true. There is no guarantee for tomorrow. Don't pass up the opportunity to see your friends before they are taking that last ride with Jay.

Jay's Last Ride

It's the last day of school for the Mount Vernon School District and I should be a lot happier than I am, ready to celebrate a glorious summer after 5 months of teaching English for the sixth grade. Maybe teaching is for the young and patient, not for old curmudgeons like me, but although physically taxing, it was a worthwhile experience. While I sometimes feared for the future of our nation, some of the kiddos really renewed my faith in the youth of America. Little do they know; little do they realize yet that Time is relentless and unforgiving and it is calling them as surely as it calls to us. To both young and old, the message is the same. Time is fleeting; do not waste it.

Life's Reminders

I was just reminded by my phone (I've long since given up trying to remember things much more advanced than a few days without committing it to my phone, which never forgets unless I forget to make an entry), that it is time for my foot surgeon's one year follow up exam. It made me think back to that time last year when the agony of de feet caused me to go under the knife, and despite the inconveniences and discomfort of recovery, I must admit that the constant pain is gone. I have had to trade off to a certain extent. I can no longer consider marathons or steeplechases. Good thing since they were never on my bucket list.

What that IPhone reminder also did was remind me that I have neglected this blog greatly in exchange for living a busy life with your classmate Linda. She has, all along, reminded me, much like a living IPhone, of events that ought to be blogged.  That time is here.

First, I remind folks that we have booked the St. Phillips Conservation Club for the 50th reunion of the Reitz High School Class of 1967. The reunion is currently scheduled for October 7, 2017. I will be your IPhone on this matter, as well as informing you that likely Schnitzelbank will be catering. This affair will have a cash bar and as we have done in the past, will have an agenda, a program and lots of great conversation, fun and laughter, and no end of reminiscing. As more details become available, we will pass them along. Cost is yet to be fully determined but as ever, we will try to keep it as reasonable as possible so the most classmates can attend without hardship.

Further, plans very slowly develop for the centennial celebration of FJ Reitz HS. These plans revolve around 2018 and planning currently involves developing branding for the event and collecting class lists to involve the greater Reitz alumni community which pretty much includes the entire westside.

Facebook continues to serve as a wonderful birthday reminder and if Linda and I have missed any, it is not from neglect but from spotty Internet connections in the various campgrounds we have occupied or inexplicable cell phone voids found in the most unexpected locations during our travels. That we all may continue celebrating our birthdays with family and friends is our most fervent wish, even though the numbers on the cake seem to grow disturbingly larger.

And Facebook also serves as a window on life's other events, like grandbabies, new puppies, travel adventures and much more and we're always happy to like and comment on such happy occasions in passing and it is always comforting to know that people you know and like are keeping tabs on you even as we strive to keep up with others' travels and tidings.

Sadly, we have also recently learned of two additional classmates who will no longer celebrate birthdays with us. On October 22, 2015 we lost Bill Wimberly and most recently, on October 24, we lost Janet Cox Frohbeiter. I will be updating the website memorial page and including obituaries that were locally published.

The Good Fight

After the stress and joy of the holidays and, for me, the prospect of walking around again like a real boy after foot surgery, we received disturbing news from Gayle Brown Gurksnis:

When Jan was diagnosed with brain cancer she was only given a few months to live but she has fooled us all by being with us for 2 years.  As you will read, things are progressing very quickly now.    It still does not seem possible to me that we will not have her much longer but I am just so forever grateful for these last few years that she and I have had together and all because of the Reitz67 website.  Thank you too Milton!

 

Gayle

---

 Subj: Update on our "Jani Girl"

 

Hi everyone,

Jan and I will celebrate our 23rd anniversary in a few days. We are certainly blessed to have reached that point. But her strength is waning and her mind is largely in a special place only she knows. She fell, or perhaps "dropped" is a better word, to the floor three times in the last few days and had a sustained seizure last Saturday. Fortunately she still has no pain from her cancer. There's no way to know how long she will hold on; professional estimates are a month or two, but this is Jan we're talking about! Until the last few days I felt that was hogwash, but things change without much warning despite her vitals being good.  We stopped all chemo in November as the disease was showing progression and the chemo was too demanding. We began home care about three weeks ago.
Attempts at oral communication, such as phone calls, are quite frustrating at this point. She doesn't answer questions and if she speaks, only "parrots" what others say to her. I read her emails and cards and show her pictures from Facebook, etc. and she does seem to enjoy these. At the insistence of my buddy Terry, I set up Facetime yesterday and it is great. If anyone has this and wants to give it a try sometime, let me know cause she can wave.

Remember "Hey Jude" from the day of her big operation over two years ago? Many of you recall that her surgeon was Dr. Jude! Every time he stopped by the hospital room we irritated him with a hearty ...Hey, Jude. At the time, I asked all I could reach to sing a verse during her surgery and connect our energies. Well, hum a verse once in a while and channel her...stay connected, and drop her a card when you can.  Love ya all, Al

Jan and Al Clark
2196 E. Sahuarita Wash Way
Oro Valley, Az 8575

So if you get a chance, do drop a card or letter to Jan while we still can. 

Reitz Century Campaign

Back in 1918, Evansville decided to use the top of an unused hill on the westside of Evansville to build a school. That school came to be known as Francis Joseph Reitz High School. Well, in 2018, Reitz will be 100 years old, and there's nothing like a century to make for a great celebration.

Once again, Linda finds herself in the middle of things.  When Beth Carnahan (current principal of Reitz) first raised the notion of establishing an Outstanding Alumni group of people who bled blue and grey, who were active in their graduating classes, and who sparked reunions and kept track of everyone, I said to myself, "Self, I think they're talking about Linda!" Well I did nominate Linda and then didn't hear anything more until a couple weeks ago. Turns out Beth suggested to the Big Blue Boosters to contact us to work on the Century Campaign.

The long and short of the Century Campaign is to raise a lot of money to help fund Reitz's wish list for projects that the school needs that may not necessarily part of the EVSC budget. It also intends to hold a series of celebratory events over the course of 2018 culminating in some sort of blowout birthday bash.

So somehow or other, Linda and I will be helping to locate a group of active alumni from each class to try and contact every living classmate from '21 to 2018 and get them to contact their classmates. So far, we've been working on getting representatives from every graduating class to attend a January meeting with Beth Carnahan so she can fill in some details. We will also assist these other alumni reps on how to contact their classmates if they have not done so already. How you folks can help is if you know alums from other classes who might be interested in participating in this big effort, especially those who have been actively organizing their class events. Just let us know.

This is also a timely moment to mention to all to make sure that you let us know of any contact information changes that you have had in recent past; thanks to Pam Carroll Oldham for letting us know of your recent move from Germantown to Franklin Tennessee. Congratulations!

Needless to say, there is still a log of legwork that needs to be done, and after early November, any legwork that needs to be done will have to be done by Linda since I'm having foot surgery and will be off my feet for a couple, maybe three months. 2018 is still a ways off, and before then is the little matter of the 50th reunion of the Class of '67 in 2017. We are starting to turn the crank on some planning in this regard but it's way to soon to let the cat out of the bag. First we have to get the cat; actually we still have to get the bag!

On other fronts, sad news for the Beck family with Paul losing his 93 year old mom last week; on the other hand, cause for celebration with the Qualls family as Patty and her brothers help their parents' 70th anniversary. Albert and Dorothy have had a busy month with Albert flying to DC as part of Evansville's first direct flight WWII honor flight and Dorothy recovering from a bout of pneumonia.