MAIL CALL
from Diane Richmond Miller in Silsbee
I love the new SEARCH ENGINE Mike has added on the website for finding a classmate. I don't know how many times I have gone through old newsletters looking for something I read in the past and did NOT find it. This is a great addition.
from Judy Thompson Orr in Fremont, CA
My husband Alan and I are enthusiastic snorkelers and we have been saying for ages that we wanted to learn to dive. So after many years of procrastination, we finally got our PADI scuba certification in April. We have a trip planned on a live-aboard boat for 3 days in the Channel Islands-just off Santa Barbara, CA. IF we survive, I'll let you know.
from Pam McLeod Young in Gradford, TX
Our ranch was on the Palo Pinto historical tour April 30th. We love country life. We are now up to 24 longhorns, 20 chickens, 3 horses, and 16 koi in our waterfall koi pond. My husband calls it my waterpark. Mary Bess Rizer Johnson and her husband came to visit. They are doing good. I also see Lynn Eldridge Gill from time to time. She is really good about keeping in touch. Our son, Blaine and his wife live in Seattle. He works for microsoft, has several patents with them and is getting his MBA from U. of Washington this spring. Our daughter, Lauren and Lance were married in Scotland at Dunvegan Castle last June 19th. Dunvegan has been inhabited by McLeods for about 800 years. It was a blast and we got a great son-in-law. Alden is still single and works for an auto auction doing great. Jim and I are truly blest. I've had breast cancer (10 year survivor) and melanoma (too much sun in college.) Thanks be to God! God bless everyone.
from Christi Kirkland Havens in Port Arthur
I would like to thank you and Mike for your work in providing us with this website. It's wonderful and greatly appreciated.
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WEBSITE SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE
Well, Mike and I feel like we are preachers at church asking for donations! But, it has been several years since we have needed to ask for $$$$$$ help to run the website. We will need to renew the 5 year subscription at the end of the year. Mike is not sure at this time what they will charge for extra space. Space is precious on our website right now. You can donate as little as you want. We add it all together and put it in a checking account just for this website. You may send donations to:
Linda DeCuir McFadden
7699 Boardwalk
Lumberton, TX 77657
(make the check out to me and I will deposit it in the account)
Thanks for your help in this matter.
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NEWS FROM THE HOMEFRONT
It has been a busy summer shuttling the granddaughters to summer camps. We managed to take in a 11 day vacation to the Dakotas! We went with a tour group of two busses with about 80 travelers. Three of the vacationers were none other than some of our faculty members: Doris Crisp (English), Nancy McLain (PE and Hussar sponsor), and Betty Cowin (Typing). Classmate, Beth Anne Sutherlin's mother was also on the trip. We met Glenn Franklin, classmate Gary Franklin's brother, and he made the trip even more enjoyable. We went to Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse site in the Badlands, a Josh Turner concert, the Peace Gardens on the border of Canada and US on the 49th parallel, and concerts in Branson, MO. We saw fields and fields of SUNFLOWERS! They were a welcome sight from all the brown grass here in Texas. We made some new friends on the trip and will be meeting them every couple of weeks for lunch.
Murphy and I went to our annual get-together with some of the classmates. Each year, Lynn Eldridge (Texas Tech grad) and Jim Andrus (UT grad) bet on the football game. The loser has to pay the other a 6 pack of beer! We meet somewhere and have a grand weekend reminiscing and laughing. Who couldn't laugh with Jude Arisco around? Anyway, the classmates were Lynn, Paul Colletti, Jude Arisco, Jim Andrus, and me. We bring our spouses and Jude brings his sister and husband, Patsy and Kenny. Oh yeah, we always try to play a game and YES, the women always win even when Jude CHEATS!!!! Lynn and her husband, Jim Gill hosted the gathering in Tupelo (an hour south of their home in Dallas) where they have a ranch. What gracious hosts they always are!
I wanted to use some of the summer to meet with classmates for lunch but it didn't happen enough. I was able to lunch with Diane Richmond Miller once and Ernie Castaneda Bullion and her husband, Ron. By the way, did the classmates who talked on FACE BOOK about meeting for lunch and going to the movie, THE HELP, have that adventure? If so, write me and tell me about it so that I can include it in the next edition.
The summer has not been all fun, though. My sister has really been on a roller coaster with her bi-polar condition. She was actually doing a little better when a horrible incident happened. She brought her 6 year old dog out in the yard and it was attacked by a neighbor dog. She had someone take her and the dog to the emergency vet where they ended up putting it to sleep. She has not been the same since. She cries every day and her mental health has been on the down slide. We are hoping to get her another pet soon. We were hoping to wait until after hurricane season, but I'm not sure that is quick enough at this point.
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Class of '66 REUNION
From what I hear, the 45th reunion for the class of 1966 was a TOTAL success. I would like to hear from anyone that attended. I would like to find out things that were great and that we might be able to incorporate when we are planning our 45th reunion to be held in the summer of 2013! That means that our planning will start NEXT summer. With the way time flies, that is just around the corner.
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PHOTOS and NEWS
I am proud of the photos that some of you have sent to Mike and I to publish on the website. Many of you are posting them on Face Book but not sending them to us. We would love to put your cute grandkid pics or photos you would like to add to our gallery. Be sure to include the name of the persons in the photos or the events. I don't have time to scroll through Face Book looking for them to use. I notice many messages about sickness and don't know the details. Also, if you have any charity events or fund raisers to tell us about we would be happy to add them. Vacation news and retirement news is good to share, also. Think about it and GET TO GITTIN'!
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TRUISMS for LIFE
1. Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue!
2. Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
3. Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
4. Drive carefully...it's not only cars that can be recalled by their MAKER.
5. If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
6. Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
7. When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
8. Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
9. Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
10. A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
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FLAG TRIBUTE on 9/11
(sent in by Carole Oubre)
GET READY to FLY OUR FLAG:
Please join us in this FLY THE FLAG campaign and tell everyone to do the same.
THE PROGRAM: On Sunday, September 11, 2011, an American flag should be displayed outside every home, apartment, office, and store in the US. Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this tenth annivesary of one of our country's worst tragedies. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds.
ACTION PLAN: Take a moment to think back to how you felt on 9/11 and let those sentiments guide you. Fly an American flag of any size on 9/11. Honestly, Americans should fly the flag year-round. God bless you and God bless AMERICA!
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SUPPORT
Peggy Fontenot Mundschau - foot surgery
A note from Christi Kirkland Havens:
I have some prayer requests to add to the support list. My granddaughter,Kristen, is recovering from gall bladder surgery and will hopefully return to work Sept. 7th. Other than lingering soreness, her main focus now is learning what she can and cannot eat! My grandson, Reagan, is to undergo back surgery for 2 stress fractures on both sides of his L5 vertebrae on Sept. 12th in Houston. The doctor says he'll miss a week or so of school and will have to wear a back brace for 3 months. So much for PN-G marching band this year! Hopefully with everyone's prayers, he will have a speedy recovery. My other granddaughter, Lindsey, left for her freshman year at UT-Tyler and is so far doing great. She is meeting friends and coping with being on her own for the first time! She could probably benefit from a few prayers, also! Thanks for all the support.
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CONDOLENCES
Kay Hoelzle Deuel
(death of her mother)
183 Lakeside Dr.
Montgomery, TX 77356
Gail Moriaty
(death of her mother)
4900 Fulton St. #305
San Francisco, CA 94121
A note from Tobin Weaver ('66) about fellow '66 classmate Nancy Pond-Smith:
It is with my deepest regret to advise you that Nancy Pond-Smith passed away on August 1st in Boston, where she'd been living for the last 6 years. After years of treatments and fighting stage 4 mestastic colon cancer, Nancy took a dramatic turn for the worse and died after less than 1 day in the hospital. She is survived by her brother, David Pond-Smith. Her long-time partner. Richard, died last April of an acute form of leukemia.
Remembering Tommy Theriot (TJ '67)
(July 16, 1949-Sept. 3, 2008)
A note from faculty member, Sandra Dauphine Vaughan, french teacher
Dear Paul (Fitzner),
I noticed that you are the web designer and webmaster for the TJ Class of 1967. That happened to be the year that I taught French at TJ. My name then, for most of the year anyway, was Sandra Dauphine. Tommy Theriot happened to be one of my students. I noted with sadness, when I finally visited your website, that he passed away from brain cancer in 2008. Tommy was such a special person. I remember so many of my students from that year. They were great. I was young and green, and probably not the greatest French teacher in the world, but somehow, most of them, especially Tommy, managed to make most of my classes. Tommy stood out amid many bright stars. He had a smile and special radiance that could light up a room. Somehow, all these many years, I never forgot him, and often thought of him, wondering how he was and what he was doing. (And, of course, I thought of many of my other students, too.) Tommy could really connect with people and what a gift for friendship he had. I am sad to know that he passed away, but I am comforted by the content of the eulogy written by his Rabbi. How nice to know some of the joyous particulars of his life, how much he loved and was loved. And, wasn't I lucky? I got to see him for almost an hour every day for a whole school year. He was a plus in the lives of all he touched.
Sandra Vaughan Merrifield
Remember to check out the OBITUARIES section on the front page of the website to view their obits and Tommy's eulogy.
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Another edition is complete. If you like what Mike and I are doing, please help us to continue by sending in items for us to share. But, above all, take care of yourself and hug your family more often. We aren't getting any younger.
Stay in touch and contact a classmate,
Linda DeCuir McFadden