Hello from Bridge City !
      I have a lot in this edition of my NEWSLETTER, so let's get 'er done! 

MAIL CALL

from Loretta LaLonde Myers in Houston
(In response to my question to her about selling her home....)
No, we have not sold the house and we are closing on the new one on Friday, June 22!!  I'm asking everyone I  know to pray that a buyer comes along soon.  We are not going to move until we get back from ALASKA on July 17th.  

from Darrell Richerson in Port Arthur  
I really enjoy the website.  I log on weekly hoping for updated information.  I have some great memories of our high school days.  I still live in Port Arthur .  I have a 16 year old son attending Nederland High and a 32 year old daughter living in Frisco , TX .  I co-own Lone Star Vending in Beaumont .  My son is driving now, which makes me suddenly not so important except when he needs money.   Looking forward to our class reunion next summer.  I would be glad to help the reunion committee. 

from Gary Hammond in Plano , TX
Mom is hanging in there and is getting a little better each day.  We still have a 24/7 lady that stays with her and it is working out okay.  You and Mike are doing a great job with our class of '68 website.  
( Gary 's mom had a stroke several weeks ago if my memory serves me correctly.) 

from Lionel Menchaca in Sun City in Georgetown , TX (class of '66)
Thanks for sending all the good stuff about your class website.  Keep up the good work. 

from David Weldon in Decatur , TX
You don't know how much it meant to me when you,  Linda Hopper,Sheila Irby, & Janis Hamilton visited with me at Dad's funeral service.  I could've talked with ya'll for hours.  My life's been an adventure since those high school days but I'll never forget my roots in PA and cherish them to this day.  Mom's coping well and is example of strength and love for our whole family.  I promised my Dad I'd care for her and am fortunate enough to have a loving wife who supports me.  I know many of us are caring for our parents.  I feel it's a moral obligation we have and something we must train future generations (our children) to do in order for the " American Way " to survive.
(It was really great talking to David....just not enough time.  He "grew up TALL, TALL since high school.)

from Pete Lippincott (class of '63)
I enjoy reading about the classes before and after my class of '63.  My sister, Jane Lippincott Koerth, still lives in Pt. Neches and we talk frequently about the past.  She is very happy that her daughter, Kristi and family, have moved from the Dallas area to the Houston area.  She is a teacher just like her mom.  Again, many thanks for including me on the class of '68 website updates. 

from Diane Richmond Miller in Silsbee
I laughed harder reading your story about your adventures wearing your nun outfit than I have laughed in a long time. 
(My "nun story" she is referring to can be found in the "I REMEMBER WHEN" section published 6/9/07)  

from Norma Gayle Guidry Rose in Breaux Bridge , LA
Got some good news and bad news.  We are moving out by Lake Travis in Austin , June 13th.  We are going to spend a year in our travel trailer as a pre-retirement.  I found an old girlfriend of mine about a month ago.  I haven't seen her in about 20 years.  She is living by the lake there. So, we are going to move our trailer right next to her. We want to see if we can live in close quarters in the trailler without killing each other!!  Bad news is that I will lose contact with the friends.  We will be coming back and forth to Louisiana time and again.  We want to prepare for my husband's retirement next year--just needed to get away from here for awhile, also. 

from Carole Oubre Reeves in Groves
Thanks for putting the class of '68 in front of all the others with this spectacular website.  Gives me chills each time I open it and hear "Go Ye Port Athur".  Makes me want to go and buy some Maroon and Gold pom-poms!  Look forward to our reunion next summer.  Just went to Marvin's 40th reunion June 8-9 and had a wonderful time visiting with old friends.  Linda DeCuir, Linda Odom, Cecilia Trevino, Anthony Roccaforte, and I get to do this reunion thing two years in a row.  What fun! 

from Nelwyn Comeaux Blanchette in Kingston Springs, TN (married to classmate, Charles Blanchette)
The "Parents Wish" in the last NEWSLETTER of June 9 had tears streaming down my face!  I only wish I could have been helpful to my parents as they would have aged.  They both died when I was 19.  They died two days apart...ages 54 & 56.  So, I never had the opportunity to repay them.  I don't know if anyone was aware of this, but we lost the most precious gift God could ever give anyone, our child.  Our oldest.  She was 17.  She was beautiful, smart, and oh so sweet.  She died in 1989.  Car accident.  She was alone, coming home from school.  That phone call is one of every parents' nightmare.  No parent should outlive their children.  Time has passed, but we never will stop missing her.  EVER. Time & God above has given us the strength it takes or no parent could survive this.  To this day she sends me messages & favors.  So, this keeps me going.  Anyway, just wanted to share this. 
(Belated condolences to you and Charles on the tragic loss of your precious daughter.)  

from Jeanette Constantine Morgan in Groves
Thank you so much for connecting me with the wonderful website.  I have really enjoyed reading everything.  It is just great.  I plan on going to the '08 reunion.  I saw Diane Barker Foreman yesterday at a local restaurant and we were talking about how we have both enjoyed the site.  Keep up the good work and let me know if I can do anything.   

from Beverly Copeland Gaspard in Port Neches
I am teaching Summer I  (computer classes for "Seniors" citizens, that is ) at Lamar College -Pt. Arthur.   I will finish on July 3rd, so it is not too bad. The kids are doing well,  Kristi is still in San Antonio .  Greg has just finished his residency and begins his year as one of four Chief Residents for Baylor Medical.  Philip is now in San Antonio .  He is working as a Territory Marketing Manager for Bristol West Insurance. 

 from Gail Wilson Felker in Williamsburg , VA
Thanks to Ernie Casteneda Bullion for the choir pictures she sent and the memories it invoked.

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graduate news:

from David Williams in Wimberly , TX  
Kendra Lee Williams graduated on May 25 from Wimberley High School .  She was Salutatorian finishing with a 4.88 GPA.  She and the Valedictorian read the Dr. Suess book "Oh the Places you'll go" at the graduation ceremony.  My brother, Charlie ( TJ class of 1960) and his wife Paula came from Baton Rouge for the graduation.

HURRICANE AUDREY & HURRICANE CARLA MEMORIES

contributed by Joel Levy

You asked about memories of Hurricanes Audrey and Carla.  I remember vaguely riding out Audrey at home, the power going out, and Dad cooking on a Coleman stove.  That was the first hurricane I remember ever going through, and after all the wind and rain at first, I remember the eye going over, and everything sort of clearing up. I even went outside and looked around.  My folks got me back in because they said it was going to kick up again, which, of course, it did. 

I remember lots more about Carla.  You know, I used to live right on the canal, on one of the streets off Procter that ended right at the old levee.
This time, the news was that Carla could flood badly (it did in Lakeview, which was the impetus for the new seawall), and we were told to

evacuate.  We went to Beaumont and stayed with family there. There are two things that I vividly remember when we returned.  One was the levee right in our backyard. We walked up to it, and looked over at the canal side of it.  The brush and debris line that was the high water mark was only a foot below the crest of the levee. A foot more and we would have been under water, just like our unfortunate friends in Lakeview.

The other thing that I remember was sitting in the house right after we got back, and hearing our dog barking and barking and carrying on. We had a sweet, mild mannered dachshund, and I couldn't imagine what was setting her off like that  I looked out the window at the backyard, and it looked like she was playing with the garden hose.  She had an end in her mouth, and was swinging it around her head.  On closer inspection, it was a huge water moccasin! I ran and found my dad, who got a shovel and killed the snake, but not before he had to fight my dog off for the honor of doing that.  My dog didn't have a scratch on her from this fight. The high water always has the potential to drive snakes out of the marshes and into the city, and this we learned first hand.  I wonder how many people found similar unwelcome guests after Rita?

I hadn't thought about this in years.  Thanks for getting the topic started.

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CARD SHOWER for MY MOM

I sent an earlier request for a VOLUNTARY card shower for my 85 year old MOM in my NEWSLETTER of 5/25/07.  Words cannot express my gratitude to the overwhelming response.  She received as of June 20, ONE HUNDRED & THREE (103 cards and notes)....many of them with messages and memories in them.  Her mailman wondered if she was "dying"!  She gleefully looks up my classmates in the annual when she receives a card from one of you.  30 of you responded.  Overwhelming.  She, more than once, said that it was better than a party!  You may still drop her a note if you would like.  Her information is:

         Eula DeCuir 
         5016- 8th Street
          Port Arthur , TX 77642

I just returned from Houston  Thursday where she had another procedure done to try to help her with all the gastric problems that she has had to endure.  She also has osteoporosis, is hearing impared in both ears, back problems, and is a caregiver to my 91 year old dad with dementia.  A big load on a frail 85 year old.  Don't forget to mention you are one of my classmates if you chose to drop her a line. 

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post card drive

I used some of the website donation money to buy postage and have postcards printed to send to classmates on my list of '68 classmates. I sent the cards to only those that I did not have an e-mail address for.  That totaled 385.  The postcards were mailed out on Friday, June 15.  In one week, I have received 20 cards back with No Forwarding Address and 1 with wrong address.  But, I have received responses from 13 classmates thrilled to know about the website.  I know that more than that have looked at the site, but didn't respond back to me with their e-mail address.  I can only hope that eventually more will contact me.  MY GOAL was to get at least 20 new e-mail addresses.  I'm half way there.  Maybe I'll have more good news next NEWSLETTER.  In the meantime, let everyone you come in contact with, know about our class site. 

The following is the postcard that was sent out.   

from Penny Moak Fergusson in Lorena , TX
I received your card today. Thank you so much for letting me know about the website.  My husband's name is Larry Fergusson, TJ class of 1964 . We have been married for 37 years  and have 3 children and 2 grandchildren. Our nest is empty at the moment. Larry is retired but I still work. We live outside of Waco , Tx .  What you are doing with the website is just great! I love the newsletters. Thank you again for the postcard. So good to hear from you!  Hope all is well with you in every way.   

from Pam Lopez (written by her sister, Sharon, class of '66) in Crowley , TX
Pam is now living with me, her sister, Sharon Lopez Babineaux, in Crowley , Texas . (near Fort Worth ).  Pam received your card and will check out the website.   
She has not made any reunions in the past.  Maybe in the future I can get her there.
(Sharon's husband, Val Babineaux, is also a '66 graduate.) 

from Paul Howard Nicholas in Los Angeles , CA
Thanks for letting me know about the Class of '68 website! It's good for us old folks to stay in touch. Thanks again for keeping me in the loop. I'm one of the few people in L.A. that has lived in the same home for the past 10 years. Needless to say, I don't see many of our classmates out here, but I'll do what I can to spread the work about our website and our upcoming 40th reunion.

I have written a controversial new book about race, religion, and growing up in the segregated gulf coast south. Some have called it a breath of spiritual fresh air, while others condemn it as pure blasphemy. It's title is  "Extinguishing the Flames of Hell."  
(Paul is sending me a copy of his book to read so that I can give him my opinion of it.  I had a nice phone conversation with Paul about 5 years ago while trying to validate addresses for our 35th reunion.)  

from Cindy Duplantis Roberts in Horseshoe Bay , TX
Thanks for the postcard.  Just received it and have enjoyed catching up with so many from the website.  It's been a real "trip".  I enjoyed reading about so many of my old friends and sad to find too many have departed.  You have done a super job with the website and I really appreciate the contact it allows.   

Bob Mullin
(death of his mother)
997 CR 99
Alvin , TX 77511
(281)331-0228

Kathleen Anniboli Jones
(death of her brother, Louis)|
4525 Wilson St .
Groves , TX 77619
(409)963-0525