Eye on the Prize

You'd think that with the holidays imminent and family get togethers about to commence, that Linda and I would not be doing classmate finding stuff. Well, prepare to be jealous. We have all the shopping done, everything decorated, everything except one late arriving item (which should arrive today) wrapped, menu planned so there. Be very jealous. We are also battening down the hatches for the supervision of our temporarily resident grandchildren during the Xmas school recess.

So what better activity could there be to search for lost classmates? Well, there is catching up to my researcher to make sure that we are both on the same page with the website and Linda's research notes. The content of the site is really filling out nicely, and our vets are certainly doing their part. So while outreach may defer a little to the holidays, it is not as though all activity will cease.

There always seems to be a delayed reaction with any line of inquiry. It's been a while, but we got an email from Caroline Czaplinski Elio out in Arizona. We also found out through Paula Hackos Damien that Janice Boehme Casey had a FB page. We had just sent the Caseys a postcard to Maryland. Now we have only to get photos from the Mastropietros and Hennemans to complete our Class Mates page! And finally, we located Nancy Jacobs Boudreau in PA thanks to Linda Lamwers who clued us in. That's the way it works. Almost forgot about Barbara Preusch Saltmarsh in Arizona

Scott Shepard emailed us this morning and asked about Paul Gurda and several other people who did not make Embers. I sure remember Paul. I'm sure many of you do too. So what happened? I'm up for finding him. He's part of the class as far as I'm concerned. There are others too. If you think of them let us know. I know I for one am past pregnancy, dropping out or expulsion as reasons for exclusion from the Wayne Valley community.

The sad news is that we discovered a death notice for Rich Kirk on Tribute.com from January of this year. We are trying to get some confirmation from family members and will keep you all informed about this. Another sobering reminder that time is slipping away. Use it well.

May we all live life to the fullest in the coming year.

There is always a way......

I recently emailed a classmate of ours in reaction to his shock at the actions of our Reunion Committee in arranging clandestinely to get the class directory shut down. I replied that there is always a way. And there is, if you are determined to provide a place where community information can be freely shared; if you truly believe that we are a community, spread far and wide and for too long with no threads to pull us back together, isolated in our own lives when we now know there is always plenty of room for classmates.

First, thank you for the stupendous show of support for the Directory. I know that much was addressed to me, but I know it is at least as much for the concept of the Directory. None of this belongs to me or anyone else. Linda and I researched and built it but it is a collective intellectual property just like Class Spirit. You don't bottle it and sell it on the street. You don't, like Classmates.com, scan a yearbook and then try to con people into buying one for $75 or $100 bucks. Our accomplishments, our achievements, our athletic records and trophies, our academic scores, our celebrations, our youthful follies when we were young and immortal. When did these things belong to any one person or group when we all did them together?

We are at a crossroad now. We can continue to push up the hill and build the Directory effort and keep building those connections to each other, or we can succumb to the malaise of most other classes and slide back down the hill. And that malaise is cynicism. Geez. I'm starting to sound like Professor Harold Hill. It doesn't rhyme with Pool. It is that grumble that says that nothing is going to change, the same people go to reunion all the time. It's just a clique. Just the other day, Tony Gravagne complained to me that his class, 1966 had just disappeared off the face of the earth. I know some local classes here in Indiana that can't even manage a 10th reunion.

Well duh folks, it's only like that if you let it be that way; if you don't take the time for one weekend out of hundreds to renew your old friendships and in doing so renew yourselves if just for a few days.  Remember, we were the generation that was going to change the world. In more ways than one, we did. Not always for the better, but at least we TRIED.

We'd really like to maintain the domain name we started with. Getting it certainly convinced the reunion committee to get a domain after all these years! But because of this dust up, we will likely have to change it to WWW.WAYNEVALLEY67.NET to get back up and running quickly. We're still working on content in the meanwhile. Especially recent pictures, folks! (That's a hint!) It should be up certainly by the weekend. I wanted to change it to waynevalley67.xxx - you know, for adults only, but Linda said "Get Real." I replied, "if all the major corporations, colleges and universities are buying up their .xxx sites so they can't be used for naughty stuff, why can't I? Besides that's what everyone is saying anyway. People should grow up and act like adults." She just gave me the wife look. Guys know the look that says "You may get your way on this one, but you'll pay buddy. And you gotta sleep sometime!" So I dropped the subject. I still thought it was a good idea at the time but discretion is the better part of valor on the domestic front.

So much like Clayton Moore, the real Lone Ranger, after he lost his lawsuit, I sit here with my sunglasses instead of my black mask. But everyone still knows who the real Lone Ranger was as soon as he opened his mouth. And I do that often. Now where did I leave those silver bullets?

And before I forget, if I don't get to say it before it happens, to all of my classmates and their families wherever they may be, please have the best and merriest Christmas of all this year from Milton and Linda Yuan

Push Comes to Shove

For those of you who have made the Wayne Valley 67 Class Directory website a frequent stop, you will discover that you can't.

The reunion committee, specifically Peter Milano, has filed copyright violation charges against our site and caused our website host to suspend the site until an adjudication can be made.
This isn't about copyrights. It is about competition for attention. It is about insecurity. It is clear that someone doesn't want the directory to be.

Push has come to shove. The reunion committee, failing to prevent the directory from existing by suggesting at first that our class didn't need one, then complaining to Facebook that Linda was using copyrighted material (your high school year book photos) to post on your pages as a reminder of your youth, now has apparently decided that it is the owner of all the Embers photos, and the images that were taken of you at various reunions and accused us of copyright violations of materials that were only posted as copyrighted retroactively.

So I am appealing to you, the class of 1967, to prevail upon the Reunion Committee to drop their invidious complaints, and move forward in the best traditions of the true class spirit of the Wayne Valley Class of 1967.

I can deal with the reunion photos, although I cannot understand any claim to own your images. I will not accept that anyone owns anything contained in Embers. You will notice that I have not complained that they used my graduation photos. I'm just not like that.  Legalisms were not a part of the equation until the directory went on line. This is not the place for lawyers. It is the place for classmates. This is not the place for divisiveness. it is supposed to be an opportunity to come together.

If you think we need a class directory so everyone can contact anyone who wishes to be contacted, if you think that our veterans should be recognized, if you think that our dead should be memorialized, if you think that this effort deserves to exist and be supported and that there is room for all such efforts including the organization of class get-togethers in addition to the official Reunion, then email them, telephone them, talk to these people and tell them to stop the madness. What is next? Creating an approved list for attendance at the reunion? Where will it end?

It is time to grow up. It is time for them to face the entire class and tell them that their actions are in the best interests of the class. If they insist on their current course of actions, we will find a way to make sure this information is available to you. Just give us a moment to assemble an alternative venue.

Thank you for all your encouragement and support. May your faith in this project bear it through this hiatus.

Merry Christmas to you all. Milton and Linda Yuan

Photo Police Deliver Stern Warning

Linda got a notice from FB this morning:

Hello,

We have removed or disabled access to the following content that you have posted on Facebook because we received a notice from a third party that the content infringes their copyright(s):

Photo from Album: "Wall Photos", uploaded on August 27th, 7:10pm PDT

We strongly encourage you to review the content you have posted to Facebook to make sure that you have not posted any other infringing content, as it is our policy to terminate the accounts of repeat infringers when appropriate.

If you believe that we have made a mistake in removing this content, then you can submit an appeal by filling out our automated form at (actual link removed)

The Facebook Team

Linda went back to that date and discovered that someone so objected to their high school photo being posted on their wall that they reported it to FB as a copyright infringement.

First, there can be no copyright infringement where there is no copyright. Your publicly available image in a yearbook that is 45 years old certainly bears implied consent. 45 years is more than enough time to be considered public domain if not specifically copyright protected through legal ownership of which there is no notice anywhere in Embers.

So why are we talking about legal ownership and copyright infringement? Is this a high school photo or what? Is this the way classmates treat classmates (well, surrogate classmates at the very least) in a not so transparent move to get someone kicked off FB?

I certainly hope that none of our all school production participants who are now members of SAG or AFTRA come after us for royalties for posting their images on the Class Directory website.

As for me, let me warn you (oh so officially blown-up-like-a-toad posture assumed), in advance about this: If any of you yearbook totin', copyright infringin', rapscallion Class of 1967 classmates, for any reason, have the utter gall to decide to use any images produced by me in the past, present or future, without notifying me, please do so with my best wishes that it might help you remember some happy time in our lives that we shared together. Infringe away with my blessings!

Life and memory are too short, that we need photos to help us remember all the important things we should remember about friendship and fleeting youth (and hair that isn't pure as the driven snow, or hair at all as the case may be.) Copyright infringement indeed. Pleeeeze!

A Book Review, a Progress Report, and Christmas Greetings

Wow. Finally finished Ray Holcomb's book, Endless Enemies. For the first time, I felt compelled to write a review for Amazon (which they are reviewing for profanity or sedition or what I don't know) before they post it to the book title. Anyway, I thought I'd share it with you not because the review is that good, but because the book is and I want you to buy it and read it and marvel that he is our classmate:

Endless Enemies By Ray Holcomb

The exploits of this career-FBI counter terrorism agent are quite enough to propel the narrative of Endless Enemies to a satisfying if not cautionary conclusion. This can be said of many first person documentary writings. This tale rewards the reader in many other ways.

The narrative is a historical zoom lens. On the one hand, Mr. Holcomb zooms in and describes the milestones of his career in the Bureau in astonishing and often amusing detail that could only come from a field operative on the inside; on the other he pulls back and is able to place these events in context on a strategic international stage. He presents the dynamic of the domestic and international roles played by the FBI; he covers budgetary constraints and internal political and personal agendas; he intelligently discusses the difficulties of recasting a large law enforcement agency into an effective tool against new and evolving foes; he caringly describes the human toll that its agents continually pay to adapt to that changing role. On a personal level, Ray wistfully recalls the emotional pull of the comfort and safety of a career in corporate law against his visceral desire to meet the security needs of the country.

What makes this narrative so compelling is that Mr. Holcomb is a self-aware narrator. He has clearly given great thought to his role in these sadly real events and it is the depth and clarity of his thinking that makes this book special. He does not posture about his role. He simply lived a life of understated patriotism to the best of his ability and to the extent of his character, and that has taken him farther than most are willing to go. Endless Enemies deserves a read. When you’re done, you’ll come away with a much deeper appreciation for the dedicated people like Ray Holcomb who are doing their best to protect us amid all the political ambitions and drama being played out in the national headlines of the past 30 years.

I don't know about anyone else but my hat is off to Ray. No one has to ask him what he's been doing these last 45 years!

On the class front,  Linda is revisiting some old lists which we are now looking at with new eyes. When first we scanned them, all we saw were the inaccuracies. Now we are seeing hidden (in plain sight, of course) clues that we glossed over. We hope that this will result in another significant grouping of found classmates of the remaining 70 or so that have not yet been either located or contacted directly. We located and called Linda Wilkes Savacool, but she told her husband to tell me that she wasn't interested. I don't understand it. It's happened to me on several different occasions that a classmate couldn't even bother to come to the phone if nothing than to say they had no connection to school any longer. Granted, I don't know whether she remembered me or not. I sure don't flatter myself into thinking that I was universally known just because of my circle of activities and friends in high school. Maybe that was it, she just didn't recognize the name. What bugs me more is that people that I knew, saw everyday for the time we were in school together, hung with socially, won't pick up the phone after getting a voicemail or email to at least acknowledge that they got them, if nothing more than to say no thank you.  Maybe it's just the holiday blahs. Just not what I was expecting...and more than a little disappointing.

On a brighter note, got an email from Bobbye Cooke Gluesencamp who has a CD of photos from our high school productions, including Teahouse of the August Moon. I wasn't involved with that one (no music) but saw it and remember it well. The CD is in the mail amongst the USPS slowdown and holiday mail so I hope it arrives intact and soon. There are classmates waiting to see them!

Speaking of the Holidays, Christmas prominent among them (no I'm not real PC. It's still Christmas to me, Kwaanza not withstanding), if I don't do this now while I'm thinking about it, I won't remember and Linda is already fed up with reminding me to make phone calls to this one and that one. So here goes: 

*

To

 each 

and every 

classmate near 

or far, In village or 

town, wherever you are. 

It may be by mail, or it may

be by phone, We'll find one and all

So you won't be alone.   Have a very

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

from 

Milton 

and Linda Yuan

Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum (if I've been good).

And the Beat Goes On And On

After locating Neal Gronborg, I come to discover that he is married to Sharon Fiore's sister, so needless to say, now I know where Sharon is and almost immediately called her. In the meanwhile, Janis George (John's wife) is making arrangements to get together with the Gronborgs since they live in the same FL town!

Well, Sharon is an Air Force veteran and her family's historian and another genealogist in our class, so we got to compare notes and techniques and had a good laugh about married names being the downfall of family (and classmate) tracing.

Also confirmed an email for Paul Iozzio in FL (who was in an auto accident about the time the senior pictures were being taken so he ended up without one). Aside from telling us that he has gained some weight (were that he was the only one). I told him I look exactly like I did in high school and weigh the same too. I don't know why he thought that was so funny.

Pictures are starting to flow into Wayne Valley Situation Room (our dining room table where the only situation is clearing the table for dinner). Don and Margaret DeMichino from their family. A correct photo for Mike Oates (one of our oopsies), and Sue Edwards Gutkin.


Cathy Labazetta Stalter sent in some information about Ilona Sweerus's family and we're following up  on that nearly as I write hoping to locate one of Ilona's daughters to see if we can get a current photo and some additional information about her life after Wayne Valley.

She also gave us some information about Mary Lou Rudin whose death date is reported incorrectly. We will remove the wrong information until we get the correct info and some more detail.

Linda has posted up memorial photos of our classmates gone and linked it to the Facebook Wayne Valley 67 Class Directory group which is an OPEN group for anyone in the class, and anyone who is even only peripherally connected to the class, such as a family member, in the hopes that they can help provide information about some of our not yet found classmates. There are now at least 4 Wayne groups:

I'm from Wayne (2668 members): pretty much speaks for itself. Lots of nostalgia and a fun place to hang out. I only lived in Wayne for  6 years so there's lots of stuff I've discovered myself. Shelley Black Reynolds has one of the greatest scrapbook collections I've ever seen, some of which is posted up there.

Wayne Valley High School (membership not posted): Open to all Wayne Valley students, it seems dominated by classes from the 70's and 80's and their activities. Cool.

Wayne Valley Class of 1967 (66 members -me=65): The reunion committee group of our class.

Wayne Valley 67 Class Directory (91 members): Us.

Believe me, if we could have worked with our reunion committee more successfully, we would have. If we could have participated openly in the Facebook group, we would have. As it stands, we continue on separately but supportive of the Reunion. We want it to be the Mother of all reunions with the highest level of participation and attendance ever. We encourage everyone who can to go.

The Those Who Served page is starting to get populated as I knew it would. Of course, I had to add one to Linda's class website as well and it too is receiving additions on a daily basis. Vets certainly deserve to toot their own horns.

Nailing Jello to a Tree

After having completed a class search for Evansville's F.J. Reitz Class of 1967 and now deep into the search for our classmates with the help of my personal Sherlock, Linda, I can't help but reflect on the way the search evolves gradually from one distinct stage to another.

I can't think of anything to compare it to other than a criminal investigation. You begin with the physical evidence, in our case, Embers and a couple old attendance directories from previous reunions and once you compile a universe of suspects, and last known whereabouts, you start pounding the streets looking to verify what you know and confirming what is bogus. And with the multitude of Internet people search engines and Google, the odds of confirming what is bogus is getting easier and easier.

Sometimes, the days just pass without any progress, just canvassing, inquiring, talking your head off to answering machines, sending emails into the electronic nothing out there without any prospects of response or reply. Other days are like today. Had a great talk with Mary Ann Dugan Tomassone, another retired nurse, who has connections to two other people we were looking for, Diane Gluck Benedict and Linda Johnson Reed, who is on Mary Ann's Xmas list. In addition, we located Kathy Ormsby Wentworth out in Washington state. Information comes in little clusters, and each clue sends you down the road to another possible positive location of another classmate. Finding Mary Ann was a goldmine of information.

Usually a good day is when you take a single clue and are able to develop an address and possible phone number from it. Do this with a dozen or so "missing" classmates. Some will dead end with a phone call. "Yes my name is XXXXXXX, but I graduated from a different school in 1967." Some will just add another clue. "You must be looking for the XXXX that lives in Brigantine, I think they went to Wayne Valley". On to the next trail of clues, wearing electric holes in electronic shoes pounding on the "information highway".

And on the way, there awaits in your blog comment box another anonymous bit of venom, dripping with animosity and maybe more than a little jealousy. If there was any substance to it, I'd share it, but it's just juvenile vitriolic whining. Please, we're not back in high school.

Tony Gravagne (WVHS '66) but one of my Wayne Valley concert band music buddies, suggested to me that I ought to start a Class directory Facebook group. I sort of dismissed the idea at first, but much like I decided to go my own way and start the class directory, I think I will, especially in the face of the continuing craven adolescent hostility I've been receiving, now I'm thinking once again, why not. Why not start a group around the class directory that acts as a focal point for clues about our missing classmates and reconnecting with each other.And it's not just for '67 graduates either. It's for family of grads, and underclassmen too. Anyone who might have information about where our classmates are. Why not indeed. I remember the last time I wrote these words; now we have a class directory. So Facebook classmates, if you get an invite to join a new Facebook group, don't be surprised. It's only me.

Tempest in a Teapot Revisited

Not intending to create a ripple in the time continuum, I quietly withdrew from the Facebook group known as the Wayne Valley Class of 1967 and posted it on my wall so that anyone used to looking for me there wouldn't think I had passed away unexpectedly and that my Facebook page was one of those ghosts that the dead leave behind. Seriously, I didn't expect anyone would notice since there is no activity there for me since the administrator blocked me from posting or viewing posts. This has been the case shortly after I started linking this blog to that group. Must have been something I said? The doc said the medication was supposed to take care of my terminal sarcasm.

Anyway, my quiet posting on Facebook has unleashed a completely unsolicited wave of thanks and congratulations which has been a little overwhelming. But thinking about it, I remember when we finished the same work for Linda's class of 364. There was a sense of accomplishment - especially after what it generated in class buzz, and resulted in unprecedented attendance for a non reunion year class get together.

Well, our work for my Wayne Valley class is far from done and getting to the point where we need your help. Take a close look at the "Return to Senda" page and think of playing with these classmates as kids in your backyards. Did they have brothers or sisters  or kids you've run into on Facebook? Are their parents still in Wayne? These are all the kind of clues that have led us to yet another classmate who didn't know that they were being sought.

Speaking of ripples, the kind that I want to generate are those that encourage you to go to the reunion. Linda and I will be sending out reminders in late winter to call the reunion committee members to sign up for the 45th reunion. Every indication I have is that people that either never went, and many who have missed recent reunions have finally awoken to the new conditions: my friends, we have become the old people we impatiently waited on in no passing zones. We are now the ones counting out change in the check out lines. Our parts are wearing out. We're dropping like flies in September. It is in fact, with few exceptions (including myself) the September of our lives.  (I except myself because 3 of my grandparents lived past their centennials and I have every intention of living into my 100's. I also intend to be the crankiest SOB on the planet. Just stay out of cane range. I'm warning you now.)


So for those of you who thank us for the hard work, we acknowledge your thanks. You may be called to testify that your congratulations were completely unsolicited. We will use your thanks to motivate us to continue to make those thankless phone calls every afternoon and evening.

Filling in the Details

Linda and I have been working on filling in some details for our classmates who died young, trying to contact family for current photos and obituaries. Why are we being so intent on this aspect of the directory? First, we want people to be properly memorialized, that they were part of our class, part of our lives, so at least we should know when they passed, and who and what they left behind. We owe it to their memories. Families have been most cooperative and interested and pleased that we remember their family member.Just listing "deceased" isn't personal. It's just a statistic. These people weren't statistics. They were our classmates.

Death is a touchy subject. No one wants to report that someone has died and have it not be true, but the longer someone goes "missing" without a trace, or leaves behind a Facebook page without any activity since their reported death date, it does warrant a closer look as a possible outcome. Sometimes the mystery is just a matter of circumstances that make it difficult, no, nearly impossible to find someone. I can't emphasize the importance of listing maiden names as well as married names on Facebook. We also understand that many of us have a love/hate relationship with Facebook and some whose children and grandchildren set up pages for them.

We were just delighted that the rumors of Madelyn Sisco Alexander's demise are highly exaggerated. To the contrary, she's beating the road between North Jersey and Princeton to dote on a half dozen grandkids split between locations. We were very lucky that Linda happened to see another Engle from Wayne on Facebook. Turns out that he's a relation to Barbara Engle Fincham, who's out in Moab, Utah, one of our favorite places on the planet. Unfortunately, Barbara is care giving and in the midst of a difficult time. We hope to hear from her in greater detail when she is able and wished her the best of luck with her situation.

Again, friends and classmates, take a look at your Facebook pages then take a look at the Return to Senda page. You may be friends on Facebook with classmates who have not yet been located. Let us know with our thanks. That's the way the detective game is played!

Six Degrees of Separation

Remember that parlor game 6 Degrees of Separation where you try to figure out how you or someone else is related to Kevin Bacon using only 6 related connections? That is what finding lost classmates is like, except you don't know who the connections are.

The fact of the matter is that in many cases, our other classmates are the connecting links. They know brothers, parents, children, cousins, other relatives of classmates alive and gone. They speak with them on a regular basis precisely because of their friendships with these classmates.

So the next time you are on the class directory website, take a look at the "Return to Senda" page. Is there someone related to one of these people with whom you have communicated recently? If so, you may hold the key to locating a classmate.

If nothing more than the principle that we want to be absolutely inclusive in the directory and include everyone, even those not pictured, or who only attended Wayne Valley for a short time,   you can help us complete the blanks in the directory. We each of us, who visit the directory are like time travelers emerging from a time capsule looking upon a world of which we were not previously aware. We look at each other's picture pairs with new eyes, looking for recognition through the veil of time. We each hold the key to locating someone who is not aware that they are lost or unlocking the past of someone who passed away far too soon.

If you contribute just one of those 6 connections for one of our classmates, you have done your part with our thanks in helping to complete this project for our class.

It's personal

As most of you who follow this blog know, this little project of ours, the Wayne Valley Class of 1967 Alumni Directory, is something that we're doing for the class, because after all these years, its a shame that the only way we can get in touch with someone we've lost touch with is to perchance meet them at a reunion if you and that person both happen to attend. Or wait another 5 or 10 years. Well, we all know that we may or may not have that time. It's not up to us necessarily, at this point, and that's just a sad truth.

This is a resource that has been needed for years. It could easily have been done long ago, but that's neither here nor there. It is here now and now we can memorialize our fallen, honor our veterans, and celebrate with once long-lost friends that life does go on, mostly happily. Once rediscovered and reconnected, we can now stay in touch with social media and via current technologies. Some people have asked me why I waited so long to do this. I just told them it's not a perfect world; otherwise we'd have all our hair and teeth and fit into our high school jeans. It's here now. So be part of it.

I have lived many lives in many places and all this moving about the country has made it difficult for my friends to keep up with me and for me to stay in touch with them. Some I always knew roughly where they were, others were lost in the fog of time and the more time that passed, the "loster" and "loster" they got. One in particular, had been lost to me for 44 years despite every attempt I made to locate him. His childhood home had been sold, his parents passed away. His brother moved and I thought him deceased and the trail just went cold except for a single memory and a couple of vanity LP's he cut in his late teens. It was this project, this directory that went indirectly through clue after clue from multiple classmates that reconnected us today. Now I know he is alive and well and that after talking on the phone, we still understood each other, and like I keep telling everyone, the reasons we were friends in the first place still exist. I told one of our other friends that today, I am really happy.

It's more than just a class resource for me. It's personal, too.

A Good Day

It was a good day today. We located and posted a terrific obituary for John Iraola, and confirmed locations for Phyllis Seliger Holland, Jim Gullone, Kathy Grap Hodgen, Pete Manus, and Sherry Kill Lawson.

Got a better photo of Paula Rafferty Severance from her BFF, Nancy Sliker Gillingham.

In our searching, we have discovered that it is not uncommon for people to have started Facebook pages that remain long after their deaths, inactive , stolid and silent tombstones on the information highway, like Erwin Goovaerts. The same sort of thing is true of Classmates.com which holds inactive accounts as bait for additional revenue. Once you pay your fees, you discover that all the info you were hoping to find are just cardboard storefronts devoid of content or contact information.

So far, as we hoped, there seems to be a certain momentum building with the class directory that we hope will allow its completion with the help of classmates who know where other classmates are. Thank you again, to those of you who have provided clues.

Oopsies

Once again, Milton proves he is fallible. Noticed some file naming inconsistencies that led to classmates being out of alphabetical order which of course, I cannot tolerate simply because it bothers me. Working on correcting that.

Still getting calls to add military records and a lovely email from Cliff Recanzone's wife who was delighted to hear that there would be a memorial page. She is preparing materials from Cliff's services to forward to us

Heard from Anne Hoffmann who in turn knows where Paul Wagner is. It just keeps getting better and better. I've been looking for Paul, as well as others who have been looking for over 44 years.

I encourage everyone to update their photos as they can. And if you spot a mistake, misspelling of a name, missed married name, anything at all, let me know and we'll get it fixed. If everyone allows me one mistake, that's over 600 to which I am entitled.

Fondest wishes

So far, my fondest wishes from the Wayne Valley Class Directory have started coming true. I'm getting emails and calls with additional information, military services dates and calls from people I haven't talked to in for-ever. Mollie Kroll Abend has a classmate cousin, Sally Rosenzweig Moskowitz who has been in periodic touch with Anne Hoffman, who we have had no luck finding without outside help. And so it goes round and round and suddenly we have another found classmate.

Then one of our many postcards generates a phone call from Dennis Sandfort, in Newton, who has been helping people chainsaw their way out to the street from the recent snowfall. Dennis is landscaping up there.

Rick Sasse remembers that Don Gerola is an artist in RI from a news magazine article, and reminds us of his own long service in the US Coast Guard and that Gary Luccio was also in the USCG. Sue Cowin counted off her years in the army which somehow triggered my memory that Rich Burgess was also Army.

Let the games begin! In the meanwhile, we're still working the phones for the rest of our folks.

Halloween 2011

As promised, www.waynevalley67.com is up and running, with a late burst of activity from Martha Utter Hunt providing information to contact Maureen Hoffman Abouyan. I wrote back to Maureen because there was a woman veteran, now deceased with very similar information to Maureen and we were delighted to hear from her to confirm her vitality. She said she had lost touch with Martha:

Losing touch is a common occurrence, as I am discovering in my quest to contact the entire class directly, either by phone or email so that I know I have current information.

That is precisely the purpose of the class directory. Life is sometimes too much in our vision and we lose sight of some of the more important things in life, like friends and family. If only there were a place that you knew you could go to contact those friends. Now there is. www.waynevalley67.com

We would very much like to get a recent photo of you and a short bio to post. Your email will be disguised to prevent spambots from acquiring it.

We also contacted Scott Strassler and hope to get a photo and a short bio from her shortly. We were also successful in contacting Kathy Fontan Korus.

Linda was also able to find obituaries for Laura Casadevall Robinson and Madelyn Carr Tooker which you can find on the memorial page. Also Larry Casadevall graciously provided current photos of Laura.

So now that the site has launched, let us know of any others you may have located in your travels that we don't know, even if it's just a clue. We'll follow up. Most of all, we hope that the entire class makes use of this new resource to stir things up, to re-energize the class community and add a new dimension to our everyday lives. Thank you for all your past and future information. Keep the flow going.

Unveiling

Even though the database is far from done (we're come a long way in a short time and it will never truly be done until everyone stops moving around and changing stuff so that's not going to happen), I think it's time to unveil this directory with what we've got so far. Rather than have everyone imagine what it's like, it's far easier to see it and participate. Some of the features aren't quite complete but I'm hoping that when they are seen, people will jump on board, especially vets - as I've been contacting folks, I haven't always remembered to ask. (The old short term memory isn't what it used to be - it used to be bad, now it's worse)

I'm also starting to include clues for people we haven't confirmed yet so everyone can get in on the hunt ("Wouldn't it be fun if we all could help whitewash the fence", said Tom Sawyer.....)

Quite frankly, I think that once everyone knows who is actually not yet located or confirmed, other classmates will help provide information that will enable us to find the rest.

It's been a busy few days recently. Talked to Bill Brooks, Janet Luhmann Cober, who gave me a lead on Mary (Scottie) Wallace being in Indiana, Mollie Kroll Abend who informed me that Sallie Rosenzweig Moskowitz is her cousin and provided contact information.  Got new contact information from Bill Meese who moved to help care for his inlaws. Good man, Bill. I don't envy you that responsibility, having gone through that myself. Talked briefly to Garry Meyer, who asked that I call back. He had a passle of grandkids running around and it sounded like a real circus. Been there too. Got an unexpected call from Ralph Foglia who says that he is going to talk to other classmates who likely know where some of the not yet located are. That's great, and it's always a hoot to talk to Ralph anyway.

Thought we had a strong lead on the whereabouts of Pat Snyder, but was informed by another Pat Snyder in VA who was also known as Trish, that she wasn't ours. One down in the process of elimination. Also got a lead on Carolyn (Lyn) Newton, but haven't turned up anything substantive yet. We've also got a bunch of postcards out there for people we think we've located but can't find phone numbers for. And then the Post Office announces that postcards were too cheap and they need to bump the price up to 31 cents each.

And the photos are starting to flow. Got one from Barry Makepeace, and Bob Dunlap too. So there's plenty of work to be done. It's not far from Halloween, but I did the annual pumpkin thing for my grandson. So someone is happy.

Still Working

Linda and I took a long week to take a road trip in the RV to South Dakota before the snow shut us out. We've all seen pictures of Mt. Rushmore, but it's not like being there. It was a great trip, and one of the reasons is that in the evening, the RV became Search Central. Give us a wifi hotspot and we'll confirm somebody's location and have a nice yakfest to boot limited only by the fact that I was somewhat distracted by driving the 29 footer and the tow car through the Badlands and the mountains.

Here are some classmates whose locations were confirmed last week:  Bill Vandervort, Giff Jimmerson, Doug Marzloff, Susie Loper, Gary Drach, Jim Francois, Robert Holdsworth, Marlene Zachok, Bill Altier, Eric Kostelak.

I'm cranking away on getting photos, emails and other information attached to each individual's high school picture. As the website goes up and folks get to see what's there, feel free to contact us to add information, especially military service, and we always always welcome recent photos. It has been my experience that these directories often develop their own momentum once begun as more and more people find the site. I'm hoping that will happen with this one. Remember, sometimes the smallest mote of information leads to a classmate.

It always comes as a surprise to me when a classmate exhibits less enthusiasm for reconnecting with the class than I have, not because I think everyone should react like I do (heaven forbid) but because what's the harm? A few minutes out of a day to answer an email? I do that every day just reading Amazon ads, or answering comments on Facebook. If someone wants to contact me, I figure I owe it to them for taking the trouble to respond. I'm not so important; my time is not so valuable that I can't share some of it with old classmates. Maybe I undervalue my time? Nonetheless, if someone wants to be listed as alive and doing well, that's better than "I wonder if they're still alive?" Knowing anything is better than not knowing at all. I certainly encourage all to participate fully, but it's not a requirement. It's about choice to reconnect or not.

www.waynevalley67.com - The Class Directory

Even as we continue to confirm the locations of the rest of our class, the momentum is building and classmates we talk to are telling us about other classmates and so it goes.

We have enough information now that it is time to let everyone know that by the end of October most probably, we will be publishing the framework and data that we have so far for our Wayne Valley Class of 1967 Directory which will be located at www.waynevalley67.com . It will have  the current location of as many of our classmates as we can locate and a way to contact them by email.

Aside from current photos, the site will include short biographies from those who have had the time to put brief ones together, a list of our veteran classmates, including branch of service and years in, a listing of Class Mates, those whose stories together began in high school and continue today, a memorial page recognizing our fallen, a listing of classmates by state, to enable local get togethers if folks are interested, a place to list changes of address to keep the database up to date and many other features as we think of them or as they are suggested by our classmates. It is meant to be a dynamic site, adding, growing and changing as necessary to best serve the process of reconnecting the class community.

Again, I want to remind folks that this directory is not intended to detract from the reunion website and is only meant to increase the conversation about reconnecting with classmates and old friends and what better way to do that then at the 45th Reunion.

And I want to thank all of you that have chosen to participate in this grand project. The enthusiasm I have encountered has far outweighs any negatives, and the attitudes of our classmates has often been refreshing and reaffirming to know that sometimes, wisdom can come with age, as well as graciousness, helpfulness and a whole load of great fun and conversation. I've been reminded of things I hadn't thought of in years (mostly because I didn't remember some of them) and had my fair share of stories to tell as well.

For those of you maidens on Facebook who have listed yourself without your maiden names, add it into your profile name so your classmates can find you (us too) and if we haven't yet found you, give us a shout. We want to make the directory as inclusive as we possibly can.

Here's a little update on some of the people whose locations have been confirmed in the past few weeks (I say that because with the start of school, our grand parenting responsibilities seem to have multiplied at least 3 fold from last year. Even though I used to look upon it with some dread, now I am starting to think that my granddaughter's drivers license will bring fewer miles and some idle time to the Grandparent shuttle) plus a few other good deeds that ended up punishing us with additional chores. The search for confirmed classmate locations got curtailed a little but the search goes on:

Ed Boland, Ralph Foglia, Bitsy Haslet, Donna Morales, Sue Brooks, Linda Doland, Kathy Grap, Ronnie Lucia (he doesn't count cause everyone knows where he is but we had a great time talking), Dr. Ned Ridings, among others; which reminds me that the site will have listings for those we have not yet located as well, so if you know where someone is, or if you hear about the site and go and find yourself not located, again, give us a shout, drop us an email and we'll make sure your information is updated and current.

Glad Someone Remembers

Memory is a strange friend. You're always grateful when it's there, but if it's not, you don't miss it.

I was talking to Ron Lucia, you know, of the Valley Road Lucias and he was asking about Patricia Snyder and if we had located her. I said, unfortunately not. Ron mentioned that he thought that Joe Jacelone had dated her and might have a clue as to her whereabouts. So, I emailed Joe, who replied that he hadn't dated her so he had no idea either.

He did have a story to tell about me however. In his own words:

Charlene DeShaw and I , Bob Bitter, and someone he was dating and you were in your car driving around Wanaque resevoir on the way to Ringwood manor to "hang out" for the day.  For some reason, you were stopped in the middle of the road on a blind curve. Another car came flying down the road and had to swerve to avoid crashing into us...... they stopped and were quite agitated and yelled to you "Hey, where the hell did you get your drivers license"?  To which you replied......."CHINA"!   I have never forgotten that encounter, and it was quite funny for all of us.

I told Joe that I vaguely remember that incident, I certainly remember the car, a 4-door 1957 Pontiac Chieftain, two tone blue. It sounded like the 16 or 17 year old immortal smart aleck that I was back then. The point is not that I was so funny, but that unless someone else remembers too, you kinda remember but just dismiss it as a phantom memory or you don't remember it at all. Or you think you made it up. We all have stories about each other and chances are that when we are told about it, we either don't remember it or we remember it differently. The important point, the most important point is that most of these things happened and someone remembers. 

I remember things about phys. ed class and the endless often hilarious indignities that Coach Alan Hubschman and Coach Patrick DiLemma subjected us to, collectively and individually. Slicing and dicing us with pointless sarcasm that would've been funnier if it wasn't so embarrassing. I remember the late Kevin Walsh standing up in homeroom with a wad of gum on his nose as punishment for chewing gum at all. Thinking back, you just remember the oddest things. These memories deserve to live. Get together with your friends and help each other remember.

620+ Card Pickup

As I continue to locate current addresses for all, I have tried to be cognizant of the horrible storm damage left behind by Irene, and tried not to bother folks in the affected states. Well, hoping against hope that our classmates were lucky enough not to live in a floodplain or on a riverbank, I started to call folks in Wayne and surrounding areas and in New England with a few West Coast and Florida folks thrown in the mix too.

So I called Judy Wackwitz Gerasimenko, who recognized me, spoke long enough to say she wanted in the directory and to let me know that although she was done wading in water, she was now wading in contractor estimates for repairs to her home, so she couldn't chat and didn't know when she would be back on line to send a current photo. I thanked her, wished her good luck and went on my way. I also spoke with Janice Peck Klear who was somewhat surprised to hear from me, thought the directory was a great idea and wanted to be listed. Sometimes it is like holding a deck of 620+ cards and tossing them in the air and picking them at random to try and locate or call. Just like the old "52 card pickup" game. You push the calls into the pipeline and then you get calls or emails back. It took a second to realize to whom I was talking, but I finally came out of the fog and talked to Donna Hohnarth Van Lenten who was of immense help and just flooded me with names and possible locations for folks.

Almost forgot that I had talked with Mike Scalzo last week who rather sadly mentioned that his best friends, Ron Haggar and John Iraola were gone and that he hadn't really been in touch with anyone else since their passing. I suggested being listed in the directory might change that and he agreed. It's pretty much the same story for many. You have people you were close to. Now you are either still in touch with 40+ year friendships, or you've lost touch and don't know if it was your fault or not and so even if you had contact information you don't know if you should get in touch because of embarrassment or some other self perceived blame or fault. Been there, done that. Make the call. Send the email. I can't say it enough - there were reasons you were friends in the first place. Unless either you or they have changed and become completely different people, those reasons are still there. Once the directory is up and on line, you'll have that choice to make. Choice is good, for the Class of '67 and good for you.

Different Kinds of Sadness

Amid all the fun and conversation, amid the satisfaction of discover and location, other voices spoke out over the weekend that made me pause and think back to our high school experiences and whether or not our nostalgia has not hidden some uglier truths.

I have often made mention that I know that there are classmates who do not share our perspective on school, but I was never made more aware than when I called someone who shall remain nameless. Her first reaction was one of suspicion. She asked me how I had come to find her phone number. I replied through an Internet people search engine. She went on to relate how her high school experience was horribly different. Instead of it being one of the best times of her life, she described it as years of humiliation during which emotional and intellectual bullying were the norm and she always felt as though she could expect a new round of victimization at any time from people whose egos were far bigger than their character. So I should keep what she called "your friggin' high school" so she could continue to try to forget it forever". Wow. I was so shocked I didn't even get a chance to think to ask her if she felt I played a role in any of this. I felt so badly I was prepared to apologize for behavior I never engaged in, since I had little if any contact with her in school. By the time these thoughts were even formed in my head, and before I could utter them, I was already listening to dead air. I know that bullying in many ways and forms has become an everyday presence in today's schools, but it never occurred to me that I could have looked back to my own high school to find it. Was I so blind as not to see it? It was the kind of reminder I got from Al Piaget in Anthony Wayne after I delivered a research paper about segregation and civil rights in the Deep South. His comment on the margin was "you don't have to go any further than South Jersey migrant workers to find the same thing". Right in your own back yard.

After that, it was certainly much easier to accept that several other classmates decided not to be listed fully in the directory, one because he didn't actually graduate with us but from another school, from where his fond memories arose; one because he got kicked out before graduation; and one simply because he felt no connection to anyone in school. I simply wished them well and congratulated them for finding their place in the world.

Finally, two other items: The first, a request from Nancy LaRue's son, who was only 10 months old when she passed in Beatrice Nebraska in 1969, that anyone who was close to Nancy in school let him know their impressions of her. He never had the chance to get to know her and hoped her classmates might let him know what kind of person she was. You can post to Facebook or let me know by email so I can forward your thoughts along. I also posted this request to Facebook and thanks to those who have already posted comments.

Second, also posted on Facebook and the reunion site, please note the passing of Laura Casadevall Robinson on August 31, 2011 after a 3-1/2 year fight with cancer. A USAF Vietnam veteran, Laura will be buried this afternoon in Jacksonville National Cemetery with full military honors and will be listed as such in the directory memorial section.

Tempest in a Teapot Part II in More ways than One

In the wake of Hurricane Irene, we Hoosiers viewed the events in complete safety and sunshine. It was with great relief that the storm did not meet expectations as we thought about my East Coast classmates who were in the path of the storm.

It wasn't the only tempest in the picture however. Once again, the issue of privacy rears its head. Our thought was that many have over the years lost their yearbooks and would like to have a copy of their senior pictures with Facebook as the delivery vehicle. While no one has a problem with their pictures published permission on the Class reunion site, which have been on the Internet for over 5 years, suddenly it's an issue on Facebook. Seems that my posting high school pictures to classmates, which initially began amidst a great swelling of good feelings and fond memories has been tainted with suspicion and paranoia. Privacy is apparently defined differently in different quarters.

Again, I emphasize that this negativity will not affect the completion of my project which involves two activities, one, finding and contacting everyone in the class, and two, publishing a complete class directory, less the few who have opted not to participate.

It's just a shame that something that was meant to get people thinking about high school and the passage of time and attending the Reunion has become a bone of contention, another tempest in a small teapot, unlike Irene, the real Tempest in a much larger realm.

Despite these little harassments, we continue on. We heard from Patty Parkin Carr and suggested she give Carol Vanderway a call since they hadn't spoken for years. We haven't heard from Noreen West yet, but when we do, we'll see if we can't reconnect each of them with each other. Got a call out of the Blue from Earl Newman, out in  Los Banos, CA. I resisted the temptation to suck information from him since he spent half his career maintaining and repairing RVs. I also got a return call from Ed Dickenson another of our classmates in the ministry in the San Diego area.

I had a rollicking chat with Deborah Galesi who lives in Kihei, Maui, Hawaii. She has become an accomplished and classically trained artist (not to mention free spirit) and she promised to share a sunset with us on her west facing lanai the next time we were on Maui, one of our favorite vacation spots.

But as though there were some cosmic balance in the world for all this happy news, we were saddened to run into death listings for Diane Finnegan (2008) and Ed Miller (2002).

So even as Irene takes a parting shot at New England, and we warn the recently retired George Dingfelder in Maine to batten down his hatches, we hope this most recent obstructionist privacy snit will blow over and everyone can get on with good times, good memories and reconnecting with classmates.

Delivery Status Notification (Failure)

It has been an interesting couple of days since we "Unofficially" announced the Wayne Valley 67 Class Directory. We've amassed a great deal of data, found or confirmed many classmates' whereabouts and are now starting to contact everyone either by Facebook, email or postcard or phone. Unfortunately, many of the emails we inherited from the 40th class reunion attendance directory bounced back. Even though it takes longer, cause I can't NOT talk once connected, I still prefer the phone.

Also experienced an interesting phenomenon immediately following the earthquakes of this past week. No emails went through to the East Coast and we had to resend them all. My sister, who lives in the DC area said that the widespread overloading of the internet and cell phone systems was a real revelation after all the vendors had assured the government that they would assure continuous operations after 9/11. NOT.

Talked to Doug Fowler up in Nashua NH. Had a fun talk with him. Also had a great conversation with Ken Coyle who has been a teacher and coach forever in Tempe AZ. I also got a chance to congratulate him for his induction into the WV Football Hall of Fame, which I've been meaning to do ever since Bob Sherger told me about it weeks ago, I'm embarrassed to say. Also had a chat with Carol Vanderway in South Jersey which I presume is battening down their hatches in anticipation of Hurricane Irene.

The number of folks who are on board with the directory is too great to list and I'm even getting some short bios. Now if we can get photos, we're golden, besides our years. I'm busy setting up the pages, Linda's on research, Larry Delucca's on Alto Sax, and Bob Wanek is in St. Petes percolating with ideas for the directory (making work for me, but as I said in 1970, "He labors not who loves his labor". Talked with Linda Schall Kosinski who mentioned folks she knew were in North Carolina. We compared notes on that one.

I've had a few people express privacy concerns in providing email addresses. I want to point out that all that will be visible unless someone actually wants to send you an email is the message "click to send email". I am using a little piece of code that prevents Spam robots from scouring the page to collect email addresses. They specifically look for a format, somebody@something.com. If they don't see that, they can't get anything. Believe me, you're already out there. Try Googling yourself, and if you're on Facebook, well, some of us talk about vacations we're on right now, what we're having for lunch and so it goes. As I've said before, I balance privacy with my desire to be reachable. And short of the witness protection program, (which Dale Weber tried to convince his NC neighbors he was a part of) if you want to be reached by old friends and possible new ones, like some of the suggestions for Facebook friends that Linda and I have made, well, you have to be reachable.

On the flip side of the equation, this directory will make it much easier to find folks that are still not located. Almost to a person, folks that were "lost" were unaware that they were, and almost to a person, they asked about someone, or someone has asked about them and it's just great being able to provide information so old friends can rekindle their friendships. Likewise, it will be easier for us to find folks if you hear of anything that may help to locate them.

We are also initiating a Veterans page Those Who Served, so we can acknowledge our Armed Services veterans, so if you are, let me know what branch of service you were in and your dates of service. We will have a page that lists classmates in State order so that regional get-togethers will be simplified, should the classmates in that area choose to do so. One of my favorites is recognition of classmates who are Class Mates, married to their high school sweethearts of which there are many couples in our class. We are also going to have a Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes page to keep track of changes in Contact Information which we will try to update at least on a monthly basis depending on how many there are. And mentioned last because I don't like to think of it, is a Memorial page, In Memoriam, so we can remember our gone but not forgotten classmates of whom there are a few more from initial indications with the Social Security Administration. We found Patricia Mancuso listed as having passed away in July of 2002, and Ed Miller in November of 2002.

These are ideas that have come from your classmates, so if you think of something, please feel free to let us know by email or phone: milton.yuan@gmail.com and 812-457-7772.

A Good Weekend

We're now doing two things at once (with regard to WVHS  classmates that is. We're always multitasking with other stuff too - that's what grandparents do!)

First, we are having continuing success in locating both lost classmates and confirming contact information from the rest.

Second, we are continuing to get positive response from classmates we have directly contacted that they want to participate in the Class Directory. We get messages daily to be listed.

So who have we talked to this week? Doug Fowler is back in New England. George Dingfelder retired last week from L.L. Bean. He's still trying to figure out what he's supposed to do now. Nancy Conroy Infante is in Florida after leapfrogging a bunch.

The biggest discovery, after piecing together clues from her friends, was Barbara Williams Frederick who is in Sewell NJ. She was somewhat surprised to discover that I didn't end up as either a doctor, lawyer or indian chief and like all others NOT LOCATED, she was unaware that she was lost.

Barry Makepiece, from Fort Lauderdale, FL and I shared stories about little fisticuff bouts we both had with people now deceased back in high school. He also told me how his long friendship with William Gullone experienced a break a while back, until Bill made the effort to find Barry again. Barry reported the sad news to me that Walter Szpara had passed away quite a while ago (April  30, 2000 per SSDI) which also reminded me that Embers page 222 has about a dozen classmates who weren't available for class pictures. They will be listed in the Class Directory  however. Among them was John Chichin, Jr (dec. 1975).

Any clues provided by classmates are more reliable and helpful than random brute force searches, so if you heard of someone having moved, let us know. This will all become a lot easier once we launch the classmate search website, www.waynevalley67.com sometime next month. It will include a list of all of our classmates and whether we have found them or not, to start. That way everyone will know, and will be able to submit information that they may possess. Even rumors or "The last I heard, he was in ......." is better than not knowing at all. And best of all, someone lost may stumble upon the site and discover that they are among the lost and email us. Our phone coversations have turned up a lot of leads.  Does anyone have a lead on where Donna Rogers is? Marijo McDevitt Stas is inquiring. If you have a clue, let either me or Marijo know. The site will also have links to people search engines and other Wayne info sources.

Finally, for this installment anyway, Linda has been comparing the master classmate list and searching Facebook where she has found that more and more classmates are signing in. We will continue to get folks connected and aware that others have joined Facebook to increase the size of the WVHS community there.

More later. Geez. There are 70 David Pauls listings in New Jersey alone.

Questions and Answers; Not! And a Confirmation and a Suggestion

So Linda, my wife says, Milt, you've got to find out who is interested in being in the directory and what they want included. Why don't you ask them using a Facebook question. Not being familiar with the gizmo, I say, sure, why not. So I put together a basic question and added options. It went something like this:

Question: Do you want to be included in the Wayne Valley '67 Class Directory? What do you want included in your listing. It's your choice. Remember, distribution is to classmates only.


And then I added the following options:


Address
City
State
email
Facebook logo (to indicate that you're on Facebook
Short Bio

And folks, Diana Bonazza Koopman was the quickest on the draw to send back a response. That was great said I. This is going to be convenient and I'll have a single email acknowledgement for each classmate.

Then others started responding and instead of getting individual responses so I could tabulate them and make sure that their requirements were met in the directory, Lo and Behold, that's not the way it works. The Facebook question gadget works more like a poll, tabulating a cumulative answer and even though it posts a little profile pic next to the answers chosen, it is not clear if that is just that answer or an indicator that person responded. Not good enough for me. I do not want to include info that a classmate doesn't want included.

So we'll probably have to do this the non Facebook way, although Facebook email addresses (if I don't have regular ones) can still be utilized. I'll be sending an email with checkboxes that can be sent back to me. That way I'll have one form for every person responding and there will be less room for error. Besides which, there are still classmates who by whatever circumstance, are not online, and I'm enjoying my phone conversations too much not to pass up the opportunity to have another gab fest. I just have to remember to do the questionnaire with them.

So far, everyone has expressed great enthusiasm for the directory and the possibility of contacting others to whom their thoughts have strayed at one time or another.  Only two people, Joanne Taylerson and Ronda Roby, while happily telling me about what they've done these past years, expressed their desire to be listed only as alive and well, maintaining that they no longer have any real ties to the class. My response is that I respect their wishes, am so happy to be able to talk to them and learn that they are happy and well and on the topside of the dirt, and that the directory is electronic and can be changed instantly should they so choose to be listed more completely at sometime in the future.

So the lesson learned is this: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

I spoke to Louie Lotz a few days ago, and confirmed that yes, indeed, he was a pastor of many years. We had a lengthy discussion wondering how it is that our perception of time changes as our relative position on the thread of life progresses; and how our desire to look back seems to increase as time moves on. I told him that I believe that it is because there is more to look back upon then there is up ahead, not to say that what's up ahead isn't worth looking forward to! He talked about a personal past of which I was not aware, and I realized that everyone from our high school past had an inner life that high school friendships usually did not penetrate or that was carefully concealed. It is only in retrospect that we discover we have come to terms with those demons. I'm delighted to hear that Louis too, has found his (I was going to say Lotz in life) place in the world and is in a good place.

There are some professions that can truly be a calling. Nursing, law enforcement, the ministry, and educators. I am personally glad that there are still those called to fill those shoes. I am proud to say that there are many in our class who have filled those ranks, and I feel elated to hear that is the road they decided to travel and privileged to know them.

Hey, I know I'm a johnny-come-lately to the classmate business. I know I would have known sooner if I had been more involved in class affairs. But I guess that is precisely the point that I have been making. It is never too late.

And my thanks to those of you who have been following the blog, responding so enthusastically, and those who have provided information. Oh yeah, and this to that one anonymous sole (sic) who commented "who needs more of your crap": I reply, reading blogs is voluntary. Anonymity is the shield of cowards, made ever so much more convenient by the Internet. If you don't want to read it, don't.

Finally, I heard from Bob Wanek down in FL, who after reading the blog, made a few constructive suggestions. One, as you can see, I am embolding names, and I will also at Bob's suggestion provide a listing of who I have located or not. I'll probably do this on a website, without contact information, just for a running progress report. If anyone wants to use it, once it is up and running, to help fill in some blanks, the more the merrier. The structure can then be used later, with contact info (which I've got on a separate spreadsheet), to publish the directory.

Serve, Volley, and a Classmate has an Idea

I sent along the latest batch of information on classmate locations to the committee the other day. In return I received a detailed response to each classmate which went, "knew that, knew that, knew that, updated, knew that, etc., etc. or something like that. I was told that Taisa Apanasow was not on the website (page 163) nor Bob Guzallis (page 222). Then separately, I received an email chiding me on an error on my part about Marlene Zachok who was mistakenly put on my "lost" list (actually, she's still lost to me), the gist of which is that the committee is the "official" keeper of class contact information and that while they appreciated finding out about people who were unfound, they don't appreciate that I said they didn't know where people were, once again putting words in my mouth. As regular readers of this blog know, that s one thing that does not need to be done. I've got plenty of my own. I have never said they didn't know where people are; rather I just said that if you don't outreach to keep updated, you will end up knowing less than you think you do.

Additionally and sadly, I was informed that Marion Borowsky had passed away which they acknowledged because her brother had contacted them directly. That was a head scratcher. Perhaps I should have Chris Mauriello contact them directly, or John Chichin Sr. Talking to me is not sufficient.

What the committee doesn't understand is that while this all started as an offer to help locate lost classmates, we've been on very different paths. I always encourage people to go, but it was never just about getting the people I found to go to the Reunion which is the committee's main focus. Reunion weekend. Once every 10 years and now 5 years. Based on the unexpected and unexplainably negative reaction my efforts have engendered, my purpose has shifted from just locating the lost to creating the Class Directory and, as it always was, reconnecting people - that can happen any day, anytime, as long as the information is available. For, dare I say it, seniors like ourselves, the days are getting shorter; the past is getting longer and we had better do it if we're going to do it at all.

So that being said, I was delighted to receive a return call from Dave Chicoine, now in Colorado. He said he went to the 30th (didn't know from the website - his name is bare of attendance dots). We had one of my now typical lengthy retrospective phone calls which ended in his trying to convince me that picking up the clarinet and sax again would be a worthy retirement activity. And take time away from talking to more classmates? Of course, we traded contact information.

I am also half way through a chit chat with Doug Senchak who has looking upstream toward a retirement home upriver from New York City. Doug's history seems nearly as twisty as my own, and we seemed, unbeknownst to each other, to have shared a lot of experiences on different coasts.

Finally, Mark Pinchal, shared with me a project he has been working on for quite a while:

When I first lived in Florida (1983-1999) I was deeply involved in conducting services for the Apollo 1 astronauts, in fact I started the whole thing in February, 1985 after I saw the movie "The Right Stuff". I got permission to place a wreath at Launch Complex 34 where the fire had taken place (1/27/1967). Thought it would be a 1 time thing but when I heard from the security guard I was the first to do something like that I vowed to keep returning until a proper service was a fact of life. In 1990 I had a plaque placed at the site, the first to honor Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee.  18 years of work, and the help and major input of like minded people, the service took on a life of its own. The people who joined made this possible and to them goes the lion's share of credit. I moved to Las Vegas in 1999 and after the 2003 service, I handed the service back to the families of the crew. Time and distance made it impractical for me to continue organizing and conducting it.

Having returned to Florida in March 2007, I have thought that there should be a day to honor all of America's Astronauts, past and present, in particular those who have the ultimate sacrifice. NASA does remember their fallen but this too negative. A day should be established to honor all who have risked their lives to expand our knowledge of the infinate universe in which we live. A Federal observance, like Flag Day. I've written a few letters to some senators and have heard nothing back. I have recommended 9 April as a possible date. It was on 9 April 1959 that America and the world first met the Mercury Astronauts. It would be nice to get it approved while some of them are still alive.

Now this is something especially close to people in Southern Indiana, since Gus Grissom was a native son, and highly honored in this region, so I mention it here as a way to help Mark publicize and lobby for this day. Far less significant events, IMHO, have been granted Federal recognition.


I've got to call Doug again, to finish where we left off. I've also sent some post cards to people whose addresses I think are correct but who have no phone numbers available to me. 

Personal Choices and A Little Help From My Friends

Had an interesting couple of days talking with far flung classmates who had a somewhat more circumspect attitude about high school, reunions, and classmates. The first was Geneth Piechota, who didn't remember me (not that everyone should). In a big class, in a big school, it was easy to keep your head down and plow through the days. There were days that I certainly did that. You saw the faces going by you, but only insofar as you wanted to make sure you didn't back smack dab into someone. Geneth wasn't sure she wanted to participate in anything based on a phone call from someone she didn't know. So I referred her to the class website and my blog to prove that I was innocuous and not diabolical. It's okay. Paranoia is a sign of the times. I suppose if I were more paranoid, I wouldn't have had to replace my debit card a couple of times in the last ten years (although I suspect out of town sales clerks more than anyone. It seems to happen when we get back from a vacation).

I also talked to Chris Ellicott. Now I know she wasn't missing, and based on what she told me, the reunion committee knew where she was, since she hadn't moved in quite a while and had just gotten her invite. I didn't have the benefit of knowing her contact info and had to find it myself. I just wanted to see how she was doing because I always liked her in school. We had classes together, and shared a lot of fun times. Remember, I'm not just finding folks; I'm not just asking for participation in the directory; I'm reconnecting at the same time (with Linda chomping at the bit while I chit-chat). As it happens, I am just delighted at the way things turned out for Chris. She also asked me about Paul Wagner. I wish I had more to tell her.

Last night I talked with Joanne Taylerson, who was among the not located. I think she wanted it that way. She was incredulous that I had gone through the trouble to find her, and at first, I think she was a little stand offish, but I shared a memory of her from the 20th reunion that surprised her that I would remember, and then we had a great conversation. That one memory had haunted me for 24 years and I always regretted that I hadn't been more supportive then. We first met in 9th grade at Anthony Wayne JHS. We ran against each other for Student Council President. I won, in a squeaker, by the way, beginning my glorious career in public oratory, the highlights of which includes doing a welcome at our graduation, a speech for which I do not have a single memory; delivering eulogies for people I never knew, and too many I did; and emceeing a high school reunion for a school I didn't attend.  Anyway Joanne said that her experience at the 20th was so negative (my memory snapshot was of her toward the end of that event) that she really didn't want to associate herself with high school, that she had achieved her personal peace and found her place in life and space and I respect that. She graciously declined my offer to put her contact info in the directory or even share her email address (not tech savvy and doesn't check it much) but did say that she'd welcome a visit the next time we're in that part of the country (which will happen next year) and I look forward to that, greatly.

Finally, I got an email from Karen Arnott Perkins offering help with confirming locations for local Wayne folks since she still lives in town. I promptly replied and probably overwhelmed her with an enthusiastic "YES!" and lots of questions, not the least of which was a location for Marlene Zachok who is still not located but appears to have been a bridesmaid at Karen's wedding.  In a round about way, Karen had already provided help, via Cathy Labazetta Statler, about Kathy Falato. So I am looking forward to the help with great anticipation. Chris Ellicott asked me about Jill Rapp too (listed as Leslie J. Rapp in Embers).

Even as this project gains momentum, I am not so vain or foolish as to think that people will flock from Facebook  to my Facebook page or from the internet to my email in general to offer their contact information for the directory based simply on a Facebook posting or Blog entry. This is a grand outreach project and personal contact, whether by phone or email, is the only real way to confirm the whereabouts of our class which has broadcast itself all over the country.  For those that haven't, now there's some local help. One thing remains certain: The only way to make sure everyone is included is to look for 'em.

I also need to call Sharon Halpin again. She was juggling two phone calls and my cell phone signal was breaking up and she couldn't hear me.

A Personal Project Defined

Perhaps it is time to take stock and make things even clearer than I have made them in previous blogs, for the benefit of whomever chooses freely to read this little monologue of mine.

What is it exactly that Milton is trying to accomplish by contacting his high school classmates?

Milton believes, while there are enough of us to use it, that our class needs a complete directory that provides contact information for every classmate that chooses to participate in it, with their high school photo, a current photo, contact information of their choosing, and a short biography.

A secondary purpose is to memorialize our classmates who are gone, far too young.

This is a personal project, not sanctioned (as though such a project needs any such sanction) by the Reunion Committee. My sole task for them is a subset of the directory - finding people whose location is completely unknown to them.

Milton is doing this because over the years, he has often thought about his classmates, wondering where they got off too, wondering if they are as happy with their lives as he is, wondering what it is they finally ended up doing. And he went to the class website only to find out that the information that he knew was available, wasn't.  He knew he couldn't be alone. And based upon his contact with classmates in his search for those not located previously, he knows that he isn't.

Additionally, since he and his wife have done this for the Evansville FJ Reitz High School Class of 1967, he knows that such a directory has the power to revive a class and transform it into what it once was, a community of diverse personalities all tied together through a common purpose - to become distinct unique individual adults and to graduate from high school. We all came to Wayne Valley as children, and left as new adults, not yet complete, but malleable, ready to be finalized by time and experience.

So this is the official invitation to participate in a grand adventure of exploration and discovery. With no guide but a tattered copy of Embers rescued from the boiler room at school to replace my own copy, burned to embers in a housefire, and two outdated directories from the last two reunions, borrowed from a classmate, I invite my classmates to be listed in this directory so they can do as I am doing, reconnecting with old friends, and making new ones, ones perhaps that I should have made many years ago, but am 44 years late in doing. Well, better late than never. I have been lucky to reconnect several pairs of old friends, but a directory like this gives you all the ability to do the same thing.

I am not doing this for money. I am not doing this to sell information. This is my personal class project. I am not a 3rd party looking to make a killing. I am your classmate. I was your newspaper editor. I was your Student Council President (more mentioned as a reminder than any particular noteworthy achievement). The point is that I am one of you. I walked the same halls, listened (sometimes less than attentively) to the same teachers. I laughed at the same jokes, danced at the same dances, watched the same sporting events, took the same tests and got handed that same leatherette folder at the same ceremony as you did.

I will be distributing this directory as a PDF file that can be printed out if you so choose or viewed on your computer. It will be updated as people move. It is a dynamic document that will change as long as I can do it.

The directory will give you the ability to do the same thing I am enjoying so much as I am creating it: talking to old friends and remembering why we became friends in the first place; talking about common memories; sharing memories of classmates gone too young; forging new friendships that will continue as long as I do.

So if you see this, let our classmates know what Milton is doing, and drop him a line, either by email (milton.yuan@gmail.com) or on Facebook, or by comment to this blog, to join in this grand adventure. He will be contacting everyone that he can locate, hopefully with your help, alone if not. I am soliciting information, not self-serving praise; I am looking to create something for everyone in the class because class information is the property of everyone in the class. Join me.

As an afterthought, I don't usually talk about myself in the 3rd party. I'm not that weird......yet.

Check and Double Check

A correction is in order. It was kindly pointed out to me by Nancy Gaestel Jasinski that Maggie Erdman, while gone, had been so for many years; that Wayne Hills Auditorium had been dedicated to her memory and that Betty Singer had attended the ceremony. So first, I thanked Nancy, and then called Betty to get the details. Betty said that it had been a long time ago and wasn't sure about the date. I went back to the archives to double check my facts, something I usually rely on Linda to do, but didn't on this occasion because I was upset thinking that I had missed an opportunity by only a short while when in reality, the chance to see Maggie again was long gone. Ned Soleau had mentioned this to me a while ago but it had no impact at the time.  I think I'll call Doc and Dot Piaget while I still can........

Needless to say, when Gordon Albro messaged on FB and asked me if I knew anything about Bernice Alexander and Joe Brophy, I was a little more circumspect and after a double check with the DVA (Department of Veterans Affairs) on line database, we found his burial location in Totowa along with the death dates. Bernice's dates were registered with the Social Security Death Index. I called Gordon back, because bad news should always be delivered as close to personally as possible. An email or FB message just didn't seem right. Gordon also gave me his current contact info for the directory.

I'm waiting for confirmation of a story told to me that Louie Lotz is a pastor. I have emailed the church in Michigan that displays a photo of their pastor on their website that bears a striking resemblance to our Lou Lotz. Do you think this looks like Lou? If so, Lou isn't just a pastor. He's a lettered theologian and a widely known, prolific author.

I'm still calling folks to confirm locations by phone in the early evening and considering time zone changes. Despite Linda's best efforts, I have given up trying to keep it short. So far the best I've done is 30 minutes. There is always so much catching up to do. Talked to Doug Itjen last night and had to compliment him for raising a son who looks really sharp in a Wayne PD uniform. Chip off the old block, you could say.

By the way, if I do post something that flies in the face of what you know for fact, let me know right away. I'm not infallible by any means. My friends and Linda take considerable delight in pointing this out to me on every possible occasion. When wandering through the foggy past, it is easy to make missteps along the way. Collective memory has got to be better than my memory. I used to remember all my clients' phone numbers. Now I just remember the numbers and have no idea who they belong too. Isn't that why we all have smartphones now? Now I can't even call anyone without using the thing. When you don't need to remember, you don't. Eventually, we'll just Google everything and there it will be. That would make finding everyone easy. Unfortunately, we're not quite there yet.