East High Class of "56"
Winter, 1996
NewsLink
This newsletter is to bring everyone up to date about our
40th class reunion, and to inform you
of what we are trying to do to keep in touch..
Tour of East High:
Janeene Miller Carlisle reports that 13 of the gals got
together (picture below) at Country Kitchen for brunch prior to the Friday
Night Prairie Meadows festivities. They took a tour of our Alma Mater and sang
Dear East High in the gymnasium. They report that the campus is as beautiful as
always, but much larger. A bright and abundant library has been added, along
with a new cafeteria. There has been a couple of streets closed off, and several
new parking lots have been added. Janeene also reported that all the trophies
from the 1950s were being polished by the 1940 class.
Back: Mary
Lou Katzmann Goodman, Janice Crain Stueckrath, Pat Rounds Hockersmith, Deanna
Wheatley Peterson, Mary Crum Moses, Hazel Harman Crocker, Bing
Kinney Miller, Kay Johnson Inman, Barbra Evans Priest.
Front: Mary
Lou Weisbro Nicholson, Sharel Tuers Spendlove, Linda White Towers, Janeene
Miller Carlisle.
Prairie Meadows
Friday August 30th:
This was the start of our 40th reunion. We met at Prairie
Meadows for an evening of reminiscing, renewing old acquaintances, and friendships. Everyone was sizing
everyone else up to see how much they had changed in 40
years. A few changes were dramatic,
many had changed very little, but the
amazing thing was, most everyone could still recognize everyone, even after 40
years. Plenty of excellent Hors d' oeuvre's and a cash bar made for a very
pleasant evening for the 140 or so in attendance. It is rumored that a few took
advantage of playing the slot machines in the casino, and made it a profitable
evening also.
Embassy Suites
Saturday August 31st:
We had 154 reservations for dinner at the Embassy Suites
Hotel (83 graduates and their spouses or guest). Of this number 23 was
from the January class, 59 from the June class, and one from the August
class. 32 of the 83 graduates were from
out of state.
Tom Pierick, Hazel Harman
Crocker, Ruth Ann Collins Pierick (class of 55), Ron Larson.
There was a cash bar starting at 6:30 pm. A class picture
was taken at 7:15 followed by an excellent sit down dinner being served about 7:30.
The tables were set up with black tablecloths with a red floral
centerpiece. There was a black coffee cup at each place with a red school logo, and Aclass
of 56", Lee Township against the World, printed on it. These mugs were a memento for those in attendance. Prior to dinner there was an
invocation by classmate, reverend John Hill.
Bob Trotter acted as MC for the program following the
dinner.
Larry Fogelson, Barbra Evans
Priest, Ken Viggers, Sally Peterson Goeser, Sharel Tuers Spendlove, Charles
Allen, Jerry Brown.
Wendel Webb, who was
the assistant principal during our high school years gave a short address
welcoming everyone back. Coach Bob Savage reminisced about the way things were
40 years ago compared to the way things are today. He said we enjoyed the best
of times to be in school in the mid 50's.
Coach Savage also bragged that the football team of the fall of 55 was
probably the best team that he ever coached.
A microphone was passed around to all the graduates to take
a few moments to introduce themselves, and their spouse or guest if present,
and to make any brief comment about themselves or the reunion.
A video was put together and shown covering the years and
times we were in school. They also were video taping the events Saturday night
to add to this video. (They have now completed this video, and it is available
to anyone who would like to order one for $20.00. It will make a nice
keepsake for everyone, especially if
you were not at the reunion. If
anyone else wants a copy, contact: Apple Video productions by using the order
blank at the back of this newsletter. They said it would take about two weeks
to ship).
Numerous door prizes were drawn for. A special door prize of
a beautiful East High Afghan was awarded to the individual who came the furthest
to attend the reunion. It went to Dennis Parker who came from the Virgin
Islands, where he works and resides.
There was a 50's style juke box with all 50's songs that
provided the music for the evening. The
nostalgia was thick in the air when these
oldies but goodies was playing, just as
it was when we sang the school song. It was a real trip down memory lane.
We announced that we were going to get together every few
months or so, for dinner at different restaurants. Anyone who wanted to come was
welcome.
Janeene Miller Carlisle,
Jerry Brown, Deanna Wheatley Peterson,
Larry Gilliland, Max Miller, Dan
Strosnider, Denny Parker, Sharel Tuers Spendlove.
At least this would be a way to keep in touch on a local
level.
Class Reunion Poem:
The following poem was given to me by Roberta Elin Abbott.
She copied it from an Iowa Methodist Medical Center News for Nurses. by Donna Presnell. It goes to the rhyme and rhythm of It was the Night Before Christmas.
It
was my class reunion, and all through the house,
I
checked in each mirror and begged by poor spouse
To say I looked great, that my chin wasn’t double
And he lied through false teeth, just to stay out of trouble.
Said that ‘neath my thick glasses, my eyes hadn’t changed,
And I had the same figure, it was just a mite rearranged.
He said my skin was still silky, although looser in drape,
Not so much like smooth satin, but more like silk crepe.
I
swallowed his words hook, sinker, and line
And entered the banquet feeling just fine.
Somehow I’d expected my classmates to stay
As young as they were on that long-ago day.
We’d hugged farewell hugs. But like me, through their years,
They’d added gray to their hair or pounds to their rears.
But as we shared a few memories and retold some class jokes,
We were eighteen in spirit, though we looked like our folks.
We turned up hearing aid volumes and dimmed down the light,
Rolled back the years, and were young for the night.
Latin King Restaurant
October 10, 1996:
Eighteen people got together for dinner at the Latin King
restaurant. Another four individuals who couldn’t make it for dinner did show
up later for some conversation. This was somewhat of a pleasure and business
meeting combined. We are still waiting for the rest of the bills to come in,
but it would appear that we can replace the seed money that was passed on to us
from the last class reunion (to start the next reunion with), and possibly buy
a plaque or something to hang up at East High from the class of “56". That will be discussed this at a later date.
The next dinner get together which will be at Christopher’s restaurant on
November 18th. It was also decided to send this follow up newsletter to all the
classmates, including those who for whatever reasons could not make this
reunion, to not only show you what you missed, but to more importantly, impress
upon you how much you were missed.
Hopefully, you can make the next one.
Comments on Reunion,
Book, etc:
Several committee members received some very nice Thank You
cards from some of the people who attended the reunion. We are glad everyone
had a good time. We also received some
very nice compliments on the book. Your
committee members had a ball planning this reunion, and your reception and
participation made it all worthwhile.
Class Pictures:
The class picture was done by Charles D. Stover Photography
of Norwalk, Iowa. They agreed to take the class picture with no obligation to
the class to purchase. They printed up a number of pictures, and returned to
the reunion to sell them at $10.00 a piece. The problem was, they also took a
Valley 20 year reunion picture the same night, and an error was made on the
date shown on our picture. It says Class of 1976 instead of 1956. They were
contacted in regards to this, and they state that they informed everyone that
night that it had the wrong date on it. The latest concession we could get out
of them was, anyone who purchased a picture should send it to them, and they
will send another picture with the correct date on it. Several have already
done this. Others are reluctant to send
their picture back, fearing it could become Alost
in the mail, either going or coming, and then they could be out
altogether. However, if anyone is
interested in doing so, their address is as follows: Charles D. Stover
Photography, 1305 Sunset Drive, Norwalk, Iowa. Zip Code 50211. Phone # 515-981-4217. We are still trying to negoiate some sort of
a compromise, but have had no luck as yet. Please supply us with the following
information right away.
1. Names of everyone who purchased a picture.
2. Did they point out to you the night of the reunion that it had the wrong date on
it?
3. Have you already had your picture replaced?
Please send the answers to the above three questions right
away to:
Larry Fogelson
3121-Twana Drive
Des Moines, Iowa
50310
Christopher’s
Restaurant November 18:
Twenty-five people got together for dinner, conversation, a
short business meeting, and a good time. There were still some unsettled
accounts, so we could not close out the finanicial picture as yet. But,
everything looks good. Our next dinner
get together will be 6:30 P.M. on
Monday, March 3, at the New Tavern Restaurant located at 1755-50th. This is
south of University on the east side of 50th. (Near the Holiday Inn in
WDM). We need to have a minimum of
30 people to get the private room. Please call Janeene Miller Carlisle at
984-6030 or Bob Trotter at 276-9274 by February 27th if you will be able to
attend, and the number of people that will be in your party. Call another
classmate and bring them and their spouse or friend. Lets have at least 40.
Old Scroll:
Shirley Selover and Bill Foster sent me a copy of the East
High Scroll dated January 13, 1955. It talked of the Senior Class Night to be
held January 24th. The theme of
Class Night was to be Sleigh Bells. Snow
King and Queen of class night was Ron Green, and Luanne Kohbusch.
Highlight of the evening was to be the presentation of the class play, Sugar
and Spice.
The wrestling squad had two members who were as yet
undefeated, they were Ronnie Senecaut and Bob Knox.
In basketball, John Cisna of East was the leading percentage
scorer in the city with Ron Maigaard (East) third. Randy Duncan (Who?) of Roosevelt was second.
Red and Black were chosen as the school colors in 1894 when
East adopted football as a school sport.
Future Newsletters?
Do you want to see this newsletter continued on a semi-annual basis? It could be used for address change updates,
retirements, change of jobs, travel
plans, good news or honors that you
want to share with others, or even serious illnesses or injuries, death
notices,etc. If you are
interested, send the following:
1. Please send a
donation of $2.00 by
February 1,
1997 to:
Shirley
Robinette
812-E. 22nd Ct.
Des Moines,
Iowa 50317
This will cover the
cost of printing, lables, postage, etc. for the
two 1997 issues.
This date is important, so we
know the size of the interest.
2. Send any
information, unreturnable clear
pictures, etc., for publication to:
Larry Fogelson,
3121 Twana Drive
Des Moines,
Iowa. Zip code 50310
Information
must be received by April 1, 1997 for the Summer issue, and
October 1, 1997 for the
Winter issue.
HAPPY
HOLIDAYS
East High Class of
A56"
Reunion Picture Identification:
1st Row, seated left to right: John Beal,
Dan Strosnider, Harvey Thompson, Larry
Soloman, Larry Fogelson
Tom Abbott, Jerry Schartner, Jerry Hall, Ken Viggers, Gene Davis, Steve Larson, Ron Larson, Charles
Allen
2nd row, seated left to right: Shirley Grant Robinette, Donna Mumford Jackson,
Barbara Johnson Brown
Hazel Harman Crocker, Pat
Jones Mondike, Linda White Towers, Nancy
Lund Belluchi, Jean Allstead, Kay Edwards
Alcantar, Sherry Lair
Northcutt, Marian Adams Cotter, Mary Lou Katzman Goodman, Janice Crain
Stueckrath, Sally Peterson Goeser, Bing Kinney
Miller, Carol Adams, Yvonne Miller Nauman, Tom Pierick.
3rd row, standing left to right: Jerry Brown, Janeene Miller Carlisle, Deanna
Wheatly Peterson, Helen Cooper Mary Lou Weisborod Nicholson, Kay Johnson Inman,
Donna Mathis Wright, Rae Atkinson Leto, Alfreda Moore Emery, Sharel Tuers
Spendlove, Elizabeth Schoonover Emanuel, Mevelyn Wooderson Richardson, Marilym
Day Schoonover, Barbara Evans Priest, Rosemary Housenfluck Bishop, Pat Rounds
Hockersmith, Mary Crum Moses, Dorothy Beck Stroh, Marlene Roberts Wheeler,
Sharon Whitehead Stillwell, Donna Turner Beal, Denny Ross, Jerry Reese.
4th row, standing left to right: Bob
Trotter, John Hill, Milton Keyes, Don Stillwell, Bob Baldwin, Rod Campbell,
Jerry Smith, Larry Watkins, Arnold
Erickson, Don Monson, Ron Olson, Ed McCartney, Harold Olson, Lyle Simpson
Lyle Norman, Don Sullivan, Bill Foster, Denny Parker,
Larry Gilliland, Max Miller, Don Spaw, Larry
Anderson.
5th row, standing left to right: John Sullivan, Don Patton, Sam Carmichael, Chuck McQuerry.
Not Pictured: Bill Owens
Also not pictured: All the class members who couldn’t make it this time-hope we see
everyone at the next one.
Class of A56" NewsLink
Larry Fogelson
3121 - Twana Dr.
Des Moines, Iowa 50310
