OCTOBER 4th DINNER GET-TOGETHER

We had a nice turn out for this get-together which was held at Hill Top Restaurant and Lounge. We saw some new faces as well as some familiar faces. We spent about an hour and 45 minutes reminiscing. Talked some about a 45th reunion get-together for the year 2001. But, we need to know what everyone wants in this regard. One night, two nights, formal, informal, ???? Also, we need volunteers to help set up a 45th reunion. Please let us know what you want, and if you would be willing to help set it up. Those in attendance at this dinner were: Ray & Shirley Robinette, Tom & Roberta (Elin) Abbott, Phil & Barbara (Lowe) Penn, Bill & Mary Lou (Carnal) Howard, Jerry & Becky Smith, Mary Lou (Katzmann) Goodman, Yvonne (Miller) & Rolland Nauman, Don & Mary (Crum) Moses, Nancy (Lund) Belluchi, Larry & Jackie Soloman, Dale & Marlene (Roberts) Wheeler, Bob & Connie Trotter, Larry & Pat (Rounds) Hockersmith, Kay (Edwards) & Chico Alcantar, Don Spaw, Romona (Hitchcock) & Gary Moore, Larry & Margaret Fogelson....Mary (Katzmann) Goodman came from San Jose, CA. Way to go Mary Lou. The next dinner get-together will combine a little nostalgia along with the reminiscing at the La Pizza House at 1013 SE 14th on April 17th, 2000 at 6:30 pm. I think that was one of the first pizza places in Des Moines, and I know a lot of us used to frequent it on a regular basis.

RETIRED, TRAVEL, AND MOVING

Etha (Penenger) Whitten writes that she has retired and will be doing some traveling with a friend, and will eventually be moving to California to live with her sister. She also says she enjoys receiving the newsletter. Good Luck Etha, send your new address.

MOTORING ACROSS AMERICA

My husband Roy & I left Oregon in April and have been traveling cross country in our new 40' diesel motor coach. During our stay in Des Moines in August, we had a wonderful visit with my dear childhood friend, May Kay (Peacock) Sampson who is now living in Adana, Turkey.

Pat (Jones) Mondike.

Editors PS- We hope Mary wasn’t effected by the earthquakes over there. Please let us know!

WALLEYE FISHING ON LAKE ERIE

Hi Larry & Margaret. Hope your summer has been great and you’re enjoying the sweet corn and tomatoes, as we are. Just checking to see if you saw the obituaries on Wendell Webb and William Storer? Also sounds like maybe Coach Savage may decide to retire from Girl’s //softball next year. We had a good trip to Lake Erie in July for a 3 day charter of Walleye fishing. Weather was great, but it did get a bit bumpy out there. Our oldest (14) grandson sure enjoyed it and the captain wanted to hire him for the rest of the summer, but couldn’t work it out-too many activities. Gran J brought in the most fish, but not the largest. Guess thats all.

Janeene (Miller) Carlisle.

LOOKING FOR A “ 56" YEARBOOK

I had to chuckle at the letter from the person who had only gone to school at East High for a year and a half, and no longer wished to receive the Newslink. I only attended for one year and so there are only a few people I remember or who would likely remember me, but I still enjoy reading it-it’s a good feeling just knowing I am “connected” with others this way. I so regret that I lost my yearbook (graduated with the August Class), so if one ever comes up, I would really appreciate the chance to purchase it. My husband is retired from Ford Motor Company, and I retired form Romeo Community Schools. We now enjoy traveling in our motor home about 4 months each winter to warm destinations- it will be Arizona this coming winter. Thanks so much for taking the time to compile, print and mail out the Newslink. Maybe one of these days our travel plans will co-inside with one of the dinner reunions-that would be great.

Judith (Halden) Howard.

MARRIED A NATIVE FLORIDIAN

Enclosed are two separate checks. One for the Newslink, and one for the scholarship fund. The Newslink is a wonderful way to stay in touch with high school friends. Lyle Simpson’s idea for a scholarship from our class was a good one, I hope others are interested in supporting it. Scholarships made my college education possible.

Mevelyn (Wooderson) Richardson and her husband Neil stopped to visit us in January en route to their next sailing adventure. Their goal was to get to Trinidad before hurricane season. Mevelyn informed me of many of our classmates locations and activities. It was fun looking back. I have lived in Florida since I graduated from Drake. I attended graduate school at UF, got married and stayed. My husband Tom is a rarity....a native Floridian....4th generation. We live in a small town called Bradenton on the gulf coast just south of Tampa Bay. Most of my family followed me here so I have not returned to Iowa very often.

Tom and I have two married daughters. One lives in nearby Lakeland, and the other lives in Atlanta. Tom owns his own business and does not plan to retire soon, but he does take a lot of time off. We stay busy with various out door activities. I have enjoyed two careers: Teaching high school and college English, and later selling residential real estate. Now I enjoy my friends, tennis, bridge, Bible study, volunteering, aerobics and traveling. I am also learning how to use my computer.

Sharon (Burris) Howze

TRADING COMIC BOOKS

My wife and I really enjoy hearing about the class of “56". I particularly enjoyed hearing about Mary Kay (Peacock) Sampson, it brought up memories all the way back to grade school when she and I used to get together and trade comic books.

My wife (Pat Houghton, class of 58) and I have two great children and four terrific grandchildren (three boys and one girl). Our daughter and her family live in Carson City NV. And our son and his family live in Des Moines. We retired to Southern California last year and bought a home in a place called Temecula. We love the weather and all that there is to do out here, but could do with out all the traffic. Keep up the good work and my donation is on the way.

Joe Woxell

PICTURES IN NEWSLINK ?

Gary Blair wrote to ask if we can put pictures in the newslink. Yes Gary, we can and have. When we get them I have Tom Abbott scan them for me. There have been pictures in two or three of the previous newslinks. Larry Fogelson

REUNION MEMORIES

I thoroughly enjoy reading the various news notes about our classmates-though I’ve not been at all diligent about staying in touch. However since our big 40th reunion (has it really been 3 years), which was the first I had attended, some of my fondest memories seem like they happened only yesterday. The reunion itself was a blast, walking into the Friday night reception gave me a very warm feeling, I told myself “I know practically everyone here”, of course putting the names with the right faces was another matter.

Ron Olson

HUMOR FOR US AGING CITIZENS

Remember, old folks are worth a fortune, with Silver in their hair, Gold in their teeth, Stones in their kidneys, Lead in their feet and Gas in their stomachs.

. I have become a little older since I saw you last and a few changes have come into my life since then. Frankly, I have become quite a frivolous senior citizen. I am seeing five companions every day.

As soon as I wake up WILL POWER helps me get out of bed, then I go see JOHN. Then CHARLIE HORSE comes along and when he is here he takes a lot of my time and attention. When he leaves ARTHUR RITIS shows up and stays the rest of the day. He doesn’t like to stay in one place very long, so he takes me from joint to joint. After such a busy day, I’m really tired and glad to go to bed with BEN GAY, what a life ?

The preacher came to call the other day. He said at my age I should be thinking about the hereafter. I told him “Oh, I do that all the time.” No matter where I am, in the parlor, upstairs, kitchen or down in the basement, I am asking myself, “What am I Here After ?”

Author Unknown

ENJOYED DINNER GET-TOGETHER My husband Dale & I attended the last dinner get-together Oct. 4th at the Hilltop Restaurant. It was a very enjoyable evening of visiting and good food.

Thanks to our long time friends Larry and Jackie Soloman for keeping after us to attend. We will be looking forward to the next dinner.

Dale and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary this year with a very enjoyable 10 day trip to Ireland. We went with a group of 32 from around Des Moines, and everyone had so much fun.

Thanks to everyone for the hard work involved in getting the newslink out to all of us from the Class of “56". It’s a great idea.

Marlene (Roberts) Wheeler

NEW NAMESAKE

I have learned that Mary (Katzmann) Goodman became a grandma again. Their youngest son and his wife had their second baby, a girl, and named it after Mary Lou.

You must be thrilled to pieces Lou.

AUTHOR HAS BOOK SIGNING

Carol (Granny) DeChant had a book signing at Borders Book store for her “Momma’s Enchanted Supper” book. Janeene (Miller) Carlisle informs me that the following alumnus were in attendance: Carol Adams, Linda (White) Towers, Linda (Neely) Stickel, Janet (Bales) Douglas, Yvonne (Miller) Nauman, Jack Hensley, Rae (Atkinson) Leto, Don Spaw, Lyle Simpson, Janice (Crain) Stueckrath, Kathleen (Granny) Finkanauer, Brenda Parsons, and Joy Gustaveson. Carol did a wonderful job of identifying us and was overwhelmed to see all of us. She had received notes from others from out of town. Jack Hensley said he is trying to sell his house and the plan is to move to Kingman, AZ.

Janeene (Miller) Carlisle

(Good luck Jack, I would say AZ is a pretty good place to move to. Please send me you new address after you move.)

LONG TIME EMPLOYEE

Hi Larry, my name is Bob McAfee. Glad to get the NewsLink. I’ll try to come to a dinner get-together some time. I work at Fawn Engineering, and have for the past 43 years. Of course I know our president, Art Whittern. My wifes name is Barbara, a very nice christen lady. People can contact me by my email.

Robert McAfee

POSSIBLE WEB SITE ?

I’d be happy to put the email addresses you have of any class mates on the web site. It would be a start. I can also scan in pictures. If you have files of the NewsLink text, send them along to me by email, and I’ll archive them on the web for anyone who cares. If we get the web site going, you can invite people to send photos and things for me to add. I think that would be a lot of fun. I have my own server with unlimited space and high speed access for maintenance-this is a kind of hobby for me. The web site URL would be:

http://www.tfl.net/EHS56/

It has been a long time since I’ve seen any of my classmates. I was at the alumni reunion last summer, and did see Lyle Simpson. Did not see much evidence of the Class of 56. We are not old enough yet to get any recognition.

Also last year I was doing some consulting for a company in Fairfield, IA and managed to get to Cedar Rapids to spend an evening with Ken and Judy Viggers. I brought a CD recording of him at the piano playing with the EH Band and Mr. Borg. Talk about a trip down memory lane. We talked non-stop for hours.

Tom Lettington

(Thanks Tom, I am still trying to download the previous NewsLinks for you to archive on the web site. I have tried to send them email, but apparently don’t have the speed or capacity or the know how to do so. Still trying though, the following is a list of what email addresses I have.)

Classmates can now send emails to Tom Lettington’s email address for things that they want to be displayed on the website.

Things that they want to go into the newsletter, they will continue to send by mail or email to Larry Fogelson.

E-MAIL ADDRESSES

Tom Abbott - TAbbott@concentric.net

Jerry Brown - jrb997t@mail.smsu.edu

Jeanne (Miller) Carlisle - granj5@hotmail.com

Janice (Webber) Cassidy - hoppyjan@cybersol.com

George Clark - GVC-MMC@Juno.com

Carol (Graney) DeChant-Dechantpr@compuserve.com

Glee Flagor - Ssoren7689@aol.com

Larry Fogelson - ChiefFog@concentric.net

Mary L. (Katzmann) Goodman- mary.l.goodman@worldnet.att.net

Sharon (Burris) Howze - SharonHowz@aol.com

Tom Lettington - tl@synerg.net

Don Lund - LUNDBMW@aol.com

Robert McAfee - bjcats@webtv.net

Robert Mentzer - RLMent@AOL.com

Dick Smith - smithrk@flash.net

Larry Soloman - Mainman60.com

Ken Viggers - ken_viggers@rsmi.com

Joe Woxell - Woxelll028@aol.com

PASSING OF A CLASSMATE

To the “Class of 56". Just a note to let you know that Ed Sondag died April 24, 1997. Ed attended Drake University, Insurance & Real Estate School. He was retired from insurance adjusting when he died of emphysema. He married in June of 1958 and had 3 boys. His wife was a grad of Broadlawns School of Nursing, and we had lived in Florida almost 30 years. I saw Calvin Osborn when I was back to Iowa last year.

Ed’s wife Marilyn

IN MEMORIAM TO CLASSMATES

Harmon Nolte - June 1999

Donald Prugh - April 1999

Ed Sondag - April 1997

IN MEMORIAM TO TEACHERS

William Storer Sr. - 1999

Wendell T. Webb - 1999

“May their virtues be inscribed in our hearts”

WHERES EVERYONE AT TRIVIA

According to the statistics I have on our classmates, we are spread out over 31 states plus the Virgin Islands, Spain, and Turkey. I will just list the top 10 states with the number of grads in each:

Iowa..................................186

California............................18

Florida................................12

Texas....................................9

Illinois...................................9

Minnesota..............................9

Missouri................................7

Arizona.................................6

Colorado...............................5

Three way tie for 10th

Kansas..................................4

New Mexico.........................4

Ohio.....................................4

I am sure these numbers will change as more and more of the grads retire, with some moving to the warmer year round climates.

DONATIONS FOR NEWSLINK

A number of you have recently sent donations to help keep the NewsLink going. We appreciate that. We have also received a number of nice comments about keeping this link with our classmates. Shirley (Grant) Robinette and I would like you to know that we appreciate your appreciation. It is always nice to hear. Please keep both coming. The recent round of contributors are:

Gary Blair-Dee (Logan) Brewbaker-Tom Fjelde-Larry Gilliland-Judith Howard-Sharon Howze-Rae Leto-Charles McQuerry-Ronald Olson-Dennis Parker-Doris (Rasmussen) Richards-Larry Soloman-Linda (Neeley) Stickel-Linda (White) Towers-Marlene (Roberts) Wheeler-Joe Woxell

Donations are to be sent to:

Shirley Robinette

812 - 22nd St.

Des Moines, Iowa 50317

Shirley said she only received one donation this time toward the scholarship fund, and that was from Sharon Howze. This fund does not appear to be of much interest to the majority of grads.

CURRENT LIST OF LOST GRADS

The following grads have apparently moved and I do not have a current address for them. If you know where any of them are, please send their new address to me:

Susan (Beebe) Bane-Harold J. Cahow-Helen Cooper-Ron Gray-John Hall-Sheryl (Deskin) Holsman-Joanne(Bosshardt) Jergens-Gene R. Lewis-Thomas P. Mason-Bill McGriff-John Moody-Jeanne(Clark)Moore-Nancy Morrow-Bill Orris-Don Patton-Betty Smith-Max K. Smith-Beverly (Adams) Tucker-Harvey Thompson-Buelah(Schovel) Waters-Tom F. White

Address Changes or Corrections Dec 1999

Dee Ann (Logan) Brewbaker

1700 NW 142nd St.

Waukee, IA. 50265

Glee (Flagor) Brouillard

238 Pondersosa Ct.

Eureka, CA 95503

Dean Dawson

2540 E. Tiffin

Des Moines, IA 50317

Carol (Graney) DeChant

2930 N. Commonwealth Ave #701

Chicago, IL 60657

Donna (Jackson) Eide

4602 Calle Olma

Temple, TX. 76502

Larry Gilliland

946 Pleasant Est. Dr.

Sarasota, FL 34232

Rev. John Hill III

2285 - 290th St.

Missouri Valley, IA.

Ronald Maigaard

17874 Plaza Ahora

San Diego, CA 92128-1419

Max & Jan Miller

112 San Rafael Road

St. Augustine, FL 32084

Pat (Jones) Mondike

PMB 308

560-A Northeast “F” St.

Grants Pass, OR. 97526-2361

Tom Norris

623 - Rose Ave

Des Moines, IA 50315

Don Rehms

679- South Gentry Lane

Anaheim Hills, CA 92807

Charles L Sexton

13300 Panorama Loop NE

Albuquerque, NM 87123-2184

Linda (Neely) Stickel

Box 473

Pleasantville, IA 50225

Robert Warrick

2663 N Chestnut Cir.

Mesa, AZ 85213-1456

Ms. Etha Whitten

1101 Crocker St. Apt 421

Des Moines, IA 50309

Joe Woxell

30917 Mashie Way

Temecula, CA. 92591

Donna (Mattis) Wright

5405 N.W. 57th Ave.

Johnston, IA 50131

Mark your Calendar Now for April 17th

Next dinner get-together at the La Pizza House located at 1013 SE 14th at 6:30 pm. Please call:

Janeene at 984-6030 or Pat at 226-8996 or Larry at 279-0013 to RSVP by Wednesday, April 12th.

IDEAS FOR 45TH REUNION IN 2001???

Please share your ideas with us, and or willingness to help by contacting :

Janeene Carlisle

718 W. Washington Ave

Polk City, IA 50226

email granj5@hotmail.com

ITEMS FOR NEWSLETTER (PLEASE!!!)

Larry Fogelson

3121 - Twana Dr.

Des Moines, IA 50310

email ChiefFog@concentric.net

HAVE A SAFE Y2K- HOPE YOU DON’T HAVE TOO MANY PROBLEMS!

I HOPE THE NEW MILLENNIUM BRINGS PEACE, PROSPERITY AND TRANQUILLITY FOR EVERYONE.