Reunion Day
The big day finally arrived. Classmates began gathering at the school parking lot at 4 p.m. Everyone was enjoying getting acquainted, guessing who was who and visiting. Becky Hoyt (our tour guide) probably wondered what she had gotten herself into when she tried to corral us down the hallowed halls of ole alma matre. There was so much talking, you would have to wonder if anyone was listening. After the school tour, we all converged upon the streets of downtown Wellsville and gathered in the Wellsville Community Center. John Barton, master of ceremonies, had a very interesting program of entertainment for us as he gave us instructions of our 'bingo' ice breaker assignment. [And did you know he was a magician?!] Classmates, spouses, teachers and guests set off to obtain the goal of our assignment of gathering the most signatures on our bingo card. This led us to approach every classmate there for their signature. We were having such a good time then time was called. We had to turn in our cards to see who won the 'bingo' signature game. The three lucky winners of a $25 gift certificate each to WalMart were Carl Grimwood, Phil Kemp's granddaughter and Betty (Harrington) Qualls. John did a fantastic job. And we were also indebted to Sue (McMurtry) Fennewald for doing a tremendous amount of 'work' behind the scenes. She did all of the mailings by snail mail, brought decorations, helped John set-up Friday, stayed in contact with John and Gail all along the way and gave attention to many, many other details of the planning. She was always there for us, ready to do 'whatever'. Thank you, Sue. Other members of the planning team were Janet (Kraftzeck) Heim, Jane (Flynn) Heim, Phil Kemp, Lande Lehnen, Dale Parrish, Curtis Peery, and Bob Wilkerson. They did a super job of getting the ball rolling by helping us get in contact with every classmate on our list. The evening ended with our surveys turned in and promises to get together sometime again before the fiftieth anniversary.
Mr. Burmont to Attend Reunion
Phil Kemp has received an email from Mr. Norman Burmont, our band instructor and music teacher, our freshman, sophomore and junior years.
Excerpts from his email: "How exciting to get the kind invitation to the class reunion. It brought back a flood of warm memories. It has been a long time since I chanced to look out the 2nd story window of the Jr. High Bldg, and saw a very special student performing some incredible work with a stick he had picked up on the playground!-----and that was only the beginning. Wow!, what talent. Never such talent since, I must say.
I am now retired (four years) from a very rewarding career as a music educator, a 39 year “stint” that was my second teaching position after my three years at Wellsville-Middletown R-1. My wife of 23 years and I are enjoying our retirement. She is a remarkable lady that I will be anxious for all of you to meet.
I so wish that we will be able to attend the reunion, but hope that everyone will be wearing name tags. It has been a long time."
Did you know?
Did you know that the melody to our school song came from the school song at Northeast Missouri State Teacher's College (now Truman State) at Kirksville? Thank you, Tom Spiers, for that bit of information.
Lots of New Content
Be sure to check out all the new content on our site. There are new 'recent' pictures. Have you guessed who they all are? We need more. Send your pictures now. And be sure to check out the tributes on the 'In Memory Of' page. Don't miss scrolling all the way to the bottom of the page and follow the link to '50,000 Names'.....very touching. And don't overlook the sub-pages under the 'Memorabilia' and 'Picture Gallery' pages.
"Who Are They?"
Have you been keeping tabs on the "Guess Who" pictures? More 'recent' pictures have been added. One person said they knew right away who the guy in the red shirt was. Does anybody else know? Another person said, "Okay, I give up. Who are they?" How about the rest of you? Send more pictures. Let's keep everybody guessing. Be sure to check out the other page, "Grade School", under the "Picture Gallery" page. Aren't they 'cute'!
Bibet (Weber) Burnetta
We have heard from one teacher. Do you remember Bibet Weber teaching our Sophomore year? She taught history. That was the only year that she ever taught school besides some sub teaching for a short while. She actually became a flight attendant and later helped her husband in his optometry business. She doesn't know yet if she can attend our reunion. We will hear from her later. Maybe she will send us a recent picture. You will have to check back to see.
When & Where
Our 44th anniversary reunion will be August 30 in Wellsville at 6 p.m. A tour of the school is planned at 4 p.m. on that day, as well. Phil Kemp and his brother have bought the old Mattingly's dime store downtown Wellsville and have turned it into a restaurant. It now goes by the name of Wellsville Community Social Center. That's the 'where'. And they will be cooking the meal for us at a cost of $10 per person. It will be served buffet style.
Contact Us
Other classmates are checking the 'contact us' page regularly looking for messages from 'you'. You are encouraged to use this site to interact with each other, or to post messages of your thoughts and ideas regarding the reunion, or start any discussion you would like.
Sue has made arrangements for us to tour the school on the day of the reunion. It will be conducted by her daughter, Becky, and will be at 4:00 p.m. There have been a lot of changes there since we graduated in 1964. Even if you have seen the school recently with the new addition, etc., this will be a 'fun' tour to take with our classmates strolling down memory lane together. Don't miss out on this part of the reunion.
Messages received from the "Contact Us" form go to an inbox and then are copied back on the "Contact Us" page. So visit that page often for messages from classmates.