Riverview Class of '63 Reunion

Just get your yearbook out and start matching them up. Next to John Forbis on the floor are Vito Mangona and Gerry Mudrovic. Behind them are Niehaus, Anaganos, Mueller, Kessler, Estep, Earle, Hess, Sinavitz. Good Luck with the rest!

We had our Class of ’63 Reunion Sept. 27, 2008 in St. Charles, Mo. There were some people there who had never been to a reunion before and we were missing some of the regulars. Some of us didn't bring our spouses. Those of us who went had a wonderful time. For the most part I will put the females maiden names. We did get books with everyone’s name and address if anyone is interested.

Ed Will, LynDee Lombardo, John Forbis, Terry Lombardo.


Carol Parsons, Ginny Paton, Joyce Nelson


Nick Sobin, Elaine Stamm


Ed Will


Don Durand and Bob Ziener


Carolyn Beyersdorfer, Barb Seal, Jeannette Bocquillon, Kathy Hoerig


Beverly Barker’s husband (Steven S.)and David Wrausmann


Chip Haunschild, Jack Biermann, Beverly Barker


Sandy Waalkes, Judy Vollert, Gary Steele


The highlight of the evening was watching Terry Lombardo’s movies of Float building, football games, parties. This is Don Durand stuffing tissue in chicken wire---as someone said, "Great life-time skill!"

Leah Frerichs Blasé getting us organized for a photo. Double click on photo to see close-ups. Then use arrow to go back.


Good Luck!
Thanks to Barbara Wells ('62) for taking these photos.


Spouses and Class of ’62 and ’64 taking photos. There were about 22 from the Class of ’62 who joined us.

Jim Earle, Carol Hess, Gail Sinavitz, Paul Comer, Pat Carter, Sandy Waalkes---fend for yourself on the others. If you have a specific question about someone, write me and I’ll do my best.


Watching Terry’s videos: Nick Sobin, Bill Rice, Dennis Bopp, David Maycock (second row) Ann Cognata, Paula Hoppe, Barbara Schneider


Dick Hawk, Rich Kessler, Kathy Hoerig

Here is a listing of our class members who are no longer living. I'm not including first names, for identity theft reasons: D. Broughton, R. Clark, J. Connor, R.Dodson, C. Dohrmann, H. Donaldson, R. Hall, L. Hanks, M. Harris, B. Hellman, T. Killoren, D. Luther, J. Manion, R. Meadows, B. Rebello, J. Slattery, S. Vahlenkamp, J. Watson, G. Wiedner.

Happy Anniversary Jim and Deb!

Here are my brother James and his lovely wife Deborah celebrating their anniversary in Rome a few months early. They were very gracious to invite Dave and me to accompany them on their "anniversary trip".
They had a beautiful wedding 6 years ago outdoors at a Connecticut inn, followed by dinner at the inn and a trip to a local casino. They really know how to throw a great party!
The wedding was extra-special because it was on our parents' 62 anniversary! Happy Anniversary Jim and Deb. . .and Mom and Dad.

Sandy Creek Covered Bridge

This photo was taken of my Dad, me and Jane in front of the Sandy Creek Covered Bridge. While working on genealogy and scanning maps of Jefferson County, I couldn't understand why my dad was so fond of this bridge---it was not close to the area where he grew up or where his grandparents lived. And yet, he drew and painted it several times.

Finally last weekend while going to the family reunion, I think I figured it out. It was on the road to De Soto. It is on "Old Lemay Ferry Road"---a gravel road! When my dad was young, he undoubtedly travelled between St. Louis and De Soto by train. But, when I was a child, we mostly went by car.
Thank goodness the highway department is improving the roads to De Soto, but as we were driving there I looked to the side where the old roads were and the trips all came rushing back to me. Those winding hills made me so car-sick. So, this covered bridge was probably a nice place to stop for me to stretch my legs, get some air before continuing on to De Soto.

It has now been made into a small state park. I tried to photograph some of the details about the bridge. Maybe you can double click on the photos and read it.
Or you can Click here for more information.

Dolls

My mother said I was never a doll lover as a child. Somehow my doll genes kicked in when I was a young adult. The large Raggedy Ann on the left was my first doll as an adult---a friend of my mom's made it. I loved it and then went on to add other cloth body dolls to the collection (most from garage sales)
With three daughters, there were only so many Barbies I wanted to invest in, so I started doll collections for them which mirrored my interests of books and character dolls. We even put together a display of books and dolls at their school library.
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My mother had a good friend, Sharon Bishop, who made the most wonderful dolls. These were all purchased by my mother for her collection and mine. The two in the center are topsy-turvy dolls. The white teddy bear on the left was made from one of mother's bedspreads.
The two smaller dolls both have "Beauty is only Skin-deep" on their aprons and they have freckles on their noses. If you know me, you'll know why I like dolls with freckles.
These are what remains of my Holly Hobbie collection. I like patchwork quilts, Little House on the Prairie---so I enjoy collecting these dolls, too. I even went so far as to purchase one in porcelain. I like the "rag", cloth body dolls because children can play with them and I don't have to worry that something will happen to one of my dolls. Although my daughters think some of my male dolls are a little freaky, their kids don't seem to mind. And, with 4 grandsons, I'm glad I had the foresight to collect some boy dolls.

Squash--my Garden

Every year, I'm successful with ONE plant variety. Last year about all I got was Pumpkin leaves---no pumpkins, just vines that engulfed everything. I had one year when I had so much lettuce, I put it in a wagon and the kids went door-to-door handing out lettuce. I haven't had to plant cherry tomatoes in about 20 years---I don't have as much as I used to get, but I'm still getting them.

This year, my dominant plant was yellow squash. I had all of these seeds in the bottom of a coffee can. I thought some were zucchini, some pumpkin, but no, they were all yellow squash! For more information on squash, click here. (My daughter thinks I randomly include links to educate her. . .)

My poor husband never knows when yellow squash will appear---he should know, by now, that it will get tossed into almost anything we eat.

Of course it makes it in all sorts of vegetable side dishes.

I mentioned in a post last month that I love a lot of color---it adds a certain splash of yellow to all sorts of things.

Even dinners that are ready made from Trader Joe's, will get a healthy addition of yellow squash.
I think Dave was pretty surprised to see it in chili last night. Hey, if Rachel can put corn in chili, I can put yellow squash.
I think he's a little concerned that I'm going to get REALLY creative and try to make Yellow Squash bread (using a Zucchini Bread recipe). But, so far, I'm able to keep it picked when it is still small (yellow doesn't hide as well as green zucchini does)

Long Reunion

We had our annual September Long Reunion in De Soto, MO on Sunday. There were a few in attendance who have been coming to the reunions since 1931. The photo below are of two brothers, three sisters and their kin. Double click on any of the photos to enlarge them. Then use the arrow to go back to the main page.


Everyone was still buzzing about cousin Curtis who was honored by the University of Missouri this summer.
His brother Alan (below) brought photos of the ceremony---we are all very proud of Curtis and his support of our favorite university.
I'm sorry, Virginia, I somehow missed getting your photo, but below are a few more cousins--Bill Long and David Long.

Both men live in De Soto (which is near where our ancestors moved 200 years ago!) and have a lot of interesting family stories. If you want to know more about De Soto, Click here. If you live close to Missouri, you might have seen commercials on TV for Jay Nixon, gubernatorial candidate. De Soto is featured in that commercial showing it to be a vibrant railroad town. David did entertain us with stories about Jay's dad whom he went to high school with.

Happy Birthday Donna!

Happy Birthday Donna! Sorry I couldn't come up with a better photo---it was this or you in a swim suit and robe cover-up! We hope you have a great birthday! (Also, I know your birthday is Monday, but I'm working on Monday---haven't figured out how to delay a post, yet)

Happy Birthday Lynn!

Happy Birthday Lynn! So glad we got to celebrate your birthday together last year. Hope you have a happy one this year---we'll see you in November.

Middle of the Road

I am very middle of the road, uncomfortable with extremists---not just political or religious extremists but all kinds of extremists. I don’t run or pump iron---I do water aerobics and Pilates. I’m not the life of the party, nor do I sit in the corner---I go to those in the corner and talk to them. When I go out, I don’t drink Margaritas or iced tea—I’ll sip on a glass of beer or wine most of the evening.
My first, middle, last, maiden names are all between J and M in the middle of the alphabet. I taught middle school. I’ve lived most of my life in the middle of the country and now live mid-street in a middle suburb. Even my genetics are pretty middle of the road---a blend of at least six nationalities. My ancestors were Yankees and Rebels who lived in the middle states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri.

I taught my middle of the road values to my children---dabble in everything but don’t go over-board in anything. I encouraged them to make B’s, play sports, participate in the arts, go to church, have a little fun. Stay balanced. Be "Best All-Around" not "Most Likely to Succeed".

Life lessons have made me lean a little to the left while standing on the line---I lived in Gemany, taught English to immigrants (k-adult), was a public school teacher specializing in students who were not successful. “Leave me alone, do your own thing, stand on your own feet, get your hands out of my pocket, God helps those who help themselves, teach a man to fish” are my mottoes.

I was hoping to vote for a Presidential candidate who was more middle of the road, or at least one who could reach across the aisle and shake hands with the opposing party. I said this summer, I’d wait until VP candidates were selected and then see which team was the most balanced, the most willing to govern our country---not polarize it.

To me, the Obama-Biden team are the most willing to build bridges not tear them down. Sarah Palin is the most polarizing candidate I've ever seen on a ballot---I can't see a "Barracuda" or a "Bulldog" building bridges or shaking hands across the aisle.

Despite my saying I was a moderate, I decided to take a couple of quizzes to see if I was as middle of the road as I thought. Well, I now officially “belong” to Centerville.

My first quiz, on the Facebook Moral Politics, showed me a little on the conservative side.

“The following categories best match your score (multiple responses are possible):

1. System: Conservatism
2. Ideology: Capital Republicanism
3. Party: Republican Party
4. Presidents: Gerald Ford
5. 04' Election: John Kerry
6. 08' Election: John McCain [sure, before Sarah Palin was added to the ticket]



Of the 478,329 respondents (5,631 on Facebook):

1. 6% are close to you.
2. 15% are more conservative.
3. 25% are more liberal.”

I also took a test on http://www.politicalcompass.org/ which had me
a little on the liberal side---not far from Ralph Nader!

Finally I took this quiz http://www.politopia.com/quiz_index.php3 and I became an official member of Centerville.

Here's another very good web-site to check on the "truthiness" of politicians' claims.

http://www.factcheck.org/