Spring 2012 Newsletter - Fresno High School Alumni Association

FRESNO HIGH SCHOOL
CLASS OF 1955 NEWSLETTER
[email protected]
No. 12 Spring 2012
In memory of the following classmates
Barnard Bever 11/13/11
K.A. Fisk 11/22/11
Daniel Whitby 12/18/11
REUNION NOTES
Time for an update. Our hotel at the last reunion
became bank owned and is now called Park Inn. The
Raddison Hotel (Carlson Hotels) has purchased it.
Fortunately we have at least two years before we have
to sign a contract. The catering manager who did so
much for us at the 55th is leaving the hotel, but promised
to work with me when the time came to choose a
location. Everything may be fine in two years. All small
hotels are struggling. Nothing is for sure at this time and
I certainly do not want to put a deposit down unless I
know the hotel is going to be in business. At least half of
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the classmates who came to the 55 were from out of
town, so I feel a great obligation to those classmates to
find facilities that are all together. We are well organized
and will be able to make this happen.
Here is just a portion of the crowd at last year’s “Mini.”
TWO GUYS IN THE FAST LANE
By Langdon Claypoole
One change is name tags. They generated a lot of
comments after the reunion. I have about 5 different
ways people want to go. One of the alumni board
members has a business and he creates magnet name
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tags. I am going to give him my name tag from the 50
which is a larger size, and see what he can come up
with and hope the price is not over the moon. If you
have any thoughts or samples please send them to me.
I am still looking for ANY pictures someone may have of
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the 10 reunion. That is the only reunion missing in our
history of the reunions. You can email or snail mail them
to me. I will return them. Our plan at this time is to do a
PowerPoint presentation at the next reunion.
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Remember our motto for the 60 is 7 + 8 = 15.
Don Kavanagh and Langdon Claypoole pose before the
start of the May 2011 90-mile Silver State Classic Road
Race in Ely, NV.
BAY AREA MINI-REUNION
It’s that time again. Gail Giffen has graciously offered
her home at 3175 Teigland Road, Lafayette CA ,as the
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gathering place for the 7 Annual FHS Bay Area Mini
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Reunion on Saturday May 5 , 2 p.m. - early evening.
RSVP to Gail at [email protected], or phone
925-256-9038. You can contact Arnold Joyal at
[email protected] or 925-829-6094 for driving and
dinner instructions, or an email invitation.
We competed in the 140-165 mph class and were mostly
at 160 for the whole 90 miles of highway in my 2003
Corvette Z06, what a thrill. Anyone interested email
Lang at [email protected]. (Website:
www.SSCC.US for info and pictures. The orange ’73
Pantera was raced by Don and me in May 2010. What
has everyone else been doing for excitement? See you
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at the 60 reunion. Howdy to Jerry Honstein, John
Jennings, Stan Silva. Best wishes.
FRESNO HIGH SCHOOL REMODEL
Many changes are coming this year for FHS. The ground
breaking for the replacement of LaConte and Palmer
Halls was scheduled for April 9, 2012, but has been
postponed. We will be unable to add a picture to this
article.
was ¾ full, wonderful parent support. I hope they will be
able to play this game at Ratcliff again.
FRIENDS GETTING TOGETHER
By LaDonna Harrington Dawson
Construction begins sometime in late spring, with a two
year or less target for completion of the two wings at
either end of the campus on Echo Ave. We will keep
you in the loop on this and have updates with pictures.
Some of the older trees have to be removed, much to
the dismay of alumni and neighborhood residents, but
the school will be planting more trees than were taken
out. Stay tuned.
FRESNO HIGH SCHOOL BAND
Fresno High hired a new band director last fall. Jose
Vargas was the drum major and graduate assistant for
the Fresno State marching band. Great guy. He took
over a band that needed some TLC and he has been
giving it to them. Jose immediately started a fundraiser
for new uniforms. He expects to add a minimum of 15
new members a year from middle schools and has a
goal of 100, which means 100 new uniforms. The FHS
Class of 1955 Reunion Committee gave its approval to
donate $300 for the purchase of one uniform. I talked to
the principal, Adrian Palazuelos. He said the fund
raising drive has been very successful, but the goal of
$38,000 has a way to go. The current uniforms are 20
years old and some have been lost.
I am going to encourage all of you, my 1955 classmates,
to participate in this fundraiser. You can pass on helping
fund our newsletter this time and give whatever you feel
is right to the band. If you do this please write Class
of 1955 by your name and in the memo write Band
Uniforms. Please make checks payable to:
Fresno High School
Attn: Band Uniforms
1839 N. Echo Ave.
Fresno CA 93704
On November 9, 2011, FHS hosted the Little-Big game.
At halftime the bands of each school lined up on the
sidelines, Roosevelt with their uniforms on and Fresno
High in white shirts and pants and about 30 participants.
I kind of got a lump in my throat thinking back to our time
in high school and how proud we were of our band
members. I was proud of those 30 students who
participated and their parents who were there to cheer
them on. Then a very wonderful thing happened. As the
Roosevelt band came on the field, so did the FHS band.
They merged as one unit - alternating positions. It was
a great thing to do and turned out to be a special part of
the game. I knew then that I would push our
participation for new uniforms. I hope you agree with
me. Oh yes, FHS lost the game, but Ratcliff Stadium
This is Peggy Czarnek Yeiser, LaDonna Harrington
Dawson and Sara Spina Barton. We were all school
mates in FHS Class of 1955. I had not seen Peggy
since we left high school but I did see Sara three years
ago in Folsom, WA. We met in Carmichael, CA, in June
2011. We all had a great time over dinner at my niece’s,
reminiscing about our school days and what we are
doing now.
I was very shy and quiet in high school and my
bookkeeping teacher told me I would never become a
bookkeeper. I had to prove her wrong (My husband tells
me I am not shy or quiet anymore). After high school I
worked for a sewing machine company as their accounts
receivable bookkeeper. I was sent to San Francisco to
close down that branch of the business. On my way
back I stopped in San Jose and found a job as an
accounts receivable bookkeeper for a meat company.
My job in Fresno was coming to an end and, oh yes, I
had to shut that branch down also. I loved living in San
Jose. I got married, had three children, and ended up
working for the meat company for 13 years until they
moved out of town.
When my youngest turned 22 we opened a daycare.
We started with six children, then 12 and finally 14. After
ten years of doing this I decided it was too much to
handle, so we closed the daycare and moved to
Vancouver, WA, where my sister lived. Two children
stayed in San Jose. The youngest moved with us and
went to college, got married, and moved to Everett, WA.
My husband and I became apartment managers in
Vancouver, but after ten years of doing that we moved to
Everett, WA, where my youngest daughter lived. She
had jobs for us and we jumped at the chance. Once
again I was doing a little bookkeeping. At 72 years we
finally “retired”. We have a Chihuahua named Ginger
and we take care of our daughter’s three Boston terriers
during the week while she is at work. She picks them up
every night after work (You deserve a Parent of the Year
Award for that). I love working on scrapbooking and my
husband keeps busy with his stocks. Two days a week
we talk to people about the Bible and the hope it has for
living forever on earth.
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13 ANNUAL FRESNO HIGH ALUMNI DINNER
Saturday, May 19, 2011
On Echo Avenue in front of Fresno High
$40 per person
Social Hour at 5 p.m. /Dinner at 7 p.m.
Dessert Silent Auction at 8 p.m.
Theme: STRIKE UP THE BAND
(Recognizing the band and new construction)
Mail checks to FHS Alumni Association, 655 E.
Michigan, Fresno CA 93704, or contact Marie Slater
at 559-224-5241 or go to the alumni website to pay
online. No tickets sold at the door.
www.fresnohighalumni.com
Please let them know you are a 1955 graduate.
OUR MAUI EXPEDITION
By Sharon Haverty
Did you know that we have three classmates who each
live in a different part of Maui? David DeMark lives in
Wailuku (closest to the airport), Sandra Whyte Moore
lives in Kihei and Jane Tradewell Huff lives in Lahaina.
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On February 12 , two groups of FHS 1955 ladies
descended on Maui. Three of us stayed in Lahaina at
Jane Tradewell’s (Carol Bowman Underhill, Donna
Stewart Kelton and Sharon Henryson Haverty), the rest
of the ladies (remember the Washington Jr. High girls
who travel together? Yep it was them) were in condos at
the Westin in Ka’anapali. (Their names will be under the
picture). When we arrived, a little tired at Jane’s house,
we were instantly revived when we saw her incredible
deck. It was so private that we ate breakfast in our pj’s,
read books, and ate dinner on the deck most nights. The
best part was catching up with Jane on the past 20
years. Our very able driver was Carol who drove us
everywhere. I didn’t know in which direction I was
headed until the sun came up and went down.
The one request I had for both groups is that we would
get together for a Class of 1955 event and include the
Maui classmates. We did just that at Leilani’s in Whalers
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Village in Ka’anapali. We met there on Feb. 16 and had
a great meal and of course talk, talk, talk. David took the
day off to have lunch with us. (A 45 min. trip one way).
1st Row: Donna Stewart Kelton, Ellie Mason Houston,
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Arlene Johns Smith. 2 Row: Sandra Whyte Moore,
Rosanne Jensen, David DeMark, Joann Alavezos
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Anderson, Carol Bowman Underhill. 3 Row: Sharon
Henryson Haverty, Helen Johansen, Jane Tradewell
Huff.
We had dinner at David DeMark’s house on the18th. He
and partner Joe have spent 7 years remodeling a small
home to its current spectacular look. It should be
featured in Sunset magazine. They put on such a feast
for us and their hospitality was over the top. Sandy
Whyte Moore and husband Dick (’53) joined us.
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We left Jane’s on the 19 for 3 days at the Royal
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Lahaina. Spectacular views from our 5 floor balconies,
saw whales breaching while we sat on the hotel lawn,
had breakfast at The Gazebo in Napili and finally ended
with dinner at Duke’s on the beach at Honua Kai Resort.
One last comment. Jane took me to a strip mall on
Lower Honoapi’ilani Road in Honokowai to a small
takeout restaurant called Okazuya. The best food I ate
the entire trip. I ordered Mahi Mahi with Lemon Caper
Sauce, stir fried veggies and rice. Enough for 2 people
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at $15.95. Try it. Finally headed home on the 22 .
Below is the best purchase made while in Maui by Ellie a very slimming T-shirt.
Fresno High School Class of 1955
C/o Sharon Henryson Haverty
3773 W. Robinson Ave.
Fresno CA 93722-4782
Forwarding Address Requested
’55 NEWSLETTER GOES INTERNATIONAL
By Patty Kent Smayda
I received an email from an unknown sender (I always
hesitate to open these) but an interesting outcome. The
fellow asked if I was Patricia Kent who studied at a
Goethe Institute in Bad Reichenhall, Germany in
1960/61. If not he apologized - but yes – that was me. I
remembered going to a dance with him. He was doing
his military duty in Bad Reichenhall and was interested
in learning English so he connected with the Institute
while we foreigners were trying to learn German. How
did he find me 50 years later? He Googled my maiden
name and Fresno and the FHS ’55 newsletter appeared
with my maiden and married name. He told me he was
a Lufthansa pilot, married with daughters, so we had an
interesting correspondence thanks to our newsletter.
Patty, thank you for your support in supplying us with
articles for our newsletter.
ARTICLES
I have two articles for next time, maybe three. The
articles do not have to be long. It could be a picture with
an explanation. Don’t hesitate to send me something.
PROUD DAD – II
We featured Bob Brandt and his daughter Col. Laura
Yeager in the last newsletter. Laura served her tour in
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Iraq and returned to assume command of the 40
Combat Aviation Brigade, California Army National
Guard on March 17, 2012. Congratulations Laura and
way to go Bob. Of course you know the next promotion
puts a star on her collar.
A reminder that when you make a check out to the
class of 1955 it has to be written to:
FHS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION-CLASS OF 1955
Mail to: c/o Sharon Haverty to my address listed below.
Contacts: Sharon Haverty, Reunion Coordinator, 3773
W. Robinson, Fresno CA 93722, 559-275-3152,
[email protected].
Arnold Joyal, Newsletter, 64 Brian Court, San Ramon
CA 94583, 925-829-6094, [email protected].
(This is a new address and phone number for Arnold)