| ISSUE 33 |
 | November 2006 |
| ISSUE 33 |
| November 2006 |
Dear LP-53 Classmates, Spouses, and Friends;
With slight edit, I repeat from November, 2005: “I am very happy to be able to send greetings at the close of another year. We have been sending this newsletter for (eleven) years ... back when we were not yet “seasoned” citizens! (Our youngest class member turns 70 in December). This letter is a greeting from everyone to everyone, sending wishes and special prayers, for you and your family, for safe travel to gather together during the holiday season. Remember (and send cards) to our friends who continue to struggle with health conditions; give thanks for those who have been treated and are recovering. Remember those who grieve. May God Bless Us All, and may we receive our blessings with thanksgiving, and our trials with faith and hope.”
Personal Note
October 30, 2006 my wife Carolyn became critically ill with pancreatitis caused by gall bladder stones blocking ducting. As I conclude this letter November 20, Carolyn has been moved from ICU to Advanced Care Unit. Prognosis is now good. I am sending this letter without a good job of editing ... only what I had at the time. All those with email have been aware of Carolyn’s condition. Carolyn and my family appreciate and solicit your continued prayers. Thanks.
Signs of the Times
I like the fall time of year, and love the clear skies and clear air that the fresh cold fronts bring to the mid-west. I like to see the leaves change into their fall colors, and I even enjoy raking leaves (now I have a blower to blow them into big piles ... then I put the thing in reverse and it is a vacuum machine sucking in the leaves and turning them into mulch). But, this time of year turns my Hallmark Store upside down. Most of the card shelves are full of cards for Halloween, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. All of the store space is taken up with Halloween merchandise (Dept. 56 castles), and Hallmark Ornaments. The birthday and anniversary card choices are greatly reduced, so, I apologize to those with milestones in October, November, and December, if I send the same card as last year.
Have you noticed this “sign of the times” - farmers don’t pick field corn on the cob and bring it in to store in a corn crib? These days, the corn is shelled in the field, with the kernels dumped into a wagon or truck driving along side of the combine, and the stalks and cobs are ground up and dumped back onto the land. I think it was when we were seniors that Bob Carter decided to go into business re-roofing corn cribs. He enlisted me as a partner ... with no capital investment required, I agreed. I clearly remember our first job on a corn crib on the south side of Rte. 6 between La Salle and Utica. After getting on the roof, I thought, “What the hell did I get myself into!!?” Corn cribs have very steep pitch roofs ... I spent the whole morning trying to figure out how to hold a roofing nail in one hand, a hammer in the other, and hold onto the roof ... not enough hands. I hated to quit on my friend, but I did.
What’s new in La Salle-Peru?
At our July gathering, Lois Peters Wilmot gave me a copy of the booklet for the twelfth season of the “Maud Powell Music Festival.” This year, the festival schedule was May 30 to June 18 ... a very impressive list of performances and artists. One of the artists was Karen Huffstodt, a Peru native, LP graduate, niece of our Sharon Huffstodt Badenoch, and an internationally acclaimed Soprano. The festival included orchestra concerts, solo concerts, opera performances, recitals, and teaching classes, held at various venues around the area. All-in-all, very ambitious.... For those of you with internet access, see: www.powellfest.com.
Give a pat-on-the-back to the City of Peru and all those who work to arrange this annual festival.
Don Mayszak sent me the front page of the Chicago Tribune for April 28, 2006. The headline article title is: “Starved Rock struggles.” One paragraph of the article summarizes the situation; “park advocates say budget decisions are starving Starved Rock ... compromising safety, shortchanging visitors, stretching staff to the breaking point and making it hard to protect the fragile landscape ....” Another paragraph notes: “Wooden planks helicoptered in years ago for an erosion-control project lie unused by the side of one trail, the stockpile still wrapped in its original metal bindings.” A volunteer organization paid to reprint the supply of trail maps. Not a good situation. But, the lodge is going strong, and since I don’t think we will be walking any trails for our 55th reunion, we are reserving rooms there for the occasion.
Memories
While Jerry Hurst and I were staying with the Kains for our July gathering, Kent called The Igloo to see if Bob Kessel was working, and to make reservations for four (now, you know that The Igloo doesn’t take reservations). Well, Bob was working, and when we showed up, there was a reserved table with napkins, water glasses, and silverware set. We had a good lunch, with “porks”, fries, and milk shakes (being on healthy diets). When we were ready to leave, we asked for senior discounts. Bob said, “No charge.” I won’t guarantee a free lunch, but if you want to feel at home and welcome, stop by The Igloo on your next visit to town.
In my next column will be one of my favorite pictures. It will be a “show and tell” from a time and place.
None of the following information is written on the picture, but can be deduced by analysis. I’m sure you recognize, from left to right; Jerry Hurst, Alan Berry, Bob Hughett. The picture was taken on the Chartres St. side (you can see the slope of the street, downhill to 3 rd St.) of the Hurst home, by Jerry’s mother.
From the shadows, you can tell that it was taken in early afternoon (the shadows would be more to the east/southeast in late afternoon). It was taken on a Friday ... Hurst and Hughett are dressed for an “away” football game. The date was October 31, 1952 and Elgin was the opponent (we lost 20-0). I know it was 1952, because Bob and Jerry are wearing same coats, ties, and hair styles as in their senior pictures. You need to study the football schedule in the 1953 Ell Ess Pe, considering the “away” and “home” games, and recognize in the picture that not all of the leaves have fallen, to arrive at the exact date.
Here’s another memory that comes from football and Bob Carter. Bob was a lineman on the football team, charged with task of blocking opponent’s linemen from getting to the quarterback or running back. Bob introduced himself to his opponents with the line, “I have hogs that are prettier than you.” From the start of the game, Bob had his opponent rattled.
We have a lot of “bantering” (or “battering”) on our LP-53 Forum. Sometimes, the back and forth, takes us to a memory. A recent dialogue led Marge (Hammon) to write: “It’s always the “little” things that stay with us and, often, mean more than the big things ... clothes on a line, the Easter we had an ice storm (in Peru, remember?), the corner mom & pop store, the first time you got to drive the family car all by yourself, and lazy Sunday afternoons. Did any of you take bowling for a gym class? As I remember it, we had to walk down to the lanes (that would have been the Plamor Bowling Alley) on the main drag south of the high school, and then each team had to have one of their team members set the pins for their team.”
I never knew that the girls could take bowling for gym class! Astrid replied that she took the class and preferred setting the pins to bowling. I would have paid admission ... not to watch the girls bowl, but to see them set pins.
Jim Brooks wrote that at age 14 he set pins at the Plamor Alleys, earning 10 cents per line. Let me interpret that for you: A “line” is a complete game of 10 frames by one bowler. With league bowling, two teams of four bowlers each, using two lanes, would constitute 8 lines. Assume about an hour for a league game; Jim could earn $0.80 per hour. He thought that was “good’ money.
The next summer he took a job cutting grass at the Sinclair fuel storage west of Peru, for better pay. In this job, his partner was Lou Amsberg. Those years would have been 1950-1951. I had a low paying job earning $0.35 per hour as an usher at the La Salle Theater. I remember that my brother set pins at the bowling alley a couple of blocks east of Joliet on 1st Street in La Salle (don’t remember the name of the place). I clearly remember that he earned 10 cents per line in 1946-1947, so there was no increase in pay for this job in 3 or 4 years.
Near that bowling alley, around the area of Seneca’s appliance store and Khoury’s clothing store (by the way, Paul Khoury passed away earlier this year) was a hardware store (maybe it was Montgomery Wards). I bought a shot gun in that store ... a 20-gauge, bolt-action, Mossberg. I was 15 or 16 at the time. Can you imagine today, a teenager going into a store and asking to buy a shotgun!
In Memoriam
With this issue, we note the passing of another classmate. Our In Memoriam list now names 64 classmates.
Judith Hallett Taylor died October 14, 2006. I do not have a copy of her obituary, and our class booklets have no information about children or grand children. (photo omitted)
Friends to many of us: Stuart “Stu” Duncan died May 31, 2006. We usually saw “Stu” when we came to town for reunions or gatherings. I think “Stu” knew more people from LP-53 than did I.
Dunne Glynn died October 20, 2006. Whenever we saw Stu, we also saw Dunne. Two buddies, both now gone.
Class Information
Since the last issue of our newsletter, in June, Golden Wedding Anniversary was celebrated by:
· Rosemarie Geraci and Jerry Wolfe married July 14, 1956.
· Elaine Lodi and David Day married October 13, 1956.
Congratulations!
During the year, I receive many nice notes from classmates telling me thanks for the newsletter and thanks to my helpers. I have not figured out how to, or if I should mention these in the newsletter. All of these notes express fondness for class mates, with good memories. Maybe, next year, I’ll take on the project of sending a newsletter totally dedicated to an up-to-date listing of class mates. Thanks to all for their appreciation and encouragement.
Jim Fenoglio sent me a note saying that he did not have doctor’s permission to drive or to play golf so he could not attend our July gathering. In his note, Jim asked me to let him know who played golf (he mentioned that reading names bring memories). I am going to use a “local news” practice from old, small town newspapers, which would list the names of visitors to a resident in the town (for example, “Millie Smith’s sister, Tillie, and her husband Willie Jones, now residing in Podunk, Missouri visited last week). Here is a list of those of us gathering in July (Jim - an asterisk identifies a golfer):
It is nice to read the names ... go back, and read slower, and the memories will come.
There was a terrific article in the Spring/Summer issue of the Spirit magazine about the Igloo, noting its founding and story about the founders, Louis and Pat (Daniel) Mazzorana. The article’s headline picture showed our Bob Kessel (Marge’s spouse), with two of his brothers-in-law, George Walsh (Louise’s spouse), and Joe Mazzarona. One paragraph in the article says it all: “The Igloo was neutral turf and a coming-together place for the students of LaSalle-Peru, St. Bede and Hall high schools. On weekend nights after high school ball games, there was barely breathing room inside, while outside cars “swooped the loop” or pulled in for carhop service.” I think some of us would take issue with the article’s categorization of The Igloo as “neutral turf.” Then, again, probably true ... the LP girls went there to meet St. Bede boys, and the LP boys went there to meet Hall girls.
Talking to Bob Kessel about the article, I learned that his first job at the Igloo was as a “carhop.” I only remembered the pretty girls doing that job! Now, think of this ... Bob has been a fixture at The Igloo for 54 or 55 years ... I think that is terrific!!
A golf tournament took Bob Hughett to Tucson, Arizona in September. He called Bob Keenan to arrange a lunch meeting, which they had on September 8 ... the first time they had seen each other in more than 50 years.
The group pictured below call themselves the Out-to-Lunch Bunch. I know the sense of humor of these girls, and know that “out-to-lunch” has nothing to do with eating ... it means they are going to cause others to think that they are a bit different, perhaps even indifferent to the chaotic world around them.
Pictured, back row L-R, Angie Brejc Troglio, Elaine Benvenutti Elzer, Rosemarie Tominello Lane, Connie Hylla Marini. Front row L-R, Carol Lijewski Turinetti, Kathleen Anglevar Sonnenberg, Florence Adamski Rodighiero.
Sorry that I could not make the picture real clear, but did my best. Glad to have the picture, and isn’t it good to get together with life-long friends!
It’s A Small, Small World
I need to correct some embellishment to story in last issue. Gene Pezanoski is NOT a celebrity and does NOT sign baseballs or POSE for pictures with fans attending Angel’s spring training camps. A case of mistaken identity.
Small world encounters continue. Last May, Lois Wilmot was on an inland waterway cruise to Alaska, pleased to have a dinner table with a window. For a long time, she took in the views outside, without looking inside. When she did look inside, there at the table next to her were Jim and Margaret Mueller!
Marriage Album Project
We continue to push this endeavor. Since last issue, we have received a couple of additions ... thanks to those who sent pictures. Please send your then (around time of marriage) and now pictures to Jim or me (we will scan them and return). I know this might be difficult to do for widows and widowers in our class, but I hope you will consider sending a picture. I promise that either Jim or I, or the two of us, are going to produce a nice album.
Address Updates
Snail mail updates:
Ray and Judy Klobuche: new winter (I think Jan-May) address: 20910 Rivers Ford, Estero, FL 33928-2263. Phone: (239) 948-6769.
Parker and Andrea Field have a new address in same town: 110 Wildwood Meadows Dr., Traverse City, MI 49686.
E-mail updates:
Remember: Our web site address is: www.lpths.org. Those of you who don’t use a computer at home, might be visiting someone who does (your local library does) and may want to see our web site.
2006 Gathering Report
Each year I look forward to our July gathering, and each year I receive a blessing boost. Our Friday golf had light rain, but did not discourage us. The rain did cause MJ some consternation about what to have outside and what inside. She put the bar outside and all the hors d’oeuvres inside ...cozy visiting with 45 of us in the house (thanks, MJ and Jerry). A good time at John’s for dinner. It was special to be at Senica’s for Saturday dinner. Thank you Marion and Ron for the birthday cake for me and Jim Mueller. There were 32 of us for the Saturday dinner. Thanks to Buzz for arrangements that he took care of (now I don’t know if it is Buzz that takes care of details, or his secretary. It is nice to have a secretary). We will do it again next year, so keep some dates on your July, 2007 schedule open.
Did you Know?
I received two questions, asking, “How many credit hours were required for graduation from LP in 1953? And, what was the credit received for Physical Education (P. E., formally titled Health Education)?” It turns out the answers are on the back of report cards, under title; “Remarks To Parents.” One paragraph of the remarks reads: "All subjects carry one credit per semester with the exception of Health Education, which carries one-half credit per semester. Thirty-four (34) credits (including four years of Health Education) are required for graduation." I remember that there were other requirements, which are not listed in the remarks, like so many semesters of English, one semester of U. S. History, and other requirements like that.
55th Reunion
The dates for our 55th reunion will be September 25-27, 2008. Put those dates on your calendar, and plan to attend. A block of rooms has been reserved at Starved Rock Lodge under contract for: LP Class of 1953 (the reference you use when making a reservation). Your credit card will be charged at full price for first night when you make your reservation. We will receive a senior discount, but it will not be applied until you check in, and show identification. The discount is 20 per cent for Thursday night, and 10 per cent for Friday and Saturday nights. I will send more details in future newsletters and by email, and will have Jim create an information page on our web site next year.
Our reserved block includes these rooms (2006 prices subject to change, PLUS taxes):
4 West Wing King bed and sofa: $120
10 West Wind 2 Double beds: $120
10 East Wing King beds: $110
8 East Wing 2 Double beds: $110
In order to reserve a block of rooms, it was required to reserve a banquet room. So, the Starved Rock Room has been reserved for Thursday evening, September 25. This will be a “welcoming” gathering, with cash bar and heavy hors’ d’oeuvres. We are paying for the room ($250) from our class account balance. I have some volunteers in mind to pay for the hors d’oeuvres. So, the only cost to individuals (other than my “volunteers”) for this gathering will be what is spent at the cash bar.
I’m wondering if we should include afternoon “nap time” in the schedule. Send me any suggestions that you have. Kaye Arkins already suggested an Illinois River cruise ... sounds good to me, so we will look in to that.
Information & Stories
Please send information, retirement activities, stories, address changes, etc. to:
Kaye Arkins or Alan Berry
437 N. Woodland Ave. 2358 Meadowgreen Dr.
Oglesby, IL 61348 Beavercreek, OH 45431
(815) 883-8818 (937) 429-0092
Email Alan at: beansb@woh.rr.com
Email Jim Brooks at: james.r.brooks@lpths.org