Friday, September 28, 2012

Weber High School Class of '62 50th Reunion

Here at last!

The pics from Roger's 50th got posted on the WHS website, so the story can be told!

My husband has looked forward to this ever since the Reunion Committee (this is the first time he hasn't been a part of this, since we moved to St. George) first set up a website and notified everyone about a year ago. 

Weber's Class of '62 had almost 400 students. 53 have died and a little over 200 classmates attended the Big Friday Night on August 10. It was held at Earl's Lodge at the Snow Basin Resort, above Ogden, that was built for the 
2002 Winter Olympics.

We drove up the day before and stayed in Rick and Jodie's beautiful Stratford Hotel
Jodie took pics of us in their front yard as we were leaving.



You probably won't believe me, but our color coordination was strictly coincidental!


The photographer got a pic of us entering the beautiful facility.




The Reunion Committee worked so hard, making great displays of the Class of 62's past high school days.



Roger and I have gone with some of Rogers classmates to Lake Powell on Jerry Moyes's houseboats through the years, so we've been in touch with about 25 of them and gotten to know their spouses.
 We've missed the last three years, so it was fun catching up with them. 
Below is John D'Agnillo, Linda Stettler, Elaine D'Agnillo and Fred Stettler. 


Chatting with Nancy Sivulich and Judy Barrett


We lived in Roy before we moved to Ogden and across the street lived the Karrases. Next to me is Rosalie Karras, Roger's classmate, and Dad's friend, Steve Jones, and his wife, Alice.


We enjoyed a lovely buffet dinner and sat at the table with Brigitte and Jess Hunsaker and I sat by Joan Walsh.

I totally scored, because Joan was probably my most interesting dinner companion ever!
 Now retired, she worked for the CIA, basing out of Frankfurt, Germany, which is an airport gateway to the world.  Each time she was sent on assignment out of Frankfurt, she assumed a new name and did intelligence work at various locations in the world.

Her assignment in 1979 was working out of the US Embassy in Tehran, and she was taken hostage by Ayatollah Khomeini militants with 70 others inside the Embassy. She was one of 17 women released after 33 days. The Hostage Crisis lasted until 1981, when the final 52 were released.
I was fascinated with every detail she told me and continued to pick her brain throughout dinner. 

She shared one incident that happened that I consider a small act of heroism. They were tied to a chair and blind-folded most of the days, then at night, they were allowed to sleep beside their chairs, with guards holding guns on them at all times.  
They were separated from each other and could not communicate, but Joan knew that a female friend, also a hostage, wore hard contacts, was virtually blind without them and was suffering without her saline solution. Joan knew where it was in her desk, so, several days into this, when the guard took her to the bathroom, she sneaked it out of the desk and put it up her long, blousy sleeve.
When she was returning from the bathroom, she took a chance and passed by her friend and gave her the solution.  She got severely punished for this and put in solitary confinement.

 Despite being constantly interrogated, the militants never discovered that she worked for the CIA, thinking she was a secretary at the Embassy. The end of the story for her would probably have been very different.


The senior class officers conducted a program about fun memories
 and special tributes to those who have passed away.
There was also a clever poem read by its author and a classmate sang and played on his guitar.
Below are Lyle Johnson, Senior Class Vice-President, Suzanne Wood Ferre, Senior Class Secretary (she was a counselor at OHS when some of my kids attended there), Fred Stettler, Student Body President and Tom Grimm, Senior Class President.

We just have pics of what the roaming photographer took, but Roger was able to chat with many classmates whom he had not seen since he graduated.  It was such a fun evening, and if the spouse can say that, then I think that speaks very well for the overall friendliness and kindness of the WHS Class of '62!


Next day, there was a picnic held at John Rhees's lovely home by Huntsville.
Josh took our pics as we were leaving Rick and Jodie's.


(Again, I promise I did not purposefully plan the color coordination!)


John's lovely home


We got there a little early and I helped decorate the tables.


This is John Rhees, Roger's good friend throughout school days.


Joan Walsh came and sat at our table, so we enjoyed talking to her again - she had flown here from North Carolina just for the reunion.  She has no family in Utah anymore.


Roger was tickled that "Dutch" Belnap (seated right), old coach at WHS and coach of the USU Aggies, came to the reunion as a special guest. Craig Peterson, classmate and sculptor, is on the left.


Janey and Wayne Stevenson, Roger, Suzanne Wood Ferre and Lois Ann Ward


Jerry Moyes is standing and talking to Liz and Val Taylor.


Richard Crawford entertained us with a funny song about how we are all now so forgetful.


Jimmy Smout has told us many, many jokes on the houseboat through the years, 
and he has his comic timing down!



A small gathering of some of us at the picnic

What a great reunion!  

Hope there is a 6oth! 

Monday, September 17, 2012

Another Sad September 11


In my last post, I showed a beautiful desert sunset- 
a definite pro, living in gorgeous Dixie.

Sudden floods in this desert and red clay land are a definite con. 

On September 11 (yes, really!), after torrential rains,
an earthen dam built in 1919 in Santa Clara, which is less than ten minutes away from us, broke.





Sixteen businesses and sixty-one homes were flooded.
They estimate 3.7 million dollars in damages.




The best pro of all in Dixie is the Volunteer Spirit!

On Saturday, Roger and I went to see how we could help.  
Well over 2,000 others have done the same.
It was well-organized, and much was already done.

We were sent to a cul de sac, where we entered an open garage and visited with a wonderful woman.
She had had just two hours of sleep each night for the last three days. 
This was her daughter's two-level home and it had been completely flooded out on the bottom level.
Erica (the daughter) and her two little kids evacuated before the water hit. Her two older kids were in school. 
Her husband had rushed to the house from work, saw the water hit the lower level, then leaped up the stairs 
and got out just in time.
They lost everything on the lower level.
Many in the flood lost everything they had.

We also met the dad (and grandpa), who was moving the mooshy mud around in what had been the backyard,
 driving a small caterpillar. 
And we met lovely Erica.
Each one in this family was so gracious and so grateful.

As a young girl, Erica had served a mission 
and didn't have the heart 
to throw away her damaged scriptures.



We are feeling so very blessed that our home is safe and dry 
 in this desert where Mother Nature can be unpredictable,
 but the wonderful people are not!



Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Three Delightful Ds - Desert Sunset, Dedication and Harvest Delights

Roger stepped out on our balcony the other night and captured this gorgeous desert sunset.




On September 7, DSC held a dedication for the new Jeffry R. Holland Commons Building on campus. It is a marvel of steel and glass that houses the library, classrooms, and many commons areas for the students. 

Roger and I picked up our old friends, Kathy and Jim Jensen, from their new residence in St. George (they used to live in our ward in Ogden) to go with us.

The ceremony included a short talk from Greg Buxton, our old friend from Roy, and Roger served in a bishopric with him.  He was a homebuilder, and he is now over the construction of state buildings. We caught up with him as we walked from the Cox Auditorium to the new building for the ribbon-cutting, and we were tickled to see each other after all of these years.  We lived in Roy about thirty years ago!

During the ribbon-cutting, we stood right beside Elder Marlin Jensen, the outgoing Church Historian and Dad's old friend from Weber High. He is now appointed to the Utah Board of Regents and had flown in that morning for the ceremony. 

When he came up to me, he started chanting, "You can always tell a KD Girl, but you cannot tell her much!"

I said, "Hey, that sounds like a song I know!"

He said, "I know!" 

He is married to Kathy Bushnell Jensen, a good friend and sister KD.

Hearing President Uchtdorf's talk and dedicatory prayer was wonderful. He continues to be the Church's rockstar!

Brother Holland was so very humble about the building being named for him.  He and his wife graduated from Dixie and, at first, he wouldn't let them put his name on the building. 

"It's not about me," he said.  "It's about every student who ever went to this school."

 He continued, "It's a common building for a common student with common dreams and common life and maybe an uncommon hope. Because no more common student from any common background with anymore common resources ever attended Dixie State than I did."

It is so refreshing to hear truly great men speak.  Instead of postulating, yelling and making podium-pounding gestures, they speak with genuine humility. 

Roger took this pic on his iPhone from the back of the auditorium, and it's a bit blurred, but Brother Holland and his wife, Pat, are at the podium.


After the ribbon-cutting, we drove downtown for lunch at Piccolo Mundo, the Italian restaurant run by Fredrico, the Princess Cruise chef to whom Roger leased the building. It was so great to catch up with our old friends and we are excited that they have moved to St. George!

And, I'm just saying, we are even more thrilled that my sister, Kay, and her wonderful husband, Ken, live in St. George.  It's great to have a sister living in the same town, and we love them both so much!

They kindly gave us some delicious produce from their garden, and I had such fun trying new creations with the peaches, cucumbers, zucchini and yellow squash. I made these harvest delights.

I have been on a quest to find a crunchy crisp, and I think this one did it; it is Peach and Raspberry Crisp.
I shared a lot of this with friends and neighbors.


I kind of made up a Chicken and Squash Cheesey Bake.

This is a White Gazpacho Cold Cucumber Soup.



The best part of this time of year just might be the wonderful produce!

Oh, and college football!

USU 27 - U of U 20!

GO-O-O AGGIES!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

An Evening In And A Day Above . . .Cedar City!


Okay, update.
 Roger is still waiting for some pics that his 
Weber Class of '62 
had taken at his 50th reunion.
At the main event at Snowbasin, he was too excited catching up with classmates to take any.
Sooo, as soon as we get some, I'll post all about it.  
For now, I'll just say, so fun!

On Tuesday night, August 28th, we spent a fun evening in Cedar City.  
My sister, Kay let us know about a special $10 a ticket deal for Scapin, a comedy playing at the Shakespeare Festival, that was soon to close for the season.
 Her husband, Ken had to report an audit in Beaver, so they would then drive to Cedar City. We would meet them at The Garden House for dinner, then go to the show.
 Ken's audit got moved a little later, so Kay said they wouldn't be able to make it for dinner. 
 Anyway, I said why not come with us to dinner,we could pick her up at home and Ken could drive right from work in St. George to Beaver, then back to Cedar and meet us at the play?
  
Sounds more complicated than it was, but that worked, so we had a delicious mahi mahi fish dinner and Kay
 got a To Go dinner for Ken.




The play was very well acted, had lots of laugh-out-loud moments, but also had some over-the-top
bawdy humor. 
Like so many things these days - innuendo humor 
taken too far.
Fun night, though.

On Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, J.C. and Bruce Stringham invited us to their summer home above Duck Creek, which is up in the mountains from Cedar City, 
to spend the day.
What a lovely home they have in the pines!  
We had an old-fashioned hamburger cook-out
 and everything was delicious.

They had invited four other couples - Lorin and Kathy Nielsen, Karl and Connie Richtor, Ernie and Joyce Webb 
and Larry and Linda Barney. 
 It was great fun hangin' out with them!

A real highlight 
was driving, then hiking to Strawberry Point
 We thought we had seen most of this area's scenery,
 but we were wrong!
Roger took some magnificent pics of the awesome beauty!







Kathy and I on top of the look-out point
Roger took a quick shot of some of us - 
From left to right - Kathy, J.C., me, Karl, Linda and Larry


Roger and I
Karl and Connie
Bruce and J.C.
Larry and Linda
Lorin and Kathy
When we returned from our little excursion, 
we went about a mile away from Strigham's home to Joyce and Ernie Webb's summer home (they didn't go on the hike with us) for dessert.
Ernie made a really yummy lemon and sour cream pie - 
he even made the delicious cookie and almond crust!  
Just a little sidelight, Joyce and I have worked together in the music of our branch since it was formed.
She is a gracious and talented lady!
Kathy just chillin'
Linda got the girls going on a crazy card game 
while the men watched football.
Cute J.C.


We had a fun time with fun friends!