David Brock

Surgery Update--Sandy moved to a rehab facility yesterday.  The therapists thought she was in pretty good shape and that her stay would not be long.  We can only hope.  I can honestly say that her improvement in recent days has been phenominal--a true example of God's handiwork. I know the rest of the road is not a cakewalk, but we are off toa good start. Thank you for all your prayers and conccerns.

Linda Bristow (Elias)

David Brock:

Thanks for the update on Sandy!  Prayers are still happening daily!

Linda

Marvin Theobald

Website Fund Update

A huge thanks to the nine classmates that contributed a total of $860 to our Website Fund. That allows the Reunion Fund balance to be returned to being fully funded at $522 with a Website Fund balance of $746. This should provide sufficient funds to support the website until April of 2028 or 2029 depending on the renewal cost due in April of 2025. While not many actively contribute to the Message Forum, approximately 30 to 40 classmates check it every month. It is the best way we have available to keep the class connected and informed of news and interests of our old friends. To those special contributors, your support is greatly appreciated.

Linda Bristow (Elias)

Hurrican Ian is hitting Florida sooooooonnnnn.  Praying for our classmates who live anywhere in Florida!

Linda

Linda Bristow (Elias)

So........after the hurricane in Florida:

trying to get contact with my niece in St. Petersburg and nephew in Jacksonville.

I sure hope that all of our classmates there are ok!

Linda

Linda Bristow (Elias)

Has anyone in the class checked with anyone, of our class, who lives in Florida since the hurricane passed?

Linda

David Brock

Dick Briggs--Happy Birthday--another lap in life

Marvin Theobald

In response to Linda's concern for our classmates in the path of Hurricane Ian, based on the class directory info we have 10 classmates in Florida and 2 in South Carolina. Terri Baxter is in Columbia, SC and Faith Crissey is in Greenville, SC both of which are well inland and were likely not significantly affected. As for Florida, Debbie Fitzsimmons is in Palm Beach Gardens and Ron Runge is in Tallahassee and also were not likely very affected. Susie Farlin, Carla Fenstermaker, Fred Houghham, Ken Kerfoot and Linda Meister are all on or toward the east side of Florida and while in the general path of the hurricane were also not likely significantly affected.  John Nolte has a home in Key West that could have had some damage. The most concern would be with Jim Fleener in Sarasota and Mike Kaluf in Naples.

I have been in touch with Susie Farlin in Ponte Vedra and they had a couple of trees down but no other damage. It would be nice to hear from the others, or anyone that has contact with them, to let us know they are OK.

PS - Hope no one cares, but I have taken the liberty of using maiden names which is easier are probably more recognizable by the rest of us anyway.

Richard (Dick) Briggs

Thanks Dave,

After last year, I'm glad to be a year older.  I'm doing great after all of the surgeries.

I hope your wife has a speedy recovery.  It does take time.

Dick

Linda Bristow (Elias)

Dianne Shaffer Troxel:

I just found the last link that shows Jeanne is my 4th cousin.  I have printed it out.  It lists 3 other half-sisters.  One is deceased.

To whom shall I send this printed information?

Love ya,

Linda
 

Dianne Shaffer (Troxel)

Thank you Linda.  Sisters you mentioned on on Jeanne's birth dad's side.  I am sure her 2 girls would love this information.  I will be seeing them at the celebration of life October 24th for her so send to me and I will make sure they get this. 3411 Windmill Road 61704.  Hugs and prayers to you!

David Brock

Surgery Update--My wife Sandy came home from rehab yesterday.  Thanks to all of you who sent your best wishes and encouragement.  She is doing several laps from 1 end of the house to the other daily.  She is scheduled to see both her surgeon and cardiologist next week.  After that, we expect more work and continued effort to build up strength and endurance.  We also expect it to be 3 to 4 months before things are really back to normal.  Unless something drastic and unforeseen happens, I don't expect to be puttting out more reports.  Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Linda Bristow (Elias)

David Brock:

Congratulations to you and Sandy.  So pleased to hear that she is home now.

Linda

David Long

DB,

Glad to read the great report on Sandy.  Know that she along with all my classmates, spouses, and significant others are always in my thoughts and prayers. 

Peace, Love, and Rock and Roll!

DL

Melvin (Mel) Theobald

To all of you Raiders64,

I have just finished reading classmate Jack Keefe's book "Echoes of Purple and Gold". Anyone who has followed Jack's career knows he has been a media broadcaster in several cities, a dedicated researcher of Bloomington/Normal history, and the writer of "How Time Flies" for the Pantagraph. His book is well researched and presents new details of many places we are all familiar with. From Anglers Club to the railroads and beyond, he has made it possible to see another side of McLean County that few people know about. I highly recommend it. You can now order a copy on Amazon or Barnes & Noble websites. It is available in paperback ($20.95) or Kindle ($9.99)

Jack Keefe

Thank you, Mel, for that glowing review. I appreciate your buying and reading the book.

To everyone: Mel's review was unsolicited but, as you can imagine, most welcome. I also credit Mel with catching a key mistake in his pre-publication copy. Because he let me know about it right away, we were able to correct the typo before the first market copies went to press. 

Echoes of Purple and Gold contains obscure but fascinating stories of many Bloomington people and events that have been nearly forgotten over the past century. Included is one from BHS, detailing the story of our colors. (I wrote my original story on this topic in 1989, but kept on researching the little details until I got what you'll see in the book.)

Echoes was a joy to research, a chore to write, and an out-and-out pain in the rear to publish. All that being said, I'm pleased with the product and hope you find it a good read. And yes, I am planning to do a sequel, with more local stories. 

Thank you again Mel, Marvin, and to Sandra Jeakins who provided a plat map of her west side neighborhood. It's in the book. To everyone else, happy reading. 

Melvin (Mel) Theobald

 It's almost Halloween. Who has photos...past or present....of your pumpkins, "punkins", costumes or decorations? Maybe we can make some scarey noise on Raiders64 this month. Show us what you have!!! 

My granddaughter and I holding each other's pumpkin paintings two days ago. Hers is a "Girl as a Butterfly with Antennas". Mine is a "Pumpkinscape".

Regina (Sue) Petersen (Koppenhoefer)

First let me say, as soon as I read Mel's message about Jack's book I ordered it on Amazon.  I can't wait to read it! Jack and I were in several classes together in HS, and because of our height usually sat close to each other at the back of the classrooms.  Jack was brilliant in HS so I'm not surprised by his success!  About the picture -- 3 of our grandchildren carving Jack-o-lanterns last year.  I wish I had a finished picture.  (They didn't use the knife on the island.  My husband used that to cut the top off the pumpkins.  They used a cordless drill to make their designs.).   Thanks for the Halloween challenge Mel.
 

David Long

Jack,

Just ordered and it's now downloaded to my Kindle.  Looking forward to reading it as I always am to read your weekly emails.  Thanks for all the hard work.

Mel,

Thanks for the review.  I'm sure I'll enjoy "Purple and Gold" as much as I have "Inside".

All,

Update on plans to move - We Have No Idea!

Our home in Kansas hasn't sold (if you know of anyone that would like to move to Overland Park, here's the link) https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/M7994874046 but we now own the condo in Lincoln Square.  Have started some much needed renovations to the condo and have found that Facetime is very useful when dealing the contractor from a great distance.  Trials and tribulations continue, however, as the elevator in the building has temporarily bitten the dust, the contractor has had to move all the materials up the 4 flights of stairs manually.  Were we living there, it would be a pain in the missing leg for me climbing the stairs.

On another note, my recent MRI has shown a tear in the medial meniscus of the right knee (guess that goes w/o saying as it's the only knee left, I mean right ), but given the outcome of my past knee surgeries, I am not planning on having surgery to correct it.  We need the elevator back in service. 

Here are a Halloween pictures from last year!

Our daughter made all the costumes!

Linda Bristow (Elias)

Oh how I enjoy costumes for Halloween!  They are all just precious!

Class:  Remember how we would get home and check out what we received?  Then the rest of the family would see what they wanted out of your haul!  It was amazing how quickly that candy was devoured!

Linda

David Long

Those boys dump it out and see who has the most then divide it so everyone has an equal share.  When they eat it, they often share with their brothers.  Last Halloween's candy lasted in to 2022.  Parents limiting the sweets and make it more of a long term trat vs a gobble fest.  I have to admit to sneaking a couple pieces of chocolate out of the haul. 

Linda Bristow (Elias)

Dave Long:

Did you take one piece out of each bag to keep it even?

Linda

David Long

Those boys are so generous that they offer candy to me, grandma, and neni w/o asking.  The parents limit the Jolly Ranchers as the little is still a little young for the hard candy.  

I read an online article about pumpkin preservation that I found interesting.  The tips were:

1. Find a pumpkin with the stem that has the most green 
2. Cut the pumpkin from the bottom or the back, keeping the stem intact.  The stem has nutrients and will keep supplying those to the rest of the pumpkin
3. Scrape all the goop (my description) out, but save the seeds for roasting
4. Use dry erase markers to draw the design on the pumpkin.
5. Use a serrated knife for bulk carving and then a thin blade for the finish work.
6. The article suggested the use of Vaseline smeared on the inside of the pumpkin once cut to retard mold growth.

The article also mentioned that it's easier to light the pumpkin from the bottom or back, especially if using an actual candle, and/or a string of lights.

Our neighborhood in Kansas consists of 25 homes that are on cul-de-sacs and we get 000,000 kids coming through.  The 1st year we lived here we bought $50 worth of candy expecting the same type of activity as we had in our old neighborhood.  We ended up with $49 worth of candy at the end of night - I ate first $1 worth.  Lesson learned.

Linda Bristow (Elias)

David Long:

So...........you're buying $1 worth of candy this year!

How about Pecan Delights?  I can send some for you and your wife.

Let me know where to send it, please.

Booooooooooo!

Linda

Sandra Jeakins (Singletary Sizemore)

Linda:  You brought back memories of when I went trick or treating as a child.  I was an only child so I just shared with my Mom and Dad. I would go 3 nights and we would drive to really good neighborhoods.  We usually had a friend and their Mom go with us.   Kids would usually yell to other kids to let us know where they were giving out popcorn balls or a full size candy bar.  That was the best stuff to get.    I would usually dress up like an old lady, wearing my Grandma's dress and putting powder in my hair to turn it white.   I only remember wearing a store bought costume one time and that was Casper the friendly ghost.  The mask kept getting over my eyes, and I remember I kept saying, "I can't see a bloomin' thing".   

My boys wore green slime on them once.  Ron smeared it on both of the boys and their friends.  I don't remember what the slime was made of, I just remember the green food coloring.  Once my oldest son, Kevin, dressed up like a pregnant woman and won first place at his church party.  

Thanks for the memories.