David Long

Trip Advice

David Peters

Dave, I want to commend you for your service in Vietnam.  Twenty two months+ is a long time!  I was there for 12 months as a machinist at Can Tho in the Mekong Delta.  That was long enough although, I must admit that after being home for a while, I realized how much I missed the military.  I even ended up going back to the recruiter to see about reenlisting.  However, at the same time I enrolled at ISU and after going there for a month I realized that maybe college was a better choice. The best part is that I met my wife there and this year is our 50th anniversery!   

I was not in combat in Nam and so I truly look up to those that were.  I don't think a lot of people realize the sacrifices that were made by so many that served in Vietnam.  So Dave, thank you and also a thank you to all of my classmates that served in Vietnam and in the military.

David Brock

Dave--Trip ideas--We did 1 cruise a few years ago.  We went to Alaska, andit was about half land tour and half cruise with several day stops/port of call.  We started by flying to Fairbanks from St. Louis, then train and bus down to the inside passage. Then, cruised on down to Seattle, with the day long ports of call.  We travelled/sailed with Celebrity Lines, and they were VERY helpful with the physically challenged passengers.  We booked through AAA, and that was a blessing, because we would never have navigated the computer system for a good trip.  We needed a passport, as we passed back and forth between Alaska (USA) and Canada a couple of times.  We went the last 2 weeks of July.  A side note, a number of passengers spent an additional day in Seattle/Vancouver to recover before heading home.  Good Luck 

James (Jim) Rookus

HAPPY  BIRTHDAY

KATHY ROCKWELL MITCHELL   

HOPE YOU  HAVE A

WONDERFUL & BLESSED DAY

Ray Bledsoe

I didn't know Kathy Rockwell, however I also wish the young lady a Happy Birthday!!

Terri Baxter (Whirrett)

Hi Everyone, have enjoyed the stories and jokes lately! Marvin, you are a wonder with your woodworking skills!Dave, My Dave and I like river cruising now.  You can decide at each port whether you want to tour or not.Particularly enjoyed the Danube trip. Viking is a good choice. It's so hot here now🥵, we just stay inside and hydrated. This too shall pass!

Boo

Wendy Stephens (Cullen)

I did a Rhine River cruise from Amsterdam to Basel Switzerland.  It was 8 days.  A French boat.  Viking does the same cruise but then you are with all Americans.  Why travel if you don't meet new kinds of people.  I might be spelling it wrong. our cruise line was Cruiseurope.  Based in Strasbourg France..  I know I spelled that wrong but can't remember how to spell it.  There are a lot of river cruise lines.  Living in Seattle we see a lot of cruises leave for Alaska from here.  Various ship sizes from enormous to not so big.  

David Long

Brain Teasers

David Long

Did you ever have a teacher impart a bit of wisdom that stuck with you through life?......

Sandra Jeakins (Singletary Sizemore)

David I've never been on a cruise.  But thought this would go along with your travel plans.

Jack Keefe

Dave -- 

When I worked at the TV station in Wichita, we had one guy who had a big office with a great view of the lawn and sprinkler system. We affectionately called him the Vice President for Looking Out the Window. When the job opened up, I applied for it. But alas, I was passed over for the promotion. The suits in charge told me they awarded the position to a more qualified candidate. Wonder what they meant by that?

Rodney (Rod) Hayes

So sorry to hear about Helen.  We had a few laughs when she came to the reunions about how we actually had a few conversations when we were younger, before HS, and never knew one day we would be in HS together.  RIP Helen. 
Did you know:  You can turn anyplace into a DUI check station, if you run your car into it.

An elderly couple go for their yearly checkup.  They both tell the Dr they have been feeling a bit run down and quite tired a lot.  He ran some tests and asked them if they were still sexually active.  They replied yes.  He told the Wife:  If you don't leave him alone, you're gonna die.  He told the Husband that if he didn't leave her alone, he was gonna kill her.  So, they decided she would sleep upstairs, and he would sleep downstairs.  After a few nights she started down the stairs, and met her husband half way down.  He said, what are you doing and she said she was coming down to die.  And he said well, I was coming up to kill ya.

David Long

'NICE THOUGHT' Rod🤓   
 

Here's something people might wish to discuss at Cheeks tomorrow evening..... 

 OK, there's supposed to be a 'photo' here that just doesn't want to upload. It says,

The Older I get, the earlier it gets late!

Change the start time to 4:00 and take advantage of the early bird specials?  😎😂😎

James (Jim) Rookus

David Long

Cheeks Bar:

I called down today to order a couple special drinks for the Birthday Boys.  I thought it would be a simple process - give the bartender the name of the drink and they would make it at the appropriate  time and I would have already prepaid.  A simple process, right?

WRONG!

Perhaps I have expected too much from central Illinois but I really expected that most bars that serve alcohol would have simple ingredients like:

100 proof Bourbon Whiskey

Coffee liqueur

Bitters

Orange Peel

The drink is called a Revolver:

2 oz straight 100 proof Bourbon whiskey

1 oz Coffee Liqueur (they asked if  Kahlua would be ok as they didn't have coffee liqueuor, which I said that would be great)

Yes, They have NO Bitters.  

We didn't get to the orange peel.

Mel & Marv in birth order - maybe next year!

Hope everyone has a great time tonight.  All the best and Happy Mini.

Was going to drive my Mini to the Mini but the idea got quashed.

Linda Bristow (Elias)

Boo:  Glad you had a good experience with Viking.  In 1995-96 maybe, I went to Egypt and cruised down the Nile to different places.  I really enjoyed the antiquities in Luxor.  As we cruised, I looked up at this shining white mausaleum structure on the top of the sand hills above the river........it was the tribute to the Aga Khan.  It was magnificent!  Rita Heyworth married his son, I believe.

As I travel, I like to see what their foods are like, their means of travel, their architecture, and their clothing!  I find it amazing how things were erected with rudimentary tools, and how long their structures last.  In comparison to ours, from a young country who had modern tools, their buildings can last thousands of years.  That fascinated me.

The Valley of the Kings and Queens, and how those tombs were built and still contain the art work that was a tribute to their dead, was fantastic too!  We heard how their paint was made from plants, eggs, some ground stone, etc. I was awed by their artful ability on the walls of the tombs, as well as the things that were contained inside with their sarcofagus.  Their jars that contained their organs were beautiful.  I had such a good trip!  

Linda

Regina (Sue) Petersen (Koppenhoefer)

It's wonderful to see David Peters commenting on the Message Forum.  Please continue to do so!  It was so nice to see you again at the 60th, and I enjoyed meeting your wife!  

Mel and I were able to solve a 60 something year old mystery last night at the mini reunion, but I forgot to wish him a happy birthday!  It was so nice to be with old friends again!  Sandy, thank you for always encouraging me to attend!  
 

Melvin (Mel) Theobald

Too many of you to thank, but want you all to know how fun it was at Cheeks for the mini-reunion on Saturday. Sue, I was delighted that you finally made it and, brief as it was, thoroughly enjoyed talking with you and Steve. Sandy is a force to be reckoned with, so don't ever under estimate her power of influence.

Dave, I totally appreciate your efforts, but we managed quite well to teach the Cheeks barista some new tricks. It amazes me she didn't seem to know how to do anything but open a bottle of beer. Patty Lehr and I gave her a real education on vodka gimlets and rum & club soda. Rest assured, they will remember us next time.

To everyone who was there, your birthday greetings were much appreciated. Hope someone posts a few photographs. We are all at that age where every year is a gift. For my money, it was a birthday celebration for all of us who are now on our 80th lap around the sun. OMG...how we have earned it.

A toast to the BHS Class of 1964. I couldn't wish for anything better.

Alan Swartz

Happy Birthday Mel and Marv. I hope you have many more GREAT years. AL

Melvin (Mel) Theobald

Thank you Alan. Hope you are well and would love to hear more from you.

For today's humor:

Dianne Shaffer (Troxel)

Happy August!  Was so much fun celebrating with Marvin and Melvin their 79th birthday!  Me and Roger loved seeing all of you who were there.  Wishing each of you a lovely end of summer and fall.  Seems like the days past so fast.  God has been so good to give us good friends, good health, and good humor!  Laugh and love more each day!

Sandra Jeakins (Singletary Sizemore)

Sue, I'm glad you and Steve are having a good time at the reunions.  I love seeing you.  It always takes someone to coax a person into going  For me, it was Lila Jones and  Pat Rosenbaum who talked me into going to the 45th big reunion.  Then I ran into Charlie Crabtree at a group sale at his house and he talked me into going to my first mini-reunion in 2017.  But it still took me from 2009 until 2017 to attend anymore reunions. That was after I retired.  Suzi Denton also helped me because of a comment she made on the class website that none of us are as thin as we used to be.  So I had several people encouraging me.  So I try to encourage others, like you and Liz into going. Liz enjoys them, too. 

Thank you, Mel, for the kind words about me.  I got a chuckle out of them. 

I don't think many pictures were taken Saturday night.  Which is too bad.  It seemed like the party started early and some left early.  That could be why no pictures were taken 

There were several people that are usually there that weren't and I'm concerned about them and hope they are ok.  Just know everybody was missed that wasn't there.  

Ditto to what DianeShaffer said, for sure!

Marvin Theobald

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes! Mel came to visit me for our birthday, the mini-reunion and a Sunday family reunion. Good times!

Below are a few photos from the mini-reunion. A lot of people left before I took pictures, so quite a few are missing out of the 32 that made an appearance. Mary Giermann and Pat Lehr contributed a couple of the photos. As always a fun time was had by all. It was nice to see Sue Petersen Koppenhoefer decide to join us. Thanks Sandy for nudging her. 

Dave, Not sure of your refreshement recommendation but very much appreciate your intent. Sorry you were not able to take part. Diane Gardner is experiencing some severe leg pain issues and was not up to joins us. Sharon asked me to say Hi to everyone but was not able to be there. 

Madelon Henderson Newsom, Marvin Theobald, Judy Winquist Neal, Sandy Holt, Elaine Jetton, Dave Holt, Jack Keefe, Steve Jetton, Mel Theobald, Kay and Mike Fry

Madelon Newsom, Dianne Shaffer Troxel, Marvin Theobald, Judy Neal and Mel Theobald

Pat Hocenic Lehr, Mel and Dianne Troxel

Some people never grow up! Posing as moose for the benefit of Mary Giermann, an avid moose hunter. We could have been shot! Oh!!! I guess we did get shot. Glad all she had was her camera. Scarry photo.

Julie Hart

Wendy - Glad you mentioned Croisieurope - I cruised with them May 2022 - the Danube, Main and Rhine - Amsterdam to Budapest.  Enjoyed the no frills aspect and the teeny tiny bathroom 

Sandra Jeakins (Singletary Sizemore)

So Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd break into a distillery.

Daffy turns to Elmer and asks, "Is this Whiskey?"

Elmer replies, "Yeth......but not as Whskey as Wobbing a bank!!"

Glad there were a few pictures posted for Saturday night.   Sue and Steve attended the Christmas reunon last December and they were also at Windjammer in May.   It's about an hour and a half drive for them, so I'm glad they make the trip.  Steve says we make him feel realy welcome. I think they will continue to attend, when they can.