POEM ON THE OCCASION OF OUR 2000 REUNION

In cleaning up my computer I've discovered a darling poem we received from Karen Schurig Bass as we were planning our 35th reunion in 2000. The blog format makes it so easy to share! Thanks all over again Karen!

It’s the Millenium and here we are-----
Fatter, grayer and older by far.

In 35 years there was plenty anew,
So let’s just have a little review.

We have clones, cell phones and artificial hormones,
CD ROM’s, dot.coms, atom bombs and condoms.

Sperm banks, test tube babies,
Gurus, personal trainers and
No brainers

Free love, gay love, and single parents,
Significant others and surrogate mothers

Penile implants, organ transplants and
Artificial parts, lasers, liposuction
And interchangeable hearts

Deficit spending and horrendous taxes,
E-mail, voice mail, internet and faxes.
Computers, commuters, highway shooters and I-Maxes.

Birth control pills and women’s liberation
Genetic engineering and sexual transformation

Smoke is out; coke is in and great disagreement about
the nature of sin.

Commies are out; terrorists are in.
I’m not sure we can call it a win.

Video games and animal rights,
Instant replay and even sound bites,
Cable TV and VCR’s
Moon rocks, space walks, black holes and Mars

Software, hardware, modems, mice and microwaves

Mobile homes, SUVs, mini cams
Satellites, hackers and holograms

Now let’s look at what remains
Things that never seem to change:

Rock & Roll, Country and Soul.
Cars, wars and the common cold
Bureaucrats, baseball, beer and booze
Blue jeans, cowboy boots and tennis shoes.

Doctors, lawyers and police chiefs
Sex offenders, social pretenders
And common thieves.

So my friends we’re going to get older
Though we gripe and complain
All the face lifts, boob jobs and
Viagra are completely in vain.

Let’s face the future with style and grace
We’ve had it good in this humble place.
An attitude of gratitude will keep our hearts alive
Let’s take the time to give three cheers for the class of '65

(Written by Margaret Speer Carter 9/17/99 for her 40th High School reunion in Ft. Smith, AR…………revised by Karen Schurig Bass for our 35th)

DAVE LONDON CHECKS IN ~ CHECK HIM OUT!

THANKS to Sandy Sullivan Meek, we're in touch with Dave London who attended Des Peres Elementary, St. Clements and graduated from Chaminade; however he has lots of memories of growing up with several KHS65 members. He has grade school pix he's willing to share, so check www.khs65.com and his contributions will be there. Herewith Dave's story, which I asked him to share so some of us can "meet" him and some of you may remember knowing him oh those many years ago! THANKS Dave and WELCOME to our "sort of KHS65" list! Maybe we'll see Dave at our 50th Reunion!

"When we reach a certain age, we find ourselves looking in the rear view mirror of life a little more frequently. My rear view mirror is filled with kids from Des Peres and Kirkwood. I grew up on Vinetta Drive, a short dead-end street that is off Manchester, nestled between Harwood and Bopp Roads near Harwood Hills. My father built the house himself and it is still there although the houses on both sides have been bought and torn down with new houses built in their place. I went to Kindergarten and First Grade at Des Peres Elementary. When St. Clements opened I went there for Second through Eighth grade. Went to Chaminade and graduated in the class of 65. Then off to Colorado State University where I played one year of football. I graduated in March of 1970 and was immediately commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the US Army. I spent a little over six years on active duty, the majority of it with the First Infantry Division (The Big Red One), at Ft. Riley, KS and Augsburg Germany. I got married my second year in service to a nurse whom I met while on convalescent leave, following a parachuting accident at Ft. Benning, GA, where I had my Airborne and Ranger training. I had met her father duck hunting (yes you can hunt ducks in a full leg cast). She did not like being married to an Army officer so I returned to civilian life only to find out she didn’t like being a civilian wife either. We had three children (Boys 5 &4 and daughter 2) when she bid adieu. I was granted full custody of the kids and was a single parent for six years. During this time I was living in O’Fallon, MO and was spurred by neighbors to run for the city council. I did and during my first term in 1982 met a beautiful woman eight years my junior whom the mayor had appointed to the Parks and Recreation board. It was love at first sight for me and two years later we were married. I remained on the Board of Alderman for ten years and was President or the Board from 1986 to 1991. In 1993 we decided to move out of the growing bustle of O’Fallon and built our dream home on four acres out by Busch Wildlife area. Kids were grown, the youngest was in college. Jan worked in the Office of State Courts Administrator for the Eleventh Circuit Court in St. Charles. In 1999 she started having symptoms of loss of balance and fainting. She was eventually diagnosed with Ataxia and the insidious disease slowly robbed her of her motor skills and left her bed-ridden. She had a massive stroke as I was dressing her to take her to the hospital. It was one week after 9/11. Following her death I looked for hobbies to take up my time. Golf and my woodworking had too many memories as Jan and I played golf together, and my woodworking was always building something for one of her many decorating projects in the house. Since I lived close to the shooting range at Busch Wildlife, I rekindled my childhood and military interest in the shooting sports. Since then I have become an NRA Training Counselor and am the First Vice president and Safety officer for the 1200 member Benchrest Rifle Club of St. Louis. I shoot competitively with a real fondness for long range precision shooting. With no adult supervision my collection of firearms, shooting and reloading equipment continues to grow. My other passion is my seven grandchildren. Since my wife’s passing I have taken those old enough out on Saturday mornings for what we call Saturday Morning Breakfast Club. The oldest is now 16 and just started to drive (yes I taught him the Kirkwood honk). [This qualifies Dave as a KHS65er all by itself!!!]

In 2005 I met a wonderful widow, also named Jan (I love that name). Between her six kids and eight grandkids and my family, we always seem to be going to something. However, we do find time to travel a little and pursue our many shared interests.
I am on Facebook and have my own website at http://www.pursuitofaccuracy.com/ If you went to Des Peres elementary or St. Clements I would love to hear from you. If you remember the Pickle Bowl, Bob’s Donut Shop, Crème Twist Drive-In, Des Peres Teen Town, Western Teen Town or ice skating on Deutchmann’s or Gray’s ponds please contact me."

IT'S ALL ABOUT ME THIS TIME

Okay, so I try not to make this blog all about me, but I've already said, see older posts, that I'm having a wave of nostalgia lately ~~ new year, loss of an old and treasured friend, going through 'stuff' as I unpack and try to shoehorn said 'stuff' into spaces, things are turning up ... I am going to share more, but for starters, as I was looking for something else, i.e. pix of our 10th reunion, I found this instead and more which I'll post in a bit. Few of my graduation pix exist, I guess we just were busy; dad was tired after having driven straight thru from home in Florida to be here with me & take me and Kert back with him; and my large, colored senior picture was lost in the mail when I sent it to him. I had forgotten I even had this one. I think we just didn't take very many to begin with! Somewhere are the 1975 reunion pix, but I'll have to keep looking for them, they are here somewhere! I can do an album on www.khs65.com with our graduation day photos if anyone wants to send me some.

Do you still have your diploma? In the red vinyl case with your name in gold on front? I think mine survived all these years because it's one time my name was actually spelled correctly! I found a grade school report card where even my teacher mis-spelled it! Shocking!!

KHS65 CONTEST - SEE IF YOU CAN IDENTIFY HIM

I've been waiting for this photo for some time and here it is on a cold, snowy day. I've decided to make this a contest. Can you identify what darling KHS65-to-be was the Wonder Bread poster child in his youth? There are a few people who are NOT eligible to win this contest, initials DB & KMB come to mind but if you've seen this before at his house, you really should disqualify yourself! I will give one clue, he is someone who is named on this blog in at least one (or more) other post. I have NO idea what the prize will be but I'll think of something...I'm STILL unpacking from our recent move to Chesterfield, likely I'll find something I forgot I had that will be perfect! Email me with your entry. Let's see, Valentine's Day would be a good cut-off date. Actually, as I think about it, the name of the company who published this newsletter/magazine is a clue in itself to the identity of our cute little classmate...oh jeez, he'll throttle me for that description!!!
Enjoy and THANKS to our mystery boy for letting me use this, we just don't have THAT many child stars amongst us!