CONGRATULATIONS

What Fun,

Does anyone know who the Grand Marshal of the FHS 2010 Homecoming Parade is????

Our very own Annie McBride Braxton.
Congratulations Annie. We will look for a picture later.
Have fun and enjoy the honor

Trivia Warm Up

Here is an example of some of the trivia challenges we will have at the reunion. I will use this as a warm up for you to get a head start. Are there familiar faces in this picture? Are you in this photo? If so, can you name everyone in this picture? Who are some classmates who are missing? Do you know why Rita was not in this pticure, or Carolyn or Laurel?

(This photo was supplied by Dee Ann's Sister in Law, Mary. Thank you Mary for you help. We will be glad to remember Dee Ann at the reunion through photo's like this one.)

SAVE THE DATE
FHS Class of 1971 40th Reunion
September 30 - October 1, 2011


Calling all 1971 graduates of Fulton High School,

It's time to save the date, mark your calendars, and start making plans to attend our 40th Class reunion next year. It will be held in conjunction with the FHS Football homecoming where our class will be recognized. (Details to follow).

We need you, "Yes, You" to help us make this the best reunion ever. We hope you will:
1) Plan to join us next year as we reminisce, catch up and get re-aquatinted
2) Fill out the survey page, when it comes to you, for the class Memory book and fun “Trivia Game Challenges” we plan to have at several events during the reunion weekend as well as a souvenir “FHS 1971 Class - Past & Present” memory book. (information and details will follow)

Plans are underway to make this reunion worth the time and travel some will have to make to be with us. We will focus on Past FHS days Friday night, our Present interests Saturday morning and afternoon, and Future dreams Saturday night at the Dinner / Dance (?). (More details will follow on these events as well).

I hope you will get involved to make this a fun and memerable time for you and those who want to learn more about you form our class.

Information about the MEMORY BOOK will be coming soon. For now, please start thinking about outstanding memories from FHS days, what you would most like people to know about what has happened to you in the past 40 years since graduation and some of your top "bucket list" things to do in the time you have left. Let's face it. Time is shorter then we think.

For those who may not know, we lost 2 more classmates this past year Bobby Galbreath and Dee Ann Tucker. Our hearts go out to their families as they go through this year without their presence. For us, it reminds us the brevity of our lives and the need for staying intouch with those we count as friends. More on that note later.

For now, Thanks to David Danuser, Kent Hatfield, Rita Adams and all those who were at the Bek Restaurant meeting for your support and input.

What Are You Doing On June 28th at 6:30pm?

Hopefully Local Fulton area '71 alumni (and their spouces) will join the Reunion Committee at Bek’s Restaurant (on Court Street in Fulton) at 6:30pm on June 28th. (Each person will be responsible for their own meal /snack or bar tab.) Instead of giving busy people two possible options (either the 22 or the 28th) to meet with the reunion committee we decided only one meeting, on the 28th, will be needed. Those unable to attend this informational meeting may contact me directly for the information. We hope to have fun as we share ideas and:

• reconnect with classmates and their families and strengthen relationships.
• promote interest among folks who have not attended reunions in the past so they feel they have a voice.
• Get people’s contact information updated and help find lost folks.
• discuss a definite date without being influenced by outside speakers at this time. [I had planned to talk in general about the fine website and options Alumni Association offered and as I mentioned at our last meeting I wanted to talk to Nikki if the date was chosen to coincide with the Alumni Weekend (AW)].
• Discuss having an autobiography type of memory book and encourage interest in getting involved (which will be a big project that I will need everyone’s help).
• Find out what activities or committees are desired and start putting people in place to get organized and poised for action.

To help us plan our meeting would you please either e-mail me (Carolyn Crews H) at 2hushai@gmail.com or call me at 573-289-8517 to help Bek's plan for our group.

The 6/9/10 Reunion Committee Meeting Review

Thanks to Dave D., Kent H., Rita A. our meeting was very productive. We were sorry Linda H. couldn’t be with us this time. Two Fulton information Meetings, at Beks Restaurant are being planned so there will be lots of time to add thoughts and input.

Setting the Date for the Reunion:
To Linda and those in KC who worked with us to nail down the Fulton Street Fair weekend as our reunion date: I want to thank you for your input but I’m afraid that date won’t work. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the date for the FSF is always set to happen on Father’s Day weekend and we wanting to avoid dates attached to family holidays. SO… the second date we discussed early on, to have it during the FHS Homecoming in the Fall, has now become the date of choice. We will confirm this as the official date soon and hopefully get the ball rolling to organize some fun activities. If you have any comments or thoughts about that date, please contact me either through this blog, or by personal Email.

We also will be checking with FHS Alumni Associations date to see if they have activities we might want to join in on so we are not reinventing the wheel and competing with places to meet, etc…

For those who read this blog but do not make comments. Please break your silence and let your thoughts be known. Either email me or click the comment word at the bottom of this post. Then, just type in your comment in the comment box, confirm your google account (if you have one that pops up as your google identification) or register for a free google account. Lastly, type in the funny security word in their security box, push the "post" bar near the bottom and your comment should be posted. We always love to hear from you.

The Next Step will be have a couple possible information meetings with Fulton folks to get some interest and organization started. Let us know what you think.

Hi Guys,
After spending nearly a week with my family in KC (Kids, grand kids and dogs) I'm back at work to get a date set for next year's 40th Reunion.

A quick review on finding a date:
You might remember that the weekend closest to the 4th of July has always been the date we have used for our reunions in the past. Although that was great date for many years, the suggestion was made to not have it during this family focused holiday since many of our children no longer live near us and traveling to see children and grandchildren has become a priority for many.

Progress Report:
Up to this point all the different groups we tried to reach for suggestions on a date, (those who live long distances, the KC group and some short distance folks) have all agreed it would be good to have the reunion in conjunction with the Fulton Street Fair next year.

A Snag In Our Plan:
This past week I checked with the Fulton Chamber of commerce and found the date for the Fulton Street Fair (FSF) always is in conjunction with Father's Day. Arrrrggg.
This may effect some of those not wanting to break personal traditions or family plans.

Responses Requested:
The Reunion will not run over to Sunday except for Long Distance folks so it may not be a problem for KC, Short Distance or Local people. I'll be contacting some of you for an official opinion on date suggestions. Please, feel free to jump in on this blog to give your opinion or ask a question, just push comment, register (free), fill out the info and push submit. I'd love to hear from you all.
Thanks.
CCH

Fulton High School (MO) Alumni Association

Steve Baysinger suggested we link the FHS Alumni Association Website to this blog but I'm afraid I don't know how to do that. So, for those who are not able to google it, putting the address below in your internet address box and it should get you there.

Don't forget to send me some family photos or personal favorites of other classmates Let me know if you want them shown on a slide show on this blog, other wise I'll keep them for the reuntion presentation and memory book.

Thanks again to those who were able to join me In KC. So sorry Paul and Jenny Rice were unable to be there. Thanks Jenny for your thoughtful message. Don't worry, we are hoping to get together for a Royals game tailgate sometime this summer. I'm in KC a lot so I'm sure we'll see each other. As a matter of fact, My daughter Grace lives close to you I think. Talk to you soon.
Heres the FHS AA site address

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=1h&oq=&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GFRC_enUS209US211&q=fulton+high+school+alumni+association

KC MEETING REPORT

My sincerest "Thanks" to everyone who participated in the KC meeting yesterday, (4/25/10). My husband, Randy, was right when he said, "Fultonions can be an amzingly loyal bunch of folks." I would add patient to that list since they are helping me as I work with a huge learning curve on this project. No wonder I didn't hear from many people about the KC meeting, they thought the meeting was over before they got the letter because of my clerical error. “Duoooogh!”

I was sorry I hadn't remembered to take my camera to the meeting so I could post pictures of Matt Meyer, Steve Baysinger, Jill and Bill Riester, and Steve and Carla Maerz and my daughter Grace Anne (who went with me since Randy was in Minnesota on business). Sorry Dave (Danuser) that you couldn’t join us. I hope your Mom’s estate auction went well. I had planned on supporting your sale but like you, don’t know how to be two places at one time.

The KC meeting was great. We talking over old times (of course) and I heard stories about Steve Maerz and his buddies I had not heard before, thanks to his wife Carla.
Carla Maerz helped answer Steve B's good question about what I had in mind for spouses to be a part of a reunion that mostly focuses on the past. She and Steve told us some great John Jameson stories that had us all rolling in laughter. (Way to go Carla and Steve).
A shared interest in nursing helped Jill Riester and my daughter Grace illustrated how Spouses can find others who share common interests and form new friendships. Of course we had current interests to share about our kids, businesses, surgeries from old high school injuries that makes our reunion not just about the past but about who we are today. Matt gets the prize for most loyal for making the effort to attend the meeting on crutches. Hope the hip heals up quickly.

Some of our discussion included: The value of staying in touch
• The need for accurate addresses and contact information
• Linking the Fulton (MO) Alumni Association web site to this blog.
• Making the date of the reunion the first part of June, in connection to the Fulton Street Fair.
• Having lots of fun activities to make it interesting for everyone. [Like: the usual golf, a service project Linda (Landrum) Houston and Tanna (Crump) Schmidli might get going, a pool (billiards) tourney, something in Columbia, a tour of the High School, Walk on the trail, a picnic, some competitive opportunities with a scavenger hunt around town, a barn warming cocktail hour, etc…]
• Bill suggested A Tale Gate for a Royals game this summer as a warm up for next year. He said, "Even if the Royals don't play well we can have fun together in the parking lot or at Legions (sp?). (wherever that is???)
• Matt helped keep me focused by asking Q: what’s the next step? A: To contact folks and encourage them to get involved and connected to send in ideas.

Thanks again everyone for your time and patience. It was great fun seeing you all, I look forward to the tailgate. CCH

Meeting in Kansas City

A KC Committee meeting has been set
Sunday (4/25/10) afternoon - 1:30pm
at the Baha600 Restaurant on the Plaza.
For any FHS 71 graduates who would like to join the conversation, we will hope to talk over reunion plans and ideas for next year.

Those in the Fulton area and surrounding region stay tune of a meeting near you.
C U Soon
C Crews H

Coming To KC

Hi,
Anyone in the KC area who would like to talk to me about ideas or helping with activities for next years reuntion, I plan to be in KC this weekend. Please contact me through any of the ways listed in my letter I sent 2 weeks ago. only Glenn Lawrence's letter came back as undeliverable so the rest must have been received.
I also do not have a current address for Kenny Lawrence. Anyone who might know how to contact either of these Lawrence boys, let me know or let them know how to contact me. Either way is good.
Hope to hear from you soon,
CCH

Sharing Photos

Hi Guys
If you will send me photos of you or you with your family I'll get a slide show started for this site. You can scroll down and see my first contribution of me with our newest granddaughter. Surely you all don't want to just see my photos. Come on and join the fun. You can also send me old High School photos etc or funny pictures of other classmates. We'll do a fun thing at the reunion with them and add some competition to make it more fun.

I am excited about finding out about every one's life after we've "grown up". True, some of us may still be searching for what we want to do when we "grow up" but by 55+ we surely can get past High School and enjoy life long friendships, renew old friendships of the past or make new friendships with those we might not have had the opportunity to know in the HS years.

For instance, I was a florist for 12 years and found out someone else shared that love and experience. We now, more then before, can relate over a shared interest. Each of us have grown and hopefully matured to be even better friends then before.

Another example would be my dear friend, Laurel Gilmer T. In High School we were friends, but lost touch with one another while in college. After college our friendship was renewed and strengthened and then after we married and moved apart in location and life style we lost touch again. Then, when looking for address for the last class reunion, in 2006, we once again were reunited and now enjoy a renewed and closer friendship with our famiies. That has helped to inspire me to continue reaching out to make connections with those who I've known or considered friends but have "lost touch". How about you? Are there any HS friends you would like to say "Hi" to or "I'm Sorry" or "What's up"? If so, you need to send me an E-mail so I can anonymously get a message to someone for you. We may have a King and Queen type of thing for the person who most people would like to see at the Reunion. Who would you like to see there? Send me an E-mail at hushai@gmail.com to let me know. Just put in the subject line. I'd like to see...

My last example is less fun. If you will remember, or go back through this blog to read it's beginning several years ago, you will see that I asked a question about wanting to find someone who had been on my mind. She was someone I respected but we did not have shared classes or interests in HS so we were not close. I wanted to know how she was and asked, "Where is Pam Oliver?" Well, a year or so later I happened to see her in a local store in town, we chatted and said we would get together for tea sometime. That never happened. Within the year she died of Cancer and we never had our chat. That is another inspiration for me to not put off doing or saying what I can to strengthen friendships. We have to realize, time is moving on and there is no time like the present to let others know how important they are or have been to us. So, Send me your. "Glad you are in my life..." list by Email for a project we want to do for the reunion. ALL E-mails will be respected and privet for the purpose of encourageing others. NO names of senders will be given. We want to encourage participation so feel free to get your lists and ideas to me as soon as you can.

Hope all of you are enjoying a beautiful Spring and Easter Holiday.
Blessings,
C Crews H

3/24/10 Committee Meeting Notes

The Class of 1971 Reunion Committee met on March 24th to discuss how to contact people and set a date for the reunion.

Reviewed Old Business:

• letters to Long Distance (LD) classmates had been sent 3/10/10. Two came back undeliverable : Sandy Salmons and Alice Williams. Three people responded by E-mail to the letters and three people joined the FHS (MO) Alumni Association FHSAA as recommended in the letter.


• Everyone agreed that summer was when we wanted to meet and preferred a two evening event. A cocktail hour on Friday and a dinner on Saturday.


• It was decided to have it in conjunction with the Fulton Street Fair in June of 2011.


• It was decided that the classes of 1970 who will not get to have a reunion this year, and the 1972 class that has not had reunions over the years will be invited to join us after plans are finalized.

Next Steps

• Carolyn will send letters and have a meeting with those interested in getting involved in the KC area. Information letters will go out by April 1 and hopefully will get to meet by April 20th.


• Others committee members will be following up the LD letters and sending out Short Distance (SD) people letters to encourage interst in getting involved.


• David will work with the Face/Space people to get updated information


• Linda will also try to locate people to get updated contact info


• Kent will continue to try to get the finacial records from Jackie Wheeler

It was fun to get to gether and a reminder of the importance of having reunions.

Life long friendships are worth the effort to maintain.

Hope to hear from some of you soon,

Carolyn

.

Hi,
Tonight is the FHS71 class reunion committee meeting at Addison's Restaurant.
We will discuss a date for the reunion.
Sure wish I had heard from some classmates who live far away about dates that might be best for them. So far, I have only had 2 responses from LD folks who were already engaged with us in the planning process. Thanks Tanna and Roger for your faithful responses.

One thing about doing a big project like this, much like trying to eat an elephant, it only happens one bite at a time. SO. to break the project down into bite size pieces I hope different ones will oversee different areas. For instance, Linda wants to organize a service project and Tanna said she would be glad to work with her on it as a possible memorial idea.

As soon as we have this meeting I will hope to meet with the KC classmates to see what ideas they might like to add. Thanks to Bill R and Steve B for their interest and support.
We'll plan on seeing you all sometime in April. Bill had a great idea about getting KC folks together for a Royals game this summer. Could that be extended to all class members?

I'll let you all know what comes from our dinner meeting tonight.

Thanks everyone.
C Crews H

We are starting the engines for getting our reunion train moving.
As with any train. Getting the engine started is the first step. Getting it moving is the next.
No matter how slow it seems to be at the first, I know it can pick up steam and move at a good pace.

To start the engine, I sent letters out to the Long Distance class members to let them know how important their input and attendance is to our 40th class reunion next year. I still have not heard from many but I believe the engine is building steam and forward motion will begin soon.
Some in the Fulton area have seen the smoke stack puffing out some signs of activity and are interested in getting on board. At the committee meeting on 3/24/at Addison's Restaurant we will get some responsibilities handed out and start talking about the date.

So far having it when the Fulton street fair is going on seems to be leading on preferences. If anyone has other suggestions, we have not gotten them.
You will know we are leaving the station when we send out a save the date notice. via this blog site, or the Fulton High School Alumni Association (MO) site. So far we have 5 on board that site and some communication by E-mail there has started up. I encourage everyone to take the reunion survey they have provided. It saves us from having to make our own.

Again, it's a good site and very user friends. Hope more folks get on board.

I heard that the 1970 class lost their momentum to have their reunion this year and some may want to get on board with us. Several from the 1972 class already are wanting to get on board the 71er's train. So far everyone thinks that is a good idea.
The more the merrier.

Until next time,
C Crews H

Any Long Distance Alumni out there?

I Have not heard from any of the letters I sent out last Friday. Hopefully they have been received. I have not received any back yet so that's a good sign they may be delivered to the right addresses. Time will tell
Hope to hear from some of them soon.
Blessings,
Cch

Taking baby steps

Way to go guys. As of yesterday, 3 more 71ers have signed on with the Fulton High School Alumni Association site. Now if we can start using some of their resources to help locate folks and get ideas shared it will be great.

Looking forward to talking to you all soon,
CCH

Getting Involved

Hi Guys,
Say, I just found the Fulton (MO) alumni web site. It's very good and there are options we can use there that I can't do on this site. Although this blog page has some advantages I wish we could get some dialog started.

The alumni site costs 10.00 to get your lifetime membership started but it seems worth it and may be very helpful for getting our class together for next year.

So far Terry Lawrence and I are the only ones I see registered but hopefully others will get on there or here or both. This site is good since it is free and all we need do is register our information for security purposes.

Talk to you all soon.
Blessings,
Carolyn

March 8th news

Wanting to see how many of the E-mail addresses I have are current, I sent out a note to encourage folks to get on the blog and reminded them that our 40th FHS class reunion was coming up next year.

Here's a quote I received that made me laugh.

"40 years. Holy Crap"

I would probably phrase it differently but he got the sense of urgency I hoped for.

I also received a reminder from Jane Vandeloecht Friedman, about Bobby Galbreath's death. She suggested I go to the Debo web site and post his obit information. I will do that next. I will also hope to find Pam Oliver and Mark Douglas' information as well.
Sorry to be updating such sad things but right now no other news is coming my way.

Please don't make me come and find you. Jump in and add some comments here. It will help us add to the fun when we get to the reunion. I will be listing possible ideas and activities as they come in. Send out the information for this class blog to those you know who are internet savey. Please get me information for those who are not internet active so I can contact them by snail mail or phone. Thanks for your help.

Stay tuned.
Blessings fellow 71ers.
CCrewsH

2010 Greetings and Information

Greetings fellow FHS 71ers.
So sorry I was out of touch last year.

Now that I have finished my graduate studies and have cleared away some of the things stack up in it's wake, I am now looking forward to giving my full attention to working on the reunion. As the famous line from Independence Day movie says, "I'm Ba-a-ack".

Thank you Bill Jamison and Bill Riester for your support. Hopefully others will join you this year as we prepare to make our time together at the reunion memorable and fun. Please remind those you are in touch with to jump in and share their ideas. With the "My -S/Face-B" phenomon catching on I hope we can get folks addresses and information out quickly. I plan to meet with several "71ers" in the Kansas City area soon to get ideas and help.

I will be sending out a note this week to those who live far away for ideas on what would make it worth their time, expense and effort to attend the reunion next year. "The Columbia Committee" (Dave Danuser, Me, Linda Landrum Houston, and Kent Hatfield) will send out a save the date when a decision is reached so letting us know your ideal date will be helpful. Right now we are leaning toward making it during The Fulton festival time in June. That means we need to get organized and get the date out there so people can make their plans.

Remember, the class of 72 has not had reunions over the years, as our class has,. We have been asked by several if we would include them in our upcoming reunion. I would like every one's ideas about that as well. It seems good to me and The Columbia Committee but we would like to hear your thoughts.

SAD NEWS:
Please keep Ramona Grogan Dobson in your thoughts and prayers. Her husband, Don, died unexpectedly in his sleep a few weeks ago. Even though I am in Fulton often I do not see every paper and missed the news. Rita saw me in a restaurant a week ago and told me about it. It is another reminder of the frailty of life and the importance of staying in touch.

I also heard Bobby Galbreth's died. If anyone can varify that, please let me know. We would like to once again, have a short time of rememberence for those who have passed on from our class, like Pam Oliver and Mark Douglas and Bobby Galbreth (?) There may be others I am unaware of so it would be good if that information could be gathered. Rita did such a good job of keeping that information I hope she will help us again this time. We will have a short time of rememberence and a memory table so please let me know if you have any information on anyone. I have some photo's of Pam.

FRIENDSHIPS are precious gifts that are worth the effort to refresh and keep alive.
It makes me want to dive in and work hard for our 40th reunion to be memorable and fun for all.

Until next time,
Blessings to you and yours,
CCrewsH