6/18/02
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PHS Alumni On-Line
|
Jun 18, 2002
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6 Bulldogs and the contest final report today:
Linda Hensley Boblet (58)
Roger Plockelman (59)
Brad Mason (63)
Donna Reeves Fulwyler (63)
Jerry Keane (65)
Paul Case (67)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Final Contest Results
The contest to increase the number of subscribers to PHS Alumni On-Line has ended. The contest was announced in the newsletter of March 29, 2002 and ended at midnight PDT on June 16, 2002. Many thanks to Jeff Jumper (62) for suggesting a contest, which has turned out to be very successful.
The end of the contest also marks the one-year anniversary of PHS Alumni On-Line. The web site was created on June 16, 2001 and the first newsletter was sent to 117 Bulldogs on June 18, 2001. This contest resulted in 359 new subscribers, which raises our number to 556! Not bad for a small town, huh? And new subscribers come in almost every day, so we're not done yet!
Oh yeah, since we had a contest there must be winners, right? Right! Two in this case - one winner for referring the most new subscribers and one chosen in a computerized random selection process from all who entered the contest - a total of 171 entrants. The final results have been witnessed and verified by an independent judge (my wife, a 1969 Bomber who's nearly half-Bulldog after 28 years), so you can rest assured that all was fair on Bulldog turf.
The winners will receive official notification via e-mail with instructions on how to obtain their respective prizes. Each will receive a custom CD with up to 25 of their favorite songs from Jeff Jumper's collection - many thanks once again to Jeff for also offering the prizes for the contest.
OK, OK you want to know who the winners are, right? Well, the winner for referring the most new subscribers was a runaway.
Dennis Cresswell (58) referred 108 Bulldog alumni!
And the randomly selected winner is (drum roll, please!) - Michael Scheel (89)!
Congratulations to the winners! And many thanks to all of you that referred subscribers, passed around the web site address, forwarded newsletters to other Bulldogs, or otherwise helped us grow! No need to stop now, either. Keep doing what you're doing, and don't forget to write in with some of your memories of growing up and going to school in Pasco!
One last editorial note and then I'll shut up - almost. I've received comments from other alumni that they are really interested in knowing where their old buddies are, what they're doing, etc., etc. The alumni list shows where a lot of you are living, but there are quite a few blanks that could be filled in. And maybe a lot of you would like to send in a brief update on your biography between PHS (or before) and today. That may even help you rekindle some fond memories that you have nearly forgotten about. Anyway, give it a shot - as short or as long (within reason!) as you like. I'll start the ball rolling with my entry below. - Paul
==============================================
From: Linda Hensley Boblet (58)
This seems like a wonderful place to find old friends. I have been looking for an old family friend, who also is a PHS alumni. His name is Richard (Dick) Bruce. I think he graduated in 55 or 56. Does anyone remember him? Does anyone know where he is?
Linda Hensley Boblet (58)
Kennewick, WA
==============================================
From: Roger Plockelman (59)
Greetings Dave [Whitmire]:
I taught school and lived in Olympia for 30 years. How did I not run into you at some point? Another neighbor of mine, Skip Patterson, also lived in Olympia and was or is a State AG. Small world. Thanks for the response.
Hello Ginger [Mitchell Wedin]:
You may not remember me but I was a close friend of your older brother John and knew your family since you all lived out on Lower River Road. We were all in Scouts together and your Mom and Dad and Mine were good friends. I would be interested to know what is the status of your brothers Patrick and Jimmy. Also where in Colorado is Big John? I remember you well. Your house on Octave Street just across from the PHS had a great basement where we used to hang out -- John, Eisenbarth, and me. You usually tried to stay out of our way! Remember that first car that John got? What a great time it was to grow up. Hope your life is going well.
A voice from long ago,
Roger Plockelman (59)
Puyallup, WA
==============================================
From: Donna Reeves Fulwyler (63)
Re: Miss Wilbur, the girls PE teacher,
One thing I'll never forget is Miss Wilbur doubled over in laughter when returning a test to me (and the rest of the class). She read my answer out loud to them. Now before I tell you what was on the test, please know that I was a good student, I just had one of those "senior moments" - early.
The test question: Name the 3 instructions given to a runner before a race. The answer was really as simple as ready, set, go. My response: don't eat a lot, wear loose clothing, have good shoes.
I still blush over that one, but at least she and the others had a good laugh.
Donna Reeves Fulwyler (63)
Pasco, WA
==============================================
From: Brad Mason (63)
Wow! Thanks Dave for jarring my recollections - Poor old Hub. I use to work at the grocery store right next to Hub`s (Mayfair) in high school and would occasionally stroll into Hub`s with a few other guys to glance at the nudist magazines -- until the proverbial, "You're too young to be lookin` at those `girlie' magazines, boys. Buy something or get out." He definitely was NOT a jolly guy -- seemed always to be upset. Anyway, one hot summer night, in early July, a carload of us guys drove in back of his store and parked in the parking lot of the apartment complex adjacent to his store; old man Hub had kept his back door open because of the heat. Gary Griggs had a WHOLE BUNCH of fireworks and quietly had crept to the back door and after pushing them into the store through the back door lit them and ran like phooey back to the car. We waited but for a brief moment before All Hell Broke Loose! It seems it was an endless BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! as hundreds of firecrackers ignited, creating towering billows of white smoke in the alley and throughout his store. Moments later we peeked above the windows of the car to see old man Hub, more or less in shock, looking for some sign of what had just happened. Forty years later, it seems a sorry prank; but at the time it was truly a "genuine" moment that a car load of high school kids relished: getting the comeuppance on "Old Man Hub."
Brad Mason (63)
Mentor, OH
==============================================
From: Jerry Keane (65)
My sister Pat (Keane Uhlrich 58) told me and my wife Cathy (Frodel 67) about the site. Have enjoyed going back into the archives and reading all the messages from fellow alums. Not many registered from the class of 65 but many names are familiar from 63 - 65.
Grew up on Mead Street just west of the High School with sister Pat (58) and brother Jim (60). Have many memories of growing up in Pasco. Attended St Pats and in the early 60's we use to walk to and from the Armory after school for basketball practice. For those who don't recall, the Armory was by McLaughlin Junior High. As most will remember back then we walked everywhere or rode a bike. Didn't have the luxury of Mom's taxi service like kids of today. Also use to walk almost daily during the summer to Memorial Pool. A stop at Tasty Freeze was a must. Beginning in Junior High and up until someone in the group turned 16, Friday and/or Saturday nights we would walk to the Liberty or Pasco Theatre to see the latest movie. On the way someone in the group would usually get brave enough to go into Hubs grocery and try to buy cigarettes. Sometimes with success and sometimes he would chase us out. Anyone else remember going to the skating rink in Richland for dances. Marylee Rush comes to mind...
Enough for now.
Jerry Keane (65)
Mount Vernon, WA
==============================================
From: Paul Case (67)
A brief bio update:
As much as I enjoyed my brief stints making Spudnuts and washing dishes at the Chinese Gardens, I was thrilled to make the jump to the warehouse at Grigg's Dept. Store in 1966 for $1.25 per hour. My 6-year career at Grigg's was interrupted by a year-long adventure in South Vietnam. Luckily for me, my duty there was not too different from the movie M*A*S*H, except I wasn't in the medical corps. Upon my return I moved into the Automotive Department at Grigg's. I also wandered into a hippie lifestyle and discovered that one could make extra spending money by “sponsoring” keggers, usually at the Road 68 sand dunes. But it was a department manager at Grigg's who introduced me to my future wife one night in 1972.
Grigg's had a difficult time keeping up with my salary needs, so we parted ways - they kept selling tons of stuff and I went on unemployment. I almost made that a career, but they tend to have limits on how long you can “work” for the state. Luckily, my future wife had a good friend whose husband worked in the electrical contracting business. I was still pretty much in full hippie mode - beard and hair down to my shoulders - and construction was still pretty much a redneck business. But I was given an interview and wrote my first resume - at the interview. I guess I must have learned something in high school because the manager was impressed and offered me a job - if I shaved off that damn beard!
That job eventually led to a four-year apprenticeship and about 10 years of steady construction work, mostly at Hanford. When construction fell off I moved over to the maintenance world and eventually maintenance engineering. I also learned about government work - you better have a sense of humor! I now work as a safety engineer and coordinate the electrical safety program for the primary contractor on the Hanford site.
Hobbies? Glad you asked, I was afraid you were getting bored. Computers, because they challenge you to be at least as smart as they are, which doesn't seem to happen too often. Boating - I love being on water. I dabble in gourmet cooking and enjoy good wine and micro-brewed beers. I hate yard work but I love growing culinary herbs. I also enjoy woodworking, but my ShopSmith has been idle in the garage for quite a while. And I've decided that cruises are a wonderful way to live - just wish we could do that more often. But two kids in college can put a crimp (i.e., delay) in things. Which brings me to the last, and best, part of this longer-than-I-intended bio.
I married my wonderful wife, Paula, in 1974. Yeah, she's a Bomber, but I brought her to Pasco and she raised two Bulldogs with me. We eventually grew out of the hippie stage and settled for a more conservative image. We've raised two great boys, Jeremiah (97) who works for Deloitte & Touche (luckily not Arthur Andersen!) in Seattle and Josh (00) who will be a junior at Whitworth College in Spokane.
That's pretty much it, and certainly more than I intended. But it did seem to re-energize some long lost memory modules deep in the hollowed (out) caverns of my brain. Maybe I can remember some humorous events from high school days . . .
Paul Case (67)
Pasco, WA
==============================================