Dave,
Gee, seeing that you’ve been maintaining a web site for our West High class for 7 years, I definitely feel like a late-comer to the party! Well, I must admit to always having felt just a little out of step….SO – secondly, sorry to have heard after the fact that there was a reunion planned this weekend. In all honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to make it, but still, would have been nice to been invited! Actually, what I suspect happened is that, even though you have my address correct, a few years ago the Post Office in its infinite governmental wisdom decided to change our zip code, and are now at the point that mail with the old zip code is being returned. aarrgghh…..
But, better late than never, here’s the scoop on my life from the last 30 or so years. I have been living in Anchorage, Alaska for the past 12 years with my husband of 22 years, Bob Raven, our 2 children, Abby (18) and Stuart (15). I own a toy store, Over The Rainbow Toys, that I’ve had for 10 years now, and that specializes in fun, creative, open ended, developmental toys. In other words, GOOD toys, as opposed to those advertised on Saturday morning cartoons and pitched at ToysRUs. My husband is a geologist (we met while both in school at U of I geology dept, where I got both a BS and MS. So now I sell toys…). With the different oil companies he worked for, we moved around several times, making the rounds of the oil patch – New Orleans, San Francisco, Dallas, London, and then when we landed here in Anchorage, decided to stay put for awhile.
My kids are great – Abby graduated from high school this years, and is still undecided as to what to do next. She is a very talented artist, and loves to sing, but realizes those might not be life skills to support herself on, so she’s taking some time to think and just work a while. Stuart is a VERY talented musician. Has played the piano since grade school. Recently, he has started the tenor sax, and is becoming the sax player I always wished I was good enough to be. He’s playing the horn I bought after graduation, back when I though I had a chance of making it as a music major! (I didn’t make it half way through Freshman Theory!) Turns out, it was a great horn I bought back then, now considered a classic, and coveted by his instructors!
I make it back to Coralville every year or so, to spend time with Mom & Dad, so I often hear bits and pieces of news through the grapevine. That’s how I heard about the reunion – Kathy Murphy stopped up to the house and talked to mom. (Thanks, Kathy!) And other bits of news – like Arnie Moore was at my sister Lynn’s birthday party…and mom sees Debbie Harris’s mom….and so on….I was home earlier in June, and had Stuart enrolled in the U of I Music dept. Jazz Band camp for the week.
My store website is www.overtherainbowtoys.com. On there is a link on the bottom that says ‘Janet’s Family.” Unfortunately, the pictures there haven’t been updated for a couple years. Stuart is my primary web master (he build the majority of my site) and sometimes it’s hard to get him to do stuff for mom…..
It’s been fun reading through the posts from the past few years. Would love to hear more news of my friends from school. I have definitely fallen out of the loop. Looking forward to hearing more.
Janet Gregory
ps – I always recommend to people the get the full overtherainbowtoys in the web address….if you go to rainbowtoys.com, or overtherainbow.com, you might not like what you get……..