Class Bulletin Board

Dear Dave & everyone,

Just wanted to let you know some good news.  I got a job offer from Santa Clara University to work in their student health.   I had applied for the job earlier in the summer and gone back for a second interview and they finally decided yesterday.   I am very happy.  Although it means a longer and more difficult commute for me,  it also means alot of stability which is something that I desperately want in my life right now since I’ve split up with my husband. 

It provides health and retirement benefits, and the most amazing thing is that if I work there for 3 years,  I can get my children’s tuition FREE.  So Katie could get her 4th year paid for (she’s going there for college)  and I could get all of Graham’s schooling paid for.   So I’m thrilled about that.  In addition, it’s a very pretty campus and always buzzing with activities and events which I can participate in.  And the energy of college students is contagious!  I will probably start October 1st,  unless I can break away sooner from my current job.

🙂 Patty

Dave,

We are having a good summer. We spent my 50th birthday on Cedar Key in Florida. Both my girls and two friends came along. My sister from Tennessee came as well as my stepmom from Florida. We had a great time, kayaking with dolphins, tried some fresh clams,and visited a natural spring with manatees( although there were no manatees at this time of year).

My youngest, Hailey, is going to Iowa State this fall in graphic design. We bought Cyclone football tickets which pleases my husband. I will be bold and wear my Hawkeye t-shirt at the ISU Engineering tailgate!

Hannah is graduating from Roosevelt University in Chicago in December. She will have a degree in Vocal Jazz Studies.

Thanks for all your work on the website- I enjoy hearing about everyone.

Katie Collins Bretz

Hi David,

I thought I would throw in my experiences for this summer too.

I returned about two weeks ago from a trip to Europe also. I take my junior and senior students to Europe every other year. This summer, we started off our trip with a cruise up and down the Rhine River in Germany. The castles are wonderful and it was such a relaxing way to start our “Amazing Race”. Tom and I call it that because we are on the run the whole time in order to see everything we’ve signed up to see. Afterwards, we boarded a bus to see the Cologne Cathedral. This is huge!

We finished our day by arriving in Amsterdam. Our group consisted of 14 students, Tom, myself and groups from Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. We walked through the heart of Amsterdam, visited the Anne Frank house, took a canal cruise and visited a diamond factory. We also took side trips to Volendam and Schaans Zwaans (however that is spelled) which were so Dutch and so nice. The kids saw wooden shoes being made and many bought some to bring home. What a lovely sight in the airports as they decided to wear them home.

We stopped in Brussels to see the Royal Palace, Manneken Pis and the Grande Place. While in the Grande Place, my brother, from my host family from when I was an exchange student, surprised me with a visit. It was short but sweet.

We then went to Paris. The kids had a chance to try out their French. We saw all the sights there that the normal tourist sees. When we left Paris, we boarded the Eurostar to go through the Chunnel on our way to London. We were in all those tube stations that were later tragically bombed. We saw all the sights and even took the kids to Abbey Road to sign the wall and cross Abbey Road like the Beatles did for their album cover.

We finished up our trip in Scotland. We saw castles, the lochs and Trossachs, lots of kilts and went to the Falkirk Wheel Experience which is a boat lift from one canal to another. It was a wonderful trip.

I’m so thankful that we weren’t in London during the bombings. I can’t imagine what it would have been like dealing with 14 teenagers who were scared plus having to call the parents to reassure them that all was well. The students have really been stunned by the bombings often remarking, “we were just there”. We were lucky.

Have a wonderful summer!

Sue

Folks,

Today, your esteemed webmaster hit the big Five Oh. When people ask me how it feels to reach this age, I said?”Age of Fifty, Feeling Nifty!”

I took today off from work, and Bobbi and I drove from Franklin, MA to the picture postcard New England town of Shelburne Falls, MA, in the Massachusetts Berkshires, to buy my birthday presents. It took a couple of hours to drive from Franklin to Shelburn Falls, MA, but it was worth it.

I’ve been meditating ever since my next door neighbor Becky (Gilpin) Milne introduced me to Transcendental Meditation and my friend Mark Zanger gave me my first mantra back in 1977. I meditated through Navy Officer Candidate School, Nuclear Power School, and even in the Missile Compartment and Torpedo room of my submarine.

I drifted away from TM to Zen, and Bobbi bought me a meditation cushion and mat a few years ago. Well, the mat has been looking a little threadbare, and the cushion has been smushed flat, so Bobbi figured I needed a new set of meditation gear.

She found a little family company called Sun and Moon Originals online , and she set up a visit.

Their directions were good, and we found their shop upstairs over a car repair shop. As we walked up to the shop where he and a staff of 3 make the cushions, the look and smell reminded me of my Grandpa Campbell’s mattress making shop that I used to visit when I was a pre-teen. It’s amazing how powerful memory is, especially when triggered by smell.

When we got inside, we asked for the woman who talked to Bobbi, but she wasn’t there. Instead, the founder of the company Brian Summer, welcomed us, showed me the regular Zafu (meditation cushion) and had me try out the Cosmic Cushion that he designed himself. It’s shaped like a whale’s tail, and it’s a dream to sit on!

In in addition to the Cosmic Cushion, I also got another meditation mat (zabuton) and a pyramid shaped meditation timer.

We went to lunch at the Bridge Street Cafe in downtown Shelburne Falls, where we had cold cucumber soup, some fine sandwiches, and, as our waitress said, “the best chocolate cake you’ll ever taste.” (She was right!)

Like our kids always used to say when they were young, this truly was “the best birthday EVER!”

Dave

Here is my vacation note for this summer. Susan and I did an “Amusement Park” tour of THREE parks in a week. We started off going to “Worlds of Fun” in Kansas City on the 4th of July, complete with fireworks. We then headed to Branson, MO and Silver Dollar City for three days (this is one of the places we honeymooned). We have to say this amusement park was the best of the three parks. The park is built into the middle of a forest, so even though the temperatures were above 90 degrees, we still kept comfortable. While there we went on the Branson Belle, a show boat, for our 26th anniversary. The show was wonderful and it was a great sunset view from the top deck on Table Top Lake.

On Thursday, July 7th, while still in Branson, we got a call from our son, Brian, who is studying in London this summer. All the students from Iowa State happened to be on a field trip to the Rolls Royce Plant the day of the bombings. He called us to say he was OK, and that the college cancelled all travel for the weekend, the weekend he was supposed to visit the friends we have in Telford, halfway between Birmingham and Manchester. Unfortunately for Brian, he will be unable to get up to see them on this trip to England since classes are done tomorrow. It was really a same, since Brian wanted to have some R & R the last weekend before finals this week. We are just thankful that none of the Iowa State students were involved in the terrorist attacks in London. Our hearts go out to our British friends and people of London, the place where just one year ago to the day, Susan and I were getting on the tube at that same King’s Cross station. Isn’t that a scary thought!

We finished our tour by coming home and going to Adventureland in Des Moines with park passes from my company, who was hosting a company park day. There were many roller coaster rides this week, and lots of splashes in raging rivers and log flumes. We had a very relaxing week.

Hope everyone else’s vacations go well, and nobody else gets a phone call halfway through with a scare like we did.

Keep in touch.

Mark Ferguson

After reading all these family updates I thought I would throw in my two cents.

We are still in Ft. Lauderdale and I’m still teaching high school. I primarily teach computer programming, JAVA and BASIC, but teach math and a few other courses that I am certified for. Julie is at the same hospitalshe started out at but is now in case management. We both are tiring of our careers but due to economics and age we will probably be doing this until we retire.

Our oldest son, Ben, graduated last May from the University of Florida in Engineering. His first job landed him in Scranton, Pa. working for a company that does contract work for the government. His job is located on an army base and he is currently going through the process of getting a federal high security clearance. So far, except for the weather he seems to be enjoying what he is doing.

Our other son, Quin is just finishing his sophomore in high school. Lets be diplomatic and say he can be a challenge. He is like so many of the kids down here, lots of ability but lacking that innate motivation to excel. Hopefully he will see the light soon and really start to shine.

Some of you may have known my younger brother Tim. He lives in the Amana area. About two weeks ago his 16 year old son was killed in a freak accident in South Amana. The story was carried in the Press Citizen with some of the detail either left out or was misinterpreted. It was the first time in 10 years that my entire family got together, which was nice, but the occasion was tragic.

After graduating from U of I a number of years ago I remain a true Hawk fan. The Hawks have played New Years Weekend here 3 years in a row in Florida and we have not missed a one. Below is an updated photo of Julie and I taken at Universal Studios after the CapOne Bowl game. If they come down here again and of you come along, please look us up, we have had as many as 17 people camped at our house for these games.

Dave,

Well, I just spent the last couple hours browsing through our site. What a wonderful bunch of people we are! And, imagine that every class, everywhere, is at least as stunning, that’s good! Thanks for connecting us.

Here’s a little update on me after 32 years or so. I went to U of I taking pre-med, then to Iowa State to major in bacteriology and follow in my Dad’s footsteps. Got married, moved to California and ended up graduating from University of California, San Diego in 1980 with a Computer Science degree just at the beginning of the personal computer wave. My husband was a computer genius type – we started a company that wrote and sold a compiler; we were bought out by the premiere software company of the time, Digital Research. We ended up divorced with no children, and I eventually married Bill from Pasadena (met him at Club Med in Mexico – so romantic!)

We just celebrated 20 years together. He works for Union Pacific railroad as a locomotive engineer (weird schedule to deal with). He was going for a second degree in electrical engineering when he answered an ad for train engineers. We’ve lived in the Bay Area just southeast of San Francisco for 17 years. We have two children – Andrea, almost 20 and going to a local junior college trying to figure out what she wants (sounds like her mom!) and Billy, graduating from high school in a couple weeks. Andrea and Billy are both really social, popular, engaged people without much interest in academics. Andrea wondered if she was adopted when I told her I was a shy, nerdy, geeky, bassoon player in high school!

I quit the computer field 6 years ago (the stress of 20 years of startup companies and technology deadlines and a family made me quite ill with auto/immune conditions) and took up a new career – coaching people instead of making software work. Whew! I love the process! I work with people individually and in groups to clarify and achieve their passions. If you know of any groups in Iowa City I could do presentations for, I’d love to have a great reason to come to Iowa more often. I work most often with men and women our age wondering what’s next or filling in what’s missing and with young people just through high school or college ready for the next phase. I do phone work.

That’s it from here. Thanks for “listening”!

Joy,
Nancy

Hi Dave!

I too was motivated by Bonnie’s wonderful news to update a bit since it’s been 2 years that I last wrote.  It is wonderful to hear that Patty’s health has been good and sad to hear about Gene’s and your daughter’s health issues.  Gene and his family as well as Bessie and your family are in our prayers.

Congrats on Henry’s graduation and good luck to him in his new endeavors!

Meanwhile back in Phoenix we’ve been busy since I last posted in 2003 (oh my God, where does the time go?)  I cracked the books and graduated with my BS in accounting and management in August 2004.  Since the requirement for the CPA exam has gone up from 120 credit hours to 150 I jumped back into school this January in the Master’s degree program to get the additional 30 hours I need.  The kids wonder if I will ever be done going to school!

Our youngest son, Kass, who was going to move to the Midwest decided to stay in Phoenix and has proposed to his longtime girlfriend Sara.  They are being married this June 25th and we all are very excited for them.  June will be a busy month for weddings/bridal showers for me.  I will be in Iowa City for the wedding of my step-brother’s son (Roger Litton, class of ’74) James to Erin Brandt the weekend before my son’s!

Our middle son Nathan went back to Iraq in September of 2004 for 7 months.  He was based at Camp Fallujah on the outskirts of Fallujah the entire time.  This tour was definitely more worrisome than his first back in 2003.  Even though that tour was combat “on the run” it was only for a month or so and there were the news reporters and networks that closely followed the soldiers and marines.  This time it was much different and communication with him was sporadic.  His unit was involved in retaking Fallujah from the insurgents and saw lots of action.  Unfortunately Nathan lost 2 very good friends in combat and had one other wounded so badly his life has been permanently altered.  We did get “the call’ from him at the end of DecemberŠthe one parents don’t want to get “I’ve been wounded”  He received shrapnel to his right arm but recovered well and stayed in Iraq until his tour was up.  He did receive the Purple Heart for his combat wound.

I must brag on a little, I went to Camp Lejeune, NC with Nathan’s fiancé to welcome his unit home from combat at the end of March.  Whatever your politics are on the war I find it hard not to support the troops.  It was such a heart warming experience to be there when those young men got off the buses and met their families.  Melissa and I were wrecks; we’ve never cried so hard, tears of joy with so many families.  He is home on terminal leave now; he is not re-enlisting and will be finished June 15th.  His new goal in life…to join the Phoenix Police force, on the SWAT team!  More gray hair for Mom and Dad!!!  Oh, he too, is marrying this summer, in August, with that wedding will come a 5 year old step-grand daughter for Hugh and I.

KJ the oldest is getting serious about his girlfriend and has started talking wedding.  They are waiting until next year to make any big plans.  They figured Hugh and I have enough going on this year for weddings!

Hugh and I are enjoying our adult children and our “alone” time together now that we are “empty nesters.”  Egad!  Look how long this has gotten, I’ll not take up any more space but will wish everyone a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Hi Everyone, Here’s My Update:

Last month was my 3 year anniversary finishing breast cancer treatment. So far, so good! I am healthy and all of my tests are negative for cancer. I thank God for all my blessings.

I’m working as a family practice Physician’s Assistant at an office about 1/2 hr from my house and truly enjoy my work and the great doctors that I work with.

My daughter, Katie, is 18 and is a senior at Foothill High here in Pleasanton, CA. She’s been accepted to Santa Clara University which is a private university that’s highly thought of around here. She received a partial scholarship which will help since it’s crunch on the pocketbook. She’ll stay in the dorms there although it’s only about 40 minutes from where we live. She has several friends who are going there as well.

Graham is 13 and stands 6’1″ tall. (they asked him to sit on his heels in our picture below) He’s in 7th grade and doing well. He adjusted very well to our move and subsequently to us divorcing. He’s very social and will be on student council next year and in the leadership program. He plays baseball, basketball and umpires younger kids in baseball. He’s on the golf team for his middle school and he loves it.

My struggles in life since our reunion include my husband and I splitting up. Pretty tough after 24 yrs of marriage. We’ve been separated since Oct ’03 and are trying to get our divorce finalized. I think my children have finally adjusted to the change but it was a rocky time that first year. Then, my ‘ex’husband almost died last month from a serious infection that got into his bloodstream. It was incredibly miraculous that he survived. The doctor had basically written him off at one point when his heart, liver, lungs & kidneys were all shutting down. Now he’s “fine” but weak. So the kids and I have certainly been through a fair amount of stress. Glad to have it behind us!

Life is certainly a constantly changing and challenging road. I just try and appreciate all of the joys and happiness that seem to go hand in hand with the challenges.

Patty (Kennedy) McBride

Here in the Twin Cities It was 70 degrees the day we came back from Iowa City on the monday after Easter. I think it has hit 70 or 80 just once since!!

But the dramatic evidence of the cool temps is that our flowers seem to have a longer life because they haven’ had to wilt under the sun. My wifes tulips lasted twice as long, and our lilacs have maintained their beauty for a long time also.

My oldest Rob (27) is engaged to be married this coming Jan 06 to a girl from his high school that he actually met in Germany on a field trip. When they got back, they started seeing each other more, and now they are going to be gettig married in Jamaica… She went to school to help Autistic Children and their families. ( they are planning to bring us along to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, also!) This will be the first time I have been off of the continental USA.

My youngest son Andrew (22) graduated from Northwestern Bible College in Roseville Minnesota with a degree in communications (Journalism) He finished in 3-1/2 years because he was able to get some post secondary education in high school out of the way before college. My oldest son also went to school for Journalism in the TV-Radio Broadcasting business and is a FoxSportsNorth TV sports camera man.

Mothers Day was my 13th anniversary of my kidney transplant. Unforunately, It looks like I may need to get back on the kidney transplant list sometime soon, as my kidney is beginning to fail again. The doctor says I qualify right now for the transplant list at this time, but I need to start getting a work up on my general health to make sure I am still a viable candidate I probably will be on dialysis sometime in the near future if I don’t get my numbers turned around.

There is no Business Like Shoe Business…. I still own a shoe repair business in the Midway area of St. Paul Minnesota.

Gene