Joy will be at Mt. Vernon Genealogical Society, Hollin Hall Senior Center, 1500 Shenandoah Rd. Alexandria, Va. at 1 PM on November 10, 1999. Also, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Woodbridge, Prince William County, at 7 PM on November 10, 1999. You can still tune in Joy's radio program every Friday at noon via the Internet. Her program is "ALONG THE PIKE." They talk about history and happenings along the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike. So tune in www.whawradio.com and hear your classmate! You must download the media player in order to tune into the radio program. Joy also is still busy writing her next book.
In August, Jean and 22 other folks from her church traveled to Lumberton, NC on a mission trip. Robeson County is large in area--the largest city is Lumberton with only 18,000 people. The county is tri-racial with Caucasians, blacks and native Americans, predominately from the Lumbee tribe, and there is a lot of poverty. They worked in conjunction with the Church and Community Center which coordinates work groups from all over to work on homes in the county. They do only exterior work, mainly roofs and painting with some minimal carpentry work. Jean was in a group of 12 adults and 11 youth who worked on two houses. They painted a 50 year old cinder block house including the trim and the porch. On the second house the men and youth replaced about 70% of the roof, the women caulked and painted the exterior. The people who they met appreciated the work, especially later when the rains from the passing hurricanes plummeted the area. Jean said that is was her first mission trip, it was a great experience in which she received more than she gave.
Tom reported that he and his wife recently attended a wonderful comedy by Alfred Uhry called "The Last Night of Ballyhoo." Alfred Uhry also wrote "Driving Miss Daisy." If this is performed close by, Tom recommends that you attend.
Dear Roleta - Just a short note to THANK YOU for all you've done and are continuing to do reuniting the Class of '59. I am so glad I was able to see everyone - some after 40 years. Maybe others are as grateful as I am, and if so, you might mention in the newsletter that all the hard work done by all those who participated was GREATLY APPRECIATED! Thanks to you and everyone who made the reunion a very happy occasion - All the best, Karen.
WHISKEY BALLS
3 Cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/2 Cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
1/2 Cup unsweetened cocoa
2 Cups confectioners sugar
1/2 Cup whiskey ( Judy uses 1/4 Cup)
3 Tablespoons light corn syrup
salt if desired.
Blend together the crumbs, nuts, cocoa, and 1 1/2 Cups confectioners sugar, whiskey, corn syrup and a dash of salt. Form into small balls the size of walnuts.Roll each ball in the remaining 1/2 Cup confectioners sugar and place on the cookie sheet. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.Yield: about 3 dozen.
Judy says she makes these for a lot of parties and gatherings. They are really easy to make and everyone seems to like them. You can substitute other liquors for the whiskey---bourbon or rum.
Dan and Jean are expecting 3 additions to their blended family in the year 2000. Their second great-grandchild, this one is a boy to be born in February, his sister will be three. These two are located close Jean and Dan which makes it easier for Grandma and Grandpa to spoil them. Jean's sons' second child will be born in early April, there is already a little 17 month old boy in this family which is located in Cleveland, Ohio. And the third addition will be Dan's sons' third child in early May - they are located in Raleigh, VA. That will make an even dozen grandchildren for Jean and Dan. Will they hold the record among the classmates for the most grandchildren?
Bill and I left on October 2, 1999 for Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The next morning we boarded a train and traveled one day through some of the most beautiful country and crossed the Coastal Mountains of Canada. The "Rocky Mountaineer" train is very roomy and very comfortable. Only complaint I have is that they fed us too often, about every two hours..(and of course I had to be polite and eat!!) Also, there were colas, coffee, water and tea available at request at anytime. There were also alcoholic beverages for sale at I think the same price as on airlines.
The first night was spent in Kamloops, this is a very good size town, however; we were there only for our night accommodations and food. The motels had buses at the train station to transport us to our motels. Dinner was on our own. The next morning we boarded the bus and went to the train for a trip across the Columbian Mountains and into the depths of the Rocky Mountains., if possible this was more beautiful than the first day. If you like to see mountains, trees, rivers and all unspoiled by man - this is the place to sightsee!
We arrived in Jasper, Alberta Canada, where Bill and I spent 3 days. This is a town of abut 1,500 very friendly people. They depend on train travelers to support their economy. I nearly froze..as you know I hate snow and cold weather - I am a "beach nut. " So I had to buy a fleece lined coat to keep my "poor little self" warm.
We rented a car and traveled to some of the local parks and up and down the side roads. We visited the Jasper Hot Springs but decided not to take a dip as Mr. Meredith was suffering from a bad cold. We saw so much wildlife, elk, deer, big horn sheep, bald eagles and mountain goat. I never thought the big horn sheep was so big - it is about the size of a medium size bull and so muscular, it is a beautiful animal to see in its natural habitat. The horns are huge. How amazing that those grow right out of his head!
We traveled to the Columbian Ice Fields and hiked up to the glacier and walked on the glacier. Now it was really cold there. This was amazing, to think here we stood on snow and ice that had been there thousands of years. But it was no place to linger so on we traveled to Lake Louise, this is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, it snowed!
The lodge overlooks the most beautiful lake which is surrounded by mountains which are covered with glaciers and snow. It is so high in the Rockies that it has frost 1 out of every 3 nights year round. The lake is a deep turquoise color (deeper color than the Caribbean), it is fed by the run off waters from the glacier.
Next we traveled to Banff, Alberta where we spent 3 days. This town is much bigger than Jasper. But the amazing thing is, the elk walk right down the streets, lay in people's yards and try to reclaim their land! There were hundreds of them just around the town. We traveled to Banff Springs Lodge which is beautiful.
After three days we again boarded the train for a two day trip back to Vancouver, this was Bill's favorite part of the trip. The train went through one tunnel which was 5 miles long and another "S" shaped tunnel. I wondered if that "S" shaped tunnel was an accident caused from two construction crews - each starting at different sides of the mountain and digging through--then OOPS--Oh well throw a curve in there and join them!!!
Lastly, this was a marvelous trip and I would recommend it to anyone. However, I would not recommend 3 days in either town, if possible, 2 nights would be enough. We had to extend our trip to 3 days both places in order to make connections with the trains. Our original trip was to be only 10 days. Due to my father's death, we delayed our trip and had to extend it to make bus, train, car and plane connections in the proper order.
My wife and I, along with our church went to a stage show at "Sight and Sound Theaters" in Lancaster Pa. The show was called "The Miracle of Christmas." What a blessing. If any of you are in or near Lancaster it is a must see. They have a web site www.bibleonstage.com
Phil
Sharyn writes:
Don't mean to be a proud parent but...
I am VERY proud of our son, Sgt. J. W. McGahan, III (Bil), who is attending the National Academy in Quantico...only 1/2 of 1% of the Police in the world ever get to go there. He will graduate just before Christmas ...he also was chosen as a TOP COP for an award in Washington, DC last year. He has many commendations including saving the lives of 2 little girls...one in a car wreck and one new born found in a garbage bag. The young ladies are doing fine now.
The Robert C. Byrd football team continues to enjoy a very successful season. After big wins against rivals Bridgeport and South Harrison, their dream of an undefeated season ended last week. After leading at half-time 6-0 against West Fairmont, they were not able to score any more, and suffered a 7-6 defeat. This left them with a 7 win, 1 loss record.
Two games remain, against Lewis County and Philip Barbour. The Eagles should be favored in both of these contests. Wins will improve their current top ten AAA State ranking, and assure them of a good seating in the state championship series.
The future appears bright, as there are only 6 or 7 seniors on the team.
I can't understand WHY more of you haven't downloaded AIM and joined us for a chat. WHY? AIM is the easiest thing to download. Just --- http://www.aol.com/aim
Print out the directions, download and then follow the printed directions to launch your AIM (America on Line Instant Messenger). And no matter what anyone tells you, you DO NEED TO DOWNLOAD the AIM even if you are an America On Line subscriber. Believe, me you can not enter into the private chat room if you haven't downloaded AIM. It takes less than 20 minutes to download and launch. I recently had to download AIM on another computer and it was extremely easy. There are 3 or 4 classmates nearly every evening chatting and laughing on AIM. We really get into some fun topics!!! We have found friends we had all along but had forgotten, we share jokes, cares and worries too. We especially meet at a planned time on Sunday at 9:00 PM eastern time. But if you are on line and drop into AIM just about any evening you will probably be invited by some classmate to chat a while. If you are too busy to chat they understand and leave you to yourself until you want to join. It is a great way to keep in touch.
Your prayers please for Bob Davis. Bob has had a lot of health problems this
year. He will be having a throat operation on Wednesday. Bob will not be
able to talk for a while but he can read your e-mail letters and cards. God
will hear your prayers for Bob.
Jim and I just got back several weeks ago from a wonderful trip to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. We waited until the tourists left and watched the weather via tv and computer. It's amazing how accurate the weather reports are now. Anyway we picked the perfect time to go- the tourists were gone and the prices for lodging were about half!!!!!!
We started in Jackson Hole and stayed at a beautiful lodge. We fell in love with the Tetons. It is such a different way of life. It is so peaceful and serene.. The moose, elk, deer and other wildlife just mosey along anywhere they want. The scenery is so spectacular that words are inadequate .
The area is not very commercial and they have kept growth down ( the gov't owns most of the land and the land available is sssoooo expensive.) We looked at a 2400 sq ft . house near the ski slope on a postage stamp lot for 1.2million - kind of pricey for a second home.
We really hated to leave Jackson but wanted to hit Yellowstone. The fire 11 yrs. ago totally burned the park up. Someone should have been fired over that one- They try to make you believe that it is helpful to the reforestation of the park, but our grandchildren will not be able to enjoy the beauty. However,the geothermal formation helps make up for all the other devastation. We had a great time stopping at every place possible- Jim and I don't miss anything when we travel. It is amazing to see what things the inside of this planet can produce. They have done a good job keeping any commercialism away from this area. We stayed at the Mammoth Lodge and liked the "small town square" atmosphere. The lodge is well kept and takes you back a few decades. The elk hang around town. It was especially busy for the
bull because he was trying to keep his harem corralled since it was that time of year. The females kept doing just whatever they wanted-and of course I was definitely rooting for the "girls"
After leaving Yellowstone at the northeast entrance we traveled the Sunlight Basin Road which is an adventure. Just when you think you have seen spectacular something else appears. We were headed to Cody, Wyoming. They have a world class western art museum -Remington and Russell original plus others. A great Indian area and other artifacts that was instrumental in the history of the west. Jim and I have been several times and still love visiting.
The rest of the trip was spent visiting places where Jim's company drilled oil wells. Most of the places are just cross roads with population anywhere from 4 to 60 people. Hard to believe those places still exist. Hope I didn't bore you too much but it was a great part of our country to see.
Jean.
MEMORIES
Keep checking into Judy's web page site. Soon she and Larry will launch another new section to the WI Reunion Section. They will call it MEMORIES. In this section will be pictures of our high school days. Yes, if you have a picture you would be willing to share with us, you can either mail it to Judy at
Another note about Judy and Larry --- without their excellent help this newsletter would not be on this web page for your enjoyment. Also, Judy is a proofreader and helps me find my typos, etc.
After a long, dry sermon, the minister announced he wished to meet with the church board following the close of the service. However, the first man to arrive was a total stranger. "You misunderstood my announcement. This is a meeting of the board", said the minister. "I know," said the man, "but if there is anyone here more bored than I am, I'd like to meet him!"
IN CLOSING
Thanks to all who have contributed. You friends always come through. We all
appreciate the effort made by you to help this newsletter continue.
You Are A Special Person
Remember that some of the
world's nicest joys are its most
special people, and that you
are one of them
Take care of that special person
Enjoy the day when the world
is too busy, slow it down
Climb one rung higher
on the ladder to your stars
Imagine what the view will look like
when you get where you're going
Stay in touch with your inner voice;
it speaks the truth
When you've been working too hard,
give your batteries time to recharge
Remember that you are someone
who is thought of -
with friendship and with love
Keep a smile on that
wonderful face of yours
Have a great day
And be happy!
