May 11, 2010 Up-Date

Last Saturday night my wife and I met John and Barb (Bowes) Smith for dinner. It was a great evening. John and I were in the same homeroom throughout our days at Brush.

We have added Dave Swaddling and Patty (Weber) Swaddling to our list. They live in a suburb outside of Columbus. Greg Hetzel joined Classmates and because of that I sent him a note and he is now included in our list. He is very interested in attending our 50th reunion. He is living in Madison now.

I sent 5 notes through Classmates.com as I am trying to utilize all the electronic sites with my information but none of them have responded yet. Gary Freeborn has found Don Culp and I have someone else also looking for him in Cleveland. I have sent two notes to Doug Wahlers at the request of one of you (I wont give away names) and he has not answered. He is also on Classmates.com.

You may or not be aware that the Alumnae Association sells pavers for a fund raiser. Carl Singer and I have purchased one honoring our fallen classmates to the Vietnam War. When it is completed and laid in place I will let you know where it is so you can stop by and see it.

A few additional things. Here is a picture

of 5 of our alums. Patty Seidel Nordberg sent me a note inviting up to Michigan for a display of the Viet Nam Wall in June and Patty if I can make it I will be there. Thank you. I hope everyone enjoys the attached picture also. If some of you meet with old classmates and want to include some pictures please feel free to do so. I will gladly pass them on. Included in the picture is Sally Caldwell, Eileen Jacobson and Judy Melzak and we all attended Anderson Road Elementary School together. Brings back some great memories. Also included is one taken at Ginger Clark Wenzlek's house. It includes Ginger, me and Jana Senuta.

Thanks to Gary Freeborn and Carole Butts Taylor we added Don Culp to our distribution list. Don called me late last week and we talked for quite awhile catching up on the last 45 years.

Gail Lipstreu Gray is back on the job looking up missing classmates. I have a list of 10 that she sent me yesterday that I have already started to connect with. Some only have addresses so I will send them letters but I will call the rest after normal working hours. The one person that answered her phone was not a classmate but we'll keep trying.

Stay in touch. I respond to all emails and look forward to hearing from you, especially if it leads me to find more classmates.

Bob Feller 1918 - 2010

So Long, Bob.
We'll Miss You!

Surprising out of all the emails sent out to the Class of '64 Bob Feller has drawn more interest than any of the others. There must be a lot of baseball fans in our class. The following two letters came from Les Levine and Barb Donaldson Shriner. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Jim

Jim,
As long as you are getting Bob Feller stories, I thought I would pass this one along. In my many years of covering sports on Cleveland radio and TV I had many opportunities to talk---I mean listen---to Bob Feller. Many times you wished he had a PR person around to protect him from himself, but he was always fabulously entertaining. I once asked him how good Satchel would have been if he had been allowed to play before he turned at least 42. Feller said, 'Satch would have been one of the top five pitchers of all time'. Naturally I asked him who were among the top five. He said, 'In no particular order, Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, and Sandy Kaufax'. Hearing only four, I asked him to repeat them. He said, 'Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, and Sandy Koufax.' As I suspected, he left no doubt who he thought was the other member of the top five.
Best wishes for a happy, healthy new year...Les Levine

Jim - Forty-three years ago my husband, Jim, was playing on an AA team in Lakewood. A teammate was Steve Feller (Bob's son) and Bob himself served as the third base coach whenever he could. One evening when the team was warming up and I was sitting in my car in the parking lot, Bob Feller pulled in next to me and proceeded to change from a business suit to his baseball uniform behind his car by the trunk. So, I saw Bob Feller in his boxers! The team won the championship that year and each member of the team got a congratulatory letter, signed by Bob Feller. Jim still has that autograph! Barb

Higbees Remembered

I received this email from Sharon Tripodo. She was in my 4-some at our golf outing and we have shared some fun emails ever since. Hopefully you will find the following pictures of Higbees to be as enjoyable as I did.. I loved that store.

Just a few words about why I said that - I know I'm a guy and we're not suppose to like shopping - well I'm an exception. My wife says I'm a great shopper. Anyway, when I returned from Viet Nam and would get down and feel depressed I would go to Higbees and buy a new Gant shirt at the Higbees at Severance Shopping Mall. A very fashionable shirt in the day and I would feel better. I ended up with over 4 dozen shirts. Also, the mention of the Christmas Story written by Jean Shepard brings back some memories. If you have never read his stuff he is hilarious. I relate to him because his Dad worked in a steel mill and drove an Oldsmobile, just like me. Great stories. Just wanted to share that.

[Editor's note: Most pictures represent the 1950's - 1960's except the ladies wearing the 1948 Aprons . Had to include that picture because it was the last year the Indians won the World Series.]