Update 1-10-06

Hi,

A series of notes, but let's start with the unfortunately sad news first:
   
    From Nancy Garfield:  Would you please let people know that Fran Bellucci Johnson's husband John died on Monday, January 2nd.  Fran called me last evening.  Her address is:  146 Riverview Road, Wamego, Kansas  66547, and her phone number is:  785-456-2308.  Instead of flowers, donations are suggested for the Kansas State University Gardens and may be sent in care of the Stewart Funeral Home of Wamego, PO Box 48, Wamego, Kansas  66547.
   
    John Johnson's obituary:  John L. Johnson, 60, of Wamego, Kansas, passed away Monday, January 2, 2006 at Stormont-Vail Health Care in Topeka, following a sudden illness.  John was born August 22, 1945, the son of Emery and Lois (Harrell) Johnson.  He graduated from Wamego High School in 1963 and from Kansas State University with a BA in Geography in 1967.  He also received an MA in Geography from Kansas State in 1973 and worked at the Hale Library on the university campus from 1967 until the present.  He was an associate professor in Government Publications and Document References and the co-owner of Lee Creek Gardens Nursery and Landscape of Manhattan.
        He married Frances "Fran" Bellucci on April 5, 1971, in Manhattan, Kansas.  She survives him and other survivors include his mother Lois Johnson, Wamego, Kansas; two daughters, Lesley Ketcham, Lenexa, Kansas, and Heather Johnson, Wamego; one son, Steven Johnson, Wamego; a sister, Linda Bobbey, Topeka, Kansas; and three grandchildren.  His father, Emery Johnson, preceded him in death in 1984.  Funeral services will be held Friday, January 6th at 10:30 AM at the Stewart Funeral Home of Wamego.  Burial will follow in the Wamego City Cemetery.
   
    [Rich -- Of course, our best to Fran.  It's something to be married for almost thirty-five years.]
   
    Vaguely topically related, from Ellen Nudelman Davidson:  Just a quick question.  One letter in last week's update mentions Carol Kauderer and also Carol Krakow.  Carol Krakow was in our class of '65, and Carol Kauderer was in the class of '66.  The sad news of Carol Krakow's passing was on the original list of departed classmates.  Was the recent news about Carol Krakow or Carol Kauderer?
        Also, I remember Gwen Kamhi very well.  She was in our school in 7th grade and moved in 8th or 9th.
   
    [Rich -- as I wrote Ellen:  The recent news was about Carol Kauderer, class of '66, but a lot of us knew her through the theater productions.  We discovered that Carol Krakow had died several years ago, when we first began reconnecting the class.  I mentioned her in my note because she was one of the people I was hoping to see again.
        Also, how do you spell Gwen's last name:  Camhi, as Judy Zinger spelled it last week or Kamhi, as Ellen just spelled it?  I'm favoring the former because of the tie-breaking following note.]
   
    From Jane Ruzow Tiell:  I was very friendly with Gwen Camhi.  She transferred to Hewlett High School in her senior year, went on to Hartford, and then transferred to American University where she married her long-standing boyfriend from camp, Steve Litchenstein.  She came to my wedding, and we were friendly for several years after, until we lost contact.  She had two children, a boy and a girl, and last I heard, she was living in either East Orange or Livingston, New Jersey.  That's all the news for now.
   
    Also related, though with slightly different information, from Jerry Bittman:  A great story from Judy Zinger.  Gwen and her family moved to Puerto Rico, I believe after 7th grade.  Seeing Gwen's name brought back great memories.  Last year, when I was in Florida, Barney Zinger and I were reminiscing about the dance parties we had every Friday night when we were in elementary school.  Of course, we played games like Spin The Bottle.  There were, I believe, five boys and five girls at these parties, and if my memory is correct, I remember most of the participants.  The boys were Barnett Zinger, Andy Dolich, Richie Lobell (I think), and me, and I can't remember the fifth.  The girls were Gwen Camhi, Judi Fingerhut, Andrea Gladstone, Ann Ciliberti, and again my memory fails on the fifth.
        Judy, I hope you can join us in March when I come to Florida.  I had a great time last year seeing your brother and his beautiful wife Helen.  Last week, I told Barney that I'd be in Las Vegas from March 3rd to the 10th and after that would be coming to Florida.  Also, Judy, one more thing I'd like to say about Barney:  I think every girl in our class who attended Forest Road School had one thing in common -- each girl's first boyfriend was your brother.
   
    [Rich -- So, presumably, we could find Gwen Camhi Litchenstein, her husband Steve, and their two probably now-grown children in New Jersey.  And Gwen might have left South for Puerto Rico after 7th grade and then returned to Long Island and gone on to Hewlett senior year.  Maybe we'll find out.]
   
    Three different related notes, first from Barbara Blitfield Pech to Liz King Giordano:  I am interested in any information about ordering a copy of the video that I did an interview for during our class's 40th reunion in August.  I am also attending the 50th anniversary event in March and very much look forward to seeing the video and returning to my alma mater -- without a hall pass.  If you would be so kind as to either provide the name of the contact person or forward my e-mail him, I would appreciate your efforts.  Meanwhile, warm regards and best wishes for a Happy New Year.
   
    From Liz Giordano to Barbara:  Happy New Year!  I spoke with Ross Lipsky this morning.  He's the teacher who taped your interview at the reunion, and he is compiling an anniversary tape (or DVD) which will be available at the event in March.  If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me.  I look forward to seeing you soon.
   
    Then from Ross Lipsky:  Good morning.  I read in your reunion e-mail the discussion of the 50th Anniversary video.  We are making regular use of all of the wonderful interviews that were done on the evening of the Class of 1965 Reunion and on various other occasions before and after then.  We are editing soundbytes from each of the interviews in several formats.  On the school's weekly news show (The Falcon Report) this year, each week features a 2-minute segment focusing on a different aspect of the history of South.  Each segment mixes clips from a number of interviews, yearbook and news photographs, and the narration of one of our excellent seniors.  These segments are going to be combined, augmented, and made into one coherent piece which will become South's 50th Anniversary Oral History DVD.  We plan to have these DVDs available for sale for the first time at the 50th Anniversary Celebration in March.  In addition to this, we are playing with the idea of having a second DVD entitled "The Stories of South" available as well.  This would contain longer interview clips that wouldn't fit on the first DVD.  We continue to welcome anyone who has not yet been interviewed, but would like to contact us.  We're almost out of time to include new interviews, but aren't quite yet.  I can be reached at:  Ross@Lipsky.com
        Thanks for asking, and we look forward to seeing all who attend the March event!
   
    [Rich -- I have to apologize to Ross.  When I wrote Barbara last week that I didn't have his name handy, I was mistaken.  His name's on the update mailing list.]
   
    Next, the last of four reminders requested by Terri Donohue Calamari for the new and improved ALUMNI WINTER BREAK:  Please join us in Naples, Florida on Sunday, January 15, 2006, at noon, to board the Naples Princess, a luxury yacht, for a luncheon cruise up Naples Bay to the Gulf of Mexico ($39.70 including tax and tip).  When you disembark from the Princess, beautiful, downtown Naples and the beach will be only steps away.  After sightseeing or a swim, join other alumni and faculty for an open house from  3:00 PM to 8:00 PM at my house before your ride home.  For more information, please e-mail me at:  terrcal@cs.com
   
    And a quick update from Terri:  At present, Peter Rosen, Eric Hilton, Barbara Blitfield Pech, and I are the merrymakers.  We hope more people will decide to come at the last minute, and we will meet at the boat dock, which is a left turn off route 41 at the traffic light before Tin City.  I will send Mapquest instructions to one and all who ask, as my computer problems seem to be solved and communications from Naples are A-OK.
   
    A technical question from Judy Hartstone:  Is there some explanation for how come the update is now reaching me full of weird diacritical marks?  And is there any way -- and maybe I've answered this myself -- to change the appearance to make it more readable?  I just realized that when I hit reply, it dropped your e-mail into a very easy-to-read format so I could just send it to myself and be able to read it.  Don't know why it started some time ago coming with all the gobblygook -- computers!
   
    [Rich -- As I wrote Judy:  I have no idea why the updates are doing that.  But I write on AOL, and that has its built-in problems.  The only time people have mentioned having problems before, and not with the updates, is when I write something on Word or Word Perfect and then cut and paste it into AOL.  But I don't do that with the newsletter.  Still, I'll ask in the next update if anyone else is having this problem or might have a solution.]
   
    Another technical question, from Emily Kleinman Schreiber:  When I send out multi-person e-mail to alumni, I send them all blind carbon copy, to hide the e-mail address list.  But yesterday, I got a copy of one of my messages back from someone who sent it on to her class and all the names had been revealed!  I don't want everyone seeing the names, because I don't want people being bothered, and I certainly don't want the names misused  or sold.  So what happened?  Any ideas?
   
    [Rich -- As I wrote Emily:  It's a weirdness of AOL that they've either never been able to fix or have never been interested in fixing.  As Emily found out, if you forward an e-mail that you received as an AOL blind carbon copy, suddenly the names of all the other people who received the note appear in the forward.  It must happen all the time, but so far it hasn't caused me any trouble that I know of.  So if you use AOL and try to maintain your friends' privacy, you just have to hope that they don't forward your notes a lot.  It's also a lesson in teaching us to write people individually, but who has the time to do that?]
   

    A non-technical question from Larry Rugen:  Recommendations would be most welcome on this, from our friends out west or others who may have been in this area:  in late September 2006, my wife and I will be flying into Las Vegas for three days and then renting a car and driving, via southern Utah, to the Peaceful Valley Ranch in the Lyons, Colorado area.  We will have about three days to tour some national parks on the way, such as Bryce and Canyonlands.  Is there anyone who has been in the area and can recommend some special, must-see, scenic drives and parks, and does anyone know about accommodations?  If so, please e-mail me at:  larry1800@aol.com   Many thanks.
   
    Finally, a reminder about the next Alumni Association meeting, from Claire Brush Reinhart.  There's also more Alumni Association news, but it will have to wait till next week:  On Thursday, January 12th at 7:00 PM, there will be the second official meeting of the newly-formed South High School Alumni Association.  The meeting will be held in the library on the first floor, and please note that the library is no longer on the third floor, where it used to be when we were there.  Please come to the meeting if you are in the area.