Update 10-4-05   

Okay,

Lately, I've been quoting from other people's letters, but here's a topical selection from mine:

Thursday:  Yep, the fires in LA are close.  Yep, they were expected, since we had an extremely wet winter with almost three feet of rain.  Yep, they're scary.  But we are still in the gridlocked suburbs, and a lot more is going to have to burn before the fire reaches us,  So we're presently safe.

Friday:  The fires are more contained this morning, about 20%, up from 5% last night.  The backfires have done their work.  And the main fire seems to be running out of things to burn.  The worst thing for me right now is the air.  It only looks faintly smoky, though we have light ash falling occasionally.  But too many years of breathing sawdust have clogged my lungs a bit, and this doesn't help.  Still, a lot of what they're showing on TV is the backfires the fire departments have lit to cut off the main, eight-mile-long, snaking burn, and the backfires are closest to us.  So that's what we're breathing.  Not threatening, but nearby.  We're staying inside, keeping the air conditioner on, and playing with the dog.

Saturday:  Fires in our area are over 40% contained, and those burning are going slowly.  But there are other fires in other areas that still have plenty of fuel, and we're waiting to see what happens if the winds pick up this weekend.  Air's still a bit clogged, or I'd be out riding my bike.  But the smoke is mostly drifting east, to you.

Monday:  The three fires are 80% contained.  LA only lost 3 houses, a couple of commercial buildings, and a mess of chickens.  Several firefighters were injured, but none seriously.  We can all be thankful.

On happier notes:

From Barbara Blitfield Pech:  From Our House to Yours, Best Wishes for a Happy, Healthy New Year.  Peace!  Warm Regards to All.  www.danmeth.com/shofaridol.htm

From Ellen Epstein Silver:  Please wish our class L'Shanah Tovah.  From our hearts to yours go these warm wishes for a New Year filled with health, happiness, and peace everywhere.  http://www.aish.com/a/startingover.asp

From Emily Kleinman Schreiber:  Good Morning!  A lot is happening in the Alumni Association Planning Department!  I'm in contact with the presidents of both North and Central's Alumni Associations, and they're being most helpful in offering advice.  Last  weekend was North's 50-year celebration, and it was a four-day happening for only $50.  Go to their web page to see what they had:  http://www.hometown.aol.com/vsnspartan.
As usual, I crashed part of the party, but, of course, I was invited to do so! 
      It's interesting to note that most of the people on their committee are from the '60s decade.  We are a lively bunch!  I guess many are newly retired and still have the spunk to make great things happen.
      That's all for now.  I have a meeting at South this Thursday for our 50th party, so I'll let you know what transpires there.

A note from Claire Brush Reinhardt, class of '62, that's really a note to us all:  Hi Rich,
I met you at the class of '65 reunion this past August.  I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed talking with you about Mr. Tampio, and how much I appreciated hearing about his life after South.  He was such a big influence on my life, and even though I did not pursue a career connected with the theater in any way, my love of the theater grew from those early days.  I never forgot about those happy days at South and thought of Mr. Tampio warmly over all these many years.  I was so sorry to hear that he is no longer with us and hope that he realized what a profound and positive influence he had on so many young lives.
    Some of my happiest memories from South centered around the theater program that he began there, and from what I can gather, flourished after our class, '62, graduated.  I know that he had the same effect on many of my classmates.  Please send me information on the scholarship that was begun in his name.  I would also like to have information on the music scholarship given in Booker Gibson's name.  He was another big influence on my life and is the reason that I do so well answering questions about classical music, opera, and musical theater on "Jeopardy."  He was also my homeroom teacher for all the years
I was at South, and I have great respect for him.
    Thank you for keeping me on your e-mail list.  I may not know most of the names in your updates, but I enjoy receiving the news.  I plan to work with Emily Kleinman Schreiber to get the Alumni Association off the ground, and we will be planning a multi-class reunion for October of 2006.  It will be her class, '61's, 45th, and most of the members of my class will be 62 years old next year, so we are promoting it as "62 for '62" and combining our classes along with a few others.

[Rich -- I've sent Claire some of the notes written by members of our class after Vince died, as well as his obituary.  And I'll update everyone on the donation process to both scholarships once spring comes.  And, yeah, yeah:  I still haven't finished our 40th reunion notes or given you the financial summary.  Soon, he lied.]

From Steve Cahn, class of '70.  The photos of our reunion are up, and it's very important that you follow the instructions carefully, or you could have difficulty viewing them. Please don't assume you can figure it out.  Follow the directions carefully.  Once you've logged on the first time, each subsequent time will be easy.
    We're out of space on our own web site, so I used a free utility provided by Kodak.  It gives us free viewing, free emailing, and free downloading of photos so you can print them on your own printer.  And it allows us to order hardcopy reprints directly from Kodak  -- that's why they do this!  Note: when you get to the Sign-In screen, don't forget to bookmark that page in your browser -- or save it to your favorite places if you use AOL -- so you can see the photos as many times as you like.
    Our website:  www.geocities.com/vssouth70   Enjoy!

Finally, there's an amazing tribute to the late playwright August Wilson in the New York Times today.