I WONDER WHAT THEY'RE DOING NOW?

Have you ever wondered where your old classmates are now and what they're doing? If you're like me, you intend to stay in touch but time slips away and, before you know it, you've lost contact completely.

Susie and Herb Hammond
Susie Amen and Herb Hammond married in 1967 and eventually found their way to Canada, buying a hobby farm in the Slocan Valley, British Columbia, in 1980. Susie has shared some photos of their "Vallican homestead" in Canada ... a truly beautiful place to live.


Here's a photo of the front of their house.

If you look out their front door, this is what you see. If you like solitude, peace and tranquility, this looks like the place to be. This is looking toward Perry Ridge from their driveway.

This is their garden in summer.

If you look out Susie and Herb's back door, this is their back yard. What a great place for the grandkids to play.

Here is another view of Perry Ridge ... just outside of their front door.

This is their orchard in the spring.

Here's the Slocan River.

Vacation place on the Queen Charlotte Islands

The beach in front of their vacation property on the Queen Charlotte Islands ... Nice shorts, Susie.



Susie, Erik, Peter and Marta on the Tlell, Queen Charlotte Islands.

Back inside for a well deserved rest ... Christmas 2008 in daughter Jody's home in Prince George: Susie, Erik, Jody, Peter. Is this the Canadian version of "couch potato"? "Snappy" footwear ... is this a family tradition?


Ruth and Terry Mishler

Ruth Seghetti Mishler was kind enough to send me a couple of photos of Terry and her.
It seems Terry is retired from Southwest Airlines and TACA Airlines and stays busy doing Harley Davidson modifications and maintenance in his over the top garage ... a virtual "Man-Cave".

Ruth is still working for Continental Airlines. She says her hobbies include traveling and stained glass. Both Terry and Ruth ride Harley Softail Springers and also have a Road King with a sidecar. Other "toys" include a 1923 T-Bucket and a 1930 Model A. Ruth says, "Isn't that what retirement is all about?"

Terry's "Man-Cave" Pretty darn neat, Terry.

I totally agree with Ruth and Terry, and besides, "He who dies with the most toys ... wins!"

Decorating for the big party

I thought I'd post a few more photos from our past. These were taken by me and my trusty Poloroid at our graduation party at the Elks Lodge on graduation night. Were we actually ever that young?

Marty Emry, already climbing the ladder of success.


Here's John Livingston having a small problem.


Alan Rugh and Charles Alan Peirson.


Michael Drennan and friend.



John Livingston in calmer weather.



Bill Woodcock and Nick Jones pretending to decorate for the party.


The Big Party

Clella Winger, pinging and ponging.


Mike Hildebrand and Sherri Fross sharing a quiet moment ... smooooth.


Suzi Corcoran.


Susan Amen and Suzi Corcoran with unnamed escort.


Duff Pfanner, Ray Bonesteel, Laurie Burt, John Livingston, Dick Heggen, Bruce McIntosh and Kelly Bacon. I wonder how many of them ended up as stock brokers.


Jorge ... a real ladies' man.


Kelly Bacon, may he rest in peace.


Girls' night out with Nick Jones:
Mary Helen Garvey, Sharon Woelfle, Patty Smith, Mary Norton, Martha Bloodworth.


Bob Ballou, Marc Hollingshed and Jim Gleeson ... must've been a rough night.


Suzi Corcoran and Nyla Leaming ... all dressed up and nowhere to go.


The ever so cute Pam Quale and Chuck Peirson.

Posy and L.J.

Mike Wustrack and Dan Dumont ... would you really want to buy a used car from these two?



Graduation Cookout

These were taken at a cookout after graduation, I think. I don't remember whose house it was but it was a nice time ... we were all grown up now.

Patty Smith appears to be checking to see what the mystery meat is, Mike Drennan appears to be awaiting the outcome of her research and Mary Helen has thrown caution to the wind.

Patty chows down.


Smog alert!

WAITING ON GUSTAV ...

I remember how it was three years ago before we knew of the potential for the danger that was to come. There was a sense of excitement, an anticipation, that something was going to happen but it was more like the feeling that we got waiting for the first day of school to start. A little buzz of emotional electricity. There wasn't a "carnival" like atmosphere, we'd been through hurricanes and their after effects before and know how serious they can be, but folks just went about their daily lives on a bright and sunny summer day.

Now, I live in the central part of Mississippi, in Brandon, just ten miles east of the capitol city, Jackson. When a hurricane hits our coast, believe it or not, we feel the affects, not anything like they do on the coast, but it sometimes gets nasty, a lot of strong wind and a whole lot of rain. When Katrina hit, it was like nothing we'd seen in a long time, at least since Hurricane Camille. The actual storm was something to behold. The wind was like nothing that I'd ever seen and the torrential downpour was a virtual "frog strangler". In my neighborhood there are a lot of old and very large pine and oak trees, many that were uprooted or just snapped off. Many trees came down on houses, destroying a good bit of the house, if not the whole thing. We were without electricity for over a week - it was August and it was Mississippi and it was hot.


At my house we were lucky. A large tree was snapped off at the base and came down on my storage barn and my wife's car, barely grazing the house. A huge pine tree in my neighbor's back yard, behind my house, snapped and barely missed my house, wrecking my back fence. This was nothing compared to the damage that others experienced.


There was utter chaos as Katrina hit. Folks waited until the last minute to evacuate and there were tremendous traffic jams on the roads from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Louisiana, Alabama and even Texas. The motels and hotels were full all of the way to north Mississippi. After the storm, well, you know the story. I want to say in support of my much criticized state, that good Samaritans came out of the woodwork, providing shelter, gasoline, food and even money to the evacuees.

This time it's different. Folks are taking things much more seriously. The highways from Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast have already been turned into "contra-flow" highways, meaning that traffic can only head one way - north or east. Shelters have already been opened and mandatory evacuations have been ordered. I heard on public radio that, before Katrina, Bourbon Street in New Orleans was "party central", but last night it was almost deserted - a wise move.

If anyone is interested in listening to what is going on in the way of preparing for the storm, you can listen online to Mississippi Public Radio, which is broadcasting storm info non-stop.
You can listen online at:

http://radio.mpbonline.org/MPB_Live

We'll see what happens. The anticipation and anxiety is definitely here, even though the day has dawned bright and sunny and humid. We'll keep you posted. Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers.

There's Something Fishy About BruceTracewell...

Bruce Tracewell has adjusted to retirement quite nicely. You should be able to do what ever it is that you want to do when you retire - Bruce Tracewell is doing just that. What he really wants to do is fish, and fishes he does.

After serving in the United States Navy, getting out in 1972, he spent the rest of his career as a union electrician in the Portland area, retiring in 2005. Bruce and his wife have lived in Vancouver for over thirteen years.

"I got bored first year I was retired so went to work and built a seven store mini-mall over in Hillsborough - not bored any more, just happy to play house husband and do a lot of fishing and hunting as well as following my granddaughters athletic career in high school. Can't wait for my wonderful wife to retire so we can do some traveling. Her mom is in Colorado so we make a couple of trips a year to the Denver area."

... nice life, Bruce.

"My neighbor moved here from South Dakota and had never gone Sturgeon fishing. He caught this one on the second cast."

"Here is another one with some of my friends and neighbors. Salmon fishing on the Columbia. I am on the left of the picture with, of course, the biggest."

I have included a picture of my boat. It is a Hewescraft with 2, 4 stroke engines. Picture is coming into the dock at Crescent Lake, where I spent the past 4 days with my brother and two boys fishing for Kokanee. We brought home our limit of 50 Kokanee (landlocked Salmon). I also fish the Columbia for Salmon, Steelhead, Sturgeon and Walleye. I usually fish at least one or two times a week, except for fall Salmon, when I go every day for two weeks."

"Here is another picture of a fall run Chinook."
My wife still has the biggest Chinook in my boat (right at 40 pounds) so I am continuously trying to find a bigger one."

"The last picture is of my three granddaughters and their limit of Kokanee from Lake Merwin. The oldest just got her driver's license. I can't be that old ... can I?"

The Adair Family

Sometime around Christmas, or shortly thereafter, my family moved from Arthur Street in Corvallis to Adair Air Force Base. The kids out there molded themselves into a family. We had all sorts of things to do there, tennis courts, a gym, a snack bar, movies, just about anything to occupy us. I didn't cut any ties with the folks in Corvallis,as a matter of fact I used to hitch hike into town frequently. From time to time our Corvallis friends would come out the base to take part in our activities. Most of us grew very close and our social life was pretty much a group effort. This group of photos was taken of the "Adair family".


Claudia "Corki" Wallace, class of '65, Teresa Shiflett, Class of '66, Steve Shiflett, nicknamed "the Virginia peach" by Woodcock because that's where they moved from, I guess, and Jan Fletcher, class of '65. I wonder if the attraction of the monkey bars had any significance.

Woodcock and Don Payne showed up one night. I suppose Woodcock wanted to visit his adoring peasants to see how we were getting along. first row: Corki Wallace, Jan Fletcher, Teresa Shiflett, Steve Shiflett. Top: Pat Popovich, Bill "The Sheik" Woodcock, Jim Wright and Don Payne.


Don't let this fool you. Steve couldn't play a note on my old guitar. Accompanying the Virginia peach are Jan Fletcher, Teresa Shiflett and Corki Wallace.


It appears that there can be strife in all families as seen by Teresa Shiflett and Jan Fletcher who are trying to put Steve in his place. Or maybe this was a part of the Air Force physical conditioning program.


We'd all show up at someone's house and just hang around and enjoy the company and closeness of the group. Corki and Pete arm wrestle - I think Corki might have won.

What Jan, Steve and Corki were doing I haven't a clue, unless they were waiting for the bathroom to be free.

Pete tries to look intellectual while, yours truly seems to have discovered a new friend - a kitten I found in my pouch.

Pete and Patrice Costello have stolen the cat, who has found another friend.


Dobie Franklin has mastered a new mode of transportation while my brother, Jim, can't decide what to do with a ball that won't bounce. Note the world famous black Converse All-Stars, which were all the rage.

The Colonel and my mother's proudest day, graduation day - a day I don't think they thought possible. Or possible a day of massive relief.
Henry Johnson rode with us to graduation. Henry was a real quiet kid who was funny beyond belief... a good friend.

My brother Jim in our back yard at Adair.



The Air Force had a base picnic where almost everyone from Adair showed up. It was held at a park in Corvallis. As I remember it was pretty hot that day but everybody had a good time




Corki Wallace, Patrice Costello, Jean and Mary Reeves, and Teresa Shiflett have found a bigger toy to play with.


The Adair stud contingent poses at the picnic.