NOTICE!

Yahoo/Geocities is CLOSING this site

(and all other Geocities sites)

in October of 2009.

The information from this site will eventually be available at our new site

http://www.westvalley66.us.

(I am in the process of setting it up now (October.)

Please contact me at the e-mail address on this page for more information.

Sorry,
Diane
October 12, 2009

For those of us lucky enough still to have a parent around, it might be a good idea to get advice from them on how to cope and stretch our budgets, since most of them experienced the Great Depression.

I hope that none of you have had your retirement wiped out, and that you can get by okay until things do get better. I pray that your health needs can be taken care of, and that your family members are supportive of each other through all of this.

I haven't heard much from any class members in the past few months, but did receive an e-mail from Verna this week regarding the loss of another classmate. She writes:

Dave Seward works here (where Verna works) in production, and he just came into my office to tell me that Sue Gimlin (Rich) passed away a day or so ago. Her husband is the head custodian at WV HS (I think it's the HS) and works with Janet (Benton) Seward. Sue had been fighting cancer for some time, which I didn't know. She and her family live in White Swan. Dave said her funeral will be next Thursday.

Please pray for Sue's family; it's so hard to watch cancer take a loved one from you. If I receive any more definite information, I will share it with you here. I didn't have many classes with Sue, but I do remember her as a sweet and rather shy girl, and as Peggy's big sister who watched out for her. (Peggy played tenor sax, so I had band classes with her.)

I hope all of you are in decent health and have some things in your life to take joy in. Family, friends and faith mean so much to me, and I hope you have an abundance of them, too.

I will be updating more as I can, but I wanted to remind you that we need to vote in the election this November. Whatever your beliefs, whatever your positions, your voice is needed in this election. Our country is going through some memorable times, and our input will (hopefully) help our leaders make the necessary -- though difficult -- decisions that guide us through the pitfalls of life in the next few years.

And, whatever happens, our new leaders will definitely need our prayers!

A memorial will be held in the commons of the high school at 2:00 on Sunday, September 17.

Best wishes to all of you as you "gear into fall," and I hope those of you who attended the reunion have recuperated enough to get those photos developed and send a few to me for the web site! I'd really like to hear from you, too, with suggestions, ideas, or just plain "what's happenin'?" conversation.

One of our classmates swims the LENGTH of Rimrock Lake about this time every summer--and has done it for several years?

One of our classmates runs a trucking business...and she's good at it?

One of our classmates is involved in homeschooling--and will be for years?

One of our classmates who has been doing hurricane relief in Lousiana wants to buy a cabin near Bumping Lake?

One of our classmates is writing a doctoral thesis on the effects of casinos on Native American culture?

One of our classmates can't wait to retire and move OUT of California?

Just think, if you'd been at the reunion, you might know who these people are! And if we're lucky, they will send me information for a "profile" page so you can find out by reading here on the site. Let's hope that happens!

There are things I'm still wondering about, too. Like,
"Who has the most grandkids?"
"What's the one best piece of advice you could give to your children and grandchildren?"
"What has been your favorite job?"
"What was your worst job?"
"What was your weirdest job?"
"Where are everyone's siblings (and cousins) -- the ones ahead of us and behind us in school, that we were in classes and clubs with, on teams with, etc.?"
"Who is married to someone else who attended West Valley?"
"Who has managed to live in the area for their whole life (well, maybe not counting the college years)?"
"Does anyone live in the house they grew up in?"
and maybe some lighter questions like,
"Can anyone still fit in the same size clothes they wore in high school?"
"Who has natural colored hair?" or, better yet,
"Who still HAS hair?" hehe

I guess those are some of the questions that we might want to ask next time!

Today I've worked on the Memories section, mostly updating the "Remember When..." page. This was (originally) an ever-evolving list that circulates on the web and in e-mail, but our WV66 page is a combination of a 2001 e-mail (sent by Peggy Herron Schaffer via Verna) and a new one in 2006 (sent by Barb Quackenbush Richartz via Verna), along with a few additions of my own, and some graphics used by permission of a site in Illinois. I hope you enjoy it! I'd love to get suggestions for more items to add to that list!

Also, please help me by thinking of things you remember about growing up in the West Valley area so we can really "personalize" this section of our website. It should be fun!

Thanks!
Diane

Verna writes, "Linda Schnabel Wood passed away Monday, July 10 in Vancouver. Her obituary didn't give the cause of death. Survivors are her husband, two children, two sisters, two grandchildren and her mother. Her funeral will be Monday in Vancouver."

I'm sad to hear that Linda's gone so soon; I remember her as a conscientious and talented flute player in our West Valley band, a shy girl who was a pleasant friend to all who knew her. Our condolences go out to her family members as they cope with the loss of this sweet lady.

I don't have any more reunion updates right now, but if you have any last minute questions or corrections regarding our reunion or your updated personal information, please contact Verna or this website so we can answer your questions and/or make any necessary changes.

Hope to see you next month in Yakima!

Survivors include his wife, Joyce Wells of Yakima; two daughters, Suzan Kelley and Cheryl Miller, both of Yakima; a son, Scott Wells of Tieton; 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

I know a lot of you have memories of him as your math teacher, or as your club advisor; and although I wasn't in those groups, I do remember him with his shock of dark hair and that big grin flashing across his face.

Our condolences go out to his family.

Our condolences go out to all of the family; it's so painful to experience such a loss, especially a sudden one. I know he will be missed.

Please continue to keep in touch with Verna or me, and let us know about yourself and other classmates. I will be visiting my daughter in Oklahoma for a week, then traveling to Nebraska and on home the next week, but I will be checking the e-mail when I have a chance, so don't put off sending your news!

I think there may be more than a few of us looking at the possibility of "down-sizing" our careers to a less hectic, more "fun" mode like Lisa and Bonnie have done. I believe "retirement" holds a lot more possibilities than we'd ever imagined 40 years ago; not many of us are ready to completely sit back and twiddle our thumbs. Hope you are all finding something "just right" for you to do these days, exploring possibilities for new directions, and having fun doing it. Don't want to rust, do we?

Even if you think we should already have the information, please send it anyway--since 5 years is a long time and those things do tend to change. We'd rather have duplicate information than miss out on contacting anyone.