OHS Newsletter
(Archived Copy)

A Summary of Events and Topics of Interest to OHS grads and friends

October 31, 2002

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to other alumni

by Bonnie Burke Hulse '65 HULSEBE@barstow.usmc.mil.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Hey, I'm only a week late! A lot of feedback from the 66 reunion. Seemed to be everyone that went had a blast and wished it was longer.

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From Diana Rhodes Fisch: the reunion committee for the class of '66 outdid themselves! must say that this was the best reunion yet. They keep getting better and better and it is because we had so many people attend. Besides that, they had a good time. The cocktail party on Saturday night was swinging with karaoke singers and dancing. We all played a meet and greet game which was a great ice breaker and a chance for all of us to say hi. There were even prizes! The committee had a poster board set up with notes from classmates that could not be there, old photos, old records and a tribute of pictures of our classmates that have passed on.

Saturday was even better. After registering, we all went to have our pictures taken for the yearbook. The yearbook is $20.00 (in color) so if anyone is interested in buying one, please let me know at ladydi@thegateway.net The DJ played all our favorite songs and we had a few dance contests. Favorites in dancing were the Electric Slide and the Macarena. The committee had favors at each place setting including a CD of favorite songs. A couple of big surprises were people in attendance - Eric Lee who is a marshal arts master in Hollywood and our AFS student from Laos, Jemy Somsai. He came all the way from Bankok and this was the first time he has seen our classmates in 36 years! He was overwhelmed. Everyone stayed until everything was over on both nights - it appears they all had a good time. No one wanted to leave. Sunday brunch was delicious and what a nice time to say goodbye to a few of us that were not leaving first thing that morning. All the classmates that came from out of state were acknowledged and we appreciated them being there. Arnie Tong will be posting pictures on the web site - probably this weekend, if he has recuperated enough.

This from Deborah Swanson, wife of James Swanson '66, "The 66 re-union was wonderful!!!!!!!!!!! The best was James Swanson and Wayne Alves were there together after not seeing each other for 35 years!!!!!!!!!!! What a wonderful reunion they had and the whole reunion was just marvelous. My thanks to everyone who made the reunion possible and such a success. It was worth the trip from Idaho far more than just going to the reunion. All the friendships that were rekindled was what made this one so special. Thanks for sharing, Debbie. She also contributed the photos for todays letter.

Joyce Parsons Doull says she had a wonderful time, and spent most of the evening with Warren and Linda Jones Miller, in addition to hanging out with committee members. She says she danced and imbibed and had a blast.

Martha Danielson Gosnell '65 and her sister, Olivia Danielson '66, not only enjoyed the reunion immensely, seeing old friends, but trekked up Dimond Canyon and around Lake Temescal. They also did a cruise of old homesteads and hangouts and investigated the old neighborhood. She'll send photos when she gets them developed. I'm hyped already and can hardly wait for the 2005 reunion for '65.

MariAn Richards, '66 says it was a blast. She never did the Electric Slide so much in her life! And she's probably paying for it now! LOL. What the heck was the electric slide??

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So, first of all I'll put in a push for people to attend the 67 reunion. The Class of '67 will be having a reunion on November 2, 2002 THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at the Lake Merritt Hotel (Clarion), 1800 Madison Street, Oakland, from 6 pm to Midnight. The cost is $75 per person. That is this Saturday night, people! Be there. Take pictures and have fun! And, let us share in it with you by sharing your stories and photos with the group.

NEWS of a 63 Reunion!!!! Six PM, October 11, 2003, Waterfront Hotel, 10 Washington Street, Oakland California 94607! If you know of anyone from this class and have a contact number for them, email tuba2ter@email.com.

CLASS OF 1964! MunWah (Gary Lee) is working hard to get a '64 reunion planned. It's never to early to start. He's had a couple of responses, but needs more help. Even if you are not in the bay area, there is stuff you can do to help. If you are interested and couldn't make the meeting, contact Mun Wah at MunWah@aol.com . His phone at 510 704-1986. Many of you have written to me that you are interested in a reunion. Get involved. Let's make it happen!

REGULAR REUNION BLURBS:

THE CLASS OF 1964!! for all of those interested in helping with the 1964 reunion, Call or write Mun Wah (Gary Lee) home, 2311 8th Street, Berkeley. Call him at 510 704-1986

THE CLASS OF 66. Check out the Class of 66 website at . Arnie's address is stoof@alum.calberkeley.org . Arnie is going to be posting reunion photos. Cameras were set on tables for classmates to take pictures with.

The Class of '67 will be having a reunion on November 2, 2002 at the Lake Merritt Hotel (Clarion), 1800 Madison Street, Oakland, from 6 pm to Midnight. The cost is $75 per person. There will be a photographer there to take photos. Right now there is no yearbook planned, but that may change. There is more info about it on the message board at Classmates. For reunion info write to Judy Gee Sue at jkgsue@aol.com. Roberta (Bobbie) Markle Uhland is still trying to get all the Medallions together before the reunion to catch up. Write her at adultlrning@aol.com.

The class of 63 reunion chairperson is Veronica "Roni" Johnson Jennings. She can be reached at Vjjennings962@cs.com. If you have questions, write to her! The reunion will be held October 11, 2003, from 6 to midnight at the Waterfront Hotel, 10 Washington Street, Oakland CA 94607. If you can help find LOST Wildcats please contact tuba2ter@email.com . If you want to volunteer to help, contact Roni at the above email.

Good news for the class of '62. There may be a reunion in the planning stages. Craig Hansen is looking for all alumni from 62, and can be contacted at chobhans@aol.com . If you have any names, addresses or updates for 1962, or you just want more info, please contact him as soon as possible. You may also contact Jeani Golish Mills at shehana@thegrid.net. She has set up a web site for the class of 62. www.ohs62.com . It's really a great site. If you can get out there to check it out, you will enjoy it.

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For those who would like to contact Mr. Peter O. Lee, retired OHS French teacher, he can be reached at polee5@lmi.met . If .met does not work, try net. I'm unsure of which it is.

Sherry White, '62 is still trying to locate a copy of B. Jo Kinnick's book, "Time is the Stream." Mrs. Kinnick was the creative writing teacher for Oakland High, and also put out the Oak Leaves every year. If any of you have a copy or know where Sherry can order one, please write to Sherry at grace2stand@yahoo.com .

NEW PERSON ALERT! (re-running this section) This week I need to fix an address I mistakenly gave you last letter. We welcome Charlotte Harris Luczak, class of '65. Her address is Luc12471@oal.com . We also welcome Charles (Chuck) Davis, Class of 74. Chuck lives up in the Washington State area, judging from the phone number he sent me. He's looking for a copies of the 71-74 yearbook. If any of you can help him with that, or want to volunteer to Xerox them for him, write him at Chadavis77@aol.com or call him at 360-876-9215. Thanks for joining us, Chuck. Last, but not least, Edward Young, '68, joins us from Kailua, Hawaii! He's married, with two children. He's currently the Deputy Director for the National Weather Service Pacific Region Headquarters. He has recently been in touch with Patty Perry '68.

NEW MISSING FRIENDS: Looking for Sharon Thompson, Class of 64. Anyone have a clue where she can be found? If you are looking for someone, write to me and we'll put it out here for all to see. It's amazing how many people we've found so far! Our new person, Corrine Lindblat would like to know if anyone knows the where abouts of Andy Kahn or Richard Eastman from the class of 1967. Marilee MaGuire '60 would like to find an old friend from the class of 59 by the name of Greg Guilford. Any news of him would be appreciated. She is at midnite1399@yahoo.com . Also looking for Joanie Miller. Does anyone have an email address for her? How about Janet Miller, also '65? Still no news on the Katzer family, Joan French, Anna Jenson and Vivian Faye Kilpatrick. Others we are still looking for include Diane Ewing, '55, Ruth Lock, Darle Smith, Carolyn Frick, Warren Hardy, Clair Hanson, Class of June, 1951? Also looking for a Ron Poindexter. Does anyone remember a Faye Felderbaum, '65? She went to Crocker for 6th,and then to McChesney for 7th and 8th. Does anyone know of her or her whereabouts? How about Bobby Blatner? Class of 65? We are also looking for Rene Ducroux, Class of 66. He is one of the "can't locate's" for the reunion. If anyone knows his whereabouts contact Diana Rhodes Fisch at ladydi@thegateway.net . Manuel Perez is still missing. If you know of his whereabouts, let us know.

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There's still time to get a 65 Reunion CD. For those of you that attended McChesney I included the 1962 McChesney Yearbook. CD's are still available. I've sent out at least 40 so far. If you want a Free CD of the 65 reunion last August, let me know. Again, they are FREE.

Welcome home to vacationers Gayle and Wally Ransom who spent a month down under in Australia, and to Bob Lema who recently returned from New Mexico, where he visited Roswell the Petrified Forest and the Air and Space Museum among other things.

The Four Queens is again running a Family and Friends Special for November, December and January. $15 Sun-Thur, and $27 Fri-/Sat. All you have to do is call 1-800-634-6045 (press one) and mention that you are a friend of Becky Snyder (Becky Rhodes Snyder '67) and you can get the rate. Based on Space Available, not good on holiday and special events. Thanks, Becky, for sharing this with everyone.

Thanks again for all the replies about the gastric bypass. It will not be until after the first of the year now that I can get the surgery done. I think I was healthier before I started getting tested! LOL. They have found a few things that need to be corrected before surgery, including spending 2 nights in a sleep clinic attached to a bunch of wires and monitors. I'm still in the testing phase before I can have the actual surgery. Since I'm keeping you all up on this, they found heart failure (I suspected as much), sleep apnea, and anemia and a few other minor things. The good news is that even at 340 lbs, my cholesterol is only 136 and my blood pressure is 110 over 58. Not bad for a heavy person. I've lost 10 lbs. Not much at my weight, but a start, even without surgery. I would still encourage anyone who inquired to me about the surgery to consider it.

DON"T FORGET to order a 66 reunion yearbook! $20. They will be in COLOR! Please send your order to OHS Reunion Committee, C/O 1744 East 14th Street, San Leandro, CA 94577. Make checks payable to Oakland High School Reunion 1966. Order it soon. The faster they get all the orders in, the faster you will receive it! You can also purchase advertising in the book for $25.

If all of you that went to the reunion will send me a set of your photos, whether by e-mail or snail mail (I'll return them), I will put them all on a CD for you, so you can all have one. It's amazing how many people you miss during the reunion, and a CD made up of pictures from different groups of friends lets your see those that you might have missed during the weekend. I collected over 270 pictures from the 65 reunion and have sent out close to 100 CD's to people who have asked.

Larry "Bear" Doull is coordinating a trip to Australia for those of you who may be interested. He calls it the trip of a lifetime! You can turn winter into summer with this trip, and find yourself baking on an Australian beach! The month long excursion features 2 nights in Melbourne, 2 nights in Adelaide (the city of churches), and the rest of the time In Perth and Fremantle, which is a city rarely seen by "Yanks" as it's on the WEST coast. Lots of golf courses, eating establishments, beaches, clubs, and tons of photo ops. Travelers will be staying at the Perth Ambassador. The flight will be booked through QUANTAS, which has a PERFECT safety record. The price has just dropped by $600, and now is the time to book. Travel to and from the airport is covered, and all hotel accommodations are included. Space is limited. There is a special discount for couples traveling together and for Better Business Bureau members. Deposits are due now to reserve your spot. A minimum deposit of $1000 is required. For exact cost and more details, contact Larry at bearsvcs@aol.com, or call him at 858 270-8250. There is also a shorter two week trip available.

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MEMORIAL BOARD. Done by Bev Shulster Beiman. Visit www.oocities.org/bevshul Here are this weeks additions. For more info visit the site.

Added or updated through October 28, 2002 --

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Class of 1963
Connie Owens

Class of 1972
Debra Lee Burnett

Class of 1973
Ricky McCree

Class of 1994
Ajani Carter

This week's list of names comes with an appeal to all of you to help out with photographs of the people mentioned on the memorial pages. Please look at the pages for which you have yearbooks at home and see if there are any "Block Os" instead of pictures of your classmates. Then, if you have a scanner and are willing to take a couple of minutes time, please contact me at bbevy@012.net.il for short, SIMPLE instructions on scanning photos for the memorial page. The effort is small and will make the pages that much more compelling. Thanks to everyone for anything you can add (including corrections and additions, of course!)

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By Bev Shulster Beiman '65
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What with the World Series just over (and gone terribly wrong...)(Opinion made by a Giant's fan not necessarily that of the Angel Fan who writes this letter (LOL)), below is OHS's very own Giant, who went all the way to win the World Series in four straight games in 1954. Since Bill Rigney was connected with the Angels as well, it is only fitting that we recall this OHS grad this week.

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Class of 1936

William Joseph "Bill" Rigney
World Series as an infielder with the N.Y. Giants, 1951 & 1954
First manager of the San Francisco Giants, 1956
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame - Baseball
29 Jan 1918 - 20 Feb 2001
83 Years Old

BILL RIGNEY was the Giants' first manager in San Francisco and over the years was associated with the LA Angels, the Twins and the A's.

With the Giants he managed Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda. "He was my first manager, and my favorite," McCovey said. "He was so friendly, he wouldn't let you dislike him. He was that type of guy."

Rigney was born in Alameda and attended Oakland High School. After starring on the East Bay sandlots, he signed with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League in 1938. An infielder, he played for the New York Giants from 1946 to 1953, compiling a lifetime batting average of .259.

Rigney drew attention with the way he caught pop fouls -- basket style, years before Willie Mays made it popular -- and for the effervescent way he talked. With the Oaks, he had been called "Specs," because he wore glasses. The Giants called him "The Cricket," because he chirped.

When his playing days ended, in 1954, Rigney was dispatched by Giants owner Horace Stoneham to manage the team's Triple-A farm team in Minneapolis. Two years later, he succeeded Leo Durocher with the big-league club, finishing sixth that season and again in 1957.

When the team moved West in 1958, Rigney led the team to consecutive third- place finishes. But in June 1960 with the team in second place just four games behind Pittsburgh, he was fired and replaced by scout Tom Sheehan -- a decision many believe was the worst Stoneham ever made.

Rigney was back at work the next spring, managing the Angels for nine years and the Twins for three. It was with the Twins that he won his only title as a manager, the AL West in 1970, but the Angels remained his favorites.

In 1962, the expansion team's second year of existence, with a colorful collection of characters including Bo Belinsky, Dean Chance, Leon Wagner and Art Fowler, the Angels gave the Yankees of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris all they wanted. The Angels actually led the American League as late as Sept. 12, before fading to a third-place finish. Rigney was a runaway choice as American League Manager of the Year.

In 1969, Rigney joined Simmons and the late Russ Hodges in the Giants' radio broadcast booth for one year before succeeding Billy Martin as manager of the Twins.

When his longtime friend Bob Lurie bought the Giants in 1976, he installed Rigney, who had been out of the dugout for four years, as manager. He lasted just one season, finishing 74-88, and later admitted it had been a mistake to come back.

He scouted for the Angels before signing on with the A's in 1982 as a special assistant to the president, a job he held until his death. In 1994 he was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.

After the A's won an American League pennant in 1988, then-A's executive Sandy Alderson said, "When you talk about people who have contributed to our success, you have to single out Bill Rigney. His contributions have been enormous. He has been involved in every one of our player acquisitions since I came here in 1982. I've watched 600 or 700 games with Bill, and it's been an education."

Even though he had several decades in the game and had played against some of the greatest names of all time, few players regularly sought him out to talk baseball.

"They don't want to know," he said. "They really don't want to know. All they say is, 'Hey, man, that was 40 years ago. Things are different now.' Oh, really? How different? Do they run to third base instead of first? Come on."

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I really love the commercial for Sprint where the guy in the black coat visits the woman who asked for Shampoo and her husband brought her SHAMU! At least I loved it until it began to happen to me, and I don't even own a cellphone!

I was getting ready for work one day, when I heard Mike telling me to do something. Fine. I was busy, but I did it anyway, even though it was weird, even for Mike. We were walking to the car, when he said,

"Well, Did you put the mail in the drawer for me?"

"WHAT? I was sure you said put the SCALE in the drawer! I had to put everything in another drawer to make it fit, but I finally put the scale in the drawer."

He didn't even look at me. Just shook his head and walked away.

One the way to work, we went to Burger King, our normal morning ritual, and he SAYS he asked me if I wanted extra SALT.

But I was already yelling back at him, "NO! It's not my FAULT! I can hear you perfectly well."

If it's true and I am losing my hearing, I can attribute this problem to the many years of Loud music, rock concerts and noisy kids. I'm sure that is why my body, in a defensive manor, began to turn it's hearing off.

Recently I noticed this hearing problem was getting worse. We don't have an intercom at work, so my boss yells from his office out to me. Big mistake.

Last Friday before going home, he yelled out some instructions. I did what he asked. On Monday, he came in and unlocked the offices. I heard him kind of mutter something, and then he came out to my desk.

"Bonnie," he said, "WHY are there a half dozen vases of flowers locked in our Interview Room?"

I looked at him, and said, "Well, I THOUGHT it was an odd request on Friday when you told me lock up all the vases, but I went around to everyone's desks, took the vases and locked them up in the Interview Room."

He looked at me, laughing, then said, "CASES, Bonnie, I said "Lock up all the CASES! You know, like in the FILING CABINET?"

Well, I normally lock all the cases up anyway, but now I had to go around to everyone and explain why their vases were taken away on Friday. What an idiot! That is what he gets for yelling at me from his office. It obviously was HIS error, not mine.......I can hear perfectly.

Later that same day, he yelled out to me that he had a man coming in that was dirty. I'm sure that is what he said. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why he was having a dirty man come in. Then he emailed me to make sure I watched for his appointment that was coming in at THREE THIRTY, not DIRTY.

This was becoming a problem. Was my hearing that bad?

It was just about this time that I got a call from Carlos, one of the clerks at Battalion. He doesn't speak English well to start with, so I knew he didn't mean for me to take the farms and feel the Lions.

It DID take me a half hour to figure out he meant for me to take the FORMS and Fill IN THE LINES!

I was so glad the day was finally over. I called Mike to pick me up.

"I've had it! I need to come home and crash!"

He drove out and picked me up, looking at me rather funny. Then he drove directly to the doctors office.

"WHY are we at Dr. Pad's?" I asked?

"Well, you said on the phone, you had it, you broke out in a rash! So I made an appointment for you."

Ahh, at least I wasn't the only one with hearing loss!

"Let's just go home, I'll explain later. We'll have hot dogs and buns."

His reply?

"What do you mean you have the runs? I thought it was a rash!"

I thought it was about time to throw in the towel for the night.

It has reached the point when two old farts like us can't even carry on a conversation. We speak briefly on the phone with messages of importance.

Last night when I got home from work, our friends Jean and Randy were there. We hadn't seen them for months, so I was rather surprised. Mike was on the porch barbequing T-Bone Steaks. A nice treat. When I got Mike off to the side, I asked him what suddenly made Jean and Randy drop by?

I should have known. With an exasperated look, he said, "Bonnie, YOU called me and told me not to forget to get Jean and Randy and to get T-Bone Steaks!"

It was hopeless. What did I really say? I had called and said don't forget the Birthday Cake (for his sister) and the HALLOWEEN CANDY, not get T-Bne Steaks and Jean and Randy."

Ah, the joys of getting old.

Excuse me, I have to make sure Shamu isn't in my bathtub.

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Last Time's Trivia.
1. What do Reginald Owen, Alistar Sim, and Albert Finney all have in common? They all played Scrooge
2. What is Jimmy Carter's middle name? Earl
3. Who wrote Future Shock? Alvin Tofler
4. Name the four Railroad in Monopoly. Reading, Shortline, Pennsyvania, B&O
5. What high school does Archie Andrews attend? Riverdale
6. Who did Clayton Moore portray? Lone Ranger
7. Who was the Cisco Kid's faithful sidekick? Pancho
8. What was the last album the Beatles recorded together? Abbey Road
9. HEADBANGER: What does a Spermologer collect? Trivia
10. Who played Topper on TV's Topper? Leo G. Carroll

This weeks Trivia:

1. Who played Cricket on Hawaiian Eye?

2. What was the Beatles First double album?

3. What Duncan Renaldo Series was the first western shot in color?

4. What song opened "Sunshine came softly through my window today....Coulda tripped out....??

5. Who did Don McLean refer to as the "King" in American Pie?

6. What group put "Alley Oop" in the top forty?

7. What huge family had it's own musical variety show on ABC in the 60's?

8. Headbanger: What caliber pistol did David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) use?

9. What did the Shangri-las walk in and Pat Boone write in?

10. What Hitchcock film contained the line, " A boy's best friend is his mother."

Did you know the Chipmunk Song got the worst ever rating on Bandstand? Did you realize Jiminy Cricket taught most of us to spell ENCYCLOPEDIA? Did you know Oakland High grad Ralph Edwards only missed ONE show in 9 years of This is Your Life? Good attendance skills learned at OHS no doubt. Did you know Lee Harvey Oswald was only 24 when he killed Kennedy? Did you know Florence Ballard of the Supremes was on welfare when she died in 1976? And, did you know the only bear to have a Zip Code was Smokey the Bear, 20252??

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Photos of the Teen Club were submitted by Elliot Lowe, '64. I mistakenly put they were from Louise Lovett. Thank You, Elliot for the pictures. You can write to Elliot at Elliot@pacbell.net. Keep digging and finding those old photos!

Pictures this week include: The photos for this week are courtesy of Debbie Swanson, wife of Jim Swanson, '66. The first two photos are of Jim Swanson, right, and Wayne Alves, left. The third is of Diana Rhodes Fisch, Jim Swanson, and Charlie Nelson-Benn.

Jim Swanson, right, and Wayne Alves, left.
Jim Swanson, right, and Wayne Alves, left.

Jim Swanson, right, and Wayne Alves, left.
Jim Swanson, right, and Wayne Alves, left.

Diana Rhodes Fisch, Jim Swanson, and Charlie Nelson-Benn
Diana Rhodes Fisch, Jim Swanson, and Charlie Nelson-Benn

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Copyright © 2002 by Bonnie Burke Hulse '65 and Beverly Shulster Beiman '65. All rights reserved.