Happy Holidays

STILL LOOKING: INSTALLMENT #10 OF THE LIST OF THE MISSING

THIS IS IT! this is the last piece of the list of classmates for whom the reunion committee has no contact information. We made it through the whole list! Once again, a sincere thank you to everyone who has helped with this!

This is the last piece of the master list, working backwards through the alphabet, using 1971 surnames. The plan is to republish the list in full, which thanks to your efforts has been shortened somewhat, right here every couple of months or so. We're trying to have a better, more inclusive attendance at future reunions by reaching more classmates with infornation and providing opportunities for participation in planning.

Please post or e-mail ths71reunion@gmail.com any help you can give us!

Thanks again!

Julie Bowler
Donna Billingsley
Matt Becker
Ed Bautista
Tom Barrett
Paula Barnes
Kathleen Barker
Daniel Ball
Steve Asher
David Armenta
Henry Apfel
Helen Andon

INSTALLMENT #9 OF THE LIST OF THE MISSING

Okay all of you '71 Buff sleuths, it is time for the penultimate (look it up) piece of the list of classmates for whom the reunion committee has no contact information. We're almost through the whole list! Again, a sincere thank you to everyone who has helped with this!

By way of reminder, this is only one piece of the master list, and we're working our way backwards through the alphabet, using 1971 surnames. (And we're almost at the beginning). Please post or e-mail ths71reunion@gmail.com any help you can give us!

Thanks again!
Pam Caffrey
Lucy Burnes
Stuart Brown
Kenneth Brown
Gary Brown
Carol Brown
Barbara Brown
Kathy Brennan
Leigh Bregar
Kim Bowness

Wow, we have a lot of missing Browns!

INSTALLMENT #8 OF THE LIST OF THE MISSING

Okay all of you '71 Buff sleuths, it is time for the eighth piece of the list of classmates for whom the reunion committee has no contact information. Thanks again to everyone who has helped with this!

By way of reminder, this is only a piece of the master list, and we're working our way backwards through the alphabet, using 1971 surnames. (And we're getting very close to the beginning). Please post or e-mail ths71reunion@gmail.com any help you can give us!

Thanks again!

Stephani Coon
Chris Contreras
Donna Conaway
Don Cochrane
Iona Clark
Gary Clark
Jeannine Charles
Paula Castine
Diana Casey
Patti Carnal
Cathy Carnal
Robert Carillo
Marley Cambridge

CALL FOR PHOTOS!

As some of you may have noticed, our reunion photos are no longer posted on Scott Farence's website.  It was very generous of him to keep them up there as long as he did. Thank you Scott!!!

But, my observation is that most people in attendance took photos! Some took lots more than others, but honestly, I haven't seen any unless they were posted on Facebook, and there were precious few of those.  So, what do you say? If you're on Facebook, please share them!  Otherwise, you can post them in a comment here (as if), or e-mail them to ths71reunion@gmail.com! We'll see to it that they are shared either or both ways.

And they don't have to be reunion shots! Anything that you want to share will be super!

INSTALLMENT #6 OF THE LIST OF THE MISSING:

Okay everyone, it is time for the sixth piece of the list of classmates for whom the reunion committee has no contact information. Thanks to those who have helped! We got information about more people from the last installment, and Sandra (Sandy) Huft (Cramer) just let us know that she's not missing! Yay!

Again, this is only a piece of the master list, and we're working our way backwards through the alphabet, using 1971 surnames. Please post or e-mail ths71reunion@gmail.com any help you can give us! Thanks!

Shirley Hensley
Lori Henshaw
Patti Heilman Fox
Kathy Harpchak
Dale Harner
Kris Hargrave
David Hanna
Linda Graeber
Kathy Gourley
Charlie Gould
Sherry Goodin
Bruce Gillen
Kathy Gifford
JoAnn Gibson
Susie Gebhard
Denise Gates
Danny Garvin
Steve Gallant
Margherita Galeotti
Gary Gala
Joe Gaglione

INSTALLMENT #7 OF THE LIST OF THE MISSING

Well '71 Buff fans, it is time for the seventh piece of the list of classmates for whom the reunion committee has no contact information. Thanks again to those who have helped!

By way of reminder, this is only a piece of the master list, and we're working our way backwards through the alphabet, using 1971 surnames. (And we're getting close to the beginning). Please post or e-mail ths71reunion@gmail.com any help you can give us! Thanks!

Stephen Foody

Peggy Fonteno

Richard Flynn

Mary Fletcher

Bill Fisher

Anne Fergusen

Pat Faust

Kathy Ellis

Judy Elliott Morales

Charles Dillon

Karen Dennis

Richard Delgado

Kathleen Day

Jennifer Daugherty

Dell Danes

Rose Cruz

Dan Crouse

Diana Cox England

Debbie Corbitt

INSTALLMENT #5 OF THE LIST OF THE MISSING

Here we go with yet another piece of the list of classmates for whom the reunion committee has no contact information. Thanks to those who have given us clues and data. We got information about more people from the last installment, and now we're trying for more.

Again, this is only a piece of the master list, and we're working our way backwards through the alphabet, using 1971 surnames. Please post or e-mail ths71reunion@gmail.com any help you can give us! Thanks!

Cheri Kirkham
Joyce Jordan
James Jones
Marilyn Johnson
Byron Johnson
Hector Jimenez
Mark Jaskowiak
Paul Jaques
Jennifer Janes
Connie James
Cathy James
Beverly James
Richard Hutchins
Jane Humfeld
Lloyd Huggins
Sandra Huft
Mike Hoffmann
Louise Hoffman
Diana Hitzeman
Mark Hidalgo
Richard Hicks
Cheryl Herren
Mary Hernandez
James Hergenrather

INSTALLMENT #4 OF THE LIST OF THE MISSING:

Here we go with yet another piece of the list of classmates for whom the reunion committee has no contact information. Thanks to those who have given us clues and data. We got information about five people from the last installment! And Debbie McPherson found us before her name got out on this installment!

Again, this is only a piece of the master list, and we're working our way backwards through the alphabet, using 1971 surnames. Please post or e-mail ths71reunion@gmail.com any help you can give us! Thanks!

Renet Mills
Reginald Miller
Martha Miller
Margaret Miller
Debbie Miller
Gayle Meshew
Donnie McSpadden
Christine McPeters
Kathy McNaughton Foreman
David McKinney
Richard McCarrick
Ricardo Martinez
Ken Martin
Betty Martell
Debra Marquardt
Jon Manlove
Margie Maerling
Tom Link
Robert Link
Robert Lewis
Gary Lee
Linda Larsen
Bob Lara
Diana Lamb

INSTALLMENT #3 OF THE LIST OF THE MISSING:

Here we go with another piece of the list of classmates for whom the reunion committee has no contact information.  Thanks to those who have given us clues and data. We are making some progress!

Again, this is only a piece of the master list, and we're working our way backwards through the alphabet, using 1971 surnames. Please post or e-mail ths71reunion@gmail.com any help you can give us!  Thanks!

Ted Reiser
Raymond Rebert
Linda Ray
Gary Ramsey
Lyn Ragsdale
Anne Puerta
Jewel Powell
Sarah Phillips Kerr
Terry Patterson
Debbie Patterson
Cathy Oneall
Jackie Oller
Susan Obray
Romlyn Nobell
Lena Neal
Kim Nagel
Gwen Mosely

A RETRACTION OF THE BEST POSSIBLE KIND!

Well folks, some of the primary goals of this blog, our FB presence and our group have been to reconnect our classmates and provide a means for interaction. We're currently making an effort to improve our contact information, and we just learned, joyfully and thankfully, that one of our classmates that we had listed as deceased is if fact alive, and well enough to contact us: STEVEN PHILLIPS! He sent in a note, reading:

"Hi;
The web site has me listed as deceased, sorry but I survived. I am pretty sure I was the only Steven Phillips(DOB 6 Feb 1953). I did encounter one other classmate in 1972 on the border between East and West Germany. It was the winter of and I was in a bunker observing the border when I noticed another soldier approaching along the wire, he announced himself and I had a sudden thought, nah, but when he took his helmet off sure enough Mike Pressler, we had a moment. I never saw him again I always wanted to thank him for sending me the Tempe dailey news. I hope he made it. I did post this in the commets on the web site as well.
Thanks
Steven Phillips"

This is very embarrassing for those of us who have put together the list of classmates who've passed, and may have caused unnecessary shock and sorrow. Our most sincere apologies to everyone. No excuses.

INSTALLMENT #2 (of 10) OF THE LIST OF THE MISSING:

Working our way a little farther up the list today. Again, if you have any contact information, please post it, message it, or e-mail it to us: ths71reunion@gmail.com. Thanks, everyone for checking, and especially to those like Deb Snyder who take the initiative to do some research!

Robin Stadmiller Martin 
Debbie Sneed
Marc Smith
Donn Shumway
Debbie Shumway
Christine Schultz
Vicki Shaw
James Sharp
Mary Sepeda
Mike Sells
Deborah Seip
Debra Segovia
Michele Schweizer
Robert Scharping
Joann Sanders
Gloria Salono
Lorrie Rojas
Lee Robinson
Bill Riddle

INSTALLMENT #1 (of 10) OF THE LIST OF THE MISSING

Don't get me wrong, the group we had at our 45-year reunion was fantastic. The most commonly mentioned thing that we can do to make our next reunion better, though, is to get more of our old classmates to show up. We've got some time, but it's a big effort to get a more comprehensive contact list!

What we're proposing to do is post lists of classmates for whom we have no contact information, starting with the one below.

As of now, we have at least some sort of contact capability with over half of our graduating class. I'll post ten lists of names of 71 Buffs that we have no way to contact. Here's the first, going in reverse alphabetical order by 1971 Surname:

Barbara Zindell
Penelope Wright
Barbara Work
Toni Williams
Steve Wilkins
Joyce Whittle
Dennis White
Linda West
Gary Wady
Mike Visnauskas
Caroline Vasquez
Kathleen Varin
Connie Unruh
Bill Uhrinyak
Susan Uhlig
Nancy Torgersen
Ronda Thomas
Russel Taylor
Kathy Swart
Patricia Sutton

If you can help us contact any of these folks, please let us know, here or by writing to ths71reunion@gmail.com. Thanks!

Happy Anniversary!

It was 45 years ago today! We're still going strong. 

'71 Buffs forever!!!

First Step in Planning for 50

I think our 45-year reunion was very, very successful!

Now, while the events are still pretty fresh in our minds, and as our next big shindig (a 50-year reunion!) enters the planning phase, I'd like to solicit some feedback about last month's 45. Let's make the 50 bigger and better! Post comments here, or send e-mail to ths71reunion@gmail.com. Thanks 71 buffs!

48 Minutes of the Main Event... and More!

Check this out!

https://youtu.be/Xhu98FbPqPo


And this one, too:

https://youtu.be/meb3K_trNd0


A grand finale posted by Duane on April 29:


https://youtu.be/PQFQ1iPePKI

A Little Reunion Humor

THS Reunion Attendees as of Friday, March 25

The list below is still growing, and doesn't include various spouses and other guests that bring the current total to 97 people!  Send an e-mail to ths71reunion@gmail.com to reserve your spot!

Reunion Activity Schedule, April 15-16

Get out your day planners and other activity calendars, here are two fun-filled days to write in:

Friday, April 15, 3:30pm - Tempe High School Campus Tour

Dr. Stacia Wilson, current THS principal, has approved a campus tour to help us celebrate our 45-year reunion. We are to assemble in the main office and check in with Administrator, Rosie Guzman. The tour starts at 3:30 pm on Friday April 15, so folks should plan to arrive by 3:15. There is visitor parking in front of the admin office, which is still located next to the auditorium, right on the corner of Mill and Broadway. Lots of other things have changed as we will discover!!!

Friday, April 15, Following (or for some during?) the Campus Tour:  Happy Hour

Remember this place? Back in our day, it was called Varsity Inn, and before that Village Inn, and it may have had other names, too. But now it's called the Vine Tavern and Eatery, and it has a web site:

http://vinetavern.com/rural-apache/

If you look at their information, you'll see that their happy hour runs from 3:00-7:00, so it overlaps the THS campus tour that will start at 3:30. Everyone is on their own to decide how to handle that, but it's a quick commute between the two.

Saturday, April 16, 7:00am - Reunion Hike from Pima Canyon Trailhead

(See the previous post about this)

Saturday, April 16, 5:00pm - 10:00(ish) - the Main Event at Rolling Hills Clubhouse

The evening will feature live music, a buffet dinner and lots of miscellaneous entertainment of all kinds. There is a $35 per person charge to participate, which covers dinner and soft drinks, but a cash bar will be serving those who desire other beverages. 

Try to arrive in a timely fashion, as the group photo will be taken at 5:45 while the light is still favorable. A full program for the evening will be published soon!

You won't want to miss this, as there will be over 60 of our classmates, several faculty, and a variety of guests totalling nearly 100 people in all!  Reserve your spot by e-mailing ths71reunion@gmail.com.

THE 45-YEAR REUNION HIKE, APRIL 16, 7:00AM

The starting point of the hike first proposed by Tim Bedient is the Pima Canyon Trailhead, shown in the map in this link. We're told to expect a lot of people on a Saturday morning in April, with parking at a premium. Let's try to meet at the trailhead ramada at 7:00 and head out from there. The hike is about 3.5 miles with a 250 ft elevation change. The duration will be two hours or less, allowing plenty of time for nourishment and naps before the main event later that day!

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

GOOGLE.COM

Great Reunion Response

The '71 buffs who enthused about a potential 45-year reunion when asked last fall were right on. It seems that there has been a pent-up desire to get back together! All right, let's do it.

The main event, which will get underway at 5:00 pm on Saturday April 16, 2016 at the Rolling Hills Golf Course Clubhouse, features a cash bar and buffet dinner with live musical entertainment. The band will include no less than five of our '71 classmates, plus two "children" of one of them. Yeah, it's a good-sized band, and as you might expect, they're going to play stuff we all like! There will also be a few other fun surprises not to be spoiled here. Cost to attend, including dinner is $35.

The reunion weekend will kick off with a guided tour of the hallowed halls of THS on Friday, April 15, at a time still to be determined. We'll be sure to get the details out early when we get them nailed down.

Then, Saturday morning at 7:00 am, we're going to take a group hike in the east end of South Mountain Park, leaving from the parking area at Guadalupe and 48th Street in Ahwautukee. Tim Bedient is the organizer and promises about a two-hour, fairly easy hike. A post-hike meal at a local eatery is an option as well.

Make your reservations by e-mailing ths71reunion@gmail.com. At this writing, the number of our classmates attending is approaching 60!!!

He's a current list of confirmed THS classmate attendees posted on Leap Day (Feb. 29, 2016):

Terry Abbott                                                   Debbie Jones Ramsey
Roy Aguayo                                                    Robert Larchick
Rosa Alvarez Wehrman ('78)                         Denise Larson Kobel
Vicky Bader Dempsey                                   Ken Lassen
Tim Bedient                                                    Debbie Logan Willette
Carol Bellows Agne Poole                             Anne Marquis McKeeman ('72)
Patti Bender ('72)                                            Paul McCaw
Janet Boyd Lopez                                            Paul McNeil
Sharon Branham Day                                      Tom Montalvo
Betty Bryant Rohloff                                       Jone Moss English
John Busch                                                       Gary Neely
Salvatore Cafiero                                             Deborah Nelson
Debra Carbajal Coate                                      Diane Palatinus Watkins
Judy Coate Williams                                        Judi Paris
Jeff Cole                                                          Tom Pian
Jacque Cooper                                                 Chuck Ramsey ('67)
Les Cox Lassen ('73)                                       Dorothy Rarick Barnes
Sherry Crawford Gallagher                             Mary Reeder Kenyon
Pat Davitt Burdette                                          Deb Renner Hull ('72)
Tom Ditsworth                                                Kim Roberson
Duane Ernst                                                     Kas Safriet Mangas
Cindy Ewing Arbuckle                                    David Schneider
Patrick Fleming                                                Vikki Schrock Larchick
Tara Fuchs Roesler                                          Pat Smith Ruiz
Mark Hannah                                                   Nadine Speth
Martha Hartman DeMott                                  Anne Spooner Crowe
Dave Hausman                                                  Susan Torgerson Cappelloni
Mike Hudnall                                                    Jim Wehrman
Don Hull                                                           Susan Whalen Irby
Donna Hull Wallace                                         Suzie Wootton Rogers
Roma Israel                                                      Shirley Worbs Ditsworth ('73)
Fred Jones

ALS Claimed Two Classmates in 2007 and 2008

We recently learned that two of our THS Class of 1971 classmates passed away from ALS (Lou Gerhig's disease).

John Philip Moschel:

John passed away on December 6, 2007, from ALS (Lou Gerhig's disease). His obituary can be found below.

Nila Jo (Sales) Perkins:

Nila passed away on June 14, 2008 in Colton, California from ALS, or Lou Gerhig's disease. Although I haven't been able to find an obituary, there was a touching photo and paragraph about her in a publication called NeuroTalk, in an article titled "In search of the face of Lou Gehrig's disease "
Leo Greene, Staff Writer
(Article Launched:10/08/2006)

"I think ALS is the loneliest disease," said Nila Perkins from her room at the Reche Canyon Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Colton.

The 53-year-old Nila had been an active woman, a longtime executive for the Girl Scouts.

In 2002, she first experienced shaking in her hands and difficulty negotiating stairs.

Nila knew something wasn't quite right. But when a doctor suggested she needed to slow down, "I was outraged," she said.

Eventually, in May 2003, a Loma Linda specialist diagnosed ALS. Nila had been living on her own in Redlands at the time.

By July 2003, she quit driving. A walker became necessary in September of that year. And by February 2004, she needed a wheelchair.

So as not to be a burden to her daughter, Nila decided in May 2005 to move to the Reche Canyon center. It was a wise decision, she said.

In her year-and-a-half at the nursing home, Nila has survived several other ALS patients. As for longevity with this disease - "It's 95 percent attitude," she said.

Her grandchildren keep her going. Nila said she wants to live long enough for the youngest, who's 3, "to remember me," she said.

Reserve Your Spot!

Registration for the 45-year Reunion main event has been really active! We may have to cut it off if we reach the capacity of the facility as set by the Tempe Fire Department.  (We're asking what that number is).

To be safe, register right away! Just send us a line at ths71reunion@gmail.com! Then you'll get an invoice for the $35/person fee later, but you'll have a spot reserved.

We're looking forward to a great time with live music and a yummy buffet dinner. Other surprises are still to be announced.

Register for the 45-year Reunion!

HOW TO OFFICIALLY REGISTER FOR THE 45-YEAR REUNION:

Our class now has its own e-mail address: ths71reunion@gmail.com

To register for our April 16, 2016 reunion at Rolling Hills, just send a message indicating your name, and the names of any other folks you'll bring along. Also please tell us how you prefer to be contacted with additional information (we'll even use postal mail, if that's what you want). That's it!

Complete contact information would be great, but we have learned not to expect that. We just want to include as many people as we can!

In your message, you can let us know if you have any special requests, suggestions, ideas or expressions of feelings about all of this, but this is strictly optional.

Once we figure out the arrangements for food and associated things, we'll send out a notification of cost per person. One of the main goals in setting this up is to keep the cost low and include as many 71 buffs as possible!

We're looking forward to hearing from you!

WHY ATTEND THE 45-YEAR REUNION?

It's a new year. It's a time when healthful vows and resolutions are made. 

Consider attending  the 45-year reunion of the THS Class of 1971. It would be good for all of us. We all need it.

Those us us who have had any kind of therapy know that revisiting the past is generally deemed to somehow be therapeutic. It’s always a key element in diagnosis, at least. Looking at the things that helped get us here can assist in affirmation, or formulation of course correction.

So, if not for yourself, attend the reunion for the rest of us. 

Furthermore, it will be cheaper than a single session with a mental health counselor!