Saturday, September 27, 2003

Jerry Johnson Remembers Here's a trivia question for you: what was the name of the female custodian at SHS in 1957, and who might be the only person to have her sign his yearbook? Her name was Frances Brunk...she used to push the big broom in the halls...I never really knew her but saw her always pushing that big broom and never smiling...the day we picked up our yearbook I happened to see her...I asked if she would sign my yearbook and for the first time I saw her smile. She said, "ain't nobody ever asked me to sign their yearbook." I would say that encounter stayed with me. I always felt no matter what job you might have there is a sad person at the bottom of the pole...it only took a few minutes to see that smile but that moment in time has followed me thru all my jobs and into retirement. Jerry Johnson: jerry_25171@msn.com 10:44:28 AM    comment []

Post-Reunion: Debbie Baker On Saturday afternoon I visited a 96-year-old friend of my mom at Oak Terrace (assisted living) and took her for a drive in the country around Chatham. On Sunday afternoon I played duplicate bridge with her at the bridge club that's in a strip mall just to the west of the old grade school on Wabash. After the bridge game, I did a little antiquing in Springfield and Auburn, ate dinner at Gabatoni's, and swam in the motel pool (swimming at night in a lighted pool is lovely). On Monday I had lunch at Maldaner's, for old time's sake. The interior of it has been changed quite a bit -- probably for the better, but I was nostalgic for the old look. The food was good, unlike all the other food I had in the Midwest. On Tuesday I was in Hannibal and took a short riverboat cruise on the Mississippi. Mark Twain is reputed to have said of the river, "Too thin to plow, too thick to drink." Then I drove down the Great River Road (only a few glimpses of the river) to St. Louis to catch my flight home. For me, vacations are always too short. Four weeks instead of two would have been the right amount of time. Some of the things I didn't have time to do in Illinois were going to the Illinois State Museum and going to the Alton/Grafton area to see the confluences of the rivers, which I've previously seen only from the air. I guess I'll just have to make another trip to the Midwest. Debbie Baker: Dbaker100@aol.com 10:33:11 AM    comment []

Bob Schmidt Writes After college and some time with Marine Bank and the Bunns, I set out to selling XL computers for Burroughs Corp thru out USA from StL and So Calif , then returned to Spfld and managed family business for 20+ yrs. I retired about 9 yrs ago when we sold our family's construction business in its 97th year and haven't looked back ... We accomplished a lot of good work with some great employees [some there 40+ yrs] and had a lot of fun and satisfaction. I stayed at Lake Petersburg, IL and enjoyed caring for my wonderful aging parents - then Mom passed at 88 and Dad at 93, [he retired at 88] I had them to Mexico many times to fish, tan and view ruins ... have you ever enjoyed seeing Mex-Caribe? I do not go to Cancun, I did not like that area of American franchised restaurants and XL hotels ... I go south of Cancun on coast to smaller areas with no crowds and to Cozumel island for diving and back pack inland to Mexico's villages and Mayan ruins. Also I have done some wonderful RVing thru USA - [and will do more] especially loved Utah and Yellowstone with Dad at 93 years. Ever seen Utah? it is a awesome area with many natl parks etc. But my # 1 love is SCUBA diving - which is such a treat being down with my marine friends ... consider learning ... it changed my life for the better. I have one wonderful 22 year-old daughter who graduated from Mizzou and is spreading her wings to St Louis etc and allows me time to explore. I worked selling commercial real estate while managing Schmidt Bros Inc and was fortunate to help the DeFrates family sell Ray's Chilli as a going business to a Decatur owner yrs ago - so yes,we still can get that good, greasy chilli ... Will, that is two 'L's :) ha ha Bob Schmidt: bobschmidt_mexico@hotmail.com 10:30:06 AM    comment []

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