Hey all of you party animals from the classes of 69, 70, and 71.

The plans are coming together.  I am delighted that so many of you have responded with enthusiasm and are planning to make the reunion a priority for the weekend of June 17th.  Please, EVERYONE come.  I know for me, as I have told you all before, there just are no friends as special as the ones you grew up with.  Several of you have commented that you just don’t “party” like you did in high school.  I certainly hope not!  Don’t stay away just because you don’t want to drink beer and stay out late!  Believe it or not lots of us have grown up and will join you.  We all really want to see everyone again, and you will be missed if you don’t show up at least for some of the festivities. 

However, I am trying to keep this whole thing really simple, so there shouldn’t be too much work involved in the entire affair.  It is pretty much just being together and going with the flow. Here is the agenda as planned thus far:

FRIDAY, JUNE 17

·        Between 6 and 6:30, meet in front of the Courthouse.  We may all get in Barclay’s old Ford and make the drag with Magic Carpet Ride playing on the CD player ---- oops, I mean 8-track tape player.  (David, you must FIND that car, wherever it is!)

·        From here we will probably break up into smaller groups to go eat dinner at wherever we choose.   My cousin Kay is married to Eric, who runs the antique store downtown and he has given me a list of all the places for dining in and around Coleman.  Surprising!  Some of us may drive to Valera, Santa Anna, or one of the other big cities as there are several interesting possibilities.  No Randy, not Grosvenor for old times’ sake. Does Grosvenor still exist?  Or were Randy and Mike Welch the only ones who knew about it?  I remember the two of them capturing me and taking me with them on one of those runs ------- pretty scary!!!

·        After you feed yourselves that evening, everyone who is interested has an invitation from Tommy White to come out to his place at Echo for the warm-up party.  Bring snacks and drinks, and a designated driver if you will be drinking alcoholic libation.   Here are the directions to Tommy’s in his own words:  Very simple. Coming from Coleman, take Hwy. 206 North, the highway from Coleman to Burkett, and travel approximately 12 miles. You will pass thru Echo and continue on until you get to Burkett's Aerial Spraying. This will be at the intersection of Hwy. 206 and the Grosvenor Hwy (FM 585). You turn right (this is the only way you can turn onto FM 585) and go about 2 miles. You will come to an old rock house with a red metal roof. This is my place. Just turn in and enjoy the evening.   CELL # FOR TOMMY IS   214-364-1278.
 

SATURDAY, JUNE 18 -- LUCKY STAR LODGE (US HWY 84 BYPASS) ... No golf this year - (THE CLUB is otherwise spoken for)

·        Between 10 and 10:30 bring your breakfast sandwich and coffee and come out to the Lucky Star Lodge.  We’ll be setting up some ping pong, darts, card games, etc. and a registration table where you will need to make your donation to the reunion costs. Show up for this! I need your help. 

·        The facility will be open all day for you to come and go as you please, and join in the hugging, game-playing, visiting, and sharing of pictures, yearbooks, etc. Lunch is on your own but you can bring it here to eat with friends if you wish…

·        5PM - we will have a brief but important business meeting.  Be sure you are present for it.  We will take a look at our treasury needs (costs of mailings, newsletters, and primarily the rental of the lodge, which is $350.00). We will discuss plans for our next reunion, the when, where, and how.  Any other surprise business that you all want on our agenda. You’ll get your chance here.

·        5:30PM - Ralph Terry will be there to take group pictures of the classmates --- each class present, and any other pics as you request.

·        6:00 PM - Dinner meal will be catered by Big O’s BBQ, $8.00 PER PERSON (Brisket/Sausage, beans, p/s, sauce, bread, tea and homemade peach cobbler) YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE ENCOURAGED TO JOIN US. WE MUST HAVE AT LEAST 60 TO GET THIS PRICE, BUT THAT SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM.  I MUST GIVE LYNN AN EXPECTED NUMBER OF PEOPLE, SO PLEASE SEND ME YOUR NUMBER OF COMMITMENTS FOR DINNER AND YOUR MONEY WHEN YOU GET THIS NEWSLETTER.  HELP ME GET THIS OUT OF THE WAY AND PAID FOR UPFRONT

·        The rest of the evening -----Great friends and oldie goldies!!!!! Those of us who have gotten older but haven’t grown up may stay late!

What a hoot!  You guys are terrific!  OOOPS ----- Bill threatened to kick me out of the class and revoke my Texas citizenship if I did that again.   I MEANT to say "Ya'll" ... really I did.

Those of you who missed it, we hope you will be there next time, which I suppose I will get together again in 5 more years, unless you (ya'll) want to do it sooner.  I could do it every year, it is so much fun!   I was thinking maybe a fall party next time to see how that works out.  And there are several other options of places too.  One out toward Gouldbusk and one out at the lake that my parents mentioned to me.  I think they are both lodges.  And next time I think I will plan a  breakfast meeting and then a party that night with dancing, leaving you on your own in between.

Joel, you did a fabulous job of conducting our meeting and paying tribute to classmates.  Phil, thank you for the ping pong table.  Bill and I had a great match although I am not sure he realizes that I was trying not to hurt his ego.  Thanks to all of you who helped me clean up, and to all of you who really did a great job of not making too much of a mess!   Tommy, thanks a ton for having us out to your house Friday night.  It was SO nice out there.  Did the little kitty ever climb the pole?

We are truly blessed to have a wonderful group of friends who have remained close this long.  Those of you from the other classes, start collecting addresses and encouraging your classmates.  It was fun having you, and we will continue to invite you.  Kemp crashed the party, so I have included my sister and our friend Polly George in this communique, just in case they want to start the ball rolling to include their class in our next one.

Stay in touch! I am still planning to come and see you, Debbie Ray, before you move out of the mansion.  Will you bring me my orange juice in bed?  I'm not your type?  Oh well.  Maybe I could suffer through one weekend of getting it myself.  Sharon Ames lives in your area too, and has been wanting me to come see her.  She lives in Carrolton, and my college roomie lives in Fort Worth, so sometime soon I am going to plan an adventure trip while she is off for the summer.  Yes, another school teacher.  Billy Don and Bill, you probably remember Pam Cannon ----- I called her Squatty.  Anyone else want to meet us in Plano area?

Everyone who took pictures, please send me copies by email or hard copy either.  I did a terrible job of getting enough this time. I will be emailing some to you as soon as I get my act together.  By the way, we still have about $200.00 in the treasurey.  I will send you a log soon, and promise to use it to plan another party.  Thanks for trusting me with our money.  I know I am doing it the simple way, but it is easiest for me, and I am trying to keep this whole thing as simple as possible so I won't get burned out on doing it over the years.  Staying in touch with  all of you is worth it!

COLEMAN HIGH JUST COULDN'T GO WITHOUT THE CLASS OF 7--0!!!!