The Coombs in Central America.
May 20, 2012 — Alan and Margie Coombs recently enjoyed a Central America jaunt.
As Alan reports:
In mid-April, Margie and I flew to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where we spent three days driving across "Alligator Alley" to Fort Myers and Sanibel Island before returning to southeast Florida to fly out of Miami on a pre-scheduled trip to Guatemala and Honduras.
The tour was with an outfit we've traveled with multiple times, "smarTours," and with a tour director who has been at it long enough to have her own "by invitation only" tours — which tends to eliminate the people who are chronically late to the bus or who are just plain obnoxious. Anyway, we spent ten days touring ancient Mayan ruins in two countries, climbing hundreds of steps up and down, observing Guatemala's beauty and extreme poverty, and generally becoming acquainted with a couple of countries we had not visited before.
It was both informative and exhausting and falls into the category of "we're glad we did it and glad we don't have to do it again." So for the time being we're back in Salt Lake City and happy to sleep in our own beds. (Click on a photo below to see full size.)
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Volcano over Lake Atitlan, Guatemala |
Yaxha Temple, Guatemala |
Guatemalan McCaw |
Kendall Wolf recently quoted in the New York Times
May 1, 2012 — In Kendall’s words: Arthur Sulzberger Jr., scion of the New York Times publishing family, was recently bureau chief for the mid-west, based in Kansas City. In his travels through the mid-west he observed silos growing from trees, and decided to do a feature story on them. As he did further investigation he discovered some of my photos in flickr, and contacted me. Eventually, Arthur and his photographer, at my invitation, came to Lawrence where I drove them to various “silo trees.” After a long delay, during which the young Sulzberger returned to New York as copy editor, the article was finally published. The article can be found HERE.
Class of '56 Had Its Dreams
April 14, 2012 — Bob Lockwood has recorded the song wrote for the Class of '56's 55th Reunion. A copy of the words is found BELOW.
The Goffs don’t have to travel far from home to have fun!
Feb. 20, 2012 — The following is from Marsha Goff:
Year-round, Ray and I hike the trails at Clinton Lake or at KU’s Natural History Reservation north of town. Recently, while making our own trail near the lake, we passed under a tree where an eagle was perched (click on photos to see larger version). Last May, I snapped this photo of a mother Canada goose leading her goslings on a swim.
Last spring and summer, we monitored a red fox and her litter of four denned in a driveway tube. We watched the kits grow from fuzzy little critters to nearly as big as their
mother. Fox-watching also caused us to be checked out one night by a deputy. My fault, actually. I was watching Ray film the foxes when, because we were stopped on the wrong side of the road, I was supposed to be checking behind to ensure that the road was free of cars. It was, of course, except for the deputy’s. He gave Ray’s license back and said, “I know this car. You guys live out here, don’t you?”
It must seem like it to those who see us there so often.
If you haven’t visited KU’s Reservation, I heartily recommend it. One handicap-accessible paved walkway leads to a south-facing overlook of the stunning Kaw Valley.
On a spontaneous walk one day last fall, Ray snapped the photo of me and the beautiful valley beyond. (You can tell it was a spontaneous walk because I’m not in my jeans. The red Crocs are also a tip-off; they were the only shoes in the car trunk suitable for walking.)
We have some upcoming trips planned for spring and summer, but this mild winter has enabled us to spend more time hiking outdoors. It’s a lot more fun that the treadmill! (Click on above photos to see full size.)
Raymond and Betty Pippert sure know how to spend a winter
Feb. 5, 2012 — They’ve been basking in tropical climes since November (with a holiday break back home), and now won’t get back home until mid-February. As they report:
“We spent 2 weeks in Puerto Rico in November, and on December 27 we left for Florida. We spent a week at Daytona Beach vegging out on the wide beach. We didn't know you could drive along that beach for miles and miles. The drive has stop signs and signs that tell where you can drive. Pretty cool. Then we headed to Orlando for three weeks. We toured NASA and took a helicopter ride as well as vegging out at the pool and trying new restaurants. We are now in Treasure Island, just north of St. Pete Beach. We will rendezvous with Ron and Mary Pippert and a couple of other LHS alumnis, Margie and Nita (formerly Cleveland). We'll be here for a couple of weeks then head over to St. Augustine to do the tourist thing for a couple of days, drive up to Ashville for several days and head for home.
“The weather in Florida has really been fantastic – much better than the 5 inches of snow in Indiana with 7 degree temps!!”
We need more reports like the one from Raymond and Betty. This can’t be a viable site without the input from our classmates. If you value this site, please take the time to share some of your travels, birthdays, anniversaries, reunions, etc. Send to Kendall Wolf at classinfo@lhs1956.org
Photos and observations wanted
Oct. 24, 2011 — Your contributions are needed. Please send your reports of travels, anniversaries, grand-, and great-grandchildren, to classinfo@lhs1956.org. Be sure to include photos if you have them.
Video from the 55th Reunion
Nov. 26, 2001 — Click on the video screen below to view a video of photos taken by Bob Lockwood's daughter-in-law Shannon. (You may be directed to YouTube to watch the video. If so, just close the YouTube window to return to this site.)
Reunion Tid-bits
Nov. 22, 2011 —
60 classmates registered, representing 103 attendees 3 additional registered, but had to cancel at the last moment. 51 of 60 registrants list an email (85%) 88 of 196 total classmates list an e-mail (44.9%) 58% of those listing e-mails attended 35 of 60 registrants list a cell phone number (58.3%) 42 of 196 total classmates list a cell phone number (21.4%) 83.3% of those listing cell phone numbers attended 27 of 60 registrants made a donation (45%) 10 non-attendees made a donation 37 classmates donated $1395, averaging $37.70 Attendees came from 14 states 52 classmates live in Lawrence 27 Attended the reunion 9 responded, “no” 16 didn’t respond Kansas had 70 attendees (42 from Lawrence) |
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Pennsylvania was the only represented state with just one attendee |
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Others/numbers: |
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MO/5; CA, GA/4; TX/3; AR, CO, IN, MI, NJ, NY, OR, UT/2 |
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Class of ’56 Had Its Dreams
Nov. 1, 2011 — as sung by Bob Lockwood at the Class of '56's 55th Reunion
Raymond married Betty. Ruth Ann married Will.
Ray and Marsha tied the knot, and all are loving still.
Alan was a history Prof. Yin taught College math.
Freddy got a Doctorate, and Red Dog has his class.
Hilda is a Texas gal. Zim lives at the lake.
Bumpy lives in Melbourne, Buddy’s in the Golden State.
Herb is still a pilot. Ralph is farming land.
Judy owned a sporting store, and Charlie had a band.
CHORUS
And the Class of ‘56 had its Dreams.
With argyle sox and pony tails, and rolled up faded jeans.
Songs and poems and promises were “Happy Days” it seems.
When the Class of ’56 had its Dreams.
Bobby was a gymnast, golf was Danny’s game.
Both of them were named into their College Hall of Fame.
Martha was a nurse. John coached high school ball.
Stuart practiced Medicine, and Kendall’s seen it all.
Johnny’s big in real estate, Barbara works for him.
Joan and Erma married guys a year ahead of them.
Daryl worked at KU, Ron’s in Lab research,
And Bob’s a Texas preacher at the Nazarene Church.
CHORUS
And the Class of ’56 had its Dreams.
Different strokes and different folks it’s never like it seems.
Fifty-five years have passed since we were just eighteen.
But the Class of ’56 had its Dreams.
Yes we “Chesty Lions” always had our Dreams.
Oh the Class of ’56 had its Dreams.
Comments about the 55th Reunion
From Yin and Elizabeth Yeh |
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Wow! That was indeed some very special weekend for our 55th reunion! Liz and I thoroughly enjoyed reacquainting with everyone once more! You guys who planned for the entire weekend (with the gal's help), must have enlisted Mother Nature to preserve the weekend's weather so perfectly! The Allen Fieldhouse visit brought back even further memories for me, having lived on Sunnyside Avenue. The Saturday evening was such a thrill and surprise with the Lockwood band, topping it with Bob (Elvis) doing the songs. That voice, Bob, is definitely better than Elvis' in his best days! Thanks so much to reminding us of all those 56 songs! Fred, thanks for the marble collection. I will need to brush up on my techniques so next time we can have a marbles tournament. Finally, Kendall and all the rest of this amazing committee, thank you one and all! This was definitely a weekend for the memory lane. Liz and I went from Lawrence to Ann Arbor, my second home town in the USA. We had a nice visit with my aunt and uncle (93 and 94 respectively), living with their three children and families nearby. They who have survived the Great Cultural Revolution in China deeply appreciate the freedom and livelihood here in the USA. – Thanks to all. |
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From Alan and Margie Coombs |
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Just one more voice (well, two) to add to the chorus of appreciation for the outstanding 55th reunion and all the hard work that obviously went into it. We're still on the road ourselves (Margie's Hutchinson High reunion is the weekend after next), so it will take us a while to go through the stuff we have collected, including a few photos, in response to Kendall's request, but we've never been happier to be part of such an outstanding group. Thanks, everyone, for everything. |
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From David and Susan Paul |
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Susan and I would like to add our thanks to you and the committee for the great reunion. Susan says she has more fun at our reunions than she does her own, a tribute to the great fellowship and big hearts of a great class. At the end of the party on Saturday night there was an awful lot of “See you in 5 years” going around. I almost wish we could do this yearly since I’m not sure how many “5 years” I’ve got left in me. We’ll all be 78ish at the next one and then 83ish. I used to think 73 was old but now that I’m here, it doesn’t seem that old after all. Oh well, see you in 5 years. |
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Photos from our 55th Reunion
Photos from the 55th Reunion on available for the following events. Just click on a photo or title below for more photos from that event.
Friday Evening Meet and Greet |
Saturday Tour of Allen Fieldhouse |
Saturday Evening Dinner and Dance |
The 55th reunion of the LHS Class of ‘56 is history
The response of attendees at our 55th was overwhelmingly positive. Turn-out was outstanding for each event. The Friday night “Meet and Greet” gave everybody a chance to relax, mingle with classmates, catch up with old friends, and to recall shared experiences of 50s Lawrence.
Over 30 of us gathered to tour the Allen Field House and the Booth Hall of Athletics on Saturday morning.
On Saturday night over 100 congregated in the Alvamar dining room to remember deceased classmates, have a bit of fun, and share a fantastic buffet dinner. The surprise of the evening was being serenaded by our own Elvis impersonator, Bob Lockwood. Who would have thought!