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May 15, 2007

Dear Lamar 1960 Classmates,

I am writing this cover letter to Ann Comstock Hornbeak’s Gathering Report with the anticipated hope of responses from you.  The 50th Reunion Planning Committee has been meeting faithfully for the past nine months.  During this time, we have outlined our goals for our 50th reunion as well as established the purpose of our fund raising activities.  These are outlined in the Gathering Report dated January 20, 2007 which you received (if you would like this report sent to you again, please let me know and I will respond).  We are well on our way and are always mindful of these goals during our Gatherings.

Toward the end of Ann’s current report you will read about suggested committees we will need for our 50th reunion to be successful.  I am asking for your response regarding a committee or committees on which you would be willing to participate.  My email address is:  jedstubbs@att.net.  Or, if you would like to telephone me and discuss your thoughts and ideas, my telephone number is:  713.723.9300.  Perhaps you will have suggestions for additional committees we will need.


I am especially requesting responses from each of you regarding the possibility of our producing a 50th Reunion Memory Book or as Barbara McNeir suggested “ORENDA REVISITED”.  I am in the process of finding out costs to produce such a book and perhaps some of you can help us out with compiling the book as well as printing.  I am open to all suggestions and am willing to work hand in hand with this committee so that we will have a really fine memory book.  Because our class is rather large, time is of the essence – we need to get started as soon as possible.  I look forward to hearing from you classmates of Lamar 1960 for your support.

Thank you for your continued interest in our 50th Reunion.  Thank you for all your uplifting and encouraging emails and telephone calls.  Since postage is now $.41, we would greatly appreciate your sharing your email address with us.  This will help defray postage expenses.  Our next Gathering is on October 6, 2007 in the Conference Room at 2 Riverway, Houston, Texas.  Our Gatherings are open to all our classmates.  We would very much like for each of you to participate in our 50th Reunion, after all, we were all there in 1960 when we graduated – so let’s all participate again in 2010!!

Sincerely and with Best Wishes to Each of You, <>

Deanna Marie Schiro Stubbs
Chair – 50th Reunion Planning Committee – Class of 1960


Lamar 1960 Alumni Gathering Report

May 5, 2007


Attendees to Meeting:  Deanna Marie Schiro Stubbs, Joan Hall Parker, Allan Parker, Ann Comstock Hornbeak, Richard Hall, Penny Thornall Remick, Carolyn Benjamin Baker, Barbara  McNeir, Georgia Reynolds White, Marilyn Ralls Johnson, Nelson Smith, Sally Henderson Yates, Sue Stockard Bellamay.

At 9:38 a.m., Deanna passed out the agenda for our Gathering. She also gave each of us a choice of a red or blue pen engraved with “LAMAR, Class of 1960.”  She then thanked Richard Hall for securing the conference room and the snack room for our food and drinks for our Gathering; Penny Thornall Remick for the delicious pastries; and Joan Hall Parker for the decaf coffee and donuts.

Richard Hall advised we had 69 classmates attending the 65th Birthday Party; however, we had an income of $913 indicating we had 76 attending.  The 76 birthday partiers included spouses as well.  There were 16 classmates and spouses who enjoyed dinner with John Greacen at Josephine’s Restaurant in downtown Houston. 

Treasurer’s Report:  Nelson Smith passed out a copy of the Treasurer’s Report.  We lost $7 on the birthday party and $10 on the Greacen dinner.  However, $3,400 has been received from the letters he sent out asking for donations.  We received $52 from the silent auction at our last Chat & Chew at James Coney Island.  Neil Calnan won the bid on the three opera tickets that Margaret Deats Bott donated. Nelson plans to send out more request letters for donations to our alumni.  He may wait a year or so to follow up on those who haven’t responded to his first letter. 

Membership Report:  Sally Yates brought one hard copy of our current class membership, lost membership and deceased membership.  She also brought and generously passed out CD’s for everyone at the Gathering.  Each CD contains all three membership lists.  Thank you Sally for these CD’s. 

Website Update / Deceased Classmates and Teachers:  Marilyn Ralls Johnson advised she has the website updated through the June 5th Chat & Chew change at Georgia Reynolds White’s house.  She hasn’t added Janet Hopper’s death yet, but will.  Kay Dunlap Henderson advised Marilyn that Frank Martino died while we were attending Lamar.   Marilyn also advised that Ruth Denney and Mae Gates had died.  Sally advised that she got an email from Michael Adams requesting that his name be taken off the distribution lists for all future events.  Sally also advised that David McClure, a teacher, had died.  Deanna received an email from John LaMontagne’s wife, Elaine, advising of his death.  Elaine also advised that his colleagues and she are working on an endowed Chair in John’s name at the University of Texas in August.  If anyone is interested in donating to this cause, please contact Deanna for the information.

Marilyn also said that her computer broke down as well as her hard drive so she hasn’t been able to work on the website.  She hopes to have this situation rectified soon.  She will be putting up pictures from the 65th birthday soon. 

Chat & Chew Update:  Joan Hall Parker advised that Pei Wei was noisy and that we would not be going back there.  There were no silent auction items sold.  Bob Wynne asked that we not go there again because of the noise and really would like to go to Molina’s every time.  The Chat & Chew held at James Coney Island was nice and not so noisy. The silent auction went well with a profit of $52.  Georgia Reynolds White volunteered her home for our next Chat & Chew June 5TH for hamburgers.  Her husband loves to flip hamburgers in the back yard and they have plenty of room, so she hopes lots of alumni will come.  Joan and Ann will be emailing our classmates more than once prior to the event.  Deanna asked Joan and Ann to also encourage alumni to bring items for the Silent Auction.  Georgia advised that anyone who would like to arrive earlier than 6:30pm would be welcome.  Georgia’s husband, Connie White, will be home at noon and classmates are welcome anytime thereafter. 

Teachers:  Penny Thornall Remick advised that she will be meeting Fran Callahan, Lamar Alumni Coordinator, regarding our teachers who are still alive.  We want to invite all living teachers to be a part of our 50th Reunion Weekend.

FUND RAISING ACTIVITIES
-     Larry Stewart is in Africa.  He will update us on mugs, pencils and pens at our next Gathering.

-    Rob Burchfield’s daughter has been diagnosed with cancer and his father-in-law has been moved to Victoria TX.  Deanna asked Nelson to discuss the live auction with Rob to ascertain Rob’s continued involvement.  At our last Gathering, Rob generously donated a flat screen TV as the main donation for our live auction.  We wish Rob and his family all the best and will keep them in our prayers.  

-    Kathy Janeba Lasater has donated accommodations for a week on Cozumel Island, Mexico, during October-December 2007 or May 1-December 2007.  Its value is $900.  Marilyn Ralls Johnson had presented two copies of flyers to show us about the accommodations.  A copy of the flyer is attached with this report.  Richard Hall (Georgia Reynolds White seconded) moved that we start the bid at $500.  Marilyn Ralls Johnson and Richard Hall suggested that a separate item be on the Lamar website advising the amount/date of the last bid.  Barbara McNeir (Carolyn Benjamin Baker seconded) moved to amend that there be no names by the bid on the web page tracking the bids.  After much discussion, the amendment passed.  Then the main motion was voted upon and passed.  More details and pictures can be found on the website at www.gocozumel.com/tomas.  Marilyn accepted responsibility to accept all the bids and post them on the Lamar website.  Our thanks to Marilyn.

Barbara suggested that after the completion of the email auction bid, our classmates contact Kathy Janeba Lasater regarding using these accommodations for other dates.  Richard suggested we have a 2-week turnaround.  Marilyn suggested 6 weeks and emails out first week, in two weeks, then again in 3 weeks. A final email would go out announcing the winner. All agreed that the bid would start May 15 and end June 30. Joan and Ann will announce winner within a week after June 30.

-    Ann advised that she ordered 25 more polo shirts of various men and women sizes.  The live email auction for the opera tickets went well and Neil Calnan won the bid at $220.  Deanna talked about how interesting it was that the live email auction occurred and the endless possibilities and opportunities the live email auction offers our classmates.

Deanna said that Wilbur McKinney (East Texas), Paul Boon (Austin), Tom Hewitt (San Antonio) and Larry Stewart (Dallas Texas Wine Country Adventure—he has been working on it, but doesn’t have any details yet) asked her if people would be willing to come to an events in these areas.  All agreed.  Tom Bullocks has a B&B.  Georgia thought we could have a “Long Distance Chat & Chew.”  Deanna will talk with these people to ascertain their continued interest in pursuing a Lamar 1960 Travel OP.

Deanna then talked about Betty Milner Blake.  Betty spent a lot of time and put in a tremendous effort making sure that her membership lists and Sally’s membership lists agreed with Joan and Ann’s email and postal mailing lists.  Betty did all of this during a time of extreme pressure because of her husband’s illness.  All of us greatly appreciate her hard work because clearly she did it for us.  We offer her our deepest appreciation.

Betty Milner Blake had also suggested to Deanna that we might want to consider having someone from Medicare or Medicaid talk to us about our options.  Marilyn felt it’s unnecessary to have someone speak to us about Medicare and Medicaid because we can find the information on the internet.  However, Carolyn Benjamin Baker did feel we need someone to speak to us about the Prescription Drug Plans that are available. The webpage for Medicare is www.medicare.com.  Nelson suggested that Marilyn put some links on our webpage with this information instead of having someone come talk to us. 

Lost Classmates update – Betty Milner Blake has sent the list of lost classmates to one of our alumni who is a detective in Alabama.  We will hear from Betty at our next Gathering regarding updates on our lost classmates.


50th Reunion Memory Book:  Deanna showed an example of a memory book compiled by Bellaire High School for their 40th and 45th reunions.  This is a huge task requiring a tremendous amount of work and time.  Each memory book has current information about their classmates but the 40th reunion memory book includes high school pictures and current pictures with updates of each classmate.  Also included are 50’s trivia and other fun information.  Meta Strauss Dillashaw did both memory books for Bellaire.  We need to decide if this is something we wish to pursue as it would probably require 1-3 people to work on this project.  She asked for our thoughts. Discussion ensued.  Deanna will contact Jack Wetmore regarding pricing and perhaps donation of printing of our 50th reunion memory book and will report at our next Gathering.

Marilyn Ralls Johnson advised that we have our Orenda, Lamar Directory (which we can get a copy of the CD from her), etc.  She feels that if we have a book like this it would be very extensive (which Deanna had stated).  It’s a nice idea and it’s expensive.  She’s not sure we need anything like that since we already have good sources with the information.  Barbara McNeir suggested we have one called “Orenda Revisited.”  Deanna would like someone to do the legwork to find out how much it would cost to do one like either of the Bellaire books.  Penny Thornall Remick thought that people who worked on the Orenda during high school should work on this project.  Barbara suggested we put out a note to the alumni to see if any of them are willing to help with the memory book.  She also suggested that it be pointed out in our email attaching the minutes. 

REUNION WEEKEND:
Deanna advised there have been a number of tasks that been suggested and she asked for more ideas from today’s attendees.  Marilyn had four copies of a 3-page listing of various locations to have functions such as ours.  This listing can be found at www.weddingsinhouston.com. Deanna also advised that the Hilton Hotel in the Galleria advised Dene Hofheinz Anton that her guests could stay at their hotel at half price.  Dene will make a special effort to get with the manager since he’s not returning her calls.  Marilyn advised the Hilton is also on the list she has.  Joan advised that the person to contact at these locations is the “Event Coordinator” or the “Sales Manager.”  Deanna advised that it’s not imperative that we decide on a hotel this year.

Following are the suggested committees to execute our 50th Reunion:
-    Reunion Weekend Activities (includes locations and catering)
-    Reunion Weekend Hotel accommodations – Marilyn Ralls Johnson said that she wants to be included on this committee.
-    Decorations – Georgia Reynolds White, Alice Bell Smith, Dene Hofheinz Anton
-    Military Service – Larry Stewart
-    Lamar Proud – Classmates who have distinguished themselves in various professional and/or personal arenas of life
-    Music
-    Greeters
-    Sports
-    Name Tags – Barbara McNeir
-    Social Clubs
-    Choralettes
-    Mixed Chorus
-    January 1960 Mid-Term
-    Professional Photographer/Video
-    Slides and Pictures
-    Lamar/Bellaire Competition
-    Lanier Classmates Get Together
-    Pershing Classmates Get Together
-    Location Committee – Marilyn Ralls Johnson

Deanna thanked Ann Comstock Hornbeak for taking notes during our Gathering and for compiling them for email and postal mailings to our classmates.

The date for our next Gathering will be October 6 – Carolyn offered to bring donuts or other breakfast foods to our next Gathering providing she is not out of town.  Richard will inquire as to availability of these facilities at 2 Riverway for our next Gathering in October.

Marilyn advised that she will be attending the 70th anniversary for Lamar alumni which will be held Nov. 3.  It will include tours of Lamar, lunch, Choralettes, Lamar/Bellaire football game, plus an evening ball.  Nov. 2, they plan to have something but haven’t made a decision yet.  Deanna asked Marilyn to share with us all information she gets at our next Gathering.

Meeting adjourned at 11:21 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Ann Comstock Hornbeak
Secretary
bhornbeak@earthlink.net