Reunion Recap

Historic Building Burns

Reunion Recap

By Elaine Parnagian Sudjian

All the pieces fit together for a really fine time. What was missing???? The  classmates who couldn't join us. If you didn't attend, know that you were missed. Our common goal is to keep in touch with our friends. Therefore, we will continue to publish  our newsletter, Old  Hoots & Hooters, about twice a year. We need everyones' help to keep addresses and emails up to date for good communication. Our lost list is going down; unfortunately, the  numbers on the deceased list are growing. Looking forward to seeing you at the Big 50th in 2007. We remain your dedicated FHS 57 Reunion Committee.                                                                

To your inquiries about the Reunion Book: We've worked as quickly as possible to get it to you; BUT, in contracting with Jostens this year, we've experienced many delays on their part. You should be receiving your copy by the end of February. WE HOPE!

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Breakfast Anyone?

 Saturday, March 8, 2003, at 9:30 a.m., FHS 57 classmates and their spouses who live in the surrounding Fresno Area (and classmates visiting Fresno) are invited to attend a No-Host Breakfast at the Country Waffle in the Barnyard Shopping Center on Clovis Avenue.

We’ve had two breakfasts so far, the first, was November 14, 2002. This one was advertised on the tables of the 45th Reunion at Wolf Lakes. Twelve people showed up for lots of talk, laughs and breakfast. Classmates attending were: Gary Becker, Bob Bolton, Eddie Dailey, Annilee Erickson Meyer, Mary Fennacy Wiens, Richard Harris, Don Hyberg, Lorna Royer DuMont, Elaine Parnagian Sudjian, Andy Winans, and two spouses. We then decided to switch to Saturdays, every other month on the second Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

On Saturday, January 11, 2003, nearly thirty classmates and spouses gathered in the back room of the Clovis Country Waffle for the second breakfast. Hugs, funny stories, and loud laughter filled the coffee shop. Wanda Allen Gardner, Gary Becker, Dale Bray, Eddie Dailey, Judy Ebert Ellis, Richard Harris, Barbara Heath Miller, Don Hyberg, Brenda Johnston Coles, Lyn Maher Peters, Dennis Manning, Aldo Marciochi, Judy Martin Scott, Carol Ann Millsap Robinson, Edith Neideffer, Elaine Parnagian Sudjian, Angela Petropulos Pappanastos, Lorna Royer DeMont, Jo Slocum Katayama, Neal Yoshida, Andy Winans, Nancy Wynne Van Galder, and seven spouses made up that group.

Dates for the rest of 2003: all on Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. at the Country Waffle in the Barnyard Shopping Center on Clovis Avenue. May 10th; July 12th, September 13th; and November 8th. Communication is an email reminder for those living in the surrounding Fresno area who have given Elaine an email address...and word of mouth from your FHS classmates. Come, join the fun. This is just another way to keep our class connections going.

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 The Ladies Lunch Bunch

After more than a year in dormancy, FHS 57 women in the Fresno Area who previously were part of the Women’s Lunch Bunch gathered at the home of Lorna Royer DuMont in Madera on Saturday, February 15, 2003 for a potluck lunch.

This group was loosely formed in 1998 and continued on an unscheduled basis until 2001. Because of its spur of the moment nature—meeting at homes of classmates who volunteered— there are no long-range dates for the lunches. Just because you join this group, you are not obligated to host at your home. FHS 57 women who are interested in participating in the Lunch Bunch group can contact Elaine Parnagian Sudjian, 559-431-7306; esudjian@qnis.net. Reminders are mainly sent by email. If we get some volunteers, contact could also be by telephone.

From Judy Hughes Leas:

In October, 2002, Lester and I went on a three-week safari to Zambia and Botswana. It was an incredible adventure. We stayed in “tents” which had a sitting room, bedroom and bathroom. We traveled in four passenger airplanes landing in dirt fields.

Our schedule was 6:30 to 10:30 a.m. in land rovers observing animals; 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. lunch and free time; 4:00 to 8:30 p.m. in land rovers looking for animals, and dinner at 9:00. At various times, we sat in land rovers for 30-45 minutes watching leopards, lions, cheetahs, wild dogs or elephants. We were about 25 feet from the animals as we observed their natural behaviors. They paid no attention to us. However, it was exciting when we were in canoes looking eye-to-eye with hippos. They are BIG and unpredictable. We saw many rare animals and birds in addition to hundreds of cape buffalo and impalas.

We also visited a local school. It had no electricity or running water. The children brought water to the classroom from a nearby hand pump. The children were clean, in ironed clothes and well-behaved. We also visited a village of 7,000 people. They lived in huts and carried water from four communal pumps. The women felt fortunate to have four wells so they didn’t have to carry water from one central well. All the people spoke English and were friendly and polite. Most of the people are unemployed. If a person was lucky enough to work at a tourist camp, he/she usually supported about 20 family members.

Seeing life in Africa made us realize how much we have and how fortunate we are. It was the trip of a lifetime!

 Grand prize at the 2002 45th Reunion was a 4-day cruise to Ensenada. The winner was Frances Yeazell and her husband, who reported as follows:

“Norm and I went on the cruise we won in November. We had a great time. Everything went very smoothly. We had a room with a porthole and could see the full moon each night. Norm even got up at 2:30 AM the first night to see the meteor shower (not me.)

The weather was perfect, even though it was mid-November.

The first day we went to Catalina which was beautiful. We enjoyed the town and took a tour to see the rest of the island. The guide said it was unusual to be able to see the mainland but it was unusually clear so we were able to.

The next day we were in Ensenada where we had fun checking out the bargains.

We really enjoyed the food on the boat—breakfast on deck every morning, fancy dinners at night with 2 or 3 desserts. Fran & Norm Flisram

From Leslie Livingston Fore: Remember the Penjuin Club on Saturday mornings at the Fresno Ice Rink? Well, guess what? We recently renewed our membership while cruising the Antarctic Peninsula.

While visiting Kent Edwards and his wife in Ajijic, Mexico, whom we last heard had set up a Bed & Breakfast at their estate near Lake Chapala, Dan Wick and his wife got the bug. Not that bug, the travel bug. The Wicks decided to sell their home in southern California, put their furniture in storage, and head out to see as much of the world as they can. With no permanent address for apparently some time to come, we can only hope for a postcard now & then. 

 The Fresno High School 4th Annual Alumni Dinner will be held Saturday, April 26th in front of historic Fresno High School. No host cocktails at 5 PM and dinner at 7 PM. Make reservations by sending a $35 per person check to FHS Alumni, c/o 655 E. Michigan, Fresno, CA 93711. Indicate you want to sit with FHS Class of ‘57, they will try to put us together. Donations for the silent auction at the all alumni dinner are needed, contact the school office 559-457-2780.

A Spring TeePee Talent Show of both alumni and student talent is being planned. Look for details.

 Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

Classmate Jef Ferguson, who runs our FHS website, has confessed: yes, he is a professional Santa Claus.

It started with volunteering as a clown for the AL Kaly Shrine in 1999. In 2001 he started growing his (snow white) beard again. Then one day in January, 2002, when Ferguson was in a motorcycle shop getting his clown scooter repaired, he was spotted by a man sporting a long white beard and white hair. He spotted Jef and exclaimed, “There’s one!” It was this man who introduced Jef to an organization, based in Colorado Springs, called Naturally Santa Inc. (NSI).

“I had interviews with the CEO and Operations Officers and they offered me a contract to work with them. I agreed and my training began. NSI gatherings each year, one in Las Vegas, and two in my home town, Colorado Springs. Thee is no training on earth that can prepare someone to do this job, and once I had been on the set, I knew that to be true. We meet and share stories...and it is a sight to behold. Sixty white-haired, bearded, big dwarfs mingling and milling around. Our wives sometimes find it difficult to pick us out of the group. We end up laughing all the time—a happier, jollier group one may never see anywhere on the face of the earth. A local TV station came and did a story on us at our September reunion and your classmate was on not only the local station, but MSNBC and CNN.”

“We have our own dress and everything is authentic or original from the custom red velvet knickers to custom sewn shirts, hat and coat, sandals with flaps and buckles and our alternating red, white and green socks. We rarely wear our coat and hat during “chair time,” as we would die from heat exhaustion, but wear the coat and hat and boots as we enter or leave the mall for our daily appearance.”

“NSI goes to all the larger malls throughout the USA and markets us to the mall directors. The job involves having my photo taken thousands of times with children of all ages from a few days old to 95 years young.”

Ferguson relates that he has learned a lot about “the real Santa.” For example he explains that he has over 500 reindeer, with three female reindeer on the team who have excellent memories— and tell the guys where to go. He goes on to say, “I used to speak fluent Finnish, and when a child asks me if I know his name, I tell them a Finnish name and that  that is their elf language name—the only name I know them by. I explain their names are kept in our records by their elf name. It helps them understand how I can keep all childrens’ records regardless of what language they speak.”

“I worked at the River Town Crossing Mall in Grand Rapids, Michigan from November 13 though December 24, 2002. I was in the chair from 10 AM. until 9 PM for six days a week. Sundays were light—11 AM until 6 PM. Mall management estimated I saw between 12 and 13,000 people during my time there.”

There were many amusing and sometimes emotional moments during Jef’s time in the chair, too long to relate here; needless to say he finds the calling stimulating, fulfilling and very satisfying—even if he did have to communicate with his wife by phone and E-mail, even if it took three weeks to catch up on his sleep, and even if he still has a smile permanently frozen on his face. But it was worth it.