A Prayer for Senility

Get togethers 

Lost in America 

 Were we conservative or what?

Al and Rod - Happy Reunion!

Fernie "Al" Espinosa and I, along with our wives, Mindy and Lani got
together at the Espinosa's home in Moscow, Idaho over the weekend of
February 27-29, 1999.  Our son, Reid, and his high school jazz band were
playing for the second year at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival.  Lani and
I stayed with Fernie and Mindy, had dinners and brunch together, attended
some of the high school competitions during the day on Saturday, and the
main jazz show Saturday night.    
We had a great time reliving the "good old days" in Fresno.  We had a lot
of history to cover.  Fernie's dad and my dad attended Edison High at the
same time, and Fernie and I lived near one another near Clinton and West
Avenues while we were growing up.  We attended Alexander Hamilton Jr. High,
FHS, and Fresno State together before he transferred to Humboldt State.  We
also worked together at my Dad's service station to earn enough money to
keep our cars fueled so we could "drag the main" (Fulton) on Saturday nights!

Fernie retired from the U.S. Forest Service several years ago, where he had
been a fisheries biologist.  He now runs a fisheries consulting business
from his home.  Mindy is a special education teacher, specializing in
speech pathology, in Moscow.  I'm retiring from the U.S. General Accounting
Office on April 30, 1999 and my wife will continue to work as a law office
assistant administrator in Bellevue, WA.  I also retired as a Captain in
the Navy Reserve in 1987 with 23 years of service.

Rod

On the Road With Don & Dixie: Wandering...But Not Aimlessly

By Don Hyberg

Sometimes life seems to deal us a cruel blow and we face a future filled with hardships and strife. Such was our case, when, in 1996, we traveled all the way to New Mexico just to be rear ended by another California driver. My wife, Dixie, had her back shattered and we were both forced to retire earlier than anticipated. Her surgery failed and now we felt there was no future to look forward to except one of pain and uselessness. Striving hard to put the pieces back together, I suggested we could travel our beautiful country to give us some purpose and direction. She agreed, so early this year we purchased a new motor coach.

On June 1st, after almost 4 months on the road, we returned to Fresno from our first "trip." After traversing 19 states and 13,000 miles, we realized we had found our "new niche" in life. Opportunity had risen once again and offered us limitless vistas and an undreamed of way to enjoy life. We saw many new places and enjoyed countless scenes of beauty and excitement. We stayed in places as long as we wished and inserted the key in the ignition when we wanted to move on. With no schedule to adhere to, time was unimportant. That’s not to say there are not other kinds of adventures that come with this way of life and we did experience some of those too. Such as getting hung up on an overhead wire, becoming mired to the axles in mud, dodging tornados and hail, etc. But then, life is filed with new and exciting adventures. What the hey.

We met wonderful new friendly people and established many new friendships. These wanderers are a happy lot of people! It’s like being back in the "fifties." Everyone says, "hi." Locks are not needed on doors. Relaxation and peace of mind are the order of every day.

This way of life is not for everyone but the number of people taking advantage of all it has to offer is growing. Whether it be in campers, trailers, 5th wheels, motor homes or motor coaches, the number of our friends joining the nomadic life is rapidly increasing. Some have definite itineraries while others go where the mood strikes them. It’s really special to wake up to a new scene out our windows every day or so, and travel so many roads we have never been down before. You never know what’s at the other end or what you will encounter along the way.

We have also found we now have the opportunity to visit friends that we have not seen for many years. This can mean classmates from FHS 1957 as well. Who knows, you might answer the door someday to find me standing there. I might just say "Hi, good to see you again," or I might try to find out why we didn’t see you at the last reunion. I may even try to coerce you into attending the next one in 2002. After all, these reunions really do get better with age. For many, other than wine, it’s about the only thing that does.

Were we conservative or what?

In letters to the editor, one student wrote Elvis Presley...what an uncouth, scrupulous and vile excuse for a musician the entertainment business has ever known. It is absolutely nauseating to view this spectacle in act. Down with Elvis and let’s have more of really great entertainers like Mario Lanza or Bing Crosby...signed a Pat Boone fan.

In an article in The Fresno Bee, Aggie Baljulian said our downtown streets turn into race tracks at night. Sometimes it is impossible to go from one end of town to the other in a decent length of time. I think "dragging the main is a very foolish and insensible practice and the police department should do something about it." submitted by Pete Mehas

Comments

"New job is absolutely wild. I am seriously considering early retirement, but hitting the lottery first would help immensely." Joyce Boghosian

"We are selling our house and everything in it, to travel full time on the roads of USA." Tomye and Larry Beagle

...we just got back from D.C. where we spent two of the eight nights with Bob Rathbone and his wife, Pat. We have always visited each other through the years as they and/or we have moved to Martinez, Vacaville,,Sacramento, Carmel and now D.C. and Fresno again for us where we all met. Just goes to show, those class of ‘57 friends are there to stay..." Judy Martin Scott and Ken Scott

"...I have another Letter to the Editor in the George issue out for May, the one with Calista Flockhart on the cover. The other one was in the December issue, with Sean Penn on the cover. I am really enjoying the web site and newsletter. I’m e-mailing a lot with Bette Ann Ranagan Jones on Hawaii; we’re having a ball..." Margie Farrens Bourgeois

"Now that the 20th Century is about over, I’ve decided to join it. We have an e-mail address now. We are still alive and well. Have very much enjoyed "The Old Hoot and Hooters..." Mike Hanley

"Visiting Washington, D.C.? Please feel free to call me and let me know that you’re going to be in town. If you are stuck for a place to stay (no more that 6 months), let us know as we’d love to share our home with you for a short visit. We live n Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb of Washington. We are located 18 miles from the Capitol and 45 miles from Baltimore and we would love to see our old friends. You may call me at (703) 691-0111, or leave a message at (703) 385-6414. I do have time to show you around if you need a guide in the Washington area. Hope all is well." Carolyn and Jim Santos.

From Oregon newspaper clipping extolling the charms of Lake Chapala in Mexico for retirees: "Kent Edwards, a 59-year-old lawyer from Anchorage, said the lower cost of living allowed him and his wife to retire five years earlier than planned. This fall, the couple will be moving to Ajijic permanently to run a bed and breakfast." submitted by Nancy Wynn Van Galder.

Many thanks for contributions to the "The Old Hoots and Hooters" newsletter: Marilyn and Steve Birdman, Wanda Allen Gardner, Barbara Beagles Foster, Bob Bolton, Annilee Erickson Meyer, and Wyn Winther.

How did you spend, or how do you plan to spend, your big 6-0 birthday? With family and friends? On an exciting trip? Hiding in bed? Send your stories/photos or observations on turning 60 to the editor of The Old Hoots and Hooters," Linda Jacobs West, 4088 N. Maroa, Fresno, CA 93704, or e-mail: <law@pacbell.net> We’ll publish them as space permits.

A Prayer for Senility

God grant me the senility

to forget the people

I never liked anyway,

the good fortune

to run into the ones I do,

and the eyesight

to tell the difference.

Get togethers 

The FHS Class of ‘57 Womens’ Lunch Bunch has met twice since the last newsletter. January 23, 1999, fifteen classmates gathered around tables to bleat and eat at The Elbow Room in Fig Garden Village. Then, March 5, a hastily-called group took advantage of Judy Angelo Mann’s visit from her home in Hawaii to enjoy a salad luncheon prepared by Elaine and Lorna at Elaine’s home in Fresno. Nineteen women took this opportunity to exchange stories and laugh at old times. (Attending the first lunch but missing the second one were: Patti Hayden, Jo Slocum Katayama, Barbara Heath Miller, Angela Petropulos Pappanastos, and Billie Hand Rustigan.)

The Lunch Bunch is a loosely-knit group that comes together, when possible. If you’d like to be included, contact Elaine Parnagian Sudjian at 559-431-7306 or E-mail esudjian@qnis.net.

March 5, 1999: Front row: Elaine Parnagian Sudjian, Wanda Allen Gardner, Judy Rimmer Lockhart, Valerie Anderson Hill, Judy Angelo Mann, Harriet Doolittle Sheldon, Linda Jacobs West, Lorna Royer DuMont. Second row: Susan Hill Hart, Jackie Breckenridge Rogers, DeMaris Cowan, Nancy Wynne Van Galder, Jackie Mader Folsom, Linda Shollenbarger Alstrom Judy Ebert Ellis, Barb McMurtry Rodriguez, Mary Claire Awtrey Ewing, and Judy Hughes Leas.

FHS Class of ‘57 Bay Area mini-reunion

Participants of the FHS Class of ‘57 Bay Area mini-reunion gathered Valentine’s Day, 1999, at a rental house overlooking the yacht harbor in Santa Cruz. Parts of this group have been meeting informally since just before our 40th reunion in 1997. Previous gatherings have been in Los Altos, San Jose, Los Gatos, Sunnyvale, and Mountain View. For this most recent reunion, classmates from other areas were also imported, this thing is growing! Previous participants who didn’t make it to this gathering are Charlene Shouse Matthews (who got the first group started), Gary Kruger, Jim Kufis, and Jim Santos.

Lost in America

By Tomye & Larry Beagle

We went to Texas to establish an address so we can travel with a mail address and not a house address (this is legal in Texas, but not many other states). We are returning to California when, near Benton, Arizona, we experience transmission problems with our towing vehicle, the day before a 3-day Memorial holiday! We pull over and contact our towing company. They arrange to have us towed 50 miles into Tucson, Arizona where they parked us at a transmission repair shop for the 3-day holiday. We are pleased we didn’t sit on the highway for the three days, so we take all this in stride.

That evening we decide to take a walk around the area about 8:30 p.m. We look at the general area and decide it didn’t look too bad at that time of night. We walk about one mile and returned to our trailer. The boulevard we were parked on was a little noisy, and a lot of people were out walking late at night. We thought well, it is quite warm and they want to cool off. On Tuesday when the transmission shop opened, we learned we were in the "highest" crime, drug, and prostitution area of Tucson! Talk about being blind to our surroundings, we had no idea where we were for three days! Now you know why we have the screen name of "LOSTFOLKS" with AOL! It fits us well...