Susan Smith Boals

I have to say Woodie, that was a good one. I usually
do not even bother to open jokes, but when you
apologized I figured it must be a good one. You gave
me a good chuckle for the day.

I hear that you guys already have a committee together
for the next reunion. Sounds good. I regret that I'm
to far away to participate in it.

My life is in a lull right now, but doing things to
change that. I am submitting an application to the
Peace Corp as number one, and second is that I am
leaving for South America the last week of October. I
am going to go to Icquazu Falls and then down thru
Argentina to Patagonia, then up thru Chile, on to
Cuczo Peru and then home to be back by Christmas as my
kids are coming down for the holidays. I have to keep
those feet moving!!! The Peace Corp application is
quite extensive and even after you get it filled out
it takes a year they say to finally get your
assignment, etc. So I am excited about that. If it
works out like I have planned, I should be back for
our 50th. I'd hate to miss that.

Take care and thanks for the laugh.
Susan Boals

Melanie (Boynton) Pletcher

I married my husband Don in 1962. He was from Muskegon but
we met in Kalamazoo while he was a student at WMU. We spent
11 years in the Navy, some of which I was able to be with him and
the rest of the time was spent in our home in Muskegon.

We have two children, a son Brian and a daughter Laura. My son
graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1986 and in June of 2006,
retired from the Air Force as a Lt. Colonel. He and his family
currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama where he is employed by a
defense contractor.

My daughter Laura, graduated from Michigan State University with
a BS in Animal Science with a thought of attending vet school. In her
junior year, she had a change of heart, went ahead with her course of
study, graduated and then went back to school and got her RN. She
worked for many years at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Mi. but is
currently the director of MSU's clinic for Hematology and Blood
Disorders.

We have four grandchildren, 3 boys and 1 princess. My son's two
boys are ages 17 and 14. My daughter's two children are ages 14 and
11. My son's oldest boy, Cameron, is into paint ball competition and is
in the Marching band from Bob Jones High School. This is the largest
high school in Alabama. His youngest son, Connor, is wrestling and is
going from tolerating it to enjoying it. Laura's son, Branden, is your typical
14 year old X-Box, Play Station, etc. junkie. Her daughter, Audrey, is into
4-H, she is on the Ingham County 4-H Horse Judging Team, Girl Scouts
and this fall she ran cross country for Williamston Middle School's 6th
grade team.

We have a small farm south of I-96 (who would have thought I would
turn into a farm girl) and we currently have three horses. Audrey shows
during the summer, goes to our county fair and helps me take care of
the animals.

My husband and I are both retired. He retired from Honeywell, Inc.
where he was a field specialist in installing temperature control and fire
systems in commercial buildings. Most of his contracts were in the state
buildings in Lansing. He has just recently been asked to come back for
some emergency situation in which he is the only one with the expertise
for the job. I retired from the State of Michigan, Office of Attorney
General with 30 years of service as a Legal Supervisor. I have been
retired 5 years and still miss it greatly as well as seeing all my friends every
day. We do still get together, just not as often. I am now the taxi service
for the grandchildren who live near us and do some volunteer work at the
school.

Thanks for getting this going and I look forward to reading some of the
published bits.

Sincerely, Melanie (Boynton) Pletcher

Official Reunion Photo

Joan Newton

My God, I'm glad Nan sent a wrap up of the class reunion. I had every intention of going to this reunion but the guy who I was working for made some terrible decisions and went bust. So at the tender age of 62 I was back out on the street looking for work. I’ve had some pretty lean times but have finally found a great job and am working full time again. I have firmly told myself that I will be at the 50th, regardless of my situation. I may have to stand on the corner selling prickly pear preserves but I’ll make it.

Were you able to make it to the reunion? Did any of our old teachers show up? I looked through the year book of course and most of our teachers were pretty old at the time we were going to school but who knows, so they say. J Sorry to see so many fellow classmates gone already, I’ve been looking to hook up with Mary Cole, no wonder I couldn’t get hold of her. I’m good but not that good. guess my aches and pains are nothing compared to some folks.

A couple of things about me. I am divorced twice now, never to be strangled again, I mean married. I live alone in a nice two-bedroom apartment and just lost my cat of 24 years in January. My son is 35 now and until a couple of months ago lived in the apartment right next door to me. He and his girlfriend (he never married; she just got a divorce) got a sweetheart of a deal though and moved up the mountain to a really nice house that they are renting from some friends. They are so in love and I am very happy for them both. He got a good job with the University and she is working for the Sheriff's Department. Both computer geeks but it has paid off for them. YEAH!

My jobs have been 16 years with Delta Air Lines, a few years with the Marriott hotels, odd jobs, and then when I moved here I got a job with the University of Arizona and was with them 16 years. I was able to put Joe through school cheaply and was able to take my state retirement a couple of years ago so I did. I thought I had this great job with a guy who was going to build a prototype telescope and study the moon. His whole concept was brilliant but unfortunately he has ADD and ADHD and refuses to take his medications. He made some terrible decisions and lost a lot of money so he had to shut the project down until he can get more funding. I won't go back to work for him though because he was just too difficult to deal with on a day-to-day basis. I'm too damn old to deal with that. So I finally settled down to the job I have now and hope it stays with me.

I love living in Tucson, it is a great town. It is absolutely beautiful and except for the two months of ungodly heat we have in July and August we have no adverse weather. It only takes about an hour to drive up the mountain to have cold and snow if I want to play in it but back down to the warm desert for me. I wouldn't move back to the snow and cold for anything. I have some health problems that do not keep me down thankfully and I am perfectly happy to be here in the heat. It is a beautiful town surrounded by mountains and the sunsets here are breathtaking.
Over the last ten years or so I've been friends with a little lady who was 96 on October 1^st last year. For quite a number of years I took care of Alzheimer's patients as a second job and I met Ann through one of those ladies. Hers and mine is a long story but suffice it to say that we have road tripped to PA, IL, CO, CA, OH and other places I can't recall. She has been very generous and I have met it with taking her where she wants to go.

My brother and I had a horrible out when Dad died and I've tried to make peace but he won't have anything to do with it so I have no ties to Allegan family wise. I do use Allegan for a lot of my passwords though, who the hell would think of that. Hahahahaha

Please drop me a line and let me in on your lives. My email is bertha61cat@msn.com.

Lots of warm hugs and fond memories.

P.S. I am a GREAT tourist guide so if any of you are coming through Tucson do let me know and I’ll be glad to show you around. I know all of the best spots in town to dine also. Don’t hesitate to hire me, I love to reminisce.

Mr Frank

I don't mind saying that Larry Frank was my favorite teacher. Having him as our Band Director six years was a joy. He and his wife Mary are living in Northport. I look forward to sitting down at the North Peak Brewing Company(Traverse City) to talk over old times which is where this picture was taken. It's getting difficult for Larry and Mary to get to our reunions so I like to get a contingent of classmates to go up and share a glass with them.

Come on Classmates

Come on classmates, here's our chance to keep in touch regularly instead on once every five years. Woodie has created a means of sharing as much or as little you would like to the group to know.

You can simply do a biography on the blog, or write your hearts out. (Boylan, the professional wordsmith where are thou??) It doesn't have to be profound, but interesting or funny would be good.

Remember, we're not as young as we used to be, but we're not as old as we're going to get!!!!

Greetings to the Class of 1961

Greetings to all. I know that you will enjoy the website and blog. It will be an easy way to keep in touch, view and post pictures, and develop interest in attending our 50th Class Reunion.

Woodie did a great job setting up this site! If you have pictures you would like to contribute please send them to Woodie.

For members of the committe that were missing ( in FL and other warm places) when we had our last meeting, we had a great lunch at Meridth's Bed & Breakfast, but now that real winter has arrived with the snows and temps that we all remember - we are a bit more envious.

I am very happy to be the first to post to our class web site. When you make it back home be sure to stop in at the Class of 1961 Bed and Breakfast.

Meredith Hazelrigg
320 Monroe St
Allegan, MI 49010

Email me at aeffed@gmail.com to make sure I'm not in Tokyo.

The Allegan High School tour group