2005 Winter

December 2005 Newsletter

Our first meeting for our 50th Class Reunion will be Dec 27th at Betty

Sue's home at 1:30 pm. If you want to serve on the committee, please

come. All are encouraged to participate. We need your ideas & opinions.

Let me know, I will send directions to our home.

Dan Pini writes that after living in the same house, they are moving to a

smaller home with a nice big shop & a grape vineyard. Dan will be

learning how to grow grapes & harvest them. The Dagga will be making

wine next year at this time. Their new address is 1930 Old Military Rd.

Central Pt., OR . Dan finally got his 32 Ford Cabriolet street rod finished

last year & won his first award at Rogue Valley Street Rod Car show. He

also won the best '32 deuce in the Redding show. Dan & his wife took a

Mexican Riviera cruise & he plans to retire at the end of this year, turning

his business over to his son. He hopes to restore his '56 Chevy & some

old tractors.

Jan Blohm writes from Charlotte, NC that creating a new lifestyle is

challenging. She works for the National Red Cross. Work is going well & it

is a very interesting work environment, especially this summer with the

hurricanes. Last May, Luane Vidak & Pat Blair visited here in NC.

Jim Gibson & his wife Shirley Yappert, class of '59 went on their first

cruise to Alaska. After returning home they headed south to see their

grandchildren in Temecula & onto St. George, UT, visiting Zion & Bryce

National Parks.

In Memory of David Benson

David Benson, Class of 1957 died in October of an apparent heart

attack in San Jose, He leaves his son Michael, His wife Donna died in 1994.

Nancy Wynne & her husband spent a month long trip to Germany,

Austria & Switzerland. The countries were beautiful & each had its special

features. One piece of advice if you are going to Switzerland, take LOTS

of money. Tis a pricey place to visit. They even met a couple on the train

that were from Fresno, Nancy's hometown. Finding people who spoke

English was not a great problem. However, they soon felt quite humbled

as so many people spoke several languages....much different approach

than in the USA.

Effie Pritchard has had some major health problems & surgery. After a 6

month recovery she is feeling well again.

Jules Marderos is recovering from surgery on his neck. While

recovering he was in an auto accident & messed up all that was done in

the surgery. He is recuperating in Syracuse near his children but plans to

head to Florida for the winter. Jules highly recommends anyone doing

extensive travel, RV, car, train, etc., to check out the SkyMed insurance

program. A life saver for them.

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

The field house at WHS that was built in 1957 has been turned to rubble

as construction crews begin building a $13M sports complex. It will include

a 15,000 square foot, 2,000 plus seat gymnasium with three basketball

courts & a 30 meter swimming pool. When the old field house was built it

was described as a state of the art facility & first of its kind in CA. There

were a lot of good athletes who walked in & out of that door. It's sad to

see it demolished, but WHS is happy to see another state of the art facility

will replace it. Completion of the sports complex is expected in Jan., 2007.

Jo Ann Flores has two great grandchildren, Michael & Lillian who live

close by her in Washington. I think Jo Ann wins the prize for the oldest

extended family. Be sure & get your prize at the reunion. Jo Ann's mother

is still living on her own & doing quite well in California.

Glen Kimoto & Judy have had a busy year helping three households

move. They spent three weeks in May in their RV in Montana to honor

some ancestors & to camp & fish. Glen caught a 4 lb. trout from the

Missouri River. The Montanans called it a "nice fish". They also completed

a three week fishing & camping trip into Oregon & N. California.

Wanda Palmer retired Sept. 30th. It still hasn't become a reality to her.

Wanda was a stenographer for various executives, but the computer

extinguished the need for shorthand & transcribing, so the past 14 years

were spent using a computer as a secretary/schedule coordinator for an

inventory specialist. She has a long "round tuit" list that was compiled

during her working years & she has already begun getting involved in

doing new things & meeting new poeple. She is very excited about this

new phase of life & the adventures ahead. Her new mantra,"l don't want to

& I don't have to".

Betsy Wong & Al now have three wonderful granddaughters, ages 5,2, &

4 months. They live close to them so they get to babysit at least once a

week. Their big plans for next March is a three week trip to China & a

week to Hawaii in May.

Pat Hewett & Jim have been busy with their family. They had a family

reunion with her brother Tom & sister Barbara & families. Their son Jeff

from San Antonio came. Pat & Jim golfed for a week in Ixtapa, MX & will

be going to San Antonio for Christmas. They will get to see their youngest

grandchilren, Chase 7 & Lexie 4. Their oldest son Mike is doing well in

the second treatment stage for cancer. Mike's oldest son Kristopher is on

the Aptos tennis team & is an A student as well. Sister Kylee is studying

voice & dance, she attends Aptos Jr. High. Their youngest son John lives

in Watsonville & is an electrician. He has a daughter Krysten who is in Jr.

High in Hollister. Pat keeps busy in Beta Sigma Phi, church & keeps the

books for their rentals. She & Jim love to play the nickel & penny slots at

Chukchansi Indian Casino.

Charlene Corrigan's youngest daughter Claire was married Oct. 1 at

Charlene's place. Claire & her husband are lawyers in San Francisco.

Claire's twin Carin was her maid of honor. Carin completed her Masters in

marriage & family counseling this past year. Charlene thinks that this is the

end of school for her children. Now that the wedding is over, Charlene

has time to relax & enjoy her two dogs & many good friends.

BJ (Liz) Everton says life has been good to her with work to keep her

hopping & having a very funny granddaughter who keeps her in stitches.

What can be better than a baby with a sense of humor. BJ's daughter Suzi

& family live close by. Chad, their son, moved to Florida last year to

experience hurricane Charlie. Actually he was hired by EA, an electronic

game industry to use his skills from the film industry to produce their new

generation Maddon football game. After BJ retired she formed her own

consultant business, Liz, ETC (Educational Training & Consulting). She

works with districts up & down the state & nationally. She says, "at this age

it is always an adventure to outwit that delightful memory freeze which you

can count on happening at the most dratted times." I can't even begin to tell

you how many things I forget, lose or leave behind while I'm scrambling

from one place to another. Isn't this a great age???"

Gary Costa's son Kevin has recently graduated from the University of

New Mexico. His daughter Karen gave birth to Joseph Williamson on Nov.

18th. He weighed 7lbs., 8 oz. Joseph is Gary's 8th grandchild.

WATSONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY

The first building to house high school students in Watsonville was built in

1894. A young architect named William Henry Weeks, who had designed

the recently completed Christian Church was hired to prepare plans for

the new high school. The Pajaronian, Aug. 2, 1984 said "The exterior

makes a handsome showing & such a structure will be an architectural

ornament to the city & the handsomest school building in the coast

counties of Central California." Land for the new building had been

purchased on East Third St., now East Beach. It encompassed nearly four

acres & sold for $4250 in gold coin. It was built with pine wood.

Dedication of the new school was held Aug. 2, 1895. Early in the morning

of Nov. 8, 1901, a fire broke out on the second floor, within an hour, the

whole building had been reduced to a pile of rubble. All school records

were destroyed. Again, Weeks was hired to draw up plans for a new high

school. The school was completed in 1903. By 1916, a bigger institution

was needed & again Weeks was chosen to design the school. He

included ramps inside the school, the first such design in the state. Land

was purchased in 1926 for the school's athletic field. The high school

gymnasium was built in 1938, the shop building was finished in 1953, then

came the cafeteria & music room, a swimming pool, laboratories &

additional classrooms. The old high school was torn down in 1964. A new

library was built in its place in 1966, named for Ida Fuller. WHS was torn

down & rebuilt after the 1989 earthquake. Today, WHS houses about

2,300 students.

Betty Corrigan & Bryan spent a week in New York, visiting Betsy's

daughter. After New York was a cruise up the northeast coast & then

down the St Lawrence to Quebec with 5 other couples including her sister

Barbara, class of '63. Earlier this year they spent two weeks in Europe.

Don Beukers & Mary Ellen joined a group of Beaver Motor home

owners & headed for Chihuahua , Mexico. They along with 23 others,

loaded their motorhomes on individual flatcars, heading for Copper

Canyon. Indians still live in the caves in the canyon. They were on the train

for 5 nights in their motorhome while on the rails. The caravan took care

of everything stopping on rail sidings for the evenings. They went through

some 80+ tunnels & crossed 50+ bridges. In June they went to Italy,

staying in Rome for 4 days. They picked up the Windstar sailing ship for a

12 day trip down the coast of Italy over to the Greek Islands & ended in

Istanbul. Upon disembarking in Istanbul, they returned to Rome & rented a

car & drove for the next 2 weeks down to & around Sicily.

Norma Williamson had a great trip to Hawaii. She always goes during

the Aloha Festivals, which celebrates all things Hawaiian, especially the

music. Each year she loves seeing the live performances by many

favorites. She meets her friends, they call themselves "The Three Widows"

& they have a great time together eating Hula pie at Dukes, sailing on the

NaHoku II catamaran, eating $1.00 tacos Tuesday nights at Compadres &

shopped till they dropped. They continue to do all the things they did when

they were "Three Couples". Bittersweet, but the memories of all the great

times they shared with their loved ones is well worth it. Norma's daughter

Marnie is getting married next year to Marty Wilson.

Sally England & Bill drove cross country this spring. Their first stop was

in San Diego to visit their son.While playing golf, Bill broke a bone in his

ankle which meant Sally was the new chauffeur.Sally drove to LA to visit

their daughter then headed East.They stopped in Branson then onto

Biloxi.MS to see the Jefferson Davis home & Confederate Museum,

borrowing wheelchairs along the way. They are so glad they stopped in

Bilioxi as there isn't much left of these places since the hurricane. They

arrived in Florida in one piece & spent time recovering. Then onto

Charleston, Monticello, the Biltmore, Williamsburg, Jamestown, The

Smokey Mt. Parkway, Mt. Rushmore & Crazy Horse Monument. Home

looked pretty good after Sally drove over 10,000 miles, pumping gas,

washing windows & getting a flat tire fixed. She still can't believe she did it.

Marilyn Morgan & Carl, Betty Sue & Allen drove to Texas to visit Bev

Clements & Wayne. After being totally entertained, Bev is a great cook,

they all left for a few days in Branson.

Peggy O'Farrell & Glenn headed to the Midwest from Alaska in Sept. for

a month visiting relatives in Illinois, & their daughter & family in New

Mexico. Then back home through Reno, Seattle, Prince Rupert, B.C. & the

ferry back to Ketchikan. Peggy enjoyed the warm weather & reconnected

on some craft work that she enjoys & is quilting.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL & HAPPY 2006

Please send any information to share with our class members to:

Betty Sue Henry Bjur, 190 Bjur Dr. Watsonville, CA. 95076

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