Fred Elder convened the session and asked each of the participants to tell us their names and locations.
Participants
Row 1: Tom Tatlock, Fred Elder, Marilyn Tompkins Bellert. Row 2: Skip Granger, Dan Tontz, Diane Rusch Zinn. Row 3: Lee Ayres, David Robinson, Janice Collins Bailey. Row 4: Glenna Stearman Park, David Kroenlein, Perry Ann Porter.
Following is a summary, not a transcript, of this session. Please advise if changes are needed.
Introductions – Everywhere we were – from New England to California, Wisconsin to Texas, and Washington to Arizona to Kansas – October 20 was a beautiful day.
Fred Elder, Madison, WI, an Indian Summer day. Fred’s main occupation these days is to walk 15,000 steps on his way to recovery from a back procedure.
Tom Tatlock, Appleton, WI, where the fall colors and the weather are delightful.
Marilyn Bellert, in Sycamore, IL, and enjoying the warm weather.
Skip Granger, Phoenix, AZ. It was 78 and beautiful. Skip is happy to start traveling again, post-Covid. Hoping to go Hawaii next year.
Dan Tontz, Dallas, TX. Dan was sitting outside on his patio, so we could see the landscape on a gorgeous fall day.
Diane Rusch Zinn, Bolton, MA, at her son Robert’s house 40 minutes west of Boston enjoying extravagantly beautiful fall foliage.
Lee Ayres, Fresno, CA. The weather was beautiful there, too.
David Kroenlein, Scarsdale, NY. David was in and out of the picture, as he was cooking an early dinner for a granddaughter whom he would pick up at the train and feed before her soccer practice.
David Robinson, Here in everybody’s hometown Wichita. Temperature was recently 30, but is up to 80 today. The lack of moisture has resulted in less color, but leaves of his oak trees are falling as usual, meaning his form of exercise will soon be raking. David has been working extra at Allen House since Koch Industries is giving 30-minute tours to all their employees. He is hoping some will return for the full tour.
Janice Collins Bailey, Wichita, KS. Her week has been interesting, full of doctor’s appointments; home visits from the furnace guy, the plumber, and Roto-Rooter; and help from her daughter to get more air into the tires on her car. As a reward for diligence, she will have lunch with Barb Hammond on Friday.
Glenna Stearman Park, Montgomery Village, MD, just north of DC. It’s beautiful there, too.
Perry Ann Porter, Still in Poulsbo, WA. Wonderful weather today and expecting a huge, much-needed rainstorm due on Friday. She is looking forward to getting together with girl friends on Saturday; they play games all day on Saturdays, every kind of game.
Discussion – The Fall Season
Glenna Stearman Park – The fall is her favorite time of year. By the end of summer, she was bored out of her mind and looking
forward to the fall semester at school. It was her happiest time of year. After grades came, she didn’t look forward so much to the spring semester. Recently, she flew up to Connecticut to do plein air painting. The painters took their easels, canvases, brushes, and paint out into the woods and painted. Glenna showed us two lovely, fall landscapes from this outdoor work. When she lived in South Korea for two years, they tramped up into the mountain villages to paint. She showed us a painting of a Korean farmer’s walled house. Some families threw their garbage over the wall, so you had to be careful where you went. Most have now adopted modern plumbing. She also displayed a painting of the beautiful garden outside the classroom where she taught for 17 years, St. Mary’s Hall in San Antonio.
Glenna’s latest and greatest story for the website is “Hair Today. Gone Tomorrow.”
Dave Kroenlein -Fall is also his favorite time of year because the days are nice and crisp, the foliage is beautiful, and the sports of the season are starting. It’s a wonderful time to get outside with
grandkids. At the moment, he is busy shuttling grandkids and feels lucky to be able to do it. Recently, he accompanied a grandson from California who is being recruited by colleges for football. David picked him up from the Philadelphia airport at 7:30 a.m., took him to a hotel to shower, and then took him to campus to meet coaches, tour the campus, and attend a football game. David also drove him out to visit Valley Forge, just to make the trip more interesting (for himself, at least). Back to the airport early the next morning so his grandson could fly home (California) after a whirlwind visit. David learned a bit about the life and times of young athletes.
Perry Ann Porter – She remembers fall because of Halloween. One 
year, her dad made a bet with her that no one would come to the door. She did not believe that could happen, took the bet and was ready with a bowl of orange and black balloons for trick or treaters. She thought there was enough sugar in their diets and opted for an alternative. Meanwhile, her dad hid behind a tree in a terrible mask, where he jumped out and scared all the kids away. Dad won the bet. She couldn’t believe it. Perry Ann also recalled a story told by her husband about the year when he and a buddy trick or treated a week in advance of Halloween, claimed they would be out of town on Halloween and managed to collect nickels from friendly neighbors.
Perry Ann’s most recent website story is “Coincidences: Names.”
Janice Collins Bailey – In the fall, she enjoyed walking to school and walking home. She enjoyed school. The weather was not too hot
and not too cold. Janice remembered the Homecoming game when she and other Peppy Pilots created a large wire-framed heart covered with tissue to be used at half-time ceremonies. Janice’s dad drove the heart to the stadium in the back of his pickup. By half-time, the icy wind had damaged the heart, which can be seen in the 1960 yearbook and also in Janice’s story on this website, “Homecoming’s Cold, Cold Heart,“ starting Wednesday, October 26. Janice would like to identify the other football player in the picture besides Dan Kinney.
Dan Tontz also remembered the game. He was in the marching band and some of the instruments would not play; the pads got stuck. Others on the call remembered that there was more than one cold football game when we were in high school.
David Robinson – Remembering trick or treating in the old days, 
we all knew there were certain areas where we could go, join up with friends, and knock on the doors. His mother always asked to see what he got, and he was afraid she would take the best candy. Even then, parents drove kids into some neighborhoods where the candy was always good, like the first couple of blocks on Broadview. In those more innocent days, we got delicious cookies and sometimes apples. These days people go “beyond crazy” decorating their houses for Halloween.
David’s story about his experiences being honored with other veterans is “Honor Flight.”
Glenna remembers trick or treating at the Allen House, then the Adair House, when Jack Austin lived there, They always had a wonderful display on the table. Trick or treaters got to go inside the house, have cookies and get warm. Glenna also remembered another “mansion,” a plantation-style house, where they were served warm cider and cookies. Skip lived two houses away from there and said that the “mansion” was actually the main building of the old Wichita Country Club.
Lee Ayres – In the San Joaquin Valley, October is a transitional month that starts with days that get up to 100 and ends with days that peak in the 70’s. Thinking about cold, cold football games, Lee
remembers a game against Topeka, the last game of the season. Regular quarterback Calvin Ross and Dan had both been injured and Greg Long was playing QB. Other things not working, Greg decided to throw a pass. In the stiff wind, the ball unexpectedly blew to Lee, who caught it on the one yard line and ran into the end zone, snow flurries and all. East was victorious. Also in the fall, Lee enjoys elections every two years. Over 45 years in California, he has gotten acquainted with many folks running for office over the years. It is always interesting to note the contrast between what they say now and what they said then.
Skip Granger – In the video made for his 80th birthday, Skip’s 
daughter remembered eight things about him. Number 2 was trick or treating with her dad. They lived on a hilltop with lots of land and a little forest, too far up for trick or treaters. Skip took his kids down the hill to a block of mansions where trick or treaters did well. Over 32 years in that house, they had one party of six trick or treaters. Otherwise, for them, Halloween was a good night to go out to restaurants that you couldn’t possibly get into on other nights.
Skip shared a story about his 80th birthday in “Turning 80 in Style.”
Dan Tontz – He wished Kay Ellen Consolver was on the call to share memories about the big mansion on her block on Crestway. Where 
some people were giving nickels or dimes to trick or treaters, these people handed out $5 and $10 bills. That was big time. Word spread quickly, and kids raced to get there. That was the only time he heard of people giving away significant money. The real spirit of Halloween! Dan loves the cool days. Today, he is wearing socks for the first time since last March. He also likes the outdoor activities he can do now, using his deck and walking the dog. He just planted winter rye on his lawn, which will look nice at Christmas when everyone else’s yards are brown. This is also the time of year for home improvements, since it is not too hot or too cold to work outside. He is having painting done and installing new French doors.
Tom Tatlock – For several years, he took around his twins during 
Halloween when there was snow, which was different than Wichita. He remembers that in Wichita the woman across the street made wonderful popcorn balls. He wanted to go home and change costumes, so he could go back to her house again for a second one. That was his favorite Halloween treat. With the heat of summer gone, fall in Wichita had ideal weather and it was fun to be out.
Marilyn Tompkins Bellert – She loves the crisp fall weather and always enjoyed returning to school, both walking and, later,
carpooling with Diane to East. She enjoys fall baking, especially with apples gathered from orchards in northern Illinois. On a trip to Prague several weeks ago, she saw no red leaves on the trees; apparently, maples don’t grows there unlike the beautiful maples at home. Marilyn has been learning about soccer by watching her grandson play college soccer on ESPN. Unlike sitting in the stands, television allows her to see his face, fancy footwork, body language, and encouragement of his team members, complete with instant replays and color commentary.
Marilyn’s most recent website story is “Reunion 2022: We Were There.”
Diane Rusch Zinn – She remembers Halloween in 4th grade, when 
there was an extremely heavy snow. She doesn’t remember any treats. In October every year, Diane and Dick visit their kids around the time of her birthday. New England is beautiful in October. Her favorite fall tree is the Gingko. In the fall, its leaves turn a beautiful deep yellow and are very heavy, filled with moisture. They all fall at once. For her family, volleyball has been a special sport in the fall. Her daughters and most of her granddaughters played volleyball, and she always enjoyed their games. This morning, she went to the local market, read about all the different apples, and bought apples, which she turned into applesauce for her son’s family. She loves the Hunter’s Moon in fall and looks forward to driving to where they can see it come up in all its orange glory. At home in Lawrence, she finds that alternate years bring bumper crops of Osage Orange or walnuts. Last year, they scooped up Osage Orange balls with a tractor. This year, she has up to 15 wheelbarrows full of walnuts and more to go.
Diane’s own stories have been on the back-burner lately as she assists classmate authors, including Skip, Perry Ann, and Gerry Fry, with getting their stories polished and posted on this website.
Fred Elder – Fall fun has always meant hunting. He has always
enjoyed bird hunting, as do Diane and Dick Zinn. He doesn’t remember much about Halloween, but knows that the weather is usually wet and cold in Madison. Bad weather really gets started by late October. Fred recently spent a few days making apple butter, one of his fall specialties, with his granddaughter.
Fred recently posted another of his travel adventures, “St. Ives to Penzance.”
And Off We Went….
Glenna asked Lee if he was going to send photos of his beautiful yard for the website, which Glenna had seen on Shelley Ayres Facebook page. Lee explained that they had made a transition away from landscaping with grass because of the drouth and cost of water. Now, they have no grass and all drip irrigation except in front where they have MP-rotor watering of their groundcover. He will ask Shelley to take the photos.
Lee went on to talk about the splendor of the Gingko tree, which can live 150 years. Its yellow leaves are very distinctive in the fall. You need to be patient, because they grow slowly. Beautiful Gingkos grow in downtown Fresno.
Janice has a Gingko bonsai tree. All the leaves fell off when she moved it to the cold frame for the winter, but they will be back.
David R told us that the Gingko at Allen House was especially beautiful this year. He went on to talk about the September 30-October 2 Reunion. He really enjoyed it and is looking forward to the next one. After Saturday night, he got into a conversation with the children and grandchildren who accompanied our classmates to the reunion. A 6’4” grandson shook hands and thanked him for his talk about the Honor Flight, which he found inspiring. This young man is 18 and lives in Arizona. After he finishes community college, he is going to enlist in the Marines. He is the epitome of what we like to think of as a model military man.
Dan shared that the main reason he was able to attend the reunion was Amy, his daughter, who drove him from Dallas to Wichita and participated in the reunion with him. She reconnected with Carol Weaverling’s kids and really enjoyed meeting them again.
Skip noted that Mick Sullivan’s kids had taken the group photo at the reunion, which he had enjoyed seeing. He then asked about classmates Mary Ann Freeman and Patty Maben. He has looked but can’t find them.
Fred commented that keeping track of new addresses, not to mention finding those with no addresses, was a huge job.
Glenna noted that keeping in touch with classmates was becoming harder. Some of us are having difficulty processing and remembering.
Skip has just finished taking an online memory course. He is still watching the videos, but the course ended ironically for him when he couldn’t remember the password to watch the final session.
Perry Ann shared a story in the Bainbridge magazine about her and the PAWS foster program that she launched on the island. She started the PAWS program with a lost dog and posters that she put up. Now she is a spokesperson for the organization and has done puppet shows on pet care in schools. Marilyn and Diane are hoping to get a copy of the story and photos for the website.
Skip commented that he has enjoyed and appreciated the website and the reunion as well as the Zoom calls. The Zooms don’t get a big crowd, but he really enjoys them.
Diane wants to make a big request for sending photos from the reunion, so she can post them in the website’s Gallery for the 2022 Reunion.
Lee followed up on reunion with four classmates who attended. They were very positive about the experience.
Fred thinks he has located a technology, Meeting Owl, that will enable Zoomers to hear better and participate more in the conversations going on at the next live reunion, which is being scheduled for 2025.
Next Zoom Session will be November 17, 2022 at 2 p.m. Wichita time.
