Class of 1960 25th Reunion
Wichita East Reunion News: Save the Date – September 19-20, 2025
Planning has begun for our 65th Reunion, September 19-20, 2025. We need your help to make it happen. Please write Diane Rusch Zinn (ddzinn@aol.com) or Marilyn Tompkins Bellert (mbellert@niu.edu) and volunteer to help out for a couple of hours. “Many hands make light work.”
Our 60/62nd Reunion in Wichita, held September 30-October 2, 2022, attracted 125 people over the weekend. We had lots of fun! Read about it by clicking on this link: “We Were There.” Participants voted unanimously in favor of an in-person reunion for our 65th in 2025. Volunteers are welcome now to help make it happen!
East High’s 100th anniversary celebration took place October 6-7, 2023. Stories from publications about East High history and East High today are on our website https://wichitaeastclassof1960.com.
The Class of 1960’s Virtual Reunion started September 1, 2020, with the launch of this website and your participation. It’s happening NOW!
- More than 10,000 visitors have clicked onto the Class of 1960 website, viewed stories and photos 85,221 times, and left 585 comments. The site has about 500 visitors each month.
- More than 180 classmates have shared 800 stories and almost 2000 photos.
- Visitors to the site stay an average of 10 minutes and view 6 items.
- The most popular items are stories of classmates’ lives, obituaries, and photos. New content is posted almost every day.
- Visitors to the site live in 102 cities, about 15% in Kansas.
We want to hear from you. The more classmates involved, the better. Send content for the website to Marilyn Tompkins Bellert at mbellert@niu.edu or Diane Rusch Zinn at ddzinn@aol.com
Monthly Class of 1960 Zoom sessions usually occur on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 2 PM Wichita time. You will receive an email about the time and topic a few days prior to the Zoom. Contact Fred Elder for info: elder@engr.wisc.edu or 608-238-1625.
Marilyn Tompkins Bellert acts as Editor of the Class of 1960 Virtual Reunion Website. Diane Rusch Zinn and Fred Elder work with Marilyn to craft the pages and expand participation. Fred handles communications, manages the Zoom sessions, and tracks classmates’ whereabouts.
Funding and support for the site have been generously provided by Marilyn Ash Barbeck, Lee Ayres, Gene Carter, Janice Collins Bailey, Bob Curry, Fred Elder, Larry Fechter, Dean Garner, Skip Granger, Barbara Hammond, Rich Hayse, Gerald Jacobs, Dan Kinney, David Kroenlein, Eric Knorr, Donna Pennington Beyer, Garry Pettriess, David Robinson, Calvin Ross, Diane Rusch Zinn, Barbara Shacklett Adams, Becky Siebert Machacek, Debbie Snyder Tucker, Linda Soderberg McKay, Glenna Stearman Park, Tom Tatlock, Marilyn Tompkins Bellert, Dan Tontz, Donna Unruh Hoberecht, Tom Vosper, Carolyn Wharton Holloway, and Judy Zyskowski Moon. Additional contributions are needed to support continued operation of the website.
Lee Ayres, Senior Class President says – “Many thanks to all of you who are participating in the Virtual Reunion, sharing memories, hopes, and dreams. Sixty-two amazing years later, we are still here. Special thanks are due to Marilyn, Fred, and Diane, who accepted this assignment and sustain a website full of energy and great stories supplied by you. For now, we are gathering here, online, and your help is needed to keep this website operating. Send stories and offers of help to the website team or join me in sending a donation to cover technical support expenses to Wichita East Class of 1960, P.O. Box 4582, Lawrence, KS 66046. See you around the website!