UPDATE MAY 2012
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THE MEMORIAL SERVICE for OUR CLASSMATE MARTY DOSTAL will be held on Saturday, May 12, starting at 11:00 a.m., at Freedom Park located at 450 Miller Ranch Road in the small town of Edwards (about 95 miles west of Denver on Interstate 70). People from every period in Marty's life will be going to say goodbye. Following the first part of the service in the park, attendees will move up the road for an indoors gathering with food. The memorial service coincides with Mother’s Day weekend, so attendees will have an opportunity to comfort Marty’s mother as she mourns the loss of her son.
For people who want to spend the night, AmericInn Hotel & Suites is offering a very special rate to attendees of the memorial service for Marty. AmericInn is located at 85 Pond Road in the small town of Eagle, which is 15 miles from Edwards. Gillie notes that the magic words to get the AmericInn discount are: Eagle County Veteran. To make reservations at AmericInn, please call toll free at 1-800-741-5072 or long distance at (970) 328-5155. If people don’t want to stay at the AmericInn, there are other hotels and lodging in the area.
Whenever people from all periods of a deceased person’s life gather for funerals or memorial services, I often reflect on the longtime tradition of people gathering on the one day when the guest of honor is not present. I often think how different and supportive it would be for one’s family and friends all to be together when the guest of honor is present. For a variety of reasons, such a gathering is not always possible. In my long life, I have been to only one gathering of a person’s family and friends when the terminally ill person wanted to say goodbye to people from all periods of his life. Held outdoors at a picnic in a peaceful park, the event was quite an emotionally liberating journey for the attendees (including my terminally ill friend) as everyone shared fond memories and stories about the guest of honor while he could hear and understand everything that was being said about him. As his caregiver, I entered his sleeping room the night before he died to check on him and tell him my usual, “It’s time to go night-night.” Clasping my hand, he turned his weak head in my direction and said, “This is my last night to go night-night.” He knew the end was near. Sure enough, he already passed away by the time I checked on him the next morning. That experience 18 years ago in 1994 remains vivid in my mind to this day.
Upon learning about Marty’s death almost three months ago in February 2012, I was in the midst of typing memorial pieces about four NON-1966 graduates of WHS. My plan was to submit the memorial pieces about the NON-1966 people (Ronnie White, Ronnie Reishus, Frankie Lopez, Larry Chavez) to the website that Greg Bruce set up for all classes from the 1960s. Ever since the news of Marty’s death, I have not returned to my composition of the four memorial pieces. Whenever I get around to finalizing the articles, I will submit them to Greg for him to include on his website for all WHS classes from the 1960s.
In celebration of the life and times of Marty, Class Committee member Gillie Walker urges people to listen to two songs via the links listed below.
http://youtu.be/qr3dWscslo8 -- Lynyrd Skynyrd "Free Bird"
http://youtu.be/1H2yHhcfptQ -- Mamas and Papas "Dedicated To The One I Love"
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OUR CLASSMATE BARBARA BILLINSLEY MASSARANO recently submitted an approximate five-minute video of the 1940s famous dancers Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire. Using modern video technology, the producers show Hayworth and Astaire with dancers of the mid 1970s as they perform to the Bee Gees 1977 song “Stayin’ Alive.” As a longtime lover of dance since childhood when I first learned Mexican dances and later learned ballet, I have always appreciated good dancers upon seeing them. Hayworth, Astaire and the other dancers in the video are fabulous with their detailed footwork and outfits. To watch the five-star dance performance, turn on your computer’s sound and click the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz3CPzdCDws
Rita Hayworth got her dancing talent from her Latino father, who was a famous dancer from Spain. Margarita was her real first name and her Spanish surname was Cansino. Although she went by Margarita Cansino for several years of her dancing career from age six all the way through her teen years, her first name was shortened to “Rita” and she began using her Irish mother’s surname Hayworth in later years so that she could have broader appeal in the film industry.
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IT IS THAT TIME of YEAR for PROM in high schools, so a recent TV news story about an unusual prom dress is in order. What started out as a joke ended with a Denver high-school junior recently attending prom in a dress made of pop-can tabs. Entirely made by sewing by hand, the dress was started two years ago when the young woman and her family and friends began collecting pop-can tabs. It took her five (5) months to sew the 5,100 pop-can tabs into a dress. The way the pop-can lids reflected under the dance-hall lights made the silver and colored tabs stand out. Although she originally wanted the dress to be strapless, the weight of the pop-can tabs required her to add straps to the dress. Needless to say, she had the most original dress at the prom.
Perhaps this story about prom might bring back your own memories of prom night.
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TO VISIT OUR CLASS WEBSITE that was assembled and is maintained by our Class Committee member and Webmaster, Paul Snell, please go to:
The software that Paul used to build the website allows people to access the website through a regular computer as well as a smartphone or digital tablet. At the bottom of each page of the website is a link to a Facebook page that can be used by classmates who have Facebook and want to communicate and receive information through Facebook. Please be sure to bookmark the website address on your computer so that you will have it handy whenever you want to visit the website.
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OUR CLASS COMMITTEE consists of several classmates who volunteer their time, at one point or another, regarding issues pertinent to our class. Our Class Committee members are: Gillie Walker; Bruce McAlexander; Marcia Hagans Allin; Meg Hulsey Mailo; Ron Petty; Donnie Collier Martinez; Paul Snell; Mike Adragna; Bruce Brian; Linda Nolin Weber; Ken Loveless; Roy Manuszak; Mary Ellen Brada Manuszak; Jerry Moyers; Barbara Billingsley Massarano; Warren Knight. Other classmates are welcome to be part of the Class Committee.
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WE ARE VOLUNTEERS. Please do not ever take it personally if you do not hear from the Class Committee or the Website Committee right away. As volunteers, we have only so much time within which to do our volunteer work as well as tend to other aspects of our personal lives.
Delays in my replies, in particular, are due to me not being awake very much anymore as sleeping long hours is the only time period during which there is total relief from my neurological illness for which there is no cure. It is now seven years that I have had massive nerve damage. With this neurological illness continuing to take center stage in my life each day, there cannot be very much so-called normal or routine activities on my part as long as a state of normalcy has not been returned to my life.
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This update was prepared by me.
Respectfully submitted,
Donnie Martinez, WHS Class of 1966 Committee
Known at WHS by stepfather’s surname Collier
Martinez is my birth certificate and legal surname
a/k/a Butch, family nickname since childhood
a/k/a Don, presumably the adult version of Donnie
a/k/a Primo (Cousin) to dozens of my Martinez cousins
a/k/a El Aguila (The Eagle), a version of Gillie’s name for me.
I don’t care what people call me, just call me.
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