OUR CLASSMATE JOY PAYNE HUMPHREY recently wrote to clarify that she was the one who submitted the entry about the death of our classmate Debbie Armknecht Allen. The entry in the October 2019 update mistakenly listed our classmate Donna Williams Humphrey as the author of the entry. When the entry was submitted, “DHumphrey” was listed as the sender and there was NO mention of Joy’s name to identify her as the author of the entry. Because Donna Humphrey periodically provides email feedback and because it has been quite a while since Joy has been in touch, my assumption was that the sender “DHumphrey” was Donna. As it turns out, the “DHumphrey” who was listed as the sender was Joy’s husband Dean Humphrey (WHS Class of 1965). As far as I know, there is NO relationship between Dean Humphrey and the Humphrey man whose surname became Donna’s through marriage. If you the readers are confused about this issue of two classmates who became Humphrey through marriage, imagine my confusion that led to naming Donna instead of Joy in the October 2019 update. Now that Joy has clarified that she was the one who submitted the entry, listed below is what she wrote.
“So sad to hear of Deb’s passing. She was a long term good friend whom I have so many great memories with. From grade school to working at HP [Hewlett Packard], we shared so much. God bless you Richard and Chanin and the rest of the family. You were her world and I know you will miss all that love. Love from the Humphrey family.”
In retrospect, Joy’s reference to knowing Deb since grade school should have tipped me off because I have known for a long time that they were friends since grade school clear up to working together at HP in their adult years. It originally crossed my mind that Donna must have known Deb during that same long time period, but obviously that is not the case. It was good to hear from you, Joy!
++++++++++++++++++++++
“I’m so mad at Cinderella, I could just kill her.” Those are the words expressed by our classmate Patti Kueck during a rather lengthy talk in which classmates were talking about idealistic and other relationships. “We were brought up to believe the Cinderella thing,” said Patti prior to making her comment about being mad at Cinderella.
Her aforementioned statement was among numerous comments shared during a roundtable discussion at the time of the 20-year reunion held in 1986 in Colorado Springs.
In the October 2019 update, there was detailed information about the video of the 20-year reunion. Over time – especially 30 years – an old film can fade, shrink,decompose and even crumble to dust. Fortunately, my copy of the video was not bad enough to convert in 2016 to a modern digital format that people can view.
Please keep in mind that the 2016 updated version of the 1986 video has NOT been remastered, enhanced or restored. The quality is not clear, not crisp. It is best to view it on the standard small screen that displays upon clicking the link. Enlarging the screen decreases the viewing quality.
To watch the video of 1 hour and 20 minutes, click here!
For a detailed list of classmates and the order in which they appear in the video,see my October 2019 update posted in the “Donnie’s Updates” section of our class website.
“We must always have old memories and young hopes.”
-- Arsene Houssaye, French novelist and poet
++++++++++++++++++++++
YOUR INPUT IS NEEDED regarding the date and type of event for the 55-year reunion to take place in the summer of 2021. It is important to get YOUR input so that the reunion committee can be better informed before making decisions in early 2020. Please submit your input to this email box (WHSclass1966@Yahoo.com) NO LATER than January 1, 2020, so that your input can be submitted to and considered by the reunion committee before decisions are made about the event.
What type of event would you prefer?
__ Informal outdoor picnic (with indoor option IF rain)
__ Informal indoor sit-down meal in hotel banquet room
__ Informal indoor sit-down meal in restaurant private room
__ Formal and fancy event in a hotel banquet room
__ Other (please specify)
How should attendees share memories?
__ Open microphone for sharing memories of WHS in 1960s
__ No microphone, just one-on-one sharing of memories.
__ Combination of microphone and one-on-one story sharing.
__ Other (please specify)
Should there be music and dancing?
__ Maybe one part of the event.
__ Definitely throughout the event.
__ No music and dancing, please.
__ Other (please specify)
What would be a reasonable registration fee?
__ $25 per person (to cover food and space rental)
__ $40 per person (to cover food and space rental)
__ $50 per person (to cover food and space rental)
__ Other (please specify)
Which date would be best for you? Please furnish as many of the proposed dates as possible so that they can be compared to the availability of other classmates. Please try to avoid providing only one date. With there being 116 classmates who are accounted for and who are on our confidential contact list, it can be a challenge to come up with a convenient date for that many people. There are an additional 84 people (surviving family members, surviving friends, and non-1966 WHS graduates) who are also on our confidential contact list, so there are 200 people with whom we are in contact. Listed below are the proposed dates.
__ Saturday, June 19, 2021
__ Saturday, June 26, 2021
__ Saturday, JULY 10, 2021
__ Saturday, JULY 17, 2021
__ Saturday, JULY 24, 2021
__ Saturday, JULY 31, 2021
__ Saturday, AUG. 7, 2021
__ Saturday, AUG. 14, 2021
__ Saturday, AUG. 21, 2021
__ Other (please specify)
++++++++++++++++++++++
IT WAS at THIS TIME 54 YEARS AGO in November 1965 that almost all of our classmates were roaming the halls of Widefield High School with the realization that it was only six months away before we would graduate and end up on divergent journeys in our respective lives. It was one month away, in December 1965, when we selected our classmate Candy Burdell as our Winter Ball Queen.We were only three months away from February 1966, at which time we selected our classmates Twila Wilson and Eldon Lee as Queen and King of our Sweetheart Ball.
++++++++++++++++++++++
WITH the THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY taking place this month, check out a very cute one-minute cartoon of a turkey singing its own words to the tune of Gloria Gaynor’s disco hit in the late 1970s. The words are clever and hilarious. The music brought back fond memories of my dancing at the discos in the 1970s. To watch and listen, click here!
++++++++++++++++++++++
TO VISIT OUR CLASS WEBSITE that was assembled and has been maintained since April 2009 by our Class Committee member and Webmaster, Paul Snell, please go to: www.1966whs.com
++++++++++++++++++++++
PLEASE do not TAKE IT PERSONALLY if you do not hear from the Class 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 fourteen (14) years that I have had massive nerve damage. As noted in my update in July 2013, another reason for delays in my replies is that I have been “slowing down” more and more since late 2012 – it takes me forever to get something done. My doctors attribute the slowness to me getting older, not the neurological illness.
++++++++++++++++++++++
This update was prepared by me.
Respectfully submitted,
Donnie Martinez
Known at WHS by stepfather’s surname Collier
Martinez is my birth certificate and legal surname
a/k/a Butch (pronounced Booch), 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 Frank to older women saying I look like their idol Frank Sinatra
a/k/a Dee Dee, a fun name used by people to mean Dear Donnie
a/k/a Shorty due to me shrinking 3 inches over the past two years
a/k/a Bernie to people who say I look like their hero Bernie Sanders
I don’t care what people call me, just call me.
++++++++++++++++++++++