passing of an upper classman

I just read in the paper today that Fred Kuntz (1964 CG grad) passed away on Tuesday, Jan 29. He was 61. I do not know the cause of death.
I knew of Fred Kuntz in HS, but only in passing. When I moved to Whiteland in the the late 80's, Fred and his wife Connie lived directly across the street from us.

Please Don't "Pay It Forward"

Please...
I know you mean well, and I do appreciate your thoughts.
But it's getting out of hand.

I've written before at my own blog about people sending me "forwards".
I almost never send them myself, unless I encounter something on the net that absolutely screams your name. Even then, when I forward the article it will generally be to you, and you alone, with an accompanying note explaining why it made me think of you.

This afternoon I checked my email:
Three "Forwards" from one friend...
Six from another...
Nine from another.
One was a triplicate... the same article from all three.
Two were duplicated.
The address line for all of these forwards looked like the telephone book for a small town.
I hate the idea of deleting these things unread, but it's getting to the point where I don't have time to read them all.

Can I make the most gentle of suggestions?
Instead of sending your good wishes out via email, why not post your thoughts here?
I've done it, as have others. That way we can check out your thoughts at our convenience, and if it's something we've seen before, we don't have to delete the same thought coming from three or four different friends/loved ones.

But thank you for caring and thinking about me.
I care about you too.

61

6 Degrees of Greybeard

Every Winter I wonder how I did this to myself...
Planted roots in a place where the temperature frequently drops into the single digits, like the forecast this weekend. Brass monkeys will be in big trouble.
When the temperature dips below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, this old boy takes up complaining about the weather as a full-time job.
But this weekend we're takin' action... we're headed South.
When I close up this laptop I'll load it in the car along with a week's worth of our "stuff", and we'll spend tonight with Nellie. Tomorrow night we'll be in Destin watching pelicans zoom from West to East, or vice versa. Don't be too envious of us... it'll be in the 40's in Destin and if the wind is blowing, brass monkeys will be seeking shelter there too!

Now, what about you?
Tell us your news!

Feliz Dos Anos!

Those of you that were with me in Mrs. V's Spanish class will have a clue. For the rest of you-
IT'S OUR SECOND VANDYVERSARY!

January 8 was the actual first post date, but life got in the way
and I let the 8th slip by without noting it here. When I realized I had missed it, I just thought I would mark it along with a "Friday Open".

Do you ever go back and review old posts here? The posts themselves are interesting... but the comments! Truly, there is two years of history there worth the time to review when you have it.

It's hard to put into words how I feel about all of you. Our communications here... the mini's... our outings together, big deal and small...
I think it was Joker that mentioned in some ways we are far closer than we ever were during our school years. And for me personally, that is wonderful.

We've started a new calendar year.
We are starting our 3rd year here at VK.
It's my wish that the upcoming year bring us all continued health, enough material wealth to keep us comfortable, the spare time to continue meeting as we have over the past two years, and the wisdom to find ways to add more CGHS friends to our numbers.
God Bless us all.

Now please....
Got news or thoughts to share?
So share!

Anon's Basketball Trivia:

A comment from below, worthy of its' own post:

Anonymous said...

You folks seem to like trivia, so here is a question about a little known fact concerning Johnson County basketball. Three young Johnson County boys graduated the same year from high school. Later these three would become NBA all stars. Johnson County is the only county in the country to produce three NBA all stars that graduated high school the same year. The three would also be inducted into the Indiana basketball hall of fame.

Part one: who were they and what year did they graduate?

A Centergrove basketball team won a tournament that included a team on which two of the above NBA all stars were members. They were defeated in the championship game. It so happens that Vandy was the presenter of the tournament trophy.

Part two: What year did a Centergrove basketball team trounce a team that included future NBA all stars.

Christmas Day 2007

The day was pretty much as shown in the picture... it was cool and clear.
In the morning I got the call to pick up the neonatal transport team in Cape Girardeau and go get a preemie somewhere down South. After the flight I landed at the Cape Airport and got fuel. The airplane you see pictured was sitting on the ramp there, shining and beautiful. I made note of the airplane's tail number... N1EB. It didn't strike a note at the time.
In the afternoon I got another call, almost a twin of the morning flight. Neonate team aboard, we flew over the Cape Girardeau airport as that Gulfstream taxi'ed for takeoff. Gleaming beneath us, the tower cleared him for takeoff to Palm Beach, Florida, and my Paramedic immediately identified the airplane's owner.
Got a guess?

For Sci-Fi Fans-

UD&CS and other Stargate/Science Fiction fans should go check out my son's latest work!

At Vandy's Gym

DATELINE: VANDEMIER GYM
FRIDAY, DEC. 28, 2007
Center Grove HS vs Perry Meridian HS

A week ago we went to Center Grove High School to witness our first basketball game in years. The teams were pretty evenly matched, except that their center was only 6 ‘ 5” and our was 6” 8’. Perry Meridian led the first quarter and CGHS led the rest of the game. The final score was CGHS 62 AND PMHS 51. It was a good game.

I noticed a change in what I was used to in the crowd, cheerleaders, and halftime show. The Perry Meridian students number nineteen. The rest of the PMHS crowd were people more our age. The CGHS students probably numbered about 250, sat at the end together, behind the basket. The gym was full to the first level with mostly people around our age.

The cheerleaders no longer stand in front of the “cheer block” and lead cheers. There were 6 cheer leaders and 10 gymnasts for CGHS and 6 cheerleaders for PMHS. The gymnasts for CGHS would do back flips the length of the basketball floor during breaks in the game. This was rather alarming to me, as I felt there would be a crash together of these many bodies flinging so fast together. No crashes or falls in any of the 10 gymnasts.

I was a member of the Decatur Central Cheer Block in 1964. We had weekly practice and wore a blue reversible to gold short cape. We had felt “mittens”, again reversible to our school colors, blue and gold. This was an all female group, we numbered probably 200 to 250. We were loud and proud and we had so much fun! Did Center Grove have a Cheer Block?

The halftime show last week was wonderful! It was a mix of “Dancing with the Stars” and Gymnastics and ballet. Guys and Girls did some neat dance moves in unison, jumping like splits in the air and pirouettes. The guys were just as talented as the girls. The guys wore Christmas sweaters and jeans. The girls wore the same red and white monogrammed “Center Grove Dance Team” shorts outfits. Center Grove has some very talented students who I am sure are headed for theatre and dance careers.

I was a majorette from 1965 to 1967 at Decatur Central. We did halftime shows for basketball and football games. We worked all week on a routine and the shows were so much fun. I guess batons and majorettes are a thing of the past for high school, but not at college level. I know Purdue still has the “golden girls” baton twirlers, and we see them every year in the 500 Parade.

Mrs. Hawkeye