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Russell Flammia

Hi Belle, as far as printing is concerned I don't know so write Mike.  I don't know Ms. Tankard's addres but  googling her name  Estelle Tankard, Cobbs Creek Va. or Halliford Va.  We're headed to OBX in a few minutes, when I get back in a couple of weeks I may be able to help you find her phone no.  I know she'll be glad to hear from you.  Can any one else from our class help Belle?

Mike Floyd

It would be nice if I could get Miss Tankard's email address if she has one.  I could send birthday wishes from the TJ Class of 1962.  I would also ask if she would like to be a guest on our website.

Mike

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Hello again! Miss Estelle Tankard's address: P.O. Box 82, Hallieford,Virginia 23068. Phone #: (804) 725-2665. Her friend who will answer the phone is named Carolyn. Their dog is named Mamie! She may or may not remember your name!  After all, it HAS been 56 years! I was trying to answer Belle, Russell, Bill Staples, & Mike Floyd one by one, but this is simpler, if there are others who want to communicate with her! I don't know the exact date of her Birthday, but anyone who reaches age 90 deserves to receive a solid month of good wishes, especially if she was "The Best Teacher We Ever Had !" I am sure she would LOVE to hear from ALL  of you!

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Belle & others: Precedent cases for Westhampton School Junior High Building, possibility of  "Reconstruction:"(Search online for each of them. I cannot seem to Share the websites here! - I have some mechanical problem.) 1) St. John's Church in Richmond., built in 1741.(Outside was repainted and restored. Now working on restoring grave markers. Publishes a newsletter listing names of donors.)

2) Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, 50th Anniversary of Bradley Hall Fire, January, 1963-2013. (I was a Freshman there when it burned down, and I have photos of it here. The stone outside, tower, & name were  intact, the wooden inside was completely rebuilt with fireproof materials.  The financing was handled through corporate, family, and personal donations!)

3) Sidney & Berne Davis Art Museum, Ft. Myers,Florida (This is where Joel's cousin, Myra Roberts, holds her yearly Art Exhibits.  They also have Plays, Music Concerts, and Fundraising Dinners there. It was formerly the Ft. Myers Post Office, but the roof collapsed and the walls & floor needed updating!  Berne Davis donated funds for the reconstruction & the building was named after her  & her spouse!  Florida has a strong Arts Community & the Board of Directors of this place keeps it going. Carol Battige & her friend met Joel & me there in February, 2018 for Myra's New Exhibit - 60 paintings.  She can tell you about the fantastic building, many years old!

4)  Yuma Theatre, Yuma, Arizona (Outdated building, restored to new dignity by beautiful mural painted on the wall, seat donations, updated systems such as projected power- point demonstrations, acoustics for plays & music concerts, & revived Art Center next door with monthly Art Exhibits, Art Auctions, Children's Art Exhibit, High School Art Exhibit,etc.

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

I am sure you can find more examples, including Tee Jay!  (How about  the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts?  Andy Lewis's Mom is STILL highly involved there!). All it takes is good community organizing & fundraising! One drawback:  Some of the above organizations charge exhorbitant amounts for Membership & Board  Member-ship.  This discourages participation from the general community-at-largeFor example, Board of Directors of our local Art Center sent me an email the week before Chanukah/Christmas one year (AFTER  I had spent all of my money on gifts for 20 people in my family!) & asked me to be a Member of their Board.  Requirements included a reply within ONE WEEK,  with a $250 donation. I do NOT make rash decisions within one week, including a large check for a donation!  I wanted to meet the Board Members individually, talk to them & see if we were "on the same wavelength." I later found out that the Individual Exhibits were often by Board Members, and each one had to Donate $500 for someone to hang their paintings & offer a cocktail party to guests at an Open House! (I have ALWAYS hung my own Exhibits, and those did NOT include Cocktails!) The Fee for Exhibits went up so high that a Split-off gallery was created, but it is a "rinky-dink" setup I will NOT patronize or visit!  It has NO "Class!") (Last week, I heard that our Art Center no longer has a Board of Directors, and it is now conducted by Parks & Recreation, as it was in the beginning! That is the way it was SUPPOSED to be! So all's well that ends well!

I wish I still lived in Richmond, where people I know have common sense!   But since I don't, please take my suggestions & use them!

There was one project of this nature that failed when I lived in Chicago. We organized a wonderful Musical Theatre Company (MUTECO)! at DePaul University & we restored an old theatre and had sellout performances 3 nights in a row!  I handled Publicity, & we had a story in the Midwest Magazine of the Chicago Sun-Times, and a blinking sign on the Expressway!  Music students performed, Art Students designed sets & flyers,etc.  It was a GREAT experience. But after we graduated, the City designated the area for "Urban Renewal" and "the Nursing Home Across the Street" became "the Goodman Theatre of Art & Music,"'which is now part of DePaul University!  The idea was adopted, but our building was NOT! (Don't let that happen to Westhampton School!)

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Russell:  Miss Tankard's Address is posted on the Forum page above!  Mike:  I don't know if she has an email address!  I just wrote her a long letter and I am compiling the photo album! I hope to mail it out this week!

Mike Floyd

Bill Collins noticed that the name of the community where Miss Tankard lives was spelled incorrectly.  I have corrected this in Marilyn's posting.  The correct mailing address is:

Miss Estelle Tankard's address :

P.O. Box 82

Hallieford, Virginia 23068

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Thanks, Mike!  I did not know about that spelling!  My Sister gave it to me last year, when Miss Tankard had Heart Surgery!    She has kept in touch with her all these years, but I have been lacking in my correspondence since I stopped my Freelance Writing in 1988 in Illinois & moved  to Arizona to work in Human Services, Corrections, & Education. And that's ANOTHER story!

Mike Floyd

Miss Tankard doesn't have an email address, but I was able to send her a birthday card from Tee Jay Class of 1962.  For those of you keeping track, her birthday is August 3rd.  The card was a belated birthday card because the card fell in the blender and then the dog ate.  I think she will enjoy it.  I just hope she doesn't grade it.

Miss Tankard is now on the website as a guest.  Because she doesn't have an email address she can't get onto the website nor can she receive comments on her profile.  I will attempt to keep up with her through all of you.  Thanks!

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Thanks, Mike!  You are SO FUNNY!  I'm glad you sent the card from our class!  (How did you know the Birth Date?). I am just finishing up my little book with photos I took of former Jeffersonian Staff Members at the TJ Reunions, and I contacted a few more on the TJ Website, so they could mail cards & photos by themselves!       It will be her "Birthday Month!"  

(We had a lot of repairs going on here in late July, so there was no way I could have done this earlier!  This Summer has been a disaster! )

Thanks for "Filling in the gaps!". And it is just as well that Miss Tankard can't see the TJ website, because I wrote about her on so many pages, she will discover "the secret source" of all the cards and phone calls she      is getting!  (I LOVE to do things "behind the scenes!". It's more fun that way!!!)

Were YOU one of her English students, Mike???  If so, that must have been "a trip" for you also!

She was truly unforgettable!

And she touched so many lives!

(I'm sure your mail to Hallieford will arrive faster than mine!  I usually have to allow 8 days for shipping, so most of my letters and gifts arrive late, unless I prepare them months ahead of time!  And this year was too hectic for that!)

Thanks!

Mar--

Peggy Smith (Robins)

To:  Frank Louthan (in response to message 8/23/18).  Alex and I are still in Murfreesboro, TN.  Alex was quarterback coach at MTSU for 23 years - now he's been helping in different high schools with the quarterbacks since retiring from MTSU.  We are both still working and enjoying it.  We have a land phone and are in the phone registry.  Best regards to you and your family.  Peggy Robins

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Hi, Peggy!  How are you?

Peggy Smith (Robins)

To:  Marilyn Wolfe Ruben and other wonderful T.J. classmates.  Marilyn, you sound like you are a busy lady!  Alex and I are doing very well (today).  We keep busy with our grandchildren and are enjoying still working (part-time).  We both still exercise most every day - I walk and Alex does the elyptical machines at a gym.  Many blessings to you and our other T.J. classmates.  Love, Peggy Smith Robins

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Thanks, Peggy!  I try to keep busy, now that my Granddaughter is in college!   I think we both go all the way back to Westhampton, right?  Did you read all about it in Belle Landrum's comments?   

You two should come to the next TJ Reunion in Richmond!  You are much closer than we are, and we try to show up every 5 years!  It's fun to see "old friends"  all gathered in one place!

How do you like where you are living?  I bet it is beautiful there!  I remember we drove through your State about 40 years ago, to or from Illinois & Virginia!  Jo Ann Olkowski lives there too!  Is she near you?

Nice to hear from you!  What are you doing besides Exercise?   Enjoy your life!

Brenda Jenkins (Armstrong)

Russell Flammia

Hi Classmates, while there is a lot of attention on hurricane Florence, and rightfully so, let's not forget the over 3,000 women, children, and men, who perished as a result of the terrorists attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the crash in Shanksville Pa.,  Take care everyone.

Jo-Ann Olkowski

I, too, am very focused on Hurricane Florence and have great concern for everyone's safety.  Please follow any evacuation orders that may come WHEN they come.  Whatever you might be doing if or when an evacuation order comes can wait; your safety and life are more important.  I haven't forgotten the last hurricane that stalled over Richmond while I was still living there.

Second, I'm watching on-going coverage and comentary on TV as I'm sending this.

Please stay safe.

Jo-Ann
 

Barbara Seely

To Brenda, Russell & Jo-Ann!  (Let us NEVER forget what today means)

Thank you for your comments on Florence.  We're mostly running around buying anything that might be needed, although by today, there's not much left to purchase.  It's going to be a challenge these next few days for the mid-Atlantic and adjoining states so we'll just have to cope with what Mother Nature brings our way.  It was so very thoughtful of you to send your "best wishes" for all of us still here in Richmond and across the state.  Keep your fingers crossed.  Blessings to the three of you, especially Russell, who will be "riding this one out" like the rest of us. 

Barbara Seely

Mike Floyd

Hi Everyone and thanks for your comments.  In Urbanna, we are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.  The boat has had the hatches battened, the sails and bimini lashed and the dock lines doubled up.  The generator has gas and it started when I tested it yesterday.  I went to Harris-Teeter in Williamsburg today and got all the necessary supplies to last for a week.  I think we are good to go. 

We are in Flood Zone B and will leave if told to, but it looks like Florence may send only some wind and rain our way.  We have had storm surges for 3 days now.  I have to wait for low tide to work on the boat because the dock is underwater around high tide.

If you Google 9/11 and Rosh Hashanah there are several pieces about the bittersweet celebration for the Jewish families that lost loved one on 9/11

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Mary (Draney) Murray told me about the approaching Hurricane.   I, too, hope everyone is safe & hope you can get out of "wherever you are," when you are warned to do so !   It's hard to believe that there have been so many  hurricanes these past few years, when the last one I remember living through was when I was 10 years old!  

I hope your refrigerators are full, but if the electricity clicks off, I hope you all have an ice chest to keep your food fresh, and if necessary, a car to take you to higher ground!

If you can leave town and visit another state to stay dry, please do so!  Take your most precious possesions in a big trunk and find a friend's house or a hotel where you can stay.  If anybody wants to "Hide out" in Florida, let me know!

Jo-Ann Olkowski

Thank you, Barbara, for your nice comments.  You are right - we should never forget the horrors of 9/11 and the still lingering pain of the survivors and their families.  I contacted family in VA Beach and close to Raleigh yesterday and have a couple more people I need to contact.  I heard shortly ago on the news mention the potential impact on the Appalachians and TN Valley - water does tend to run downhill. I'm not down in the Valley but closer to the Cumberland Plateau, but wind is wind and rain is rain.  I'll be going out very soon to get extra water and maybe a little extra food and then probably get with my neighbors as to what to do about our little neighbor who lives under me.  Her apartment has flooded many times since I've lived here, despite all efforts to defect the water away from her patio.  Our building is at the lowest point of the entire complex! 

Until we know more about the maps and pinpoint landfall it appears right now that a good part of GA and the Atlanta area could be impacted up through the Carolinas, VA and further up and that's a lot of land mass to take into consideration.

I hope all will take notice and be prepared whether badly impacted or not.  Be safe, be well, my friends.

Jo-Ann

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Ditto from here, Jo-Ann!  Our area has Earthquakes and occasional big Monsoon Rainstorms (April, August, November), but we are too far from the Coast for Hurricanes!  Hope all will be safe this week!

Thanks for the nice Rosh Hashanah greeting, Mike!  I like the little Shofar design on the Home Page!   

We spent the Holiday with Arizona State University's Hillel Student Group.  They provided a delicious hot meal at the Hillel House for about 50 students & services for about 60-70. We were one Senior couple out of 3 who were present.  ASU now has 3 different Jewish organizations that sponsor Dinner & Religious Services on the High Holidays!  There are about 2,000-3,000 Jewish students at ASU now, with the usual "split -offs." As the expression goes:  "Two Jews, Two synagogues!"

Happy New Year to all my Jewish classmates!  I hope this year brings you Good Health & Happiness!

Melvin Katz

As some of our classmates have commented on the storm and the rememberance of the horrific events of 9/11, my wife and I are also keeping a keen eye on the strom. We have a home in th Outer Banks in Nags Head, North Carolina. That town and the county of Dare is under a manditory evacuation. I am sure the damage to many homes will be severe and one can only pray for everyone to be safe and to take heed of this impendsing storm. Let us pray for all those in harms way.

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

I was thinking about you, Melvin, and wondering where you and Elsie will stay!  Will you be going to Boca Raton 

to be with your son?  Also, I think Sue Ellen Arenstein and Barry Steinberg are in Georgia, and I think the Hurricane is due to strike there also!

Classmates, wherever you are, please evacuate to a safer place!  And let me know if you want to visit Florida!

Carol Battige (Levine)

For all my classmates in the "danger zone" I pray for your safety.  It was exactly a year ago that Irma slammed into tiny Port Charlotte, FL, but it was nothing but a bad storm compared to Florence.  Hope for the best, but please be prepared for the worst.