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Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Mary Lee, it is not my photo!   I wonder if Mike or Russell found it?   Mike lives "on the water," and I bet that is not far from the Eastern Shore!  Russell keeps in touch with Miss T., so I wonder if he made the contact!  The only person I know who lived in Matthews County is Gwenn McNaught, but she moved back to Richmond!!! Yes, I am looking forward to the Reunion!  I really need "a break" from Yuma!  We are headed to the Beach this weekend!  Water, water everywhere, and lots more fun there, too!  

I am watching a show on tv on which teams of two buy old furniture, reupholster or redecorate it with $l00 of supplies, and sell it for $250 - $300. If they sell a lot of their products, they can win $5,000!!!   That is awesome!   I love wood, but I don't have a workshop! Does anybody out there do this kind of work?

Mike Floyd

Miss Tankard lives in Mathews County which is located on the Western bank of the Chesapeake Bay adjacent to Gloucester County.  In fact, Mathews was once part of Gloucester County but asked the General Assembly to be separated from Gloucester County due to the distance to the Gloucester County Courthouse and the poor condition of the roads way back when.  Russell Flammia has a place in Moon which is located in Mathews County and Jim and Sue Salemme Antonick live in Gloucester County.  Sue saw the photograph and article in the Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal and sent it to me to post on the website.

The book The Mathews Men by William Geroux is an interesting read.  Mathews has a long history of producing expert seamen.  Many of the men became Merchant Marines and made the ultimate sacrifice on cargo ships, tankers and tugs during WWII.  With Independence Day just a few days away it is good to remember those who sacrificed throughout our history for our freedom.

Gwynn McNaught (Henderson)

Since my move to Richmond, I've joined www.nextdoor.com and have found it informative and useful.  Yesterday, someone in my extended neighborhood posted an ad for a Thomas Jefferson High School desk.  See below:

Original Student Desk From Thomas Jefferson High School

This desk was installed for the 1930 opening of the Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond, VA. TJHS has been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. A tag containing the following information is attached to the underside of the desk: This desk installed in Thomas Jefferson High School September 1930. Sold by Robert Flowers of Southern Desk Company of Hickory, North Carolina. Refurbished by Harley Affeldt October 1966. Great piece of local history. Excellent Condition - $160.00

The seller is Jim Hemen

inway.  If anyone is interested in buying this desk, let me know, and I'll communicate your interest to the seller.

Gwynn McNaught (Henderson)

Jerry, I will inform the seller of your interest and ask how you can communicate directly with him.  

Gwynn McNaught (Henderson)

Hi, Jerry.  I've sent you a private message with the desk owner's contact information.  Good luck.

Gwynn McNaught (Henderson)

You are very welcome, Jerry.  Being of a sentimental nature, I wish I had a place for it, but I don't.  I'll be very happy to see it go to another TJ alumnus.

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

I would LOVE a desk like that here, Gwynn!  If you see ANY MORE ads like that one, please let me know!                 I have nowhere here to do my Artwork except a very high kitchen counter which is like a "Bar" and which has very high barstools to sit on, which I find most uncomfortable.  There is no other room in this house for me to paint, because the rugs are white and the floors are white also!  At 118-120 degrees, I don't think I can paint in the garage or at the picnic table!  So I will have to wait until October to find a comfortable place to paint!

We just returned from a week's vacation at the beach in San Diego, and the condo there was so informal, my granddaughter and her friends and I had a "Painting Party" with the tiny canvases, brushes, and paints I brought along, and we all created some beautiful Artwork on July 4th!      It was the first time I have painted since my "Painting 1" class and my 2 "Independent Study" Classes in 2010-2013.  I have been "out-of-practice" for 2-3 years, and it was great fun!!!  

PS - A carpenter I hired to build 2 rollaway storage units for me last Summer advertised a tiny little table and 2 matching benches which I thought about buying a while back, for $150 total. The table was about 1/2 the size of the desk you saw in the ad!  So anyone who bought the desk was getting a real bargain !!!! 

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Sue, thanks for sending a copy of that newspaper photo to Mike for this Message Forum!  I love seeing photos of folks we knew long ago ! - Students as well as teachers!  Such good memories pour forth!!!

Mike, I envy anyone who lives near "The Water!"  We drive 3 hours through dry desert and very rocky mountains to reach San Diego each Summer, and prices for Hotel and Condo Rooms are going up and up and up!!!  We just came home from our 2017 trip, and it was so hard to leave, because we won't be going back there for a long time!  I have a suntan and some colorful new tie-dye t-shirts, but I really miss the feel of the waves on my legs, the sights and sounds of silly people on the boardwalk, watching my granddaughter and her high school friends playing in the ocean, the smell and taste of unusual food as we eat outside at patio restaurants, and all the daily smiles on everyone's faces!   This year, we stood on the boardwalk next to the ocean, and watched the fireworks from La Jolla on the right, and from another beach on the left. The next day, we took a walk on the pier and saw an Asian man catching a tiny Sting Ray and a young boy catching a Mackarel.  I never knew people ate Sting Rays! - I wonder if the taste would sting the person who eats it!!!

Gwynn McNaught (Henderson)

Hi, Jerry,

I'm really glad it worked out so well.  Thanks for letting me know.  

Gwynn

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

It's Back-to-School Time in Arizona this week, and the kids had their first day on Thursday in 110-degree weather!  My daughter and all the other parents make "A Big Deal" on the first day of school, taking photos of the kids, going out for a snack after school, etc.

This is my Granddaughter's last year of High School before she leaves for College. Since she is our ONLY Grandchild, we are going to be measuring every day, half-joyful that she will have that wonderful opportunity next year, and half-sad that she will be leaving us!   This town will be very empty and boring without her sunny smile and laughter, so we will have to "pack in" as many activities as possible for the next 12 months!!

I FINALLY finished my "Art Education Clsss" on Thursday, after about l6 weeks of studying and test taking!  Wouldn't you know it? - All the computer screens froze over at our Community College during the last 5 minutes of my  Proctored Exam online, and all the students in the Testing Center had to leave the room!  A wonderful woman working at the Testing Center photographed all my answers to 7 essay questions and 5 Multiple Choice Questions with her cell phone camera, and sent them via email to the Community College in Tempe, AZ, which offered the course!  There was a big rainstorm in Tempe on Thursday, so their computers and ours here in Yuma shut down, even though there was not even a slight breeze here in the Desert!

Living in this modern age is very confusing!  --- no more pencil-and-paper tests!!!  I was having a major "Panic Attack" that the entire computer would shut down and all my writing during 3 solid hours would disappear from the screen altogether!!!  This was the 5th Power-Failure in Yuma during the past several months! - I can't believe we are so "controlled by Nature" here that I can't even take a Summer Course without these interruptions!   (No more Summer Courses for me!)

Next course:  "Renaissance Art."  I have 2 1/2 weeks off for my "vacation," and I am catching up on my housework!!!

Have a wonderful Fall, everybody!!!

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Thinking of a drive up to the mountains this Fall, before we come East for the TJ Reunion!  The leaves will be changing color then, and the National Parks are advertising on my Facebook Page, luring us to the beautiful places up there that we haven't seen yet!  Arizona has a lot of National Parks, and my younger daughter, Amy,  who classifies herself as a "Tree Hugger,"  is now working for a Non-Profit that raises funds to keep the the Parks open. (Her District stretches from California to Missouri ! )  Her office sponsors Kids' Programs like "Junior Park Rangers," has a huge bookstore with books on everything related to nature and animals, and sometimes runs contests like "Name This Moth" for all of us folks "out here" in the "Concrete-and-Sand Communities."   My daughter's Mother-in-Law and Aunt-in-Law took a bus tour through the "Arizona National Parks" this past Summer and sent photos of all the amazing places where the Native Americans have lived.  We have visited many Reservations in Arizona (Navajo, Hopi, Pima, Gila, Cocopah, and Quechan-across-the River-in-Eastern-California, l5 minutes away). But outside of The Grand Canyon, Tonto Natural Bridge, Picacho Peak, the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix and Superior, and Montezuma's Castle, we haven't seen much, and we haven't been up to the mountains since Amy graduated from Northern Arizona University!   Time for another trip North!  I miss the mountains!

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Oops!   I forgot the Apache Reservation!   Geronimo would feel "left out!"

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Just found out about Gale Hutzler, and I am grieving. Posted my comment on the Memory Page.  I was soooo looking forward to seeing her at the Reunion!  There will be a big, empty space there, with her laughter and smile in my heart!!

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Rest in Peace, Gale!

Melvin Katz

All: I am sure that by now all have read about the very unfortunate accident that Gale endured over a week ago. As a follow up I wanted you all to know that last evening I spoke with Jimmy, Gale's son and his wife, who live in California. Jimmy and our son Josh were classmates at Collegiate and now both are Attorneys. Needless to say that Jimmy and his family are so sadened by the turn of events that befell his mom, our friend, Gale. May we always remember Gale with the smile that Russell wrote about and the goodness that was within her.

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Melvin, you are amazing, with all the personal followup you do on our clssmates!  That is very kind.   I am sure Gale's son is appreciative of all you have tried to do, keeping in touch with her!  Thanks!

Jo-Ann Olkowski

While I did not know Gale on a personal level I did know who she was.  I was shocked at hearing of her passing as so many others of you have been.

I was lookiing forward to attending the reunion and meeting more of you.  I knew so many of you and have memories of various things about many of you even though so many of you did not know or remember me. I had a wonderful time at a gettogether with a few classmates at Padow's back in January, so it fueled my desire to want to meet more of you.

Unfortunately, I am not able to attend the reunion but would like to extend my condolences to all of you who lost such a close friend way too soon.

Jo-Ann

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Sorry we won't see you in September, Joann!    I appreciate your comments re. Gale, and I know others 

       in our Class do also!

I was riding through the Desert with my husbsnd a week or two ago, and thinking about how you liked my

        photos ot it.

It is ll8-120 degrees here now, and all the flowers have been in bloom this summer.

Hot, but Beautiful ! 

Brenda Jenkins (Armstrong)

Allan Forman

Allan Forman, here.  Sorry, can't make the reunion this time.  Going to be on vacation that week at the Cape.  Hope everyone has a memorable time.
 

Allan Forman

Allan Forman here,  Sorry I can't make this reunion.  I will be on vacation at the Cape(Cod) that week.  Enjoy all!

Russell Flammia

Enjoy your vacation Allan, we'll miss you.

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

Sorry we won't see you at the Reunion, Alan.  My husband enjoyed meeting to you at #50 !

Marilyn Wolfe (Ruben)

I was sorry to read about Tommy Grizzard..  I don't remember being in any of his classes at Tee Jay, but I do remember his face !  I am beginning to wonder if I should put air in my bicycle tires to ride it, or forget about it altogether. Two bike accidents in a row are not good!  Condolences to his family & friends.

I was unpacking some boxes Sunday from my garage, and I found an "unexpected gift" under a pile of sheet music for the Piano and for my daughter's Oboe, when she was in Junior High School - Imagine my surprise when I found a copy of the last issue of the Jeffersonian from May, 1962 !  Not only is there the list of all the colleges and universities which were destinations for our graduating class (I remember compiling that list for my last assignment as a Jeffersonian Reporter), but there also were a few photos that caught my attention:   1) Frank Louthan rejoicing over the Football Team's Victory with Hermitage High School, 2)  Miss Brandenberg (Civilcs Teacher) wearing a T. J. Cheerleader's Sweatshiirt and jumpting into the air at the Student-Teacher Basketball Game; 2) Miss Pitt, also wearing a T. J. Sweatshirt at the same event; 3) Freshman Class Officers - Pat Tyler, Anne Ferrelll Smith, John Lisman, Margaret Murdock;  4) Linda Rathbun playing the Piano;  5) Sally Gabb learning a Japanese dance; 6) Charlie Moore, Sally Kincannon, David Levick and Norma Rooke in Junior Stunt Nite, "West in Peace;"  9) Cary Shade & Jane Sydney Green, King & Queen of our Senior Class; 10)Joe Schwartz led Bobby Gray, Barbara Seely, and Ralph Liniado on a tour of Medical College of Virginia. 11) Judi Scott & Norma Rooke said "Goodbye" in their column,"Jeffs in a Box."  Ads in the Jeffersonian for May, l962  included 15-35 cents for a Hamburger, 10 cents for a Soft Drink 10 cents for French Fries,  and $11.95 for Men's Buckskin Shoes! .......Such good memories!!!.......It seems like all that was "just yesterday!!"  Some of our classmates have left us for "A Better Place in the Sky."  I  hope some faces will show up at our Reunion next month!!!    

I started my new class in "Art of the Renaissance" last Thursday.  Since then, I have watched 9 videos online, read 4 "outside readings" I printed from my computer, created an Essay  on "Renaissance Art Style" and submitted it online,  and I still have 40 pages to read in my huge new textbook by Saturday!  Wow!  Universities are a lot harder than I remember their being!

 (Well, at least my brain will not "dry up,"  like they say it will, in "people our age!")

Mike Floyd

Marilyn Wolfe Ruben had a great find.  She found a copy of the May 1962 Jeffersonian.  Marilyn and anyone else that is coming to the reunion please bring your Tee Jay Memorabilia with you to display.  We will have tables of TeeJay Memorabilia set up at the reunion.  We will also have two slide shows, set to music, with photographs of Tee Jay Memorabilia, Elementary School and Junior High School class photos, and folks attending previous reunions.  The slide shows will be running on a big screen TV behind the memorabilia tables.

You still have time to signup to attend the reunion.   You can sign up on this website and pay by check or credit card.