70TH BIRTHDAY PARTY - CORTEZ

Dorothy & Jim Iwan

Dorothy (James) Iwan shares her thoughts about the 70th.  She writes: "The Cortez, Colorado, experience was pretty amazing and magical. Many thanks go to Barb, Art, Ron, and Marty for putting the whole experience together. Without their hospitality and planning, it would not have happened. As for myself, I felt some trepidation at driving to a new location to spend several days with people I hadn’t seen for 50 years. At our first gathering on the patio at the Baymont, those feelings were quickly put to rest. It was so much fun to get reacquainted. We found the HiLiners and their spouses wonderful and interesting people.

"I’m not much for a lot of detail, but I’d like to share one magical moment with you. When Sandy was asked to lead a cheer at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, she was somewhat reluctant—after all cheering wasn’t the first thing on her mind. But she got up there and started the cheer. Fortunately the student body remembered the words to the cheer and then the magic happened.

"I think we stepped into a time warp. As I watched Sandy, she was transformed. I saw the 18 year old beautiful blond cheerleader in her blue sweater and white skirt. I glanced across the way where Hank was watching her and he too, was transformed. Hank had this grin on his face and you knew he was back on the basketball court watching Sandy lead the cheer. One moment is worth a million words. It was truly magical. Maybe it would have been nice to have a picture, but sometimes things are better left to feelings, memories and MAGIC!"

Barb (Sheppard) Lang had asked each couple to bring a "70th birthday present" representing the area they live in) to exchange during the party. Below, Dorothy is excited about receiving her birthday gift from Roger & Bev Taylor:

Dorothy (James) Iwan at Cortez Party

Warren Olson remembers three favorite teachers

Warren was with our Class of 1961 during our 7th and 8th grade years. But, of that time, he says he has many memories. You can read Warren's bio on this blog by clicking here.

During the 70th Birthday Celebration, hosted by Barb (Sheppard) Lang and her husband Art in Cortez, Colorado, Warren visited with fellow attendees about "favorite teachers." He writes: "Mine were Mr. Sabby, Ms. Egge, and Mr. Campbell. One day, Mr. Campbell talked about an experiment in which some scientist planted a climbing bean plant, and then began to see what would happen if he kept moving a pole around as the plant tried to creep toward it. After chasing the pole round and round, the plant eventually gave up and died. That article so intrigued me that I remember it to this day."

Here are three of Warren's photos from the Cortez event. See if you can identify your classmates and/or their spouses/guests in the photos (click on each photo for a larger image):

Photo #1

Photo #2

Photo #3

If you would like to see more of Warren's photos, you can do so in his Shutterfly album. This album is password protected and to obtain the password, email Warren at viking6505@gmail.com  THANKS, WARREN, for your contribution - great to have you on board!

If YOU have memories and/or photos from the Cortez reunion, please send them to our newsletter/blog editor, Diane (Sauer) Hughes at dhughes45@cox.net. Diane receives the photos and text and then forwards them to me for posting.

Editorial note: When Warren mentioned Mr. Campbell's class, I remember how he required each of us to go down to Haroldson's Office Supply and purchase an Esterbrook Fountain Pen (about $1.25).  He also required us to write all of our "papers" with this fountain pen. By the way, Esterbrook sold little bottles of ink and various colors - some pretty wild. Then, when we arrived in Mr. Earl Krushwitz's chemistry/physics class in high school, he was very excited about the new Sheaffer Translucent Cartridge Fountain Pen. It sold for only $1. He didn't require us to write with this pen, but he loved the technology. And so did I.

Because of Mr. Campbell's and Mr. Krushwitz's love of fountain pens, I have became a fan of this kind of writing instrument and I used a fountain pen - in various iterations - throughout my employed career. This caused a number of comments and jokes from my colleagues, some containing the term "nerd." Today, I still use a fountain pen to write "important stuff," challenging drafts, personal notes, and some letters. Although I have several, I no longer use the $1 Sheaffer model. My valued and currently used friend is a Cross 14K gold-filled model.  - Larry Gauper