Antone Sousa

Stephen Hamon

Antone Sousa

You are so right Steve - I think I would probably say rather than head in the sand, in my case, "head up my A_S.  It's great to reconnect.  Also I never associated your son with the olympic cyclist!!  My God daughter, Mary McConneloug, rode a mountain bike in the Olympics.  Small World!!!  Antone

Carole Curtin (Lang)

To Antone, Diane, Jo and now David for their timeless effort to make this site a "favorite".  Seems I spend almost as much time on marincatholic61.com then I do Facebook these days, or doing my emails.  It is very exciting to reconnect with old friends and to make new friends as well.  I love reading the bio's and looking at the old photos of my classmates.  I agree with Stephen, because of our immaturity a lot of us were struggling with adolescent emotions and were afraid to reach out for new friendships.  Antone, Diane, Jo and David found "a way" for us to feel comfortable  to address these wants.  Thank you all so very much and keep up the excellent work.

By the way, I, for one, am happy that "showing the gravesites" was overwhelmingly voted to remain in our In Memory section.  It is our way of showing respect for those that have left us much to early and that we have not forgotten them.

Carole Curtin (Lang)

It has been awhile since I've taken the time to catch up on what has been added to this site and I find it very interesting.  Love the Tribal Tales especially about Sarah's party.  Only have a slight memory of it though. Also, DANNY, was enlightening.  Sure hope that Danny accepts our apologies for our childish behavior towards him.  I am sure that he is a fine man today and is well.  Have enjoyed all the new photos coming through as well.  We have quite the site here so continue adding to it.

Joan Moran

 Hello, Class of 1961,

David Fitzharris

Hi Joan

What a great thing to have a book signing in Marin!  I've read your book and loved it.  It is open, honest, funny, insightful and intelligent.  Wow!  I plan to make the trip up from Southern California to attend the signing and to meet with those classmates who can be there.  I think it's a great opportunity to have a reunion rehearsal party, so we get it right in 2011!

Dave

Diane Gooch (Bateman)

 Hi Joan,

  I'll be there.

David Fitzharris

Dear Classmates,

Well, a couple of weeks have gone by since I posted the New Survey on the MC website.  There were 17 responses (not everyone answered all the questions), and that’s probably all we’ll get.  So here are the results:

Question #1:  Are you interested in having a place for active dialogue among classmates?

Nine people voted “Yes”, five voted “No” and two were “Maybe’s”.  So there seems to be at least some interest in a forum where there can be back-and-forth discussion among classmates. 

Question #2:  Do you prefer limiting your communications to specific classmates via personal email, as opposed to a general discussion?

Here, seven people voted for one-on-one email, two voted for general discussion and 5 would like both.

Question #3:  Which vehicle would you prefer as a communications platform: this website, Facebook, a combination or something else?

Fourteen people favored this website, two liked Facebook and one wanted both.  Security is the main concern.

Looking at these results, it’s clear there is a desire for some form of general communication, and this website is the overwhelming choice to have it.  So I am posting the survey results in this Message Forum, which allows any of you to reply to the class as a whole.  It can also be used by each of you to bring up some other topic for general discussion.  Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to notify the class when a new post is made, as does a class announcement. 

There is also a Live Chat option just below the Message Forum, but I don't think our site is active enough for that to be a viable option.  Any thoughts out there?

Dave

Carole Curtin (Lang)

I'll be checking off and on to see what is happening.  Thanks for setting this up, Dave. 

I do have a general question for anyone out there that might know anything about Adobe PhotoShop Elements 7 - I have a family photo of all my grandkids but unfortunately only my ex-daughter is in the picture and not my son.  I know that there is a way you can "crop" her out then put a headshot of my son in it's place BUT, I can't figure out how to do it.  Any help would certainly be appreciative.  You can even email me at frgldy8@frontiernet.net.  Thanks Carole

Gloria Ahrens (Darrington)

Merry Christmas and a Happy, Safe, and Healthy New Year to everyone.  When is our next reunion?  I hope sooner than later.

Gloria Ahrens Darrington

David Fitzharris

We've had a wild and woolly winter in California this season!  Finally, Southern California felt the full brunt of a storm last week, with rainfall reaching an inch an hour at one point ... about 6 inches overall where I live.  Despite a sump pump in the pool -- which I eventually had to relocate to a low spot on a side yard -- it overflowed and filled with sediment.  The side yard flooded, reaching a point where water seeped into our living room and we now have a Persian carpet hanging from the rafters in the garage to dry out.

Things are settling down, although there is still some light rain falling today.  Tennis is doubtful.

But this is nothing compared to what's been happening in Northern California!  My daughter left Lake Tahoe a day early (thankfully) due to a forecast of 5 feet of snow to fall the next day.  And, in this morning's LA Times, I read that Monday's storm was supposed to drop another 9 inches!  Wow!

That got me to thinking about my classmates, not only in California, but all over the nation where Mother Nature is going crazy.  Let's use this forum to let each other know how we are faring this winter.  Since we didn't have a reunion, at least we can reconnect this way.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Dave

Robert Neilan

Well, I spent the first six weeks of 2017 in Kauai, Tucson and El Paso. No problems there.  Then on Friday we flew to a wedding in Sacramento through LAX and back home on Monday.  Both Friday flights were late and we missed our first connection in LAX.  Further delays eventually led to an eight-hour layover.  Thank goodness for Skyclub membership.  On Monday, left SMF 90 minutes late in pouring rain.  Very bumpy ride to LAX. Landing was a thrill. Very low ceiling. Landing gear lowered before we could see the ground.  More delay and a four hour layover. We got home at midnight.

Today in Tucson: sunny and 80 degrees. End of message.

Anne Cunningham (Grycz)

I spent last week with friends in Whitethorn which is in the Redwood Country of Northern California.  I planned to return home to the Bay Area on Monday, Presidents Day.  However, my hosts suggested I leave Sunday since a big storm was coming in and the road leading to the freeway might be blocked.  I managed to get to 101 without any mudslides or trees blocking the road.  It was raining and windy all the way to Marin County.  I stopped in Novato to take my daughter out for dinner and then continued on.  Fortunately at Mill Valley the rain stopped.  I don't like driving across bridges and had been stressing over the possibiity of crossing the Golden Gate in a storm.  As it turned out, it was dry with little traffic.  I was very happy to finally arrive at my home in Mountain View.

I received an email from the friends the next day saying tha Monday's storm washed out the road.  I am so glad I followed their advice and left a day earlier!

David Fitzharris

This was sent to me by Sue Smith Durant:

Dave absolutely horrific here in cold Idaho.  Tons of snow, below freezing. black ice on roads; snow ass-deep to a tall giraffe, gray and overcast most days, in the teens at night.  Not fit for man or beast or old 74 yr old ladies.  Spring can't come soon enuf !

Edward O'Connell (O'Connellinin)

I been drinkin' and smokin so much marijuana that I have no ideawhat the weather's like.  Thanks everyone for the update -- O'l Ed from Rehab.

Frank Dolman

Helllo, I wrote a memoir about living with a mentally ill mother in Marin County 1950-1960 .  Classmates and friends have given me comments. Its depressing and  sad but happy ending.  My point is we all have a "sack of stones"= something to deal with. We all have experiences to share with grandkids, family, and friends.  By example read mine then write yours . Its the ONLY tangible legacy   to leave.

My email:  dolman@cmn.net= I can send word file.

After reading I need to know how it made you feel= your reaction.

Frank

Frank Dolman

Subject : Reunion MC class of 1961

After a perfect reunion in 2011= 50 years, there isn't compelling reason to get together.

But that doesn't mean we can't catchup   via someway.

What is interesting to me is where did you live, what did you do, companies or businesses you were in,

hobbies and interests, your causes, your sack of stones[ my mother].

I 'm NOT  recommending a zoom meeting to hear stories. too large a group , too boring.

But set a limit= 200 words about pertinent life stories. Major lessons learned. Major events in your life.

Contact 5 classmates to be the springboard for others [ shills].

ask them to volunteer to write '' Their story" .

Don't accumulate.

Send out one a week = quick read, ponder , include their email if you want to ask questions.

Each life is successful in its own way.

If you can contact a living former 1961 person who was an employee of Marin Catholic interview him/her

Get names of others still alive. Record  their stories of hot poop, behind the scenes , the rest of the story.