Winter 2010 AAUS Newsletter

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY SCHOOL

WINTER 2010 NEWSLETTER ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DRIVE 2010

FAREWELLS Sadly, since the Fall newsletter came out, our ranks have dwindled significantly. Our deepest sympathies go to the friends and family members of: *Herb Coon, fac, father of Cynthia Coon Lambarth, ‘61 *Richard Riesenberger, ‘37 *James P. Schuler, ‘51 *Janet Baker Auld, ‘37 *Hugh (Hal) Setterfield, ’43, brother of Suzy Setterfield Bidlake, ‘62 *Carol Bretschneider Miller, ‘41 *Ann Dones Purtz, ‘41 *Roberta Porter Smith, ‘53 *Thomas M. Fort, ‘54 We also had two letters returned from that mailing marked that the recipient was deceased. These are unconfirmed but we will enter them as such in our records… *Evelyn Cahoon Evans, ‘46 *Everett Dakan, ‘37

Our annual membership drive is going well. We continue to enjoy a strong interest in sharing our experiences and perspectives formed while being a part of such a unique educational experience.

So far we have had 57 yearly renewals, 6 new yearly memberships and 5 new Life memberships. We are most appreciative of your continued support and encouragement.

If you haven’t yet renewed your membership for 2010 (your address label will have 09 and your year of affiliation under the city name) please consider doing so now. It costs $15 to renew per year. Please make your check payable to AAUS and mail to 587 Fox Lane, Worthington, OH 43085.

Thanks to you to all of you who have opted to receive their newsletter via email. The number is growing and it does save money. If you prefer to receive your newsletters via e-mail, please let me know at jswhaueisen@yahoo.com and I will put you on the list. (All newsletters are written in Microsoft Word.)

When I have them I will also include extra reunion pictures, annual meeting pictures, and other pictures I am sent which aren’t included in the newsletter.

Lastly we send our sincere condolences to Chris Buchanan, ‘70 and Lucia Buchanan Pierce, ’68 on the death of their mother, Lucy Buchanan who was also the wife of the late Franklin Buchanan, fac.

BE A PART OF HISTORY As an alumni of the University School, you have become part of the University District’s living memory. “History Shared, History Saved,” is a project to

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collect memorabilia relating to the neighborhood’s rich history. All items will be stored in a special collection at the Ohio Historical Center and also may be used in exhibits and displayed on the University District web site. For more information about the project and how to donate items, call 614-470-1006, send email to archives@universitydistrict.org or go online to www.universitydistrict.org and click on the UDO Archives Project under “learn.” *Ed. Note: AAUS does collect University School memorabilia which will eventually be housed at the OSU Archives and is specific to University School. If you have any questions related to the above request as to how it relates to our collection please call me at 614-846-6494 or e-mail jswhaueisen@yahoo.com

It all started back in 1995 when seven female former U-Hi classmates decided to meet for lunch to surprise Debbie Beyer with a birthday party. Debbie and Beccy Jones Stewart had kept in touch with a few of us and a couple more had remet at a funeral for a University School parent. We ended up sitting around a restaurant table on a Saturday afternoon, celebrating Debbie’s birthday and enjoying every minute of our time together. Since then, our group of alumnae meets about four times a year for lunch and schedules a luncheon for any out-of-town U-Hi girlfriend who comes through Columbus.

As 2009 approached, someone said, “Let’s invite the boys,” and the idea for a full-class reunion was born. It is always difficult to locate people for a reunion, but Debbie got us off to a good start by reciting the class roster she had memorized so many years before.

Uncannily, we were able to locate and contact all but two of the people who had been in our 7th and 8th grade classes.

In attendance were: Debbie Beyer, a bank vice president; Jill Brody, back from field work in Mexico and a professor at LSU; Joan Campbell, world traveler, nature enthusiast, and bicyclist; Stephen Cochran, teacher, coach, and farmer from Southern Ohio; Karen Fisher, attorney from New York; Niki Gnezda, writer, artist and retired teacher; Ernie Holladay, accountant; Beccy Jones Stewart, busy mom and volunteer from Beavercreek, Ohio; Lisa Jucius Dunn, attorney from Springfield, Ohio; MarieAnne Kritzer Harkness, mother, grandmother, and librarian from Washington State, Jennifer Luckey who lives in Bexley; Thia Prebus, artist, art history specialist, and legal secretary; David Tolbert, businessman and football coach; Cindy Violet, in non-profit

REUNIONS If your group is planning a reunion AAUS will be happy to announce any plans as well as help in any way we can.

Just let us know.

We received this from Nicole Gnezda, ’69.

Class of 1969 Has Fir st Reunion It was the “best reunion of all reunions ever” is how one member of the University School Class of 1969 described our first reunion since the school’s demise in 1966. The afternoon party was held on August 8, 2009 at the home of Niki Gnezda and her husband John Snouffer in Worthington, Ohio.

Afterward, the classmates car-pooled to Ramseyer Hall for a tour of the building some had not seen since 8th or 9th grade, 43 - 44 years ago.

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championships and rope climbing. As we ventured in and out of classrooms, we reminisced about our simulated space flight, Project Spectrum; marveled at the first floor bathroom that both boys and girls in kindergarten had used – it still has the same tiles and fixtures; and enjoyed looking at showcases of photos of young siblings and friends. A couple of us yearned to slide down those brass banisters again, though no one was caught in the act. We recalled the Wednesday morning mini-classes, metalsmithing in the art room, winter carnivals, and being in a pep rally when we heard about the Kennedy assassination. Special thanks to Helen Higgins of the College of Education and Human Ecology who gave up a Saturday afternoon to show us around the building.

As the day came to a close, we talked about a possible follow-up study of our classmates to investigate our reactions to our U-Hi educations, our difficult transitions into public school, and the nature of our adult vocations and avocations. Then, of course we took group pictures on the front steps of our beloved school. It was very hard to get in our cars and say goodbye. And we promised to get together again soon.

A great gift to us all are reunion books put together through Debbie Beyer’s hard work. There are pages about each one of us, including our responses to fifteen questions and photos of us, past and present. A forward written by Cindy Violet lists the philosophies of University School and memories associated with each. After the reunion, Debbie constructed a revised version that includes reunion photos and updates, then emailed it to all members of our class. A hardcopy of our 40th Class Reunion memory book has been

management and a writer; and Nick Wynne, an electrical-thermal engineer.

Some of the classmates who were unable to attend had very good reasons: Cristi Gibbons, an artist and musical performer lives in France; Skip Anderson had commitments as a musician, award-winning songwriter, and music producer; David Lovejoy was incommunicado doing field work and teaching in the mountains of Utah; Janet Spitz was on her way back to the States from Australia; Greg Voutyras had commitments to his children; Pete Dix was captaining a charter boat on Lake Erie, Brian Hazelbaker was stuck in California, and Beth Shrum Stewart was stranded by the airlines in North Carolina, half way here.

Of course, the best part of the reunion was seeing each other again. The foyer of Niki’s house was jammed with people who, upon entering, immediately stopped in their tracks to hug, shake hands, and jump right into conversation with friends from long ago. We eventually made it to the backyard for food, to meet spouses, and engage in more conversation. Names such as Jane Stewart, Roberta Utterback, Vic Showalter, and Jeanne Orr came up frequently, as well as requests for recipes for shepherd’s pie and Salisbury steak.

Though on the West Coast, Brian Hazelbaker attended the party via video chat. Everyone lined up to take turns looking at and talking with Brian. We may be getting older but we are technologically savvy.

Also of special interest was the tour of our old school building, including the secret bell-tower that had been off-limits to students. We spent some time in the now carpeted room that used to be our gym, talking about basketball 3

donated to the Alumni Association to be added to the archives.

It was clear during our reunion that University School had made a great contribution to our lives and that our bonds of friendship were long-lived and instantly re-ignited. It was the best reunion of all reunions.

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WHAT A GREAT IDEA!

of FB will be able to find you quickly.

The system sign up is free, it's fun to use, if you find it's not for you, you can drop out. If you don't want to get the Dummies Book you can get on to FB and just learn by doing or ask one of your friends for help. I think is a great way to keep in touch and it's a lot of fun just seeing who pops up. Try it, I think you'll enjoy it as I did.

You can find FB at www.facebook.com

An Introduction to Facebook

By Keith Bemis, 54 Facebook is a new way to find and communicate with AAUS classmates and alumni.

I recently signed up and am learning how to use this social networking site. If you are interested in finding old friends or AAUS classmates you may find Facebook useful. If you have your friend's e-mail address you can find them quickly. However many of us have changed e-mail and postal addresses or phone numbers and have lost touch with each other. Facebook makes it easy to reconnect.

There is a publication called “Facebook for Dummies”. I purchased this book and it is a great reference to help you become familiar with FB. When you sign up, Facebook walks you through the process. You can make as much about yourself public as you are comfortable with and still make it easy for your friends to find you.

You can also search for friends using their name (my daughter found there are quite a few Keith Bemis) so that didn't work well. If you know the persons' email address that will work just fine. If you are interested in finding classmates and alumni you can put in University School. However..... when I fill in “High School” the system attempts to help you by listing schools already in their system.

So I suggest that you use “Ohio State University School of Columbus”. If you enter the high school information that way you will be able to find alumni by using that search. If you already are on FB and you change your high school entry to the above phrase other members

CORRESPONDENCE From Robert Cawley, ‘46 Ohio State is going to the Rose Bowl, the pros are headed down the stretch to determine who will play in the Super Bowl and the hopes and dreams of football and basketball teams at Columbus high schools are at fever pitch. Just for a few minutes let’s salute University High School’s greatest football team. Remember these fellows played both offense and defense so there was no rest from the opening whistle until the final gun sounded. Our warriors in the autumn of 1945 went undefeated and untied and in the 1945-46 basketball season came within one point of moving toward championship honors. Herb Coon coached both teams.

Captain Martin Vorys was the “giant” on our hard charging line. Milt Van Schoik was a solid rock making tackles and throwing great blocks and Tom Kimball, Wash Smith, Herb Wiedemann were “go-to” receivers. Bruce Kennedy, Bob Hamilton, George Williams, John Barlow, Fred White and the rest of the linemen were all undersized to say the least. But what they lacked in size and weight never stopped them from being in the middle of each battle and they never

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BE A CONTRIBUTOR

backed down, no matter how big the other team.

Our backfield had magic. Whitney Dillon proved to be a great quarterback who could run, pass and defend. Norm Dunham was the answer to Woody Hayes’ “three yards and a cloud of dust”.

The super threat and touchdown maker was the great Forrest “Fogie” Allen who ripped defenses apart with his shifty running and power. Grant Cooke, also a fine running back, completed this package.

After U-Hi, Milt Van Schoik proved to be the rock of Gibralter for a Navy team that played top college grads on some great service teams including Randolph Field who featured All-American Felix “Doc” Blanchard at fullback. (He was also a Heisman Trophy winner) and super All-American quarterback, Arnold Tucker.

“Fogie” Allen set the all-time single season touchdown record at Greenbrier Military Jr. College and did it with both shoulders dislocated after being injured at training camp. At Greenbrier he attracted scouts from the Detroit Lions and they were waiting for his discharge from the service to sign him but he suffered an injury in Europe that erased all hopes of a pro career.

Whitney Dillon became a star on an Ohio State University tennis team.

The 1945 success was the result of great teamwork and execution on the field of play. It could be a Worthington, a Welston or anyone else, NO TEAM could beat U-High.

The 1945-46 basketball season that followed was just as exciting. If the three point rule had been in effect back then Milton Van Schoik would hold all the records. Once he crossed center court he was a scoring machine with his long shots.

Please contribute to the newsletter.

Thanks Robert, we haven’t had a good sports story for a long time. How about some more sports stories! What do you remember about your classes’ teams?

Ladies, chime in also. Were there any events, funny times, serious times, mishaps, great moments you remember?

We do have a long history of sports success. What are some of your favorites?

Also, which University School activities or courses, or teachers, affected any of your life choices or the career you chose? Or maybe it was just your favorite course because of the teacher.

We need articles (about U-Hi or anything else (shortish) you may have written), your current goings-on, thoughts, comments, anything. The newsletter is to keep us in touch with each other, let’s do so!

Send your writings to:AAUS, 587 Fox Lane, Worthington, OH 43085 or via email – jswhaueisen@yahoo.com (Also e-mail me if you wish to receive your newsletters via e-mail saving us on postage.)

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