Touring the Rolling Foothills...

On Saturday before the big reunion event I took a trip back to FUHS... to the buildings we adored...

...the ones we'll love forevermore...
I walked the hallowed hallways... looked in the windows ...
Wondered why they paved the grass between the buildings...
Thought it sad to see the lockers being held hostage...
But there were so many things that seemed mostly unchanged... a few things renamed...

It was quiet on campus that day. I walked from one end of the property to the other. I reflected on what FUHS had meant to me. It represented stability, peace, sameness and family at a time when the world and my own sphere offered few of those characteristics. It was a good and safe place to grow up.

Even though I didn't get to talk at length with many of you, it was wonderful sharing the reunion weekend with you. Thanks again to all who made it possible.

Blessings,

Susan (Suzi Krueger) Ford

More photos to come

Hey Everyone,

I'm still trying to figure out how to transfer the photos from my camera to the computer. Once that happens, we'll have a lot more photos to look and laugh at. Glenda and I are still enjoying the weekend and hope to keep in touch with everyone now that we are getting older. If any of you are ever in the area (Oregon) and need a place to stay or use as a base camp, just let us know, you are all welcome. Either give us a call at 541 517-3110 or email at polingward4@comcast.net at least an hour ahead of time and we will have a place for you to stay. It was a great weekend and was fun catching up with some of the old friends and reconnecting with others. Keep in touch!!!!
George & Glenda Poling

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO SEE FRIDAY NIGHT PHOTOS OF REUNION

I couldn't stand it. This morning I had to try to get a photo album going that we could all share. I'm not sure if this is going to work the way I hope it will. What I'd like to create is a place where we could all post our photos, but at the very least, I've got my photos posted of Friday night for you all to look at. If I did it right, the tags I added to the pictures will identify everybody too. Hope it works. (Can you tell yet that I don't necessarily know what I'm doing when I start something. I'm the kind who jumps into the pool and then figures out how to swim...) I'd appreciate feedback on this. If any of you know how to do this better, I'd love your help!!! Otherwise, I'll just keep muddling around with it. The link to the photos is printed below in lavender type.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/fuhsclassof1968/

A Gift

Now that I'm a senile old lady (according to my daughter who is 21 and knows everything) I can say things without embarrassment that would have been impossible 40 years ago. The reunion was magical and over far too quickly. I may not have recognized some of you, but when I looked into your eyes I found the person I remembered from long ago and far away. All y'all are my history and influenced the woman I became. I can say with a great deal of pride that I love you all and thank you for giving me the pleasure of seeing you again.

I spent the weekend with Lynne at her childhood home. After about 38 years we took up right where we'd left off. I kept waiting for her mother to pop out from around a corner to give us that "I know that you two are up to something" look that she had so perfected. I left the North County in 1975 and have been back only a couple of times since then. The changes astonished me but the old Fallbrook is still there. Lynne and I (with her sister Cheryl Phoebe Ann) walked Main Street and popped in and out of shops and felt up the merchandise and had a grand time. I was astonished to peek in the window of the old record store (where I bought the latest KCBQ hits on 45) to see that it was frozen in a time warp, complete with rocking chair in the corner. I looked over my shoulder but Rod Serling didn't step out and announce that I'd crossed the border into the Twilight Zone - but it sure felt that way!

Hearing of classmates who had died saddened me. They are missed but I'm sure all of them were there, just around a corner, taking in the joy of the occassion and smiling and shrieking with us. They know that they are remembered and still cherished. I got to thank Mrs. Bridges for being such a wonderful teacher and putting up with my eccentricities and giving me the freedom to think about things from another angle. I told Frank Ausilio of how he influenced decisions I made years after the last time I saw him - and those were good decisions. I saw old friends I thought I'd never see again and the glow hasn't left me yet. I was deposited with a thump back in Texas on Monday but I'm still remembering and smiling.

It was an amazing time and thank you all for being there!!

MJ Dumas Johnson
who found out she lives only about 50 miles from Gordon!

What a hoot!

Hello Class of '68!
Thought I'd share these 'then and now' shots of George Poling and Karla.... 1964.....8th Grade!!.....hey a bit of hair color change!....otherwise we're just the same....inside!
I had a great time at the reunion and I hope to hear from youall..... I live in beautiful Bend Oregon and would love to have a visit from you!
ph: 541 633 6301
Karla Proud

ABOUT THE PHOTOS

I thought that it was going to work out to post everybody's photos to this site but I don't think that it's designed to do that very easily, and I'm a little disappointed by that. I'm open to suggestions about how to handle our snapshots from the reunion. I'm sure there's a way to do it, but it's almost midnight and I'm too tired to try to figure it out right now. If one of you wants to do it, please be my guest! Just let the rest of us know what we need to do. If nobody else figures it out, I'll do it later. (I'm pretty sure that there's some kind of on-line album that we can co-create...I just have to hunt around to find it...and now isn't the time for me to do that).

THE NEW SENIOR QUAD

Well, Classmates....putting that reunion together wasn't enough work so, in order to keep myself busy, I've decided to create a place where we can get together more often than every 20 years. I've never made a blog before, so forgive me if it's rudimentary. I'm hoping to create a place where we can all post our photos from the reunion, maybe write a note about what we enjoyed most about it, and just kind of continue the party that we got started last weekend. If the truth is told, it was just too much fun seeing all of you to just let it slip away....so let's keep it going! Here's my offering:

Some of My Favorite Reunion Moments were:
FRIDAY NIGHT

• hearing a brand new round of squeals whenever someone new walked through the door
• figuring out who in the heck the big guy with the long hair was (Gordon Page!)
• throwing a bottle of cold water on Kent Kimball (sorry....I don't know what got into me....)
• finding out from Ole that gas in Norway is considerably more than twice what it is here
• hearing from Penni that she will always love me (I will always love you too, Penni!)
• seeing Fred and Sheryl still together after all of these years and looking JUST LIKE THEY DID 40 YEARS AGO!!!
• seeing Gracie Socha looking so beautiful
• and laughing with Gracie Cheney and talking astrology
• sitting off by myself for a few moments and watching you all connect with one another. That was SO SATISFYING! THANK YOU DUANE AND SUSAN FOR PROVIDING US WITH SUCH A PERFECT KICK-OFF FOR OUR REUNION. And thank you, Mindi, for coordinating that event for us.

SATURDAY NIGHT

• seeing everyone walk through the door and burst into a broad smile when they saw the room full of friends for the first time
• having the teachers there, smiling and laughing with one another...and being able to say "thank you" for all that they gave to us
• singing our Alma Mater when Bud Roberds walked into the room
• Bob Jensen filling up the room with his voice and getting everyone's attention when the PA system didn't work
• the moment of silence. Thank you for that, Bob.
• the trivia game. Great job Marie and George!
• the wonderful booklets! Thank you Debbie De Jong!
• seeing all the "old jocks" sing "When I'm Sixty-Four" Oh my gosh!! This alone was worth every minute of work that went into the reunion!
• Vickie Pitcher Penrod and her husband smiling and laughing with one another as they sang "I've Got Friends in Low Places"
• Fred's song!
• Kent's song! (You've both still "got it"!)
• Patty Bolton winning the INCREDIBLE PRIZE donated by Mindi & Trees Baker of a ONE WEEK STAY at a resort anywhere in America or Europe!!!
• the beautiful earrings from Karla and the viking ship from Ole (thank you both so very much for sharing your SELF with me!) and all the kind comments from everyone
• and, of course, sitting in the spa with Darlene afterwards, talking about how great it was to see all of you again...about how lucky we were 40 plus years ago to have had such a great place to grow up...and how lucky we are that we are still able to come home to it and find it not so very different than it was back then...

SUNDAY MORNING

• fabulous food! Thank you Kathy Chown Geyer and Marie Strobl Lackey!
• Thank you Terry and Tom for opening your home to us. It was PERFECT!
• finally being able to sit and relax and visit without having to think about anything else
• sunshine and shade and friends and catching up
• talking with Lynne, Marijayne, Bob, John, Frank, Candy, and Eric and finding out how much we all had in common
• knowing that Gene would be able to take all the receipts and the checks and make it all add up right! GENIUS!