Friday’s registration began around 6:30 p.m. and was set up in the Starfish Room on the top floor of the Hotel. As each person signed in, Maureen Wuensch Varnes, Judy Ross McNeely, Bill Hofstetter (Priscilla Keeton’s husband) and John McNeely (Judy Ross’ husband) passed out nametags and yellow bags. Inside each bag included a JHJ Directory listing classmates and faculty as well as “In Memory” pages of classmates and faculty no longer with us. Also enclosed in the bag was a writing pen which had a clear barrel and gold lettering – “JHJ Class of ’66” imprinted, as well as a special JHJ CD. The CD contains songs that the Golden Falcon Band recorded in 1966 on a 45 record which included Anchors Aweigh, The School Song & Fight Song as well as a well-known band song, Gallito, Paso, Doble. Judy Ross McNeely burned all the CDs from this 45 record. She also designed the cover. Each person was also given a pearl gold/white tankard with gold lettering – “Jesse H. Jones Falcons 40th Celebration” and our Falcon mascot imprinted on it. The tankards were donated to us by ProfitPlus – Ronnie Wright, one of our former teachers (coach). Through the assistance of Ms. Adele Rogers who is the present principal at Jones High School, our mascot “Freddy” was there, which by the way looked a little different because of a “new” paint job. We displayed several items that we had used for decorating at past reunions – the “Silver Quarter” at the 25th, and the “3 and 0” pinatas at the 30th. Also displayed on the tables were trophies and plaques that we obtained in 2001 plus more trophies and plaques that we obtained this year. These treasures are from the years of 1960 – 1968 and of course they included the prized State Basketball Trophy that we won in 1965 and the Championship Rotary Plaque. Judy Ross McNeely brought the large framed “entire class” picture, several picture albums of high school years and past reunions, as well as her 1964, 1965, and 1966 yearbooks. Jeanne Horn Ryan (Mrs. Larry Ryan ’63) brought a 1959 yearbook too – this was the first yearbook printed for Jones High School. Her Dad, Jim Trevathan, was one of the first of 52 teachers that taught at Jones, and this was his yearbook. Karen Davis DeBerry also brought 1965-1966 Gauntlets to display as well as pep ribbons we wore during football and basketball games. We all enjoyed looking through all of her “treasures”. There were also displayed 4 “In Memory” posters of pictures of classmates who are no longer with us made by Tonia Granad Hall as well as 2 boards of pictures (pictures taken from the yearbooks) showing all who were attending the event. The boards were entitled “Find Us – We are Here!!” made by Judy Ross McNeely.

The Friday night event was held on the top floor in the Viewfinder Terrace Room (just a short distance from the Starfish Room) which is a room surrounded by floor to ceiling glass windows and beautiful views of the Pyramids of Moody Gardens, as well as Schlitterbahn and Galveston Bay. The Hotel also gave us access to the Hotel Bar area which is between the Viewfinder Terrace Room and the Starfish room for overflow seating. In this area we were fortunate enough to have a pianist playing beautiful music on a grand piano which was nice for listening and dancing. The food served included cold cuts, cheeses, breads, assorted fruits as well as party mix and pretzels. Soft drinks and beer were offered, and there was also a cash bar. There were several teachers who attended Friday night – Ruth Quaintance, Dorothy Bowman and Betty Tevis (Smith). When they entered the room, we all yelled and clapped, and many hugs and kisses were given. Several people started looking through their directories and called those not present telling them they were missed. A phone call was also made to JoBeth Williams Pasquin who said she wanted to be with us but her son was graduating from high school this very weekend. In all 167 people attended Friday night.

After the Friday night event, we all went to the Hospitality Room. Our large Hospitality Room was located on the first floor of the hotel and poolside. This room had an adjoining terrace which was the length of the entire hotel room wing. It was a wonderful place for the overflow people to sit and visit. The room was used the entire weekend, day and night, for people to gather and visit. There was also food and drinks available to all, which were brought by different ones who wanted to help. Donna Townsend Wuensch handled getting all the food and drinks for the hospitality room. She is always a wonderful hostess!! Thanks to all who helped her and brought something to share with everyone. We had a wonderful time Friday night visiting to the “wee” hours.

Saturday during the day, people took advantage of the different things to do in the city of Galveston. Some played golf (Randy & Shirley Schiamara & William DeBerry and John McNeely-Judy Ross’ husband), some swam in the pool at the Hotel (Bill Atessis, Ginger Hammett Calhoun, Delores Cherry Burdick, Barbara Johnson Dustin, Richard Valley and George Goff to name a few) or got a massage in the Hotel spa, some enjoyed the activities of the Pyramids of Moody Gardens (David & Becky Laich), some went to Schlitterbahn, some shopped on the Strand (Beverly Weingartner Silhavy and Kathy Wenglar Skinner, and David & Becky Laich) others toured the homes and palaces in Galveston as well as the many museums – like the Railroad, Texas Seaport, Elissa, and Star Flight Museums to mention a few, some laid out on the beach (Peggy Bearden Browne, Bonny McCauley Carreker, Vicki Stone Peterson and Susie Wimberly Knowles), some went and saw the Sand Castle Display (people were building sand castles on East Beach), some went to a dance recital of the granddaughters (wonder who that was Bobby Varnes & Maureen Wuensch Varnes?) and then others just stayed around the Hotel or the Hospitality Room and visited (Brad Stratton, Bobby McClure, Bobby Wuensch, Donna Townsend Wuensch, Judy Ross McNeely, Karen Davis DeBerry, Barney Bolt, Tommy & Joyce Barbazette, Bill Martin & his parents and brother, Nicki Harris Ballard, Jodie Ross Wurzbach, Ted Scruggs, Cheryl Craig Lawrence, Trudy Skiff Laifer, Yvonne Marcuse, Betty White Coscio, Janice Salzman Crow, Dick Shaw, Betty Tevis Smith & her husband Bob, Priscilla Keeton & her son and family to name a few). Coach Joe Sturdivant came to the hotel around 10 a.m., ate breakfast at the restaurant, and went to the hospitality room where he stayed several hours visiting and telling football stories and experiences he had at Jones. Van Brown and George Cox accompanied him. It was a good day of relaxing and visiting.

Saturday night around 7 p.m., the JHJ 40th Celebration was continued in the main Ballroom of the Hotel located on the first floor. Two registration tables were set up in the lobby where our JHJ Class of ’66 Banner was displayed as well as our 25th Silver Quarter. Maureen Wuensch Varnes and John McNeely (Judy Ross’ husband) were at one table and Bill Hofstetter (Priscilla Keeton’s husband) and Judy Ross McNeely were at the other table. As people arrived, we had everyone sign in, and then those who had not registered Fri night, received their nametags, directories, CDs, pens & tankards. Jodie Ross Wurzbach sat at the entrance of the ballroom and gave each person ½ of a red ticket and the other half of the ticket was placed in a bowl for the drawing of one of our 36 door prizes. Inside the ballroom we had several tables with Jones memorabilia including yearbooks, Gauntlets, pep ribbons, trophies and plaques. We also displayed the 4 “In Memory” posters as well the 2 boards of people who were attending -“Find Us – We are Here”. We also had the decorations we used for past reunions on display, and hung the Banner – 30 Something Together – which we used at our 30th. Snacks of party mix and pretzels were located throughout the ballroom and beer and soft drinks were offered. There were also 2 cash bars. The table centerpieces supplied by the Hotel were mirrors, lily bowls with flowers and votive candles. The dinner buffet was called “The Captain’s Table”. Appetizers and salads consisted of chilled Gulf shrimp with red and remoulade sauces, fried crab balls with red & tartar sauce, chicken tenders with honey mustard dipping sauce, sliced tomatoes and fresh mozzarella in a basil vinaigrette, and mixed greens with orange and grapefruit in a citrus vinaigrette. The choices for the main course were chicken anglaise, fried shrimp with red and tartar sauces, roast sirloin au jus with horseradish. The vegetables were carrots, green beans and potatoes. Bread was also included. For dessert there were chocolate covered strawberries, éclairs, mini cheesecake and brownie bites. Everyone agreed the food was delicious!

Around 7:45, Bobby Wuensch gave a short welcome and acknowledged all the teachers present. He also acknowledged a few special people – the first being Danny Beavers who came all the way from Okinawa, Japan, to be with us, and also Ronnie Wright, for the donation of the Falcon tankards he gave to all the classmates and teachers. Each one of these men was presented a gift certificate as a token of our appreciation. Then the serving line was opened for dinner. Bobby requested that we honor our teachers that were present and they were to be served first. Those teachers in attendance on Saturday night were Kathryn Batek and her husband Ted, Beverly Green (Crockett) and her escort Rick Wark, Melinda Friou and her husband Jim, Jack Grochoske, Ed Landry and his wife Hallie, Robert Montgomery and his wife Julia, Charlotte Ragsdale, Larry Roberts and his wife Shirley, Dick Shaw and his wife Anita, Betty Tevis (Smith) and her husband Bob, Ronnie Wright and his wife Dotty Sue, John Zumwalt and his wife Barbara. We felt honored that they would join us for this special 40th Celebration. Door prizes were given out every 30 minutes beginning around 8:30 p.m. The door prizes included gift cards from restaurants – Perry’s Grille, Black-eyed Pea, TGI Fridays, Chili’s, Luna’s, Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, any Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Red Lobster, etc) , Tortuga, Cracker Barrel, Gaido’s, Ninfa’s, Pappas, Niko Niko’s, Demeris BBQ, Chesterfield’s, Domino’s Pizza, Damian’s, State Grille; and gift cards from Lowe’s, Wal-Mart, Academy, Bed Bath & Beyond, HEB. Starbuck’s even donated several pounds of Starbuck’s coffee. There were also 2 sets of tickets for 2 to the Astro games donated by Wuensch Sales (Bobby Wuensch & Maureen Wuensch Varnes), a 1974 US coin Proof Set (6 coins) donated by Faye Green Fowler and her husband Thurman Fowler, two $50 gift cards from Academy donated by BV Marine (Bobby Varnes), and a one night stay at Moody Gardens Hotel with tickets for 2 to all the Moody Gardens Attractions donated by Moody Gardens. We thank all of the donors for their kindness and generosity. A special thank you goes to Louie Gavrel for obtaining some of the restaurant gift cards to be used as door prizes for our event. The door prize winners were: Shirley Roberts (wife of Larry Roberts, coach), Charles Akin, Charlie Whatley, Sonia Mitchell (John Mitchell’s wife), Linda Abbott Davis, John Elam, Karen Davis DeBerry, Barron Cagle, Sandra Chesser Harding Wicker, Peggy Bearden Browne, Johnny Meyer, Whit Reader, Bobby McClure, Lucian Epperson, Liz Berner Michalak, Susan Scruggs (wife of Ted Scruggs), Betty Tevis (Smith) (teacher), Drayton Fults, Linda Schroeder Ferguson, Steve Schaeffer, Gary Pick, Vicki Trible Payne, Elaine Pitre Schild, Cindy Estopinal Spurger, Kathryn Batek (teacher), Robert Flandry, Sherrye Letz Schaatt, Skip Key, Pam Foxworth Brandon, Marquita Walker Cantwell, Kenny Hayes, Bill Martin, Patsy Kintz Thomson, Anita Shaw (wife of Dick Shaw, teacher), Jodie Ross Wurzbach, and John Zumwalt (teacher). Also present both nights was Nate Shuffle, a photographer with Imagin8 Photography – 281-648-IMAGE (4624), e-mailnate@imagin8.net This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it – who took a “million” pictures. He is selling this special JHJ DVD for $30. He even had people bring their own digital cameras to him and he downloaded their pictures that night so they could be added to the special DVD. If you are interested in buying one, please get in contact with Nate.

After dinner, the DJ, Jimmy Werbiski, played 60-70’s music for listening and dancing. Around 9 p.m. however, we had a special break from the music, and surprised everyone with the playing of part of the special JHJ CD that everyone received. The first song played was Anchors Aweigh which is the song the Commodores marched – Trudy Skiff Laifer and Cheryl Craig Lawrence marched on the dance floor and showed us they could still remember the “Cadence”. Then the school song and the fight song were played. Everyone stood and sang – and would you believe, most everyone remembered the words. During the playing of the fight song, some of the Coops and Commodores did their hand motions as they had done when they performed during the football games or pep rallies. Some of us remembered how to move our hands!! Mike Connell later in the evening came to the microphone and thanked all of the committee for all of their hard work and everyone stood and gave a round of applause. A surprise moment was when Bobby Varnes came to the podium and said that this was a special day – June 3rd – which was Jodie Ross Wurzbach & Judy Ross McNeely’s birthday. Everyone sang Happy Birthday and Bobby sang backwards?!? This was very special to both of them!! When the dancing and visiting finished in the ballroom, the party continued in the Hospitality Room. There was a large birthday cake for everyone to celebrate Priscilla Keeton Hofstetter (May 27th) and Jodie Ross Wurzbach & Judy Ross McNeely’s birthday. Many laughs, stories and special memories were shared in to the “wee” hours. In all 236 people attended Saturday night.

Since the reunion, several people have sent pictures to the committee to be included in the special JHJ 40th Celebration DVD and/or to be added to the website. We hope you will look at these pictures on our website and remember a fun-filled weekend that we all enjoyed. Our 40th Celebration was a great success! Now, let’s all look forward to our 45th in 2011.

Judy Ross McNeely

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