The JHJ 50th Golden Reunion Celebration was held Friday & Saturday nights, May 13 & 14, 2016, at Moody Gardens Hotel in Galveston. We had 194 attend on Friday night, 248 on Saturday night, & had over 100 rooms reserved at the hotel for the weekend. There were classmates from Austin, Milby, Spring Branch, Sterling and of course Jones. Classmates represented the years of 1961 – 1970. The hospitality suite was open Friday and Saturday and was located on the first floor poolside with a large adjoining terrace.
On Thursday morning, May12th, we received an e-mail from HISD & JHJ that they had a special gift for our Class of 1966. We had planned to have Freddy, our mascot, at the reunion but we were told that Freddy was in “fragile condition”. After discussion, we felt it best not to have him be a part of the reunion weekend – he’s just too old (he is over 50 years old you know!) We informed HISD & JHJ that we would not be including Freddy. However, instead, they surprised us and gave us a special 50th Reunion Banner – the front of the high school building on the left side of the banner, Freddy on the right side of the banner and in the middle “JHJ Class of 1966 50th Reunion”. What a wonderful surprise & definitely will be a special treasure. We truly appreciate HISD’s and JHJ’s generosity in helping us celebrate our 50th.
On Thursday afternoon, some of us checked in early – Priscilla Keeton Hofstetter & Bill Hofstetter, John & Sonia Mitchell, Cheryl Puckett Bolt, Bobby & Maureen ‘67 Wuensch Varnes, Bobby & Donna Townsend ’67 Wuensch, Larry ’63 & Jeannie Horn Ryan, Hank & Sharon Harmon, Jodie Ross Wurzbach, and John & Judy Ross McNeely. Bobby, & Maureen, and Bobby & Donna set up the hospitality suite, Priscilla & Cheryl looked over the Garden Cay & Flora Hall event rooms pertaining to decorations, John, Sonia, Judy & John helped Jodie transport all of the silent auction baskets & raffle baskets from our 3 cars to her hotel room. Then we all gathered in Judy & John’s room and unrolled the banner given to us by HISD and JHJ. Everyone loved it. Larry & Jeannie Horn Ryan were also there for the unrolling. Everyone went out to dinner and back to their room for a good night’s rest to get ready for tomorrow’s event.
Following a leisurely morning, around 2 pm we started bringing a few items down from the hotel rooms to display for the Friday night event in the Garden Cay room – located just off the hotel lobby. Judy had made 2 enlarged posters – one of the Bird Boys – Larry White, & Neely (Cookie) Cook with Sir Frederick which was placed on the mantel of the fireplace (the center of the room), as well as an enlarged poster of Mrs. Caroline Ivy, Freddy & Mrs. Louise Oglesby (taught English 1963-1964) which was placed in the pool room. Judy also had the large panoramic framed picture of the entire 1966 graduates that was on display on the memorabilia table. Priscilla had brought the “Silver Quarter” used at our 25th reunion and we put that on display also. Judy also brought a Commodore sweater, Bobby Wuensch’s letter sweater, a framed picture of the 1964-65 All City football team & a magazine picturing the 1965 State Basketball Champion team. Bobby Varnes brought the 1966 All City Baseball trophy and Judy brought a few other trophies from the 1960’s era. Tonia Granad Hall made the “In Memory” Boards (9 of them) – classmates that we have lost through the years. John Williams surprised us all and brought in a 15-foot banner of the large panoramic picture of the entire JHJ class. We all signed our name on or near our picture. It was fun to try to find ourselves plus other classmates. This was really special and so glad John had this made to share with all of us. Larry ’63 & Jeanne Horn Ryan brought festive gold arrangements and also some festive multi-colored arrangements that were placed around both event rooms. She also had a bunch of cut outs of songs popular during the 60’s, and also cut out pictures of places where we used to go during the 1960’s (Lowe’s, Metropolitan, Majestic, Teen Hall, Mount Carmel, etc). These print outs were placed on the pool tables and were great conversation pieces. Larry brought his 1963 FFA jacket which was displayed also on the memorabilia table. Priscilla then set the tables in place for the photographer and videographer as well as a table for the raffle baskets – all inside the Garden Cay room. Moody Gardens workers put up both of our banners – the gold banner of the JHJ Class of ’66 and then the special 50th Reunion Banner given to us by HISD and JHJ. Several people stopped by to see if they could help – Brad Stratton ‘64, Max Williams ’65, John & Sonia Mitchell, Jodie Ross Wurzbach, Cheryl Puckett Bolt, Dolores Cherry Burdick. & Pat Blasingame Thompson, Sandi Fish Peppeard and others.
After we finished decorating, several went to the hospitality room for snacks & drinks. Dolores Cherry Burdick, Sandi Fish Peppeard, Virginia Goff, Chet Sawyer, William DeBerry, Sharon Dunsirn ’69 & Dan Cusick, & Donna Townsend Wuensch ’67 were sitting outside on the terrace – it was a beautiful day. David & Becky Laich, Pat Blasingame Thompson, John Williams, Max Williams ‘65, Clinton Holder, Karen Davis DeBerry, Cheryl Puckett Bolt, Brad Stratton ‘64, George Goff, Tommy & Joyce Barbazette, Jodie Ross Wurzbach, Judy Ross McNeely, Bobby Varnes & Maureen Wuensch Varnes, Bobby Wuensch, Larry ’63 & Jeannie Horn Ryan & John & Sonia Mitchell were just some of the people that were there.
The Friday night event was held at the Garden Cay room located just off the Hotel Lobby. Registration began at 6:00 pm and the event room opened around 7:00 pm. Between 6-7 pm people visited in the Hotel Lobby Bar area. At registration, each person received their nametag & a JHJ lanyard, a JHJ 50th Reunion koozie, and each person picked up a program for the weekend events. You could also purchase a JHJ directory for $10 each (there were only 100 printed so it was first come first serve). Raffle tickets were also sold. Those helping Jodie Ross Wurzbach were Becky Laich (Dave Laich’s wife), Virginia Goff (George Goff’s wife) and Claudia Connell (Mike Connell’s wife). The food served was beef taquitos, chicken tenders, assorted vegetable tray, assorted fruit trays, cheese tray, party mix, water, soft drinks & also a cash bar. The food that was not consumed that night was brought to hospitality room to share during the weekend. It was great to see everyone there! Unfortunately, some did not attend because of the horrible weather and traffic jam on the Gulf Freeway and they turned around and went home – but we still had 194 attend on Friday night. There were lots of hugs & smiles all around the room.
After our Friday night event, we continued the party in the hospitality room – drinks & food were available. Besides Bobby & Maureen Wuensch ‘67 Varnes & Bobby & Donna Townsend ’67 Wuensch, the others that helped in the hospitality room or those that brought paper goods, food & drink were Virginia & George Goff, Cheryl Puckett Bolt, Jodie Ross Wurzbach, John & Judy Ross & McNeely, Bill & Priscilla Keeton Hofstetter, Bobby & Maureen Wuensch ’67 Varnes, Becky & Dave Laich & Bobby & Donna Townsend ’67 Wuensch. Fun was had by all till 2 am.
Saturday morning some of the guys played golf – Larry White, Coach Ronnie Wright, Charlie Walker & John McNeely (husband of Judy Ross McNeely). We were to begin decorating around 11 am but Cheryl Puckett Bolt and her decorating team got there early – Priscilla Keeton & Bill Hofstetter, Judy Ross McNeely, Linda Price Thompson, Melanie Wallace (friend of Linda Price Thompson), Pat Blasingame Thompson, William & Karen Davis DeBerry, Adrienne Aubrey ’67 & Johnny Meyer, Linda & Gus Voelzel, Virginia Goff (wife of George Goff), Jodie Ross Wurzbach, Pat ‘65 & Jimmie Cowey Bennett, Carole & Skikp Key, John & Sonia Mitchell, Larry ’63 & Jeannie Horn Ryan, Barry & Sharon Metting Renfro, Mary Heitman Jones (Jane Heitman’s sister), & Cheryl’s daughter Erin Harper Rose and Cheryl’s granddaughter were just a few that helped. Goldenrod overlay tablecloths were placed over the white round tablecloths, mirrors – square, round or octagon shaped were placed in the center of the tables, different shaped glass bowls were placed on the mirrors, and candles were put in some of the squatty bowls and gold branches to fill in the bowl. The taller bowls had golden tree branches coming out of them with cutout pictures of people from Barney Bolt’s 1966 yearbook that hung on the branches. Barney was there in spirit and enjoying the celebration. Also had triangle cut-out pictures and placed them outside the mirrors. The Falcon pins, the chocolate gold coins, and clear decorative marbles were placed around the mirrors in the center of the table. There were also golden balloons around the room – some with “50” on them. Tommy & Joyce Barbazette, Karen Anthony Craig, Sharon Oberhoff White, Linda Eckerman Lumpkin, Pat ’65 & Jimmie Cowey Bennett, Mike & Claudia Connell, Mike & Sonia Mitchell, & Virginia Goff (wife of George Goff) helped to bring the silent auction baskets down from Jodie Ross Wurzbach’s hotel room to the event room. After the items were in place, Sharon and Karen helped spruce up the baskets. Tables for the photographer and videographer were placed in the foyer and a table for the raffle items were placed next to the registration table. The easels for the “In Memory Posters” were placed in the foyer area as well as a memorabilia table too. Dale Thorton ’65 brought his Birdboy Jacket and was placed by the picture of 1966 Birdboys – Larry White & Neely (Cookie) Cook with Sir Frederick. John Williams brought his 15 foot banner of the panoramic picture of the class for more people to sign – it was placed on the memorabilia table. Also on the memorabilia table was a Falcon taken from Karen Davis DeBerry’s Co-op uniform and other small poster size cut-outs from Jeannie Horn Ryan including the School Song. By the way, our School Song was written by her Step-Dad Jim Trevathan and the lyrics were written by her Mother. Mr. & Mrs. Trevathan also chose the school colors – gold and white – and named the Falcon as our school mascot. Larry Ryan’s ’63 FFA jacket was also on display at the memorabilia table. Moody Gardens hung both banners – the gold Class of ’66 and also our new Banner from HISD and JHJ celebrating our 50th reunion.
After most of the work was complete, some headed to the hospitality room to visit, eat & drink. Some of those that enjoyed Saturday afternoon in the hospitality room were Kenny Hayes, George ’67 & Diane Hughes, Danny & Mary MacFarlane, George Crockett & his wife Judy Modiselle Crockett ‘70, Lucien & Edla Epperson, George & Virginia Goff, Dave & Becky Laich, John & Sonia Mitchell, Johnny Meyer and his wife Adrienne Aubrey Meyer ’67, Jimmie Cowey Bennett & her husband Pat Bennett ’65, Sharon Dunsirn Cusick ’69 and her husband Dan Cusick, Max Williams ‘65, Betty DeLeon Aadnesen and her husband Chris Aadnesen, Dolores Cherry Burdick, Skip & Carole Key, Charles Browning and his brother Jim Browning ’63, Frances Browning, Doug Johnson, Clinton Holder, Marlene Bachmeyer Smith and her husband Paul (PJ) Smith, Butch Robertson, Tommy & Joyce Barbazette, Bill Martin, Dave & Becky Laich, Clinton Holder, Judy Ross McNeely, Tonia Granad Hall, Bobby & Donna Townsend Wuensch, Lucien & Edla Epperson, Brad Stratton, Maureen Wuensch & Bobby Varnes, and Jodie Ross Wurzbach,
Saturday night registration began around 6 pm in the foyer of the Floral Hall dining rooms on the 2nd floor of the hotel. For those that only came Sat night, after checking in, Bill Hofstetter (Priscilla Keeton’s husband) & John McNeely (Judy Ross’ husband) gave each person their nametag & JHJ lanyard, and a JHJ Reunion koozie. Also had the JHJ directories for sale for those that wanted one – $10 ea. A program for Fri and Sat nights was also given to each person. The Raffle items and the sale of raffle tickets were sold during the registration time. When the doors opened to the event room around 7, the raffle items were moved inside near the Silent Auction table. Becky Laich, Claudia Connell & Virginia Goff helped sell more raffle tickets. Food was served around 7:30 pm – boiled shrimp, fried shrimp, mini meatballs, garden salad station, Southwest eggrolls, potato wedges, fried zucchini, bacon wrapped chicken jalapeno bites, crab cakes, slow roasted sirloin station, turkey breast station, buffalo wings, water, soft drinks & a cash bar. Glenn Ballard (wife of Nicki Harris Ballard) and his company “Sounds World of Lighting” played music throughout the evening – 50’s, 60’s & some 70’s music furnished by George Goff. Even had dancers out on the dance floor. Bobby Wuensch welcomed everyone to our 50th Celebration and introduced the 2 teachers that were present and thanked them for coming – Coach Ronnie Wright & his wife Dottie and Beverly Green Crockett who taught Math and who is the mother of Scott Sands. Bobby Varnes thanked all of those that worked on the reunion – from those that helped in locating classmates & teachers by phone calling, or writing letters, decorating, working with the JHJ website & JHJ database, silent auction, raffle, & hospitality suite. Lots of people to thank! Then a special part of the evening. Bobby recognized all the veterans and thanked them for their service. The veterans all stood and got an overwhelming applause. Then Glenn Ballard played the song – “Proud to be an American” by Lee Greenwood in honor of our own veterans. Hard to hold back the tears. Then Bobby asked for all to stand to sing the school song lead by Jeanne Horn Ryan and Pat Blasingame Thompson. Most people remembered the words even tho they were written on the back of the program. Bobby Varnes announced that dessert & coffee were served – a special “50th Reunion” cake with the large panoramic picture on top of the cake – plus cookies, blondies & cookies. All the food was delicious.
The silent auction & raffle brought many winners – those that won something in the silent auction were: Cheryl Puckett Bolt, Claudia & Mike Connell, Pat ‘65 & Jimmie Cowey Bennett, Kathy Corbin Carter, Mark & Pat Blasingame Thompson, Glenn & Jamie Bruce, Linda Price Thompson, Melanie Wallace (friend of Linda Price Thompson) Joyce & Tommy Barbazette, Mary & Danny MacFarlane, Danny & Sheila Meyers ’67 Beavers, Glenda & Leon Albarado ‘64, Anita & Gary Holmes, Barry & Sharon Metting Renfro, Sonny & Cindy Estopinal Spurger, Tommy ’67 & Kathy Twiford, Eddie & Bonnie Grien ’65 Barnett, Ginger Twiford Winningkoff, Carole & Skip Key, Cherie Atkins ‘63 & Robert Young ‘62, Susan Temple ’67 & Larry Foxworth, Charles Browning, Sue Reid Bragg, Pat Twiford (Sterling ’68) Carty (sister of Ginger Twiford Winningkoff & Tommy Twiford) Drayton & Ann Fults, & Vilia & Buth Robertson. Jodie Ross Wurzbach then pulled out names from the raffle bucket for the raffle item winners – Eddie Pace (Wando Jo Baker’s husband) won the watercolor artwork from Delton Gerdes ‘68, Sharon Dunsirn Cusick ’69 won the free night at Moody Gardens Hotel with a bottle of champagne & 2 glasses, 2-$10 gift cards to I-Hop in Galveston & an antique map of Galveston from the Land Commissioner’s office signed by Jerry Patterson ’65, an Astro basket was won by Alexis Ferguson, granddaughter of Linda Schroeder Ferguson, Mary MacFarlane (wife of Danny MacFarlane) also won an Astro basket & Linda Schroeder Ferguson won the golf bag, golf club, accessory bag with tees & golf balls, & bucket of La Cantera golf ball lip gloss.
Scott Sands – President of the mid-term class of ‘66 – also gave a short welcome and introduced Cindy Estopinal Spurger who was one of his officers. Cindy was the Chaplain of the class – how appropriate, she even married a preacher. After Scott’s welcome, we had the group picture of the class of 1966 taken by the photographer Steve Steinle (Cherie Steinle wife was his helper). Pictures were printed that night – but some decided to wait and order them after the reunion – they will print them & mail them to each person with mailing charges. We had 248 people attend Saturday night.
Those that attended either Friday and/or Saturday who came in from out of State:
John Williams, Mission Viejo, California; Max Williams, Jacksonville, Arkansas; Clinton Holder, Slatington, Pennsylvania; Pat Blasingame Thompson and her husband Mark Thompson, Clemmons, No. Carolina; Trudy Skiff Laifer and her daughter Alessandra Laifer, New York City, New York; Glenn & Jamie Bruce, Paris, Tennessee; Peggy Bearden Browne, Littleton, Colorado; Chet Sawyer, Monument, Colorado; Bonny McCauley Carreker, Hinesville, Georgia, Bill Martin, Clearwater, Florida; Bobby & Rita Martin, Bellevue, Michigan; Robert Flandry, Spartanburg, So. Carolina; Whit Reader, Wichita, Kansas, Gary Rawlings, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Anne Murdock Elwood and her Neil Craig from Henley on Thames, England (she lives in England ½ of the year and Houston ½ of the year)
We are so glad that each of these could join us for our 50th Celebration.
After tearing down the event room – off to the Hospitality room for more visiting and celebrating our 50th. Some people that joined in were: Scott Sands, Lucien & Edla Epperson, Judy Ross McNeely, Jodie Ross Wurzbach, Joyce & Tommy Barbazette, Bill & Priscilla Keeton Hofstetter, Jimmie Cowey Bennett & Pat Bennett ‘65, John & Sonia Mitchell, Johnny & Adrienne Aubrey Meyer ‘67, Valia & Butch Robertson, PJ & Marlene Bachmeyer Smith, Max Williams, William & Karen Davis DeBerry, Chet Sawyer, George & Judy Modusette ’70 Crockett, Brad Stratton, Skip & Carole Key, Eugene Smart, John Williams, Gus Voezel, Kenny Hayes, George & Virginia Goff, Charles Browning and his brother Jim Browning ’63 & Frances Browning.
A big thank you goes to Bobby & Donna Townsend ’67 Wuensch and Bobby & Maureen Wuensch ’67 Varnes for hosting the hospitality room for all of us to enjoy. Also a special thank you goes to George & Virginia Goff for all of your help.
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