Can you believe it? The Pine Ridge Rambler is a year old already. We've come a long way since last spring--our debut newsletter went to 22 alumni. This issue is reaching 34 of you!
See your faithful newsletter mavens celebrating another milestone (Gretchen's recent birthday--bet you can guess which one!):
http://pheasance.freeservers.com/photo.html
Have you visited the website lately? Try our new, easier-to-remember URL (the old ones still work):
http://members.fortunecity.com/pineridgeweb
We're linked to Fairfax County Public Schools' alumni page (http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/alumhome.htm) which features a blurb on our reunion project. Check it out! There are also links to other FCPS reunions--maybe ways to hook up with other Pine Ridge and post-Pine-Ridge friends of ours!
In response to queries and requests we've received, Yvonne has added a page for contact information for other Pine Ridge classes. If you have older or younger siblings, friends, &c. who were part of the Pine Ridge GTC program, please encourage them to check out the website. If they'd like to be contact points for their classes, have them write to [email protected].
Todd Pence, a PR alumnus two grades older, contacted us recently and has begun the effort to relocate his own 1980 classmates. Here's an update from Todd:
I have lots of exciting stuff to tell you about. The week after I first stumbled onto your page I went around in a daze, my mind dwelling twenty years in the past. As the week went on, my memories of Pine Ridge became a preoccupation, then threatened to develop into the proportions of an obsession. Yes, most of it was nostalgia for childhood, and it could be that I'm just going through an early mid-life crisis (scary thought!), but there was something else here far more important. I began to realize for the first time that I had been lucky enough to be a part of something really special, and had shared the experience with a unique group of people who were just starting to develop their personalities. I began to wonder: where are these people now? Do they remember me? Are they as adults anything at all still like the children I remember?
Soon I found myself inspired by your group's efforts to make my own attempt at contacting my former classmates from the graduating classes of 1980 and '81, the vast majority of whom I had not seen in over twenty years. So last Sunday, I began haphazardly searching for people on the internet, just to see how many e-mails I could turn up. That night I sent a small handful of e-mails out with the subject line "CALLING ALL PINE RIDGE GT ALUMNI!" The responses began coming in the next day.
By Wednesday I had ten confirmed e-mail contacts and had even received one third-removed contact (this means that one of my e-mails was forwarded to another graduate who forwarded it to another one, who then got back in contact with me. I located my fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Szabos. I also have several more promising leads that I haven't really begun to follow through on yet. This early initial success has led me to think about planning my own reunion for these classmates.
So this is my proposal to you. Would you at all be interested in a combination of our two efforts to make this Pine Ridge GT reunion an even bigger event? I feel that we would have much to offer each other in resources and abilities (let's utilize the cooperation skills we learned at Pine Ridge!) At least I hope you'll agree it's something we should think about and discuss further. Remember that the Pine Ridge GT program was only operative for a few years and the total number of students who passed through it probably wasn't much more than most fairly large high school classes (correct me if I'm wrong). Here is how things stand at this early point from my end: I'm just a guy working alone at the kitchen table in his apartment in his spare time trying what computer searches he can to locate people. The reality of a future reunion for the classes I'm trying to contact will depend upon (1) how many people I can contact, (2) the interest and enthusiasm expressed by those people, and (3) the help I get from them. Right now it's pretty much a pipe dream on my part. However, I have had some early success locating individuals and have still kept relatively close tabs on a couple of people throughout the year. A handful also attended high school with me, so I can use my contacts with the reunion committee there. Hopefully the people I have already contacted will be likewise inspired to supply and search out contacts of their own.
Then maybe this thing will snowball like a line of dominos (how's that for a mixed metaphor?) Whatever comes of this, I personally feel it can be nothing but positive. Most elementary school reunions are made superfluous by high school reunions in that the people you go to elementary school with are the people you usually end up going to high school with. However, our experience with Pine Ridge merits different consideration. We were all bused in from different parts of the county, and by the time we were in high school, we had scattered again and most of us lost track of each other. Even those of us who attended the same high schools were often isolated from each other by the various cliques which are an unfortunate staple of that particular institution. We have an opportunity to open a door to an important part of our pasts that has been closed for two decades now.
By Gretchen Kraft
We had chills and they were "multiplyin'." Yes, 1978 was the year of "Grease," both the movie and its ever-popular soundtrack. "Saturday Night Fever" (which was released in 1977) also recorded great success, including the top-selling album of the year and several of the top ten songs for 1978.
Included were the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive," "Night Fever" and "How Deep Is Your Love?" Also drawing moviegoers in 1978 were "Superman," "Animal House" and "Jaws 2." "Coming Home" and "The Deer Hunter" each won numerous Oscars in 1978 but I'm guessing few of us were watching those grown-up flicks back then. In non-movie music, Debby Boone was lighting up the charts with "You Light Up My Life." Included in the top ten singles for the year were "Kiss You All Over" (Exile), "Baby Come Back" (Player) and not-to-be-outdone younger brother Andy Gibb (with "Love is Thicker Than Water" and "Shadow Dancing," which ranks as the year's No. 1 song). On the album charts were Billy Joel's "The Stranger," Steely Dan's "Aja" and Styx's "Grand Illusion."
Third-graders and parents alike were watching some pretty terrible television. Among the top ten shows were "Laverne & Shirley," "Happy Days," "Charlie's Angels" and "Three's Company." Also drawing couch potatoes were "Alice," "M*A*S*H," "Little House on the Prairie" and "All in the Family." [As an aside: Writing these things brings back memories.
As I typed "Little House," I remembered sitting in the PR cafeteria talking to Amy Stults. I remember her telling me that her parents let her watch only one hour of television a week and she chose "Little House" for her precious hour. I remember thinking that Amy's parents must have been the meanest parents on the whole planet and how could you possibly watch only one hour of television a week? The horror! -- GK]
Familiar names were on the bestseller lists in 1978. Top-selling fiction included "Chesapeake" by James Michener, "War and Remembrance" by Herman Wouk, "Bloodlines" by Sidney Sheldon and "Fools Die" by Mario Puzo. Non-fiction bestsellers included books by humorist Erma Bombeck, runner Jim Fixx and famous daughter Christina Crawford ("Mommie Dearest"). Big news events for 1978 included the mass suicide at Jonestown, Guyana; the world's first test-tube baby; and Jimmy Carter's efforts to negotiate peace between Egypt and Israel. Successful people in the news included golfer Nancy Lopez, Jim Henson (and his beloved Muppets, of course), rocker Meat Loaf and model Cheryl Tiegs. Betty Ford, former first lady, surprised the nation by entering a drug rehabilitation clinic.
And last but not least, a little company called Sony invented the first portable cassette player, called the Walkman.
If you like the flashback, check out this website, where you can get news headlines, top songs, the price of gas and the average salary from the day you were born (or any other day). Just plug in the date to find out what was going on in the world back then.
http://it.lfmn.com/poll6.asp?uid=300601456&vc=2149&p=303
Unfortunately, we're still out of contact with Cathy Edmonds Wehibe and recently got rejection e-mails from Jill Hanbury and Marilyn Deady Paitel's mother (who had been relaying the newsletter to Marilyn). Does anyone have a way to reach these folks? If so, please write so we can get them back in the loop.
By the way, some folks have said they thought they could get in touch with this or that classmate (you know who you are). How's that going? We'd love an update!
Here's the latest on who we've contacted and who we're still trying to find:
We have some leads on the following folks, but haven't heard back from them and so could use more information:
We don't have leads on these folks yet:
While we still have a list of unlocated classmates, we will spotlight one or two each issue in an intense data-gathering effort. This issue we're looking at Jean-Paul Lacy and Colin Lang. Send in your memories and information and maybe together we can find J.P.and Colin.
Kinds of information to think about: did you know middle names or names of parents or siblings? Where did they go to junior high or high school? Did they move out of the area? Where and when? Have you had any contact since Pine Ridge? Where and when? Send in what you know, and we will compile and share it and follow any leads. Our goal: 100% location.
Of course, all the important people went to Pine Ridge, but we still made friends in junior high and high school. Here's the place to share information on those folks and post requests for contact information. If you have information to post or request, please send the name of the student and the name of the school.
Please send us an update on your life, post-Pine Ridge, for publication in a future edition. Here are some ideas to get you started:
We look forward to hearing from everyone and sharing our stories.
It's fun to catch up, but let's also take a look back. Tell us what has stayed with you all these years since Pine Ridge. Some possibilities:
Please send us your memories for publication in future issues. Anonymity granted upon request!
Though it's still a ways away, excitement is building for a 2002 reunion. Some folks have already volunteered to work on a planning committee. Let's hear from a few more of you and we'll announce committee members and start planning the affair.
Are you experiencing difficulty receiving this newsletter? Send a description of the problem. We are not technical experts but will do everything we can to solve the problem. The newsletter is also available at http://members.fortunecity.com/~pineridgeweb.
For those without electronic mail, please direct correspondence to:
or call:
Input from our widely dispersed readership has been slow. Let's see what we can do about that! We are accepting submissions of all types. Tell us what you're doing now, what you remember from the old Pine Ridge days, what the gifted program meant to you, what you'd like to get out of the newsletter and reunion project, what post-Pine Ridge information you have or would like, and more. We are also looking for slogans for the e-mail signature text--don't be shy!
Content depends largely on what YOU send in. Drop us a line; your classmates would love to hear what you have to say.
Be true to your school! Pine Ridge rules!