1951 Class Newsletters

Well, folks,

It's time for another newsletter.  Since our reunion I've received a couple of notes from classmates.

One from Corrine Fisher.  Among other things she says:

"I was glad that the Camp Whitley situation was brought up. Most of my summers were spent there leaving a lot of good memories. I did not realize they were in a difficult situation now."

"There was a lot of very good planning that went into the reunion and I applaud all for their time and effort. 

"It was very good to see so many of the classmates in good health and so active in whatever area life had taken them into. We have a class to be proud of."

Corrine also commented that her friends were impressed with the account of our reunion.  And I have to say that my conversations with friends indicate that few have as consistent and well attended reunions as our class.  I guess
I'm feeling pretty cocky about the Class of 1951 these days, but when I think of how we were always in the shadow of the class ahead of us when we were in school...........  As a group we have nothing to be ashamed of.

Many of us enjoyed Camp Whitley and it continues to be a good summer program for kids.  They operate on a shoestring, and I'd like to see some kind of endowment or fund large enough to insure continued operation for years to come.  I'm not sure who in Whitley county is in charge of the program, however.

One very important thing I omitted from the last newsletter.

Jim Pletcher made it all the way from California for this reunion, and most of us had not seen Jim since high school.  He was immediately recognizable.  Other than adding a few years, he was the same Jim.  Jim told us how he had appeared in a movie.  So, many of us have seen him, but just didn't know it!  The movie is "All of Me", starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin.  Jim sings in the choir at his church, and they have quite a good musical reputation.  There is a scene in the movie that takes place in a church with choir singing in the background, so, naturally, they used Jim's church and choir when they filmed  the movie.  It's a funny movie, worth renting for laughs and to see if you can spot Jim.

Ralph L. Shoda passed away on Aug. 4, 2009 at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne.  He worked at Fibre Form and retired from Magnavox as a
mechanical engineer. He then worked for Kelley Automotive.

Ralph was a Korean War veteran. He and his wife were owner-operators of Shoda's Miniature Wonderland in Fort Wayne. He was a member of the New  Haven Jaycees.  He is survived by his wife Agnes M. Shoda of Fort Wayne; two sons R.L.Shoda of New Haven and Kevin (Claudia) Shoda of Fort Wayne; two brothers Paul (PJ) Shoda of Columbia City; Raymond Shoda of Perrysburg, Ohio, a sister, Marilyn (Paul) Johnson of Columbia City, a stepson John Lee (Joy) Ellis II of Weatherford, Texas, five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Tonya Shoda.

Also received a note from Carol Heidenreich:

"As usual our summer has been been dominated by our annual medical, dental and eye appointments.  Lee and I both acquired two hearing aids this summer and I will have two cataracts removed in August.  We have medical people we see while we are in Florida but we use them only for emergencies while we are there.  We will have to miss Lee's class reunion in Minnesota in August due to my cataract surgeries but we will be able to attend his large family reunion in Minnesota this month."

"This year marks the 50th year that Lee and I have both lived in Rockford, Illinois.  Lee and his deceased wife moved here in 1959 and my deceased husband, Dean Magley, and I moved here in 1959.  Our paths never crossed until we were both widowed.  At that time we found out that we had several mutual friends, however, and we lived only a few blocks from each other."

On a personal note, the Kellogg house has been in an uproar the last month or so.  My youngest daughter, Athena, was married (again) on August 1.  Since she's nearly 50 years old, I didn't expect such ado with all of the preparations,
but then, I'm a man.  I made her wedding dress, and that required several fittings, etc.  Yes, you read that right.  I made her wedding dress.  I spent lots of years as an "efficiency expert" industrial engineer in the garment industry. This meant that I had to have a thorough knowledge of how garments were assembled, and determine the most efficient way to do it.  By way of home work I made some of our kids clothes and made several of Ellen's very elaborate party dresses, bathing suits, etc.  (Back in those days, the fitting was the best part, so long as we didn't get side tracked for too long)

Please feel free to send me a note with updates on you or your family and I'll include the information in my next newsletter.

And, visit www.cchsaa.org to update your information.  Also do everyone a favor, and update information on your brothers, sisters, cousins, fathers, mothers, etc. that attended CCHS.  The Columbia City site is one of the best
Alumnae sites around, and will be used for reference by genealogists for years to come.  Our class is a leader as far as information on the site goes, and updating our relatives would give it a big boost, too.

Best Wishes,

Bob Kellogg, AE4IC@att.net
Greensboro, NC