Karen McCarty (Messina)

James A "Jim" White

 WHO WOULD HAVE THUNK IT? I mentioned some time ago that I use to think I had a twin. My parents were good friends with Bill Sloan's parents. I forgot who was first but one of our fathers called the other set of parents and said, "We have a baby boy." That evening the other father called back and said, "Guess what? We have a baby boy." Billy and I were born on the same day and since or families were so close and visited often, I thought Billy and I were twins until age 5 or so when I was told otherwise. Well, that twin kinship must still be working. 

Bill and Margie knew Kathy and I were in Florida. They knew we would be going somewhere near their town today as we transitioned to another RV park in central Florida, but they had doctor appointments in another town so we could not catch up .... that is .... unless Bill and Margie happen to pass an RV on the Interstate (they did not what road we would be taking or what size, kind, color or RV or that it was a 5th-Wheel) and phone us and said, "I think we just passed you." Really? Are you kidding? They did not recognize the 5th-Wheel or the Washington license plates but we happened to be following a gray Nissan and they were in it. Was my driving so bad? What identified us? What are the chances for a chance sighting and hookup on the Interstate? 

Jim White and Bill Sloan on April 16, 2019.

Karen McCarty (Messina)

Karen McCarty (Messina)

Mardi Gonyea (Nicklin)

Bill it looks like you are healng well. The staples will come out soon enough and that will be progress, for sure.

Reminds me of all the staples I had in the top of my legs when they did a muscle transplant to rebuild my abdominal wall....which later did not take!

Terry, you are so right about selecting the right surgeon to do the job. My brother who was career US Army, and one year younger than me, put off his knee replacement until the enth second. He had a good surgeon. If he hadn't been in such amazing health, we would have lost him. Shortly after his surgury he had an esophogial and abdominal rupture. They had to transfuse blood to him in the amount of almost 5 pints. He has now had a full recovery but it was hugely a close call. Like I said, if he had not been in such tip top physical shape (ran track in high school and was a Jump Master with over 150 jumps under his belt) the doctors said he would have been a "gonner."

I'll tell you, this aging process, many of us watching different body parts mal-function, need to be replaced, fall apart completely is something a whole bunch of us had NO clue what we were signing up to face....but, as they say...and when "they" say it, we feel liking slapping "them," "beats the alternative!' Besides, even IF we did know....who the heck would have believed them!! Thankfully, each day I DO wake up....I am a really happy person....and I stagger to the kitchen for my coffee (a remedy for a whole host of ailments...ha).

OK, Jim, I KNOW you and Billy have the extra terrestrial antenna and NOW I am convinced of it!! You two better buy a lottery ticket, because the odds of you two meeting up like that are just crazy!!

Oh by the way, I have been meaning to ask you all....Are any of you watching the new series on the channel called the CW, the new version called, "Roswell, New Mexico." Originally, I was going to watch it just out of curiousity, but here I am watching and keeping up with it every week. It doesn't have any recognizable landmarks, IF it is even shot in Roswell. The storyline is pretty corny...but, for some goofy reason I keep watching it. Hmmmm maybe I have an extra-terestial connection to it...Ha.

Luv N Hugs,

Mardi

Gilbert "Butch" Colbert

The CW show (Roswell, New Mexico) is filmed in Santa Fe and Las Vegas (NM) so it doesn't look like Roswell.

Charles J. "Chip" King

Butch,

These movie makers gravitate to the communities who offer the biggest financial incentives and are located close to the subject.

A poorer community like Roswell, is at a disadvantage when affluent cities like Santa Fe offer higher incentives to film in their cities.

Margaret W. "Peggy" Ware (Koger)

Jim, that was a guardian angel watching over you for sure!  Glad you go to visit with your twin. 

Bill, that is one helluva scar! I hope you are able to to sleep.  God love ya! 

Laurie Anne Shuey (Andersen)

Happy Passover today, Happy Easter tomorrow.  Happy Spring to all!  We have been spared tornadoes and floods suffered by friends in other areas, and the softball-sized hail predicted for last week turned into quarter-sized icy spheres.

Bill Leggett, I hope that you recover quickly from your back surgery.  I need the same operation, but my husband's five spinal surgeries for 13 degenerating vertebrae in the last two years took priority.  I'll write more about Agent Orange in another post.

I will be in the Washington, DC (my birthplace) area June 27- July 6, 2019.  The first three days will be for a reunion of students that I taught in England. The rest of the time I will visiting with family and friends.  Will any of my RHS/GHS classmates be in that area during that time?  Please let me know if you would like to get together.

I love the new forum set-up.  Thanks to all of those who made this possible.  

James A "Jim" White

 HAPPY EASTER everyone. Believe it or not, Kathy and I did get up and made it to a sunrise Easter Service. HE has risen indeed.

Our deepest sympathy goes out to US Navy veteran, KEITH BURKE, who just lost his mother this past Friday. We are so sorry for your loss, Keith. I know she was friends with many including TOMMY HOLLINGSHEAD.

LAURIE SHUEY ANDERSON, we will most likely miss connections in Washington, D.C. While we will be driving up the east coast about that time, I am purposely avoiding the D.C. area while I am pulling that 4-Story building lying on its side that BOYCE McFARLAND gave us so we could have this adventure. I am sorry to miss you but Kathy and I are going so far west to avoid D.C area, you will be able to find us in Nashville, Tennessee before we continue to Connecticut. Give my Texas twin a hug from me.

While at BILL SLOAN's home this week, we looked at his yearbooks. I do not have one and, as you may know, am not in our senior annual but still love to see people I know. Two of them are in the below picture - TOMMY HART and BRENDA RIDENER. Since TOMMY never reports in, like 90% of you (ha), here is what little I know. Tommy says, "Everything else is falling apart but my voice is still holding on." Did you know Tommy has performed in all 50 states? He use to go to Paris nearly every year, sometimes to perform, sometimes because he just loves that city, and the fire at Notre Dame has devistated him. Tommy has more offers to perform than he accepts so that is nice. After his performance yesterday, Tommy was flying to LA to record something secret, like a possible pilot for TV show. He does not even know until he gets there and, of course, he has signed a non-disclosure agreement. BRENDA RIDENER, let us know what you are doing. Since I am in Florida, how are your Florida grandchildren doing?

While Kathy and I were in Austin, Texas and visiting with LINDA HENRY CROWDER and LABAN and BRENDA STEWART, we stopped by the most famous Honky Tonk there, the Broken Spoke.

This was almost two months ago when I spoke with the owner of the club. He told me George Strait had just been there and they were going to use his club on the cover of his next CD.  Guess what I saw in Walmart today? Yep, George's "Honky Tonk Time Machine" C.D.

 Two classmates who have CD's that you cannot go wrong with are BOBBY ALLISON and JERRY ROBBINS. Kathy and I listen to both every day whether we are driving or just sitting by our lovely camping spot or beach. I have no idea if JOHN LESLIE WOLFE has a CD out, but once I did purchase his deck of cards.

I see that BETTY McCOMBS has a birthday this week. Let me see, who was I talking with this week when I was talkiing about her?  ha ... just kidding  (yeah, right). And MARIANNE COONS McCULLOUGH and CRAIG SUTHERLAND, did you hear Billy and I speaking about you?

BILL LEGGETT, both of my brothers, Don and Bob, always defended me .... and, yes, there are many stories. Most we cannot tell. Thanks for keeping the website home page timely. Oh, and while I hope to visit with BILLY SLOAN one more time before moving on, I will be seeing the famous disc jockey turned NASA computer guru, CHIP KING, and his lovely wife, BONNY, in three weeks. Now, everyone else, make like MARDI GONYEA NICKLIN who recently let us know about her trip and what she was up to.

William Samuel "Bill" Sloan

Margie and I had a GREAT time with Kathy and Jim. While they were in the area we went to the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg (see photos). We are looking forward to seeing them again on the way north from Key West. And you all know Jim and I stayed up late telling each other stories about the rest of you (and ourselves).

Laurie Anne Shuey (Andersen)

Tell us more about Chip and Bonny King. Disk Jockey, where and when? NASA geek, where and when? Did he work with Hank Garrett?

James A "Jim" White

REST IN PEACE JOY BURKE - Many of you remember KEITH BURKE. Keith's mother, Joy Burke, funeral is set for this Thursday, April 25th, at 11:00 a.m. at Highland Baptist Church. I hope Roswell classmates or those living nearby that knew Keith will go to the funeral to show our class support for this wonderful woman, florist, parent, nature lover. Also, you may double check the time as I read one place the funeral was at 10am and others, including newspaper, at 11am. Keith is a great guy, a retired Navy Veteran, currently an active camper and hiker. This is one of the few times you will be able to catch Keith in Roswell. He lives in McAlester, Oklahoma.

To answer other questions, CHIP KING was a radio disc jockey in Roswell until he moved to greener pastures and larger radio station in Florida. He sticks to his story that he was not asked to leave town by Lt. Frank Hale (Roswell PD) who many of us knew. In Florida, Chip met a lovely and vibrant young lady name BONNY, who worked for a competing radio station. Somehow, they managed to get together and make it last. Bonny obviously has the patience of Job. As to how Chip got involved in computers and then working for NASA, I have no clue ... but he was involved in every moon/space shot for about three decades. On his own time, Chip created and ran a commmunity bulletin board for Electric Island. Yes, Chip is fortunate to live on a stunning pretty island off the Florida atlantic coast, south of Datona. Chip did not work with HANK GARRETT. Hank, I believe, worked at Lawrence Livermore Labratories closer to San Francisco, and Chip was working at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

BILL LEGGETT - glad the staples are out and hope the fused back vertabraes are improving daily.

Mardi Gonyea (Nicklin)

Hi classmates...

Wanted to drop in and say hello. I enjoy all the postings and enjoyed geting to see the posts from all the Easter celebrations that were posted on Face Book. I mean to tell you, there are some beautiful children and grandchildren among us. Also enjoy the beautiful Easter postings and spiritual postings on Face Book as well.Originally, I wasn't going to do Facebook, because I would have my family send everything through my email. The engagements, the weddings, the children being born and a whole host of other events got missed through the emails so I finially had to give in and set up my page. It has been a joy to see all the "goings-on."

Before I go to the next subject, I wanted to send my sincere condolences to Keith Burke regarding the loss of his mother. Prayers coming your way Keith for your precious loss.

I am going to "bounce-back" to the subject of Face Book. Recently, one of my close friends learned, and many of you may know this, got "sucked-in" to a FB hoax that just makes me livid every time I think of it. Remember this....IF it looks too good to be true, IT IS!! Also, remember, IF you're gut is telling you something is NOT right, listen to it!! She was on her FB page. She has been wanting a partner but has not wanted to go onto the sites in search of one, especially, for many reasons. On this particular time she got a friend request from what turned out to be a four star General in the US Army. Shortly after she "friended" him, he told her to go into "Hangouts" so they could talk privately. That "should" have been her first clue but for some alluring reason she didn't stop there, she signed onto Hangout. The conversation's were very friendly, very inviting and VERY realistic. A couple of the days into the back and forth conversation's she came over and started telling me about the convincing picture, the bio, and the story. As she was telling me this, red flags were waving like the fourth of July in my head!! I started telling her about this part, and that part that just couldnt be true. Even though we are good friends, she made the choice to continue the conversations that turned into phone calls, all against my advise to do so. I had my retired US Army career brother, and even myself, went onto the guys site to see if he was a legitt person. My brother told me that the chances that he would have "picked her out" of the thousands of person's who friend people on FB, would just pick her out at random. She came over a couple of days later and read me one or two of the texts. I told her, "I love you dearly, I have to tell you, THESE are not the kind of messages or conversation's a person of this caliber would send out to someone...it is just NOT. She went the next day to upgrade her phone. She shared the situation with two of the techs there. They sent her to a site called, "Google.com/check." Something like that. On that site it showed her the exact picture of the General and underneath it, it showed that "FAKE" messages had been used over and over using this man's profile, his bio and his FB information.

It made me even more livid when she was told that these "fakers" are using mostly military people;s sites to get away with this crazieness. Incredibly sad.

You know....or you may not know....I am not what you could call incredibly "computer-savy" especially when it comes to all the very updated technology but this I do know and can advise: (1) If you use Face Book, set your security settings to apply to ONLY the friends you wish to have in you're circle. If you leave you're security settings to apply to the general public, you are opening yourself up for a whole host of preditors. There are a gazillion of them out there. (2) DON'T post where/when you are on a trip, or when you are going or when you will be returning. There are probably a whole host of "Dont's" from members here on our site that should apply so if you would like to post additional things to watch for, feel free to do so. ALL advise is surely welcome. It breaks my heart to see people who are so kind, so giving, and who would like someone in their life to share life with, to see them getting scammed.

I love you all....be careful out there. Luv N Hugs from Mardi

Karen McCarty (Messina)

Thanks for the warning dear Mardi. Something so innocent looking turns out to be a scammer in disguise! How awful for your friend to be taken in so easily it seems. I don’t even understand what it means to go to a “hangout?!”  Or even how to navigate there? I have read that can happen in other social mediums like Instagram too. Warn your friend to not accept friend requests from anyone unless she actually knows them “in person!”

Mardi Gonyea (Nicklin)

The passing of an upper classman.....

I got news yesterday that one of our upper classmen has passed. His name is Tommy Hargrove. He is married to Oretta Thompson Hargrove, RHS 65. They had been life long friends when they married. They still live in Roswell. I don't have any more details other than he had pneumonia and had been in ICU when he passed. A very amazing guy, a heart of gold, and a humble man. Oretta and my sister, Madge are best friends.

James A "Jim" White

Thank you, Mardi Gonyea-Nicklin for informing us of Tommy Hargrove's passing. If anyone else ever knows of classmates passing, please notify us. Also, give your children's our address (or mine, JWhiteCLU@aol.com) in the event of your passing so we will know.

Happy Birthday today to Smitty Smith (now living on a beautiful ranch in Hondo) and sweet Jill Webster, who helped us on reunions. Normally, this would be confidential but since Jill informed the classmates at our Ft. Worth mini-reunion, so I hope it is okay to repeat. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Jill has been diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimers. If you would like to write Jill a card and do not know her address, please write me a private message and I will give it to you. Her husband, Harold, is doing a yoeman's job. Thank you, Harold, for taking care of our sweet Jill ... er ... your sweet Jill.

Gayle Moore DiOrio, you moved recently. Have you update your contact info on this website? How about the rest of our classmates? We are a moving lot, it seems, so update your page so we can contact you if/when we have another reunion or activity.

Boyce McFarland should return from Sweden today. We hope "Mac" had a terrific trip and wish him the best with all the changes in his life. Now, the rest of you, please write your story and let us know what you are doing.

As for Kathy and me, we went to Key Largo Friday night and visited the actual club (Caribbean Club) that Bogey and Bacall filmed KEY LARGO in. We have done a few other things, like go on airboat rides down Alligator Alley (Cooperstown, FL), but tomorrow, Monday, will be the first of ten days on the Florida Keys. Don't think I have fallen off the earth if I am not visable for while. Again, go ahead and write and let us know what you have been up to.

Karen McCarty (Messina)

Deborah Pike

I love the Home Ec class. What was that girl's name?

By the way, my daughter has been telling me how weird I am and she said that that book about aliens just gives her proof that her mother is an alien. I don't understand why she thinks that; I talk about Roswell all the time, I love Star Trek, I like to ride mules down cliffs, have 2 black belts in Karate, liked being a corrections officer, put strange colored streaks in my hair! None of that is weird! Is it?  

Oh well, Kids Now-a-days   Debbie

Mardi Gonyea (Nicklin)

Heyyyy Classmates...

I hope this finds all of you having a blessed day.

First off, I have to make a HUGE apology. I posted that Tommy Hargrove had passed. I must have been having a serious senior moment. It was TOMMY GRAVES that passed. I am so sorry for the mistake.

I have had a history of calling people the wrong names, Some of you may have read in one of my previous posts, as I do a comedy routine of calling people by the wrong name. In case you didnt read it. it went something like this:

In about 1968, I wasn't yet 21. I still lived in Roswell. Hitting the local bars was a week-end thing. On one of those nights I came into one of the bars. I was by myself. I saw standing at the bar a very tall handsome sailor. He gave me a friendly smile that said, "I know you." I did the same. So we had some drinks at the bar and danced and laughed a lot. During the course of the evening I called him Mickey. So it was, "Mickey this and Mickey that." Later, he asked if he could drive me hope. I said, "OK." When we got to my place he kissed me goodnight. Our conversation continued and I invited him in. I continued with calling him Mickey. He was getting a little frisky. I said, "Mickey, we should go out to dinner tomorrow night." He stopped. Dead silence. He then said, "That sounds good but I have to tell you, my name is not Mickey." Could there be an bigger rocks to crawl under! Throughout the night he hadn't called me by my name. Many of you know, I have the sister one year older named Madge. A lot of people confused us saying we looked alike. I didnt see the resemblance...but, that is just me. The next thing he said was, "i apologize, could you please tell me if you are Madge or her sister?!!" We both had a really good laugh and yes, he did take me out to dinner the next night.

I have to laugh at Debbie's comments about the things she did....and the things our children do and have done. Yikes, there is no way I can tell my son now or in the past that he can't do something because he is going to do it and in doubles!!

Be safe out there. Luv N Hugs. 

Deborah Pike

Mardi,

I know what you mean about memory of names. So I started taking Prevagen and and now I never forget where I put my keys. But???? uh! what's your name again

Debbie

Margaret W. "Peggy" Ware (Koger)

Deb, you’re a bad ass! Two black belts! 

Bill, how is your back feeling now that all the staples are out?  That’s an impressive photo!

Mardi, You’re a hoot! Keep those stories coming ! 

James A "Jim" White

James A "Jim" White

Karen McCarty (Messina)

Thank you for the funny story Mardi. I actually laughed out loud ... and I am by myself! Yes, I do remember Tommy Graves. I may have had a class or two with him. So Mardi, what is the story about him? Did you get the news from your sister? Debbie, I am impressed when I hear someone has earned ONE black belt in karate....how do you earn TWO black belts?! I’m sure you could defend yourself in a pinch! Have you moved to New Mexico yet? By the way, is our class planning a 55 yr reunion,  and if so, what year would it be? Stay happy and healthy everyone!