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My trip to Dallas
Texas to attend my 50th High School Reunion was an incredible visit, it
was overwhelming, it was fun, and I just had a blast. First, I went with
my dear friend Martha Trumpf Bellomy to the Friday afternoon Historical
presentation on the front steps at North Dallas High - our building is
now a historic preserved building (a plaque was placed on the front
steps) and our high school can never be torn down. All of the Dallas
dignitaries were present for this event and wonderful speeches were made,
later there was a cake cutting in the upstairs library, and newspaper
photographers were taking photos. In fact, the Ft Worth Star Telegram
newspaper and KRLD radio interviewed me as to how I felt about my high
school, and why I was so emotional at the event. They had seen me
wiping my eyes and ran over to me for an interview sticking their
microphones in our faces (Martha and Marie) so I told them why and about
our 50th reunion!
On Friday night,
Martha Trumpf Bellomy (I was staying at her home) and I went to the Adams
Mark Hotel for the Appetizer party, and I was overwhelmed to see all of my
old friends and hugging everyone's neck. I was very excited! Later the
S. J. Hay bunch of kids all went to eat dinner together at the West End
"On the Border" cafe. As we all were eating delicious Mexican food, I
realized that I had known some of these kids from grade school for 58
years. I had to get all of my yakking out of my system and was enjoying
hearing how each of the other kids had survived their years since
school. Most of them still lived in the Dallas area and some of us were
living in California now - like me. On Saturday morning, we went early to
our high school again to get some practice in before the assembly show
(after the assembly later - a Brunch was served in our old cafeteria) on
our auditorium stage. Beverly Mahoney Jones asked me to direct and get
the acts all lined up for the show. It was a mad house and as usual that
old Murphy's law was in play as we didn't get much accomplished except to
arrange the stage setting before the crowd came into the building (the
show started at 10 oclock). The whole assembly idea was wonderful!!! I
enjoyed every minute as I was laughing so hard at all of the skits, the
actors (Martha, Mindy, Anna, Bob, Buddy, and Beverly were at their best,
funny acting, ad libing behavior that morning and the audience was
roaring with laughter) and others on stage in other acts (Charlotte
Whitefield Zerbe, Jeannine Conn Frank), and Joy playing the piano with
special songs by Bitsy singing love songs were terrific too. Our MC was
Bill Swann (lives in San Diego/Mexico area) and he was an incredible MC
(a Bob Hope clone). Bill kept the show moving and introduced the
acts. Here is a copy of that program |
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Dear NDHS Class
of ‘52, and our Friends in the Classes of ‘51 and ‘53, It’s a wrap! Our
50th North Dallas High School Reunion is over!!!
Friday evening: A lot of time was spent Friday night at the mixer looking
closely at each other’s name tags and then up at faces until recognition
dawned. We were all astonished at how good we all looked, and how glad we
were to see each other!
Saturday morning Assembly: The assembly was a "blast from the past" here
are some highlights: MC’d by Bill Swann, he was hilarious and by
introducing the acts kept the assembly moving, A flag ceremony was
performed in Revolutionary costume lead by Bill Bellomy (Martha Trumpf's
husband) and his friends, Old jokes and corny skits ( Penny Merle with
Martha Trumpf Bellomy, Cluck, Cluck Chicken with Mindy Rogers Hosey, Anna
Frazier Uecker and Bobbiee Darrell and Feste his adorable dog stole the
show), The Dentist‘s Office skit with our real dentist portraying a
dentist was Buddy Patterson, also with Beverly Mahoney Jones and Marie
Brunson Keeter, Some singing real talent from Bitsy Watson Gibson, and Joy
Collins Almaas as accompanist on the piano, Final act was singing our Alma
Mater, a teary send-off to our beloved high school from the class of 1952.
Our photo was taken on the front steps in our new ORANGE tee-shirts,
please note there are still a few photo copies to be had at $3, if you
would like one,
The noise at Brunch in the cafeteria surely rivaled that at our past lunch
periods. Four current, delightful ND students led us on tour of the
building after Brunch, Saturday evening, we gathered again for dinner,
looking fabulous of course, and loving the 50s music. The dance floor was
never so packed that we were bumping into each other, but there was lots
of dancing, and later in the evening, Bobby Bohne seemed to accumulate
multiple partners (he is a good
dancer),
We were entertained by more talent from smooth, songster Bobby Phillips
singing 50s tunes. A special treat was a talk - maybe more of a
stand up comic act by Rose Mary Rumbley (ND Class of 43), she is historian
of the school district. She had us in stitches with stories about our
teachers.
Awards were given out for such achievements as the longest marriage to the
same person, "Commitment" (Beverly Alexander and Darrel Keathley),
"Newlyweds" (Bitsy Watson and Roy Gibson, also James and Carol Brennan),
"Perseverance" (Anna Frazier Uecker), "Productivity" for the most children
(Pat Chaney Schroeder with six), "Stamina" for the most grandchildren
(Louise Deen and Jack Stewart with 14), "Ancestor" for the most great
grandchildren (Ron and Lois Richardson), "Farthest Distance" traveled (Ken
Shaw, Portland Oregon), "Perpetual Student" for the most college degrees
(Esther Hagg with four, Bob Darrell qualified but left too soon),
"Unchanged Melody" for looking most like the picture on the name tag
(Dianne Sutherland Hernandez), "Survivor" for looking better than the name
tag (Joy Collins Almaas by a landslide)! Memorabilia boards were
displayed at all the events along with photos of all the departed
classmates, that we have been informed about.
The committee was graciously thanked with cards and yellow roses (flowers)
at the Banquet. Marie Brunson Keeter got the ball rolling on
searching for Bulldogs over the Internet, on planning, and did an
outstanding job along with Martha Trumpf Bellomy on the assembly; Martha
also helped with searching and calling, and recruited husband Bill as
photographer and flag bearer; Anna Frazier Uecker searched, communicated,
databased, and providing mailing labels; Jeannine Conn Frank was our hotel
liason, finding us an affordable one, and negotiating details for months,
also decorations; Mindy Rogers Hosey found, negotiated and worked with a
printer who did our beautiful announcements, and our ORANGE tee-shirts;
Dianne Sutherland Hernandez responded to our plea for an artist to do our
name tags, also she designed and prepared the tribute to our deceased
classmates; Melvin Weinberg opened a service-free checking account, kept
track of incoming checks, and disbursed checks for expenses; Beverly
Mahoney Jones chaired the event and tried to keep ahead of all the
details.
Apologies for perhaps being overly sentimental, but I (and from the
feedback of others) was at times overwhelmed by the emotions evoked by
seeing so many of us all together, sharing, and having such a good time.
The love and energy at each event were obvious. It seemed to me that we
were truly blessed with our school, teachers, and classmates, and perhaps
took it all for granted - which we certainly no longer do!
Thanks to the Bulldogs who attended, and to the numerous generous
donations, we easily met our expenses. Just waiting now for the final
accounting to see how much our class will be able to donate to North
Dallas HS. Whatever this turns out to be, it is an appreciation for the
education we received at North Dallas, and an expression of support for
the efforts still in evidence there.
During our ordeal of planning - we thank all the ND staff for being
overwhelming helpful, and our observations of their interchanges with the
diverse student body were characterized by interest, goodwill, and sincere
caring. At this time, it appears that we will be able to show our
gratitude with just under a thousand dollars. Several folks expressed a
desire to add to this, and those donations will still be gratefully
received.
There are still a few copies of the "Orange Book" for sale for $5,
containing copies of the Questionnaires that were returned and the best
mailing list we could get together (error already detected: Al Blevins’
email is: <mailto:vab78230@aol.com>
vab78230@aol.com , and Martha
Trumpf Bellomy is: <mailto:billbellomy@attbi.com>
billbellomy@attbi.com ... there
are surely others). As mentioned before, there are a few school photos
available for $3. All the ORANGE tshirts are gone!
I have set up a YAHOO Photo Album site with six photos and will change it
every couple of weeks till all have been shown:
http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/bjonesoct17/lst?.dir=/ND52Reunion&.view=t There
will be a video available for $29.95 from Bob Farrar. Those who
registered should get a card from him in a week or so. If you were not
registered and would like to buy a copy, please contact him at: Bob
Farrar, 6527 Shady Brook Lane #3135, Dallas TX 75206; 214-369-4350.
Identify NDHS’52Reunion, and the date May 3-4. Please send me photos of
the Reunion.
Love - and to quote those autographs in our annuals: Stay as sweet/swell
as you are!
Beverly Mahoney Jones, on behalf of all the Committee.
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