Thank you for the news.  Fred was a very dear friend during our growing up years, but I lost contact with him afterward.

I hope that all is well with you.  We (Donna and I) are well.  We just returned from a visit with our children and grandchildren in Saratoga Springs, New York. Donna has a new horse and plans to ride her in endurance competition in a couple of weeks from now.  We live in an enjoyable, semi-rural community of Dows Prairie - McKinleyville, north of Arcata, California - less than a half mile from the Pacific Ocean. My brother, John, and his wife, Pat, live in Arcata, just a few minutes drive from us, and we have grandchildren living in Crescent City, an hour's drive north. Our other grandchildren, twenty-one in all, and children are scattered from Massachusetts and New York State to Kansas, California and Washington State.

We live an active life.  We own three horses and operate a small horse boarding facility.  We are active in equestrian activities, and we serve as mounted assistance for Humboldt Redwoods State Park.  I enjoy bicycling here, as we have a good network of trails and back roads with little traffic. I also serve as a board member and finance committee member for a local community services district - that provides water, sewer, street lighting, parks and recreation for a community of about 17,000. 

I retired a few years ago from forty years as a business school professor, twenty-five at Tulane University and the rest at several other colleges and universities.  Earlier, I worked as a chemical engineer for BF Goodrich and, briefly, for Essex as a manufacturing plant superintendent. 

I was privileged to receive a good higher education, thanks largely to our wonderful teachers at South Side.  I graduated from Purdue with a bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering and, later, from Harvard University with a doctorate in business.  My work often took me overseas, to Eastern Europe, Central and South America and China, where I organized and taught in executive education programs.

I would enjoy hearing from other South Side alumni (alumnae).

Again, thanks for keeping us posted.  I am grateful for the work you do.

Warmly,

Jim Biteman