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06/23/09 04:35 PM

#179

Gosh its time for the reunion! I am so excited that so many of you are coming Friday night. Just wanted to let everyone know things are going to get started around 7:00. We will serve buffet style some great Mexican food and my ladies are fixing some really good eats for you guys. All you vegetarians will be delighted to know that we are cooking up veggie tamales and several other fresh vegetables. The buffet will be $15.00 (includes tax) We don't take checks but cash or credit cards work. We will have set ups and plenty of ice, but it is byob. We do have lots of tea, lemonade, and soft drinks. Several of our classmates are planning to play and sing, so we have mics and everyone is invited to participate. Think some from other classes are going to join in as well. Please feel free to bring a guest. There is parking available in the evenings all around us so don't worry about that. Well, I guess that pretty well sums it up. Very casual too!!! Hope you fall in love with my little corner of the world.

Can't wait to see everyone and I hope you enjoy your evening at the Cafe El Chile Picoso aka The Taco Stand.

shawn

06/29/09 08:03 AM

#180

Debra Jan Dobbs (Barton)

Hey all!
Hope you will all post your pix on your pages on the site.
It will take lots of pix, so don't feel like you have to hold back.
I will post some that Cal and I got on your page.
Kevin from Banita Creek just sent me a really neat one of Odessa playing and everybody dancing.
I'm going to post it on the 35th Reunion page right now.
I'll be posting pix all day to our site and to tylerpaper.com Spotted.

06/29/09 10:08 AM	#181
Leslie Reid (Hudson) Had a great time at the reunion! Thanks to everyone who worked so hard on it!

06/29/09 10:15 AM	#182
Cynthia Ann Keith I had a great time in Nacogdoches this weekend! Jan, you and your volunteers did an excellent job. Thanks so much for all your hard work.

06/29/09 11:25 AM

#183

Shawn Denise Laird (Burns)

First off thanks to everyone for dropping by Friday at the "Taco Stand". My gosh we laughed and talked until I was hoarse the next day. Thanks to Merry Ann for getting Fred and gang to come. It was GREAT!!!. Classmates, you all are just wonderful and all of the friends, spouses and guest, what can you say, fantastic.
Saturday night was an encore performance. To everyone that worked so hard, hats off. Odessa was the icing. As they say I could definitely "feel the love". I hate it for all the other classes though, because We Are The Best Ever. It'll be hard to top this one Jan.

Always
Shawn

06/29/09 12:04 PM	#184
David Lee Wiggins I want to echo the comments so far. I too had an absolutely great time and want to thank everyone who worked so hard on bringing it together. It was so good to see so many of our classmates.

06/29/09 01:44 PM	#185
Joseph Carl (Joe) Weaver Hey, was great to see everyone at the reunion. Sorry I missed all the previous ones. Jan -- awesome job on the site, but it will be a cold day before you and my Mom get me interested in the geneology stuff.

06/29/09 05:02 PM	#186
Rick Foshee NHS 73 It was "Right on, Man"!!! Rickster

06/29/09 07:17 PM	#187
Garrett Joseph (Garry) Moynihan Jan, As usual, another stellar reunion! You must have the energy of a nuclear reactor to have put so much time and effort into it. And, to the Class of '74, thanks for making Evelyn feel so welcome and included. She had a great time. Finally, count me in for reunion four zero; you got me hooked... Garry

06/29/09 09:55 PM

#188

Jan Lanelle Mooney (Rhodes)

It was so much fun to see everyone. I think we must have passed a marker in time though...there are people in the group picture I DON'T recognize! I think I've always known everyone at our reunions till now...oh dear, it's a little scary to think what that must mean... LOL

Jimmy, Dickey, Don, and Ronnie....you did a great job. Don, did you take that Aleve just as soon as you got home? :)

Jan, you did a class act pulling it all together. Also, thank you Judy and everyone else who helped make it special.

Cindy, I really wish Joe Hamrick had been paying attention when you were making those announcements...maybe next time he won't try to distract Lester from listening. LOL

Joe...you really should work on those attending skills. :)

Love you all,
the other Jan (Mooney Rhodes)

06/29/09 10:06 PM	#189
Fernando Noa III I had a lot of fun. Too bad it was only a few days. I wouldn't have minded a week long event. I used to think every 5 years was too soon, now I wish it was more often. Gotta go, Joe Weaver picked a fight with me on Facebook. Time for a little payback.

06/29/09 11:24 PM	#190
Gail Evelene Frederick (Graham) It was awesome!!! Great job everyone!!! The last 5yrs went by fast. I am sure the next 5 will go even faster. Shawn, the food was great. I agree, Odessa was the icing on the cake and the cake. Class of 74 4ever!!!

06/30/09 06:37 AM

#191

Debra Jan Dobbs (Barton)

From Susan Brown Douthit
Subject You're AMAZING!!! Our Class Is Amazing !!

Jan,I don't even know where to start but here goes....Of course, you were the brains, skill and driving force behind this whole resurgance of our great '74 class. For those who assisted you, your volunteer hours did not go unnoticed !Thank you from all of us who could not come early to help out. I missed seeing most of the video Sat. night due to visiting and answering my dad's questions.. He is still raving about the night and will forever cherish that football..So...I watched the video last night all by myself in our office and CRIED LIKE A BABY ALL THE WAY THROUGH IT !!!!!!!!! It was so incredible and obviously proved that I must finally be going through menapause because I have cried today just looking at the photos. What a special group of friends, we all picked up right where we left off in 1974.. I found that those of us who ran around together still huddled the same way we did back then, the quiet ones are still just as quiet and precious as they were back then, the crazy ones are still just as crazy, the hair and waistlines have changed on most all of us but the faces are absolutely unchanged and just as familiar. I was saddened by the friends who have passed on and missed seeing the friends who could not attend. I even laughed at feeling a little "scared" of James Collins Saturday night while standing near him because I was afraid of him in high school because I knew he smoked !! Scandelous..Upon departing for the evening, Ricky Ivy said to me,"Come over here and give me a kiss!", so I leaned in, as did he, for a peck on the cheek but our aim was a little off and for the life of me I do believe we kissed right on the lips !! (just like we used to do in 8th grade)(but don't share that with my dad or husband!)... So many feelings of kinship, friendship and love returned and I pledge to return to Nacogdoches as often as possible. Somebody needs to make a movie about the Class of '74 !!! Although, Hollywood would have a difficult time casting our parts !!!! We were each ONE IN A MILLION !!!! My greatest blessings to you and every member of our awesome class..Susan Brown Douthit

06/30/09 07:13 AM

#192

Debra Jan Dobbs (Barton)

Thanks to all of you for being there. It was truly a magical weekend and I'm so glad to be part of this great group.

I'm lovin' the pix and comments y'all are posting on your profile pages and on Facebook. Robin has outdone herself with her commentary. 'My cleavage' indeed! That was a Victoria's Secret dress with padding in all the right places--that's all I'm gonna say.

OH MY GOSH, Facebook gave me quite a scare last night. When you're friends with someone you receive their wall posts and comments--I thought all of them, but that's not correct.

I was working on editing the pix and was uploading some to the tylerpaper site, so I had email and Facebook turned off.

When I checked email, FB had sent me a comment that John Stewart had posted. And there was one that Joe Weaver had posted. That's all. Just 2 posts they had made to each other. Heavens, it sounded like the boys were about to kill each other. I thought we had started another Hatfields and McCoys!

So I opened FB and read the entire string and could see they were just playing. You guys about gave me a heart attack. Think how it sounded out of context!! Don't do that to your ol' buddy again, okay??

And Fernando got in the middle of it too. YOU GOT ME!!
Insert evil smiley face here.

Okay y'all--I'm signing off now. Actually have to go in the office today. Yeuch!

I'll post some of the individual pix of each of you on your personal pages tonight. Y'all all look great. As Susan said--the faces are still the same.

06/30/09 08:49 AM

#193

Pam Sitton (Latham)

The reunion weekend was awesome! We have the best class, the best classmates! I’ve talked to several people who say they never go to their reunions and don’t intend to. That’s because they don’t belong to our class. They can’t understand how much fun we all have. It was so great to reconnect with so many people. We are a class that truly cares about each and every classmate. I was sometimes hesitant to go up to somebody, thinking they wouldn’t remember me - but 90% of the time they did. It was a good feeling. On a more personal note - I got to go back in time, a time that has always been one of the most important times of my life - my Odessa days. Seeing Jimmy, Don, Dickey and Ronnie was unbelievable, a dream come true. They had all been, and still are, so special to me. Then when Terry German walked in at the social hour, I had no idea what I was in for. I was fortunate enough to spend most of my latter high school weekends and summers going to gigs with Jimmy and the band. When they played out of Nac, I would usually ride with Terry, along with ever how many other people we could get into his Chevelle, to wherever they were playing - Tyler, Longview, Kilgore - usually some little dance hall in the middle of nowhere. (Terry should have been a NASCAR driver!) This weekend I got to spend a lot of time with Jimmy, Don and Terry. I haven’t laughed so hard in years. We caught up, reminisced, just had a blast! It was like time had stood still, especially when Odessa played. For a short time, I was a teenager again. When they finished, Jimmy asked me if I was ready to start rolling cords - that was my job when they packed up their equipment. I am so thankful for my memories. Now I have quite a few more to add. I feel sure most of us who were there feel the same way. I had been so excited, anticipating the reunion, but knowing that it would be over as soon as it began. I always pushed that thought out. A few weeks ago, I ran across a saying that applies to not only the reunion, but my youth - “Don’t cry because it’s over ... Smile because it happened”. (Jimmy said he wrote a song about that - figures!)

06/30/09 08:53 AM	#194
Teresa Luna (McKewen) As many before me have already posted, THANKS TO ALL who worked so hard to put this fantastic 2 days together. I too wish it could last for a week, but as Gail said the last 5 years have flown by as will the next 5. It was great seeing everyone!!! Blessings to all

06/30/09 10:26 AM

#195

James Allen (Jimmy) Collins Jr

I just want to thank Jan for everything. I had so much fun playing with Odessa again. They're my brothers even though I haven't seen them in years. I hope my acoustic portion wasn't too long. I had a lot of people come up to me and say they were proud of me. I appreciate that, but it's important to me that you know how proud I am of you. In my eyes we are all successful. We've held jobs, raised families, defended our country and made a difference to countless people in our lives. You certainly made a difference in mine. Too bad Billboard doesn't have a chart for that. I will always consider you to be my life long friends. On a lighter note, Susan I don't smoke any more so you don't have to be afraid of me. You're still as pretty as ever. I did have a couple of girls tell me that I kissed them back in high school. I didn't realize I was such a player back then. I guess that's one of the perks that go along with being in a rock band. Once again, I love you guys and I'm proud to be part of the class of 74.

06/30/09 03:55 PM

#196

Calvin Pascal (Cal) Barton Jr.

Now that's what I call a party!! What a blast we had. It could only have been improved by having more of our classmates present - we missed all who could not attend.

You know, one of the phrases you always hear at a function like this is how much everyone has changed, but upon reflection, I am not sure "change" is the correct word. Sure, we have all benefited from the wisdom gained through years of life experience, but when we were listening to that wonderful band play for us Saturday night and I looked around that dance floor at the faces of my classmates and friends I was struck by how "unchanged" we all really are. The expressions of joy and zest for life that I saw were so very reminiscent of those same faces when we shared similar experiences all those years ago.

It becomes so very clear when the divergent threads of our individual lives converge once again at one place in time that we are still very much the same that we were "back then" and I for one am very thankful for that.

Lastly, like everyone else I want to thank my favorite classmate, Jan Dobbs Barton, for making my weekend and my life so unforgettably wonderful!

06/30/09 09:17 PM	#197
Michael Precella I had a great time this past weekend. Seeing the coaches and all of our classmates was a great treat. I wish more of the locals had attended. Life is short, take advantage of God's blessings everyday. V/R mjp

07/01/09 06:25 AM	#198
Debra Jan Dobbs (Barton) Glad to hear from you, Mike! Cal and I were just wondering at dinner if you made it home okay. Coach Johnston was so proud of the fine man you and all the others are. I think he was really touched to know he made a difference in your life! Take care, Cousin!

07/01/09 07:12 AM	#199
Debra Jan Dobbs (Barton) Message from Sandy Wright Smith on Facebook: sure missed ya'll on Sat. I got an ear infection and still am having trouble walking down the stairs. I really want to see photos

07/01/09 11:10 AM	#200
Brenda Ann Miller (Mathews) Hey Everyone.. The reunion was a great success and Ray and I had a wonderful time...Odessa was awesome..Brought back lots of old memories...Jan you did an awesome job putting it all together...Thanks Judy and Cindy for your great job as well..It was fun getting to see everyone... You all have a Great and Blessed Day!!! Love Ya'll Brenda

07/01/09 01:39 PM

#201

Cris (Palafox)

From Nick

Cris really loved the reunion and thought it was the best one she has been too. As for myself the highlight was seeing Mrs. Smith (my 6th grade teacher), and of course all the rest of you was the icing on the cake. Thanks goes out to Jan, Judy and others who worked so hard to put this together. I wished I had been around to see Odessa play after graduation, but Saturday's jam session was awesome. I feel so fortunate to have been part of the '74 class. Thanks for a great time!!

Nick & Cris

07/01/09 02:20 PM

#202

Debra Jan Dobbs (Barton)

Hey Nick,

Forgot to tell you that Cris won the table decoration contest with that fabulous boot!

I have several things to mail to y'all.

Will get them out in a couple of days.

Wasn't it awesome to see Mrs. Smith? She sent me a little note in the mail yesterday. I will post the contents tonight.

She doesn't have a computer. Her cute little hubby doesn't believe in them.

07/02/09 06:47 AM	#203
Debra Jan Dobbs (Barton) Welcome to Steve Morgan. Check out his pix. And be sure and look at Carol's. Didn't know she's in plays now. Very cool.

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