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Robert E. Belt

Who remembers why I had to park my old Ford Wagon on the back fourty of the school parking lot...?

Well one night while out dragging main with Mike Athey and Lynn Cummings, both class of 70, we decided that it would be ' Cool...' to drop the exhaust pipe from the manifold and thus, making lots of exhaust noise..., and that it did.  After a few minutes of mechanical ingenuity, we drove out by the Country Club searching for a good place to spin a few dounuts when suddenly a skunk ran across the road and down into the bar-ditch. One of the guys shouthed '...Get'em Robert...' and that I did... I guess you could say it was a natural instinct for me to run-down little critters at that time.

Well unlike a rabbit..., this guy sort of fought back...! Yea..., I got him alright... but not without that skunk getting in a lick in too... or better said, giving us a good spray. Even so the smell was pretty intense, we found an open graveled spot for spinning a couple of donuts. After the dust had settled, there laid that little Black & White critter in about three pieces on the ground. The poor critter had gotten caught-up in the front spring of the car suspension and it literally chewed him up. Well nedless to say through all the Blood & Guts... the scent was very intense and presistant. 

After two or three days and many complaints, I was strongly encouraged to park the car down-wind and well out of smelling range. It took about a week before the stink subsided enough that I could finally park the car closer to the school building. No one would ride with me for about two weeks. And it was no wonder why......... 

Robert E. Belt

Mr. Denney, If my memory serves me correctly, was a history teacher.

He had been a WWII Pilot over Nazi Germany and a POW. During our high school days the first episodes of Hogans Heros were aired on TV. Of course it was a major topic with us kids in his class room.

Until Mr. Denney caught wind of it..., what he had to say about the show was not the reaction that we were expecting. He got pretty upset about how being captive in a Nazi Prison War Camp was made as a comedy. I don't think we really realized how serious it was to have been a POW nor did we understood his reaction.

We simply had no idea.

Laura Snead (Waters)

Yes, my Daddy never mentioned the 41 missions he flew in the South Pacific, and the fact they had secret radar at the time. He was 22 when he came home. By the time he started going to "Snooper" reunions, he was 60 years old. They were all kids during that war, and had to deal with it. Mr. Denney was even younger. Now, they treat "traumatic stress disorder". Mr. Denney died shortly before my mother. His wife died from breast cancer either in the late 80's or early 90's. He always talked about his daughter Diana, who is still a teacher in Roswell, but never mentioned his second daughter: Pammie: who is Down Syndrome and is probably still alive and is our age. He loved her intensely and took care of her until his death. I remember the incident with Mr. Denney and "Hogan's Heroes." My father never liked the "judge shows" even though he had met Judge Wapner in person at a seminar.

Different subject: Robert, do you remember Vance Mortensen's car. I have never seen anything like it before or since. I have a couple of stories about that, but I want to have the name right!

James Torpey

Now I feel bad about my junior year with Mr. Denny. I don't remember ever knowing that he was a WW2 Veteran, as  my dad was also a pilot. So, Mr. Denny and I had some heated moments about the Vietnam war and one day I challenged him in class regarding the legal/moral aspects of the war. (Our arguments about Robert Kennedy is another story) .He finally gave up and sent me to the principals office. I forget his name, but you know of who I speak. Anyway, I remember him saying..."Torpey, what are you for?" and I replied that Mr. Denny was being unfair in not allowing us to talk about both sides of the war. My memory fades from there, but I do remember the phone call, and consequnces, from the call my dad received. God Bless Mr. Denny

Laura Snead (Waters)

The principal was probably Mr. Witless, oops, Mr. Witt.

I am at the Roswell Public Library checking e-mails right now. We will be in Roswell a couple of weeks, so I will be sporadic on e-mails. We took three loads of books to the Friends of the Library store today, and have another day of it tomorrow. (Watch for an estate book sale coming soon!) We have no water in the kitchen, which is a great excuse not to cook! Had a great visit with Heidi Nash in Fayetteville on the way over here. Hope to see a lot of you soon, and a WHOLE BUNCH of you next September. Laura

Robert Kaps

There were a lot of things that I loved about Goddard. My parents moved us around a lot and Roswell was the place I loved the best. My brother Karl and I were on one motorcycle and my Mom and Dad were on the other bike. We were moving to Oklahoma form San Diego, Cal. We ran out of money in Roswell and Mom worked as a maid in an old motel on the west side of town. Dad went to work at Glover Meat Packing Plant. I enrolled at Goddard . Not a great student. I played football. And took every easy class. Creative Writing, speach and drama, art etc.   I loved Mrs. Elias drama class. It started to bring me out of my shell. I played Captain Keller in "The Miracle Worker". And I was in the production "Laugh In". I was not the popular kid and was fine with that. But I had such a wierd childhood that I relish the memories of Goddard because I was able to go all year at one school. I am looking forward to the reunion; although I don't remember everyone, it was the only stable part of my childhood. I only had 2 love interests in my senior year and one of them was Goddard. I still ride. I Pastor a church that meets in 2 locations. Heart of God Fellowship. Buckner, Mo and Odessa, Mo. I am married to a wonderful woman, Debbie. I have four children and three Grand children and I am a blessed and happy man. I rode the bike to the thirtieth but Debbie is coming with me and I don't think we have the time to ride there. anyway be blessed   Bob Kaps

Tom Dunlap

Old Denney mellowed in his later years and had a happy retirement.  My dad thought Denney's very difficult POW experiences kinda raised his mercury a little.

Peggy Jones

THIS IS PEGGY JONES. IF YOU HAVEN'T REGISTERED FOR THE REUNION, DO IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S GOING TO BE A BLAST!

Robert E. Belt

Was Just think'en about the Drag Races at the Old Municipal Airport the other day..., did any of you guys go to them? I remember one guy from GHS had a Soopped-up VW Bettle that he ran at the drag race, just for a Time Check... the name Eddie Bucklew (Spelling?) comes to mind, might be wrong on the owner but defiantly remember a sooped-up VW bug in the parking lot at school.

Judi Miller (Christensen)

Robert, I used to go to the Drag Races all the time.  That is where I got the racing bug that is still with me!

Tom Dunlap

 Them hackers better not of said anyting ugly 'bout me.  I can hire Steve Cusack for a sawbuck and he can kick anybody's ass.

Danny Fulkerson

Tom, the hacker incident was very ugly, and no they did not say anything bad about you. But that person did attack about a dozen of us, rather personal and ugly. They possibly knew of your ties to Cusack and kept their distance!

Robert E. Belt

Robert E. Belt

Hey guys... thanks for the Thirty Year Reunion Album...,

really enjoyed it. Mean while, ya'll take care....,

and may 'The Good Lord Bless you all.

Robert Belt                 ... Go Rockets ...!'

Earl (Chip) O'Neal

 I thought this was interesting, and impressive:

Laura Waters I went down to see Daddy's gavel that Jean Willis placed in her museum. John was not allowed to enter because he was wearing shorts, and I got checked because my 2 new knees set off the alarms. Neither deputy was old enough to shave and did not know who Daddy was or cared. I also was not allowed to take a camera to get a picture of the gavel. (The one your Dad helped put together with a pool cue from Larry's pool hall and a hanging noose Daddy added when he was judging spelling bees at the college.)

Laura Snead (Waters)

Well, I did get into the courthouse yesterday (Friday) WITH camera. Had no idea what a bag of worms I opened up!! Enjoyed seeing folks last night. I have driven by twice trying to find the place tonight. I'll watch where the traffic is going!! I am at the library at the computer. If you see an Arkansas car driving around and around tonight, it's us! Laura

Judi Miller (Christensen)

If anyone would like a copy of the DVD I made for the reunion, please send me an email at jkmemories@yahoo.com.  I was so happy to hear it was a hit!  I had a lot of fun making it and spent many hours with old memories. 

Thanks

Judi

Robert E. Belt

Hello to all my fellow class mates and friends

                 from the best class of all Classes of 1971.

I am proud to have been just a small part of such success.

Hey guys if you have not yet had the opportunity or haven't yet taken the time to review the class DVD in it's entirety, I strongly encourage you all to do so at your first chance.

I would like to encourage each one of us to futher reach out to those that missed out on such a grate time that we had at our reunion. Just maybe, we together, can bring in a few more of our friends and classmates to our next reunion when ever it may be.

A special 'Thank You...' to those of the reunion committee that personally and so generously gave their time and efforts that made our reunion possible for us to have enjoyed...

                 To you all.... I aplaud you...!

To those who were present...., my personal thank you for your presence.

With out you, my trip would have been invane.

Roswell, GHS and The Class of '71' will remain in my heart for as long as The Good Lord will have me on this earth.

Your classmate & friend,

May God bless each and evry one of you...,

Sincerly...,   ~Robert Belt

Earl (Chip) O'Neal

 Robert,

Very well said.  I fully agree with you.  Especially with thanks to the generous folks who organized this wonderful experience!

Chip

Laura Snead (Waters)

What happened to Peggy? I was just looking through Ballard & Lagrone on-line obits-which is how I find out about things these days unfortunately, and I saw she died Oct. 15th.

Laura Snead (Waters)

I had a wonderful Birthday Party with Heidi in Rogers. She's the older woman by 11 days! We have pledged that since we have known each other this long and we are the only two alum in AR that we need to stay in better touch. We will be getting together again in the spring!!

Douglas Schulz

From:              Douglas Schulz

Date:               July 26, 2015

Subject:            My new fiction novel:  Just When You Thought It Was Safe – An American Invasion

Dear Classmates:

            Well many of you have been hearing and even a few of you assisting me in editing my new book, Just When You Thought It Was Safe. As of this past week, it is now available at www.justwhenyouthoughtitwassafe.com in paperback and four e-book versions: Kindle, Nook, I-pad, and e-pub-generic.

            The good news is that I have a wonderful offer to make you and your friends. I will mail you a free, signed copy of my book if you will agree to a few items.  First, you will agree to read the book within one month of receiving it (I warn you it is 648 pages). If you like the book, you will agree that you will recommend it to at least 10 friends. But it gets better. When you recommend my book to your friends, if they will make the same agreement you made with me - reading the book within one month of receiving it and recommending it to at least 10 of their friends, then I will also mail your friend a free, signed copy of my book! The book will also be available at Amazon.com but I prefer people buy it from my website, because I offer free shipping and a $5 discount off of Amazon’s price of $19.99, as well as all eBooks at $4.99.

            Of course, if you don’t like the book enough to recommend it, no hard feelings. You can keep your signed copy as a gift. And, if you feel uncomfortable asking friends to make some commitments to get a free, signed copy, you can just recommend it to them with no strings attached.

            The internationally recognized, professional book review company, Kirkus Reviews, said the following about my book: “This novel takes a serious national issue and convincingly fits it to a thriller – genre storyline… Schulz knows how to dish out thriller elements, including a few gunfights, surprising deaths, and an implication of a powerful conspiracy…”

            Jim Gilchrest, Founder and President, the Minuteman Project said, “[F]inally, an author with the insight to adapt a fictional thriller to issues threatening our nation’s sovereignty, it’s domestic tranquility, and it’s heralded tradition of a ‘a nation of laws’.”

            Now, let me give you some details of the book, because you may decide it is not your style, and there would be no reason for me to send you a copy in the first place. It is a political thriller and a historical novel. It is a fascinating story with suspense, intrigue and passion. It is somewhere between an Ayn Rand and Tom Clancy novel. Though it’s fiction, 90% of the facts are true, alarming true. It is 2017 and the country of Mexico is imploding from the drop in oil prices, the devaluation of the peso, guerrilla activity and political corruption. The icing on the cake was the proclamation that all Mexicans residing in the United States would become citizens. Millions of Mexicans move north and storm the border with the United States. The invasion finds Washington in denial and disbelief. The President, Rosemary Denton, does not want to alienate the Mexican vote for her upcoming election and the country freezes while millions swarm into the border states. The book follows the four Walther brothers, each living in one of the four border states, and how the invasion affects their lives. There are many powerful characters in the book, such as Secretary of State, John Hardwick and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Kurt Grayson.

            I promise you two things in your reading of my book: you will find it enjoyable, and you will learn ten times more than you ever knew about the real problems in Mexico today, the archaic immigration policy in the US, and the massive problems with the Mexican–US border.

            Of course, many of you still have hectic lives and just don’t have the time to read a book like this at this time. Please be so kind as to let me know that, and perhaps later in the year when you have time, I can send you a free, signed copy.

          I plead for your assistance in this new career of mine, but I fully understand if you wish to not help, but remember there is a $250 award to the person who is responsible for having their friends and friends of their friends buy the most books.

            One last comment.  Please do not recommend the book to any of your friends who are died in the wool, liberal democrats, as they will hate the book. I know that and that’s on purpose. And please don’t ask me to send a free copy to a person who is a democrat or generally liberal, as it will be a waste of time.

            You can visit www.justwhenyouthoughtitwassafe.com to learn more about the book. And you can read the Kirkus Reviews review of the book, which is great. And you can watch the video of me discussing the book. Attached is the cover of the book, and a list of the characters.

            Thank you for your consideration.

            Douglas Schulz