Lakewood High School Class Of 1998

Lakewood High School Class Of 1998

  The Black and Gold Newsletter:

                    The Wrap Up

             Edition V, August 23, 2008

A Great Success:

Thank you to everyone who made our 10 year reunion possible. We had an outstanding turnout of more than 120 people just at the Main Event alone and we are just thrilled! So the next time you hear someone complaining about how lame reunions are or how nobody goes, you can be content knowing that your class, as usual, far exceeds the norm.

We have posted a list of those who deserve special recognition on the website at www.lakewood98.com.

The Katie Foundation:

The books are done and we so relieved all bills have been paid and committee members reimbursed. Thank you to those who donated extra to the Katie foundation and to those who purchased tickets for the raffle. The raffle brought in an additional $198 to our Katie Froeschle Foundation bringing total class of 1998 donation to  $683.50! This is a great thing for the legacy of our fellow classmate who could not be with us in person. 

Spartan Superlatives:

You may have noticed the theme of the Main Event was based on our Senior Prom, “In the Still of the Night.”  Patrick’s Bayside Sardine Can was just as packed as the Don Cesar 10 years before, although there was far less dancing, but we made up for it with an exorbitant amount of cocktails. So how can you have a pseudo-prom without giving out a few prom-like awards?

To Recap: and the winners are (to the best of our knowledge)…

Mr. LHS Success:  John Gribbin            Ms. LHS Success: Ali Cahill

Mr. 180: Donald Painter                         Ms. 180: Leanna Shipe, Liz Johnson, Jena Daly (tie)

Mr. Still the Same:  Ryan Cox                Ms. Still the Same: Kim Belicka

Mr. Life of the Party:  Neil Vora              Ms. Life of the Party: Heather Tank

Mr. LHS Reunion 2008:  Dan Turk          Ms. LHS Reunion 2008: Kristi Denta

Photo Gallery:

We see many of you are posting your pics on your facebook and myspace accounts. We have decided to post our photos to the web via a yahoo flickr account. The web address is www.flickr.com/photos/lakewood98. Feel free to download your favorites, add comments, or upload your own photos. 

It would also be a nice touch if you could post some of your favorite reunion photos to your profile on our  www.lakewood98.com official reunion website.

15 Year Reunion (???):

There’s already talk of it! Neil Vora and Drew Hinote have volunteered to co-chair a 15 year reunion, and Bernie Moran has tentatively offered his restaurant for the event. We’ve already got the website up and everyone’s contact info so Neil and Drew are more than half way there.  Please vote on lakewoo98.com if you would like to have a 15 year reunion.

Thanks again for a wonderful weekend of fun, memories, and friends old and new. Until next time…

Can't Wait,

Kristina Denta

Lakewood c/o 1998 Reunion Committee
http://www.lakewood98.com

Lakewood High School Class Of 1998

     The Black and Gold Newsletter

The Time Has Come:

The Don:

We are meeting for drinks at their outdoor bar at 7pm until about 9pm. Hopefully it will not rain. This event is very laid back. It is not an official reunion event, just a way for us to get together to kick off the weekend with a cocktail. Nametags will not be distributed. (We tried to book the Don for the Main Event but they wanted a $10,000 secured minimum, that is so not going to happen!)  Several committee members have talked to the staff and checked out the space and say it looks just perfect for our pre-event kickoff!

Parking will be an issue so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to scope out a spot. PLEASE carpool.

Heather Tank will have some choices on where to head next for those who want to continue the pre-reunion day festivities.

Dress is nice but casual.

Ft. Desoto:

Dress cool and comfortable for the BBQ, it will be hot. A reminder alcohol is not permitted in the park.

 
The BBQ goes from 11 to 2pm at Shelter #13. Make a left at the last stop sign at Fort DeSoto beach (in front of the Visitor's Center), shelter #13 should be the first one on the right. Please come sign in first and wear your name tag. Please turn it back in before you leave.

There are two tolls on the way to Ft. Desoto, one is .35 the other is .50. Don't forget your change.

Fred Flemming's will be catering a BBQ lunch with sides. There will also be a variety of other chips, snacks, sodas and desserts. A big thanks to Symphony Thomas for stepping up and being Chair of this BBQ. She has done a great job.

We will have a volleyball net and horseshoes set up. Please feel free to bring other games or activities. We are also very close to the beach.  We are still looking for a Boom Box and we need to borrow a couple of coolers for drinks.  

Here is a map of Ft. Desoto:

http://www.pinellascounty.org/park/maps/color/amenities/FORTDESOTO.pdf

The Main Event:

Make no mistake--Patrick's Bayside Sardine Can will be packed on Saturday night. We are over capacity and we'll just have to get cozy, and like it and hope the fire department doesn't come.

Raffles: We will be holding two raffles throughout the night to raise funds for the Katie Froeschle Foundation. Tickets are one for $2 or three for $5. We will raffle off our copy of, "Rewind 6, Alien Encounter," and a $25 gift certificate to Macaroni Grill. Thank you Lauren C. for securing that donation. 

All food will be served appetizer style so you can walk around and mingle with plate in hand. For an idea of what kind of culinary delights will be offered, log onto www.patricksbaysidegrill.com.  There will of course be an open cash bar. If you ordered a Spartan Special ticket before May 15th or paid in full for a regular ticket after May 15th you will receive one drink ticket for each paid guest. The drink tickets will be distributed along with the nametags at check in.

Dress is casual evening attire-- guys Khaki shorts or pants and a short sleeve shirt, girls a sundress or slacks and a cute top.

Please, please, please talk with your friends ahead of time and work out a car pool, or better yet get dropped off. Parking will be a special challenge. Eric Olgesby has scoped out the surrounding area and found a 200 space parking lot on Gulf Blvd. several blocks south of the Grill. I have attached a map to the homepage of www.lakewood98.com.  Parking in this lot is metered 24 hours a day at $1.25 an hour.  You can also choose side street parking if you can find it. All other meters will be monitored until 8pm. Please do not park in Patrick's lot unless you are loading and unloading or have a special circumstance.

Social Chair Heather Tank will have some choices on where we can go for a possible after-party. The Main Event should be over by midnight.

Other Talking Points:

What makes a party is the people. We have a great group coming and coincidentally we are counting 98 people for the Main Event. That makes this weekend a success already.  There will inevitably be some bumps along the road but we will deal with them in the best way we can. Relax, have fun and take time to see how life has treated your high school classmates.

Please do not hesitate to call us directly if anything comes up. My cell phone number is (434) 760- 0029 and Sarah McDougal's is (727) 492-1131. We will see you in a little more than 48 hours and we are very much looking forward to it. Thanks to everyone of you who has made this possible.

Can't Wait,

Kristina Denta

Lakewood c/o 1998 Reunion Committee
http://lakewood98.com/

Edition III,   June 25th, 2008

Calling all Classes:

Let's face it--we went to school with other people and we want to see them too, right? Right! Since the B-B-Q is are only venue without occupancy issues we are calling all surrounding classes to join us for some Ft. Desoto fun in the sun! (Pray it doesn't rain!!!)  We now have a limited number of tickets available for anyone from another LHS classes who would like to attend our Bar-B-Que at Ft. DeSoto Park on Saturday 08-08-08 from 11 to 2 pm. Kids are free. Tickets are $30 and are being sold on a first come first serve basis. If you are in another graduating class and would like to attend please send your contact info to lakewood061998@yahoo.com and we will send you directions on how to purchase tickets.

Katie Foundation:

We were thinking about what do with any left over money in the budget. We could get key chains for the class or some other cheesy gift but then it got us thinking about how we could use that money to give back in a way that touches to home. After all bills are paid and expenses reimbursed, anything that is left over in our budget and what ever else we can come up with will be donated to the Katie Foundation. 

As you may know, our classmate Katie Froeschle was murdered in 2004 while working as a claims adjuster for State Farm Insurance. Her parents started the Katie Foundation in her memory to provide scholarships and support for those in Tampa Bay and at  Florida State University , her college alma mater. We would like to give as much as possible so if you would like to help us with our class of 98 gift to the foundation you can do so by going on the website www.lakewood98.com and clicking 10 year reunion.  Just follow the directions as if you were ordering an additional ticket but instead click on the donation of your choice either $10,$25 or $50. I told Katie's dad our plans and he wrote us a very touching letter which I have posted on our website under the Katie Foundation Tab.

Elbow to Elbow:

Get ready to get up close and personal with your fellow classmates. Tickets sales have been extremely successful-- which is of course a positive problem. A few weeks ago we asked you to email us your intentions for attending the reunion and we got about 25 or so responses which indicated yes or maybe. If that holds true we will be nearing, but slightly under maximum capacity for the Main Event, so we decided to keep it as is. So if a whole bunch of people who didn't tell us about their intentions to come end up buy tickets at the last minute then we will all be really squished... and we can blame them. : )

The After Party:

Logistics Chair Heather Tank is working to plan a fun after party for anyone who wants to participate. The plan is to chill and dance- post reunion style. Details to follow…Yea!

Where are They?:

We are increasingly concerned about  the number of people we have still been unable to make contact with, in particular but not limited to:

Tymeca Ansine, Sarah Bauer, Rachel Brooks, Jessica Bush, Deenae Dates, Sarah-Lynette Graham, Tami Hale, Nick Hartney, Sarah Iverson, Zach Johnston, Jennifer Keenan, Thomas Kent, Terri Maloney, Leslie Manias, Rebecca Martinez, Scott Moore, Taylor Nicholson, Chris O' Connor, Mike Ortlieb, Les Padley, Donald Painter, Sarah Philips, Anthony Place, Nicole Scott, Brandon Schneburger, Megan Shultes, Tiffany and Michelle Simrell, Justin Threet, Dave Tundroult, Eric Wagman

If you know how to get a hold of any of these people or anyone else listed under Missing Classmates PLEASE direct them to our site.

See you in August,

Kristina Denta

LHS C/O 1998 Reunion Chair

http://www.lakewood98.com