Be aware, the "Message Forum" is NOT password protected.  Unlike profiles that are password protected, anybody who gets to this webpage can see what is written here.  Nobody can contact you directly based on this forum unless you reveal your personal contact information.  Use the "Message Center" for sharing personal contact information with another classmate.

This message forum is an ongoing discussion about anything and just about everything ... within reason.  One thing our class was good at was having opinions.  Almost 70 years of life experience certainly qualifies us as experts on most everything!   Ask a question ... give an opinion ... share some insights ... it's our web site, it's our forum.  That said, it's probably not a good idea to get into arguments about politics, religion, and the like.  While we're experts on everything, we also have a wide range of values and beliefs. This site belongs to all of us ... the whole range ... and we are not here to isolate, alienate, or subjugate anybody.  Of course insults, humiliation, sophomoric barraggadocio, and demented humor is expected behavior among some of us less mature people.
 

Kenneth Pallaske

I am sorry I will not be attending the reunion tomorrow night. Due to a conflict in events, and the late date of the reunion, it is impossible to be there. I do wish all of the attendees GOD's blessings. May all of you have a great time. I will miss all of you.

It has been posted this is the last reunion. I hope not. I know how hard it is to plan an event like this. You did a great job.

Love to all.

P.S. My emails address is: ken.pallaske@gmail.com. I would like to hear from you.

John Ruhland

Just an FYI for the Browning Elementary School kids--KIDS??. Remember Bill Bagemihl? I think he taught social studies (who am I kidding--I don't remember what he taught). Anyhoo, his obituary was in Wednesdays Milwaukee Journal. He passed on Oct 31, 2017. He was 85 years old. Somehow I thought he would be older than that. He must have been a pretty young guy when we had him at Browning. The obit stated that he taught at Browning for 35 years. That's a long time in one place. He was one of my favorite teachers.

See you all on Saturday--I heard there is some sort of a reunion going on.

Jim Cejka

Nice party folks. Thanks.

Karsten Boerger

Gary  

Many thanks to you and the Wisconsin team for organizing a very nice party.

It was a good time to chat with old friends and be updatted on their past.

I hope that this wont be the last hurrah

Nancy Davison (Boerger)

Many, many thanks to the whole committee for the time and effort you gave to get us together once again. I tried to find all the names to give more personal thanks - couldn't quite manage that. It was wonderful to see how many of our classmates have had productive and fulfilling lives. My only sadness is not getting to know more of the class - people whom I think I would have liked and learned from. My hope is that all of us continue happily on the paths we have chosen and enjoy them fully until our very last days. 

Sharon Augustin (Neitzel)

I just wanted to thank everyone on the committee for all the hard work to make the 33 Reunion a success. Thanks.

Terri Levenhagen (Hoornstra)

I want to add my thanks to the committee for a wonderful 55th (it SEEMS more like it should be the 33rd). I enjoyed very much touching bases with the folks I knew, and those I didn't know, while at Custer. I can't say it enough, but there's a special bond with people who were on that same little piece of the earth, at the same time, who shared the same childhood experience (like going out to play unsupervised after school 😉)  and teen culture, and teachers, etc. There just are no other people on the whole planet, no matter how far we travel, or where we settle down, who have that bond. When they asked "Where were you in '62?" in "American Graffiti", they were talking about US. There's so much we don't have to explain to begin a conversation. I loved reuniting with my "orchestra folks". I think half the violin section showed up 🎻. The music was great, the DJ was terrific, and I have been singing "our" songs since getting back home. Any advice about getting rid of earworms would be welcome. The hotel and room were comfortable, and the staff and Puerto Rican puppy dogs in the lobby were very friendly. Let's do it again in '22! 

Jeanne Zinser (Gottschalk)

Oh, Terri ~~ You said it SO much better than I did! Eloquent and inclusive. Thank you! 

Nancy Davison (Boerger)

And.........we forgot to thank the California contingent for that first glass of wine on Friday.

Prosit; skol; salud; gambei; kanpei; and all those other ones that I can't spell.

Terri Levenhagen (Hoornstra)

Thanks, Jeanne! At least some of the musical  earworms I'm experiencing came from our singing together to the 1962 music CD that you put together. . . ."Don't take your love. . away from me. . don't you leave my heart in misery. . .think of all the things we do. . .breakn' up is hard to do. . ."   over and over. I guess I'll try some ear drops! Nancy & Karsten, it was so nice to see you again; and Jane Bednarz, Jeanne Gottschalk and Kathy & Howard Radke, and Jim Cejka who weren't at the 50th! You all look exactly the same as you did at Custer, subtracting a few well - earned gray hairs. Now, to figure out how to upload my 55th photos.

Jim Cejka

Veterans' Day, 2017

Carol Albers (Pederson)

Thanks Jim, for reminding us the importance of Veterans Day!  We should give thanks every day.    I enjoyed catching up with all your adventures on Friday.  Wow, I sure have lead a very quiet life in comparison.  As a member of the reunion committee,  I want to thank all of you who were able to make it to the 55th.  Your kind comments online and at the event mean a lot.  For me, it was great to sit back and see so many happy, smiling faces while  watching Garry entertain us.  DJ, comedian and game show host!  Garry, speech class must have been breeze for you at Custer!   Thanks again to you all of you!

Bonnie Buck (Walter)

It was difficult and weird for me to come to the reunion this time without Ken at my side, but everyone made me feel comfortable, welcome, and happy.  It was fun to be with so many people who remembered Ken.  Sad to see that there were several other widows, but good to see that we are all endeavoring to live life to its fullest!

Thank you to everyone on the committee for planning and delivering a fun two nights!  Garry, as always you cracked us all up with your numerous jokes.  The music was great and brought back zillions of memories.  I know you went through stressful times obtaining and then retaining all the songs, but so glad you kept at it and were successful in the end.  ;*)

Bonnie Seitz Kenny, Gordy Sauer, Bill & Sheryl Bailen, and Nancy Doyle, it was especially great to be able to spend time with you.  I enjoyed reconnecting with everyone else too. 

Garry, let's plan that next California contingent Sheepshead game at my house as usual and probably after the holidays.

Jim Cejka

Reunion Recap, part 1

Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but no value can be placed on the memories of having good friends.

I went to three reunions in Wisconsin on this trip - Custer, family, and old neighbors/friends. I liked Custer's best.

I can't get over the feeling how great it was to sit down with the "old gang" and have conversations as if we saw each other only a couple days ago. 

We probably didn't realize it in '62, but we know now that we had a very special class. The friendships, camaraderie, comfort, and whatever, that we feel and show when we get together was noted by several non-Custer (including mine) spouses. 

The whole reunion bucket list was completed, even good Milwaukee pizza (None of that fru-fru stuff we get in CA with avocados and no meat.) (Hint, future reunion planners - we found a Mama Mia's pizza place about 2 miles from Brookfield Square, on Bluemound, complete with a Kopp's in the same parking lot.)

Somebody should have brought at least one six-year old to help Garry and Co. with the computer program.

Riding on AmTrak back and forth across the country is the only way to fly. 

And, I got to spend 9 says without driving in CA traffic.

Jeanne Zinser (Gottschalk)

Soooo well said, Jim! Thanks for putting the reunion weekend into words that really count. Great seeing you again. Hope it won't be the last time!

Jim Cejka

Reunion Recap, part 2

Walking through Brookfield Square again was almost a surreal experience.

Seeing people, some as old friends, and some as "hardly-knew" classmates, and realizing that so many went from starry (bleary?) eyed teens to really neat and interesting people over the years. Happy and proud to know, or get to know, all of them. 

Our family used to go "up north" every year for my dad's two-week vacation. It was our big, long trip of the year to drive up Hwy 41, turn left at Oshkosh, to Silver Lake near Wautoma. This year we bopped up there for a quick lunch with some old neighbors. Seems like Hwy 41 got a lot shorter over the years, and our idea of a road trip has changed a lot.

Between the meals on the train and the great food at the reunion, my waist line and blood sugar will take a year to recover. 

It was nice to be in a place where I could order an Old Fashioned and have someone actually know what I was asking for. 

Kudos to everyone who helped create such a relaxed and happy atmosphere, and made this old curmudgeon feel at home again.

Jim Cejka

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving (National Endorphin Day?)

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

~John F. Kennedy

Barbara Blair (Brenzel)

Especially grateful this Thanksgiving for our wonderful 55th reunion.  A HUGE thank you to everyone that had a part in putting it together for us.  I haven't had so much fun in such a long time!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Barb Brenzel (Blair)

Terri Levenhagen (Hoornstra)

Thanksgiving wishes to all of my Custer classmates. We are enjoying a warm 84° day. As our weather reporters dubbed it, "The Air-Conditioned Thanksgiving." I am so grateful for being able to make the reunion and see so many of my classmates, some for the first time since graduation, and some of you looking exactly as you did at the 50th! And Cejka, the same as last year. Thanks again for a wonderful time. I agree with Barb - it was a blast!

Jim Cejka

Reunion Recap 3: Reflection

1. Comfort - I'd forgotten how it was to feel comfortable and accepted in a group of people or have friends. Since  the "nasties" of PTSD, I have been to lots of places and lots of activities, but always kept people at an arms distance. I developed a whole different definition of "friends." Being at the reunion put me back into a mood of ease, and re-ignited my real feeling of friends. I want to thank everyone that was there for a few moments back in my "Garden of Eden." (The one before the snake and apple thing.)

2. Fifty-five years has changed our bodies, but not, as was evident all around the reunion room, the people we were. It just took a long time to realize that.

3. And last - now what? Aging and the course of nature doesn't stop, but I hope that, as long as my brain and fingers still kinda work, to keep up with this site, and maybe some of my newly re-affirmed friends. My crystal 8-ball says, 'Signs point to yes." Would the 8-ball lie to me?

Jim Cejka

OK, so which is really St. Nicholas night - tonight the 5th or tomorrow, the 6th. Now that the grandaughter is old enough, bad grandpa here can't remember when to hang her stocking?

Jeanne Zinser (Gottschalk)

Stocking goes up on the 5th, goodies are discovered on morning of the 6th. I just went out and bought St. Nick goodies for myself. Guess they won't be a surprise!

Cheers!

Jim Cejka

SoCal fire primer

1. Ana - as in Santa Ana winds. Normal winds in SoCal are on-shore/off-shore from the ocean. They vary during the day and night, might be gusty at times, and contain some moisture. The generally dissipate quickly when they hit the coastal hills and mountains. Santa Ana winds come in off the deserts east of SoCal. They are very hot and very dry, like single digit humidity, The winds are strong, sometimes up to 70mph, and sustained. They funnel through the canyons, which increases their velocity and directs them to high density chaparral and populated areas, and, in some cases, down to the ocean.
2. Blaze - The beautiful SoCal ecology and weather turn the local chaparral into a blaze waiting to happen. Any ignition source, no matter how slight, can blow up like a match to gasoline. Don't know if it is still true, but when I lived there in the 60s and 70s, there was a $10,000 fine for just having a lit cigarette in a car.
3. Chaparral - The chaparral is a low vegetation scrubland that makes up 5-8% of the SoCal environment. Unfortunately, that's where most of the population chooses to be. The brush and trees are quite short. They foliate and seed during the short rainy periods of the year, and become very dry, dropping their leaves and seeds, during the long dry months. These droppings accumulate in the canyons and hillsides for years, just waiting to burn. That's the catch. The chaparral is designed to burn naturally every so many years. Many of the seeds and plants need to go through a burn cycle to hatch or propagate. People and populations alter those burning cycles. Without fires, the droppings can accumulate to several feet thick, dried and oily (There are creosote bushes.)

A + B + C = D - Disaster

Chaparral fires spread extremely fast and are extremely hard to contain. Once ignited, an acre of chaparral can burn over, literally, in minutes. Add a 60mph Santa Ana wind, and they flash over in seconds. The fuel mass is feet thick, layered, dry stuff, Water and fire retardants don't penetrate. The fuel mass burns deep and long, like a stack of charcoal, so the firefighters can't just spray water until the flames are gone and move on. Cutting fire breaks, or natural breaks like roads or developed areas, don't work either. The burning seeds and leaves can be blown by those Santa Ana winds for miles, jumping barriers and starting fires in areas thought to be safe, or landing on houses and torching them. Animals also spread the fires, catching fire themselves, and running to unburnt areas. 

Not much can be gained until Mother Nature changes the weather patterns and the Santa Anas stop. 

The ground buildup in the chaparral also controls the water runoff in the rainy season, so after the fires, there will be flooding and mudslides that'll change the landscape. 

Just a few things people don't think about when they're "California Dreamin'." Best of luck and prayers to our classmates living down there.

William Nelson

Jim,

Thanks for the primer on SoCal fires. While we don't have any desire to move there -- it's way too expensive for us if  we did -- we have several family members who already live in that area and at least one more considering it.  Would you mind if I copied this and pass it along to my FB friends?

Jim Cejka

Bill, go ahead. I did my undergrad down there studying that stuff. I know we have several of our class living down there, and thought somebody might be interested. We moved from there about 4 years ago, and just heard my daughters best friend, and her parents places, have been evacuated. If you haven't seen the pics of the fires taken from the space station, you should Google them. Really shows the effects of the Santa Anas on a chaparral fire.