Class of 88 - Still havin' a blast!

By clicking the box shaped object (button) in the lower right of the video screen, you can watch any of these videos in a larger window.

Here is the slideshow viewed at the Reunion:

Greeting from our A.S.B. President:

Old Brethren Property

The City of Paramount has made some impressive changes to the area. You will notice the center island landscaped with grass and large pines. Several of the apartment buildings across the street have received new "faces" and others have been leveled. There is still a bus bench for the southbound Orange riders.

Through a bond measure that passed a while back, the local school district purchased and built on the property. It also appears very well maintained.

Some things don't change... we made several passes down the street to take these pictures. I had to crop out the young man flashing gang signs for the camera.

Have potential leads on Two MIA

I received leads on Brian Peters and Chere Cantrell that I am pursuing. 

If you are planning to come and have not contacted me or paid, please call or send me an email ASAP! Cash at the door will be accepted, but I need to make arrangements for the proper number of people. 

Hooray for Mr. Cashman!

I hope it is not letting the cat out of the bag too early but... as the alumnus have been returning their questionnaires to me I have really enjoyed being updated with people's lives and hearing the amazing things that God has done. (Did you know that Felix Serrano is a doctor? Or that there are several of us in ministry?) When asked what class at BHS turned out to be the most useful and what teacher you would like to see... it was one and the same... MR. CASHMAN! I just spoke with him on the phone and he is really going to try to be there. 

Thanks for your Godly impact on our lives, Mr. Cashman!

12 Days Until the Reunion

I got this picture from Jason today. I think I've counted 10 people in this picture who will be at the reunion! Too fun!

I still need kid pictures from many of you. Also any high school snapshots you can scan and send me would still be appreciated.

A Little Something I Learned Today

Yesterday I set up a gmail account. I received more than 20 messages today. I'm answering them as fast as I can. I will generate an email with a list of whose pictures I have received.

Does anyone have contact with Lori Williams? Or Wayne Vogler?

Many of you noticed that Dave Bangma and Dave Van Der Ham's names were missing. I only have a mailing address for them.

19 Days to the Reunion

I will likely be posting on the blog more frequently as the event approaches. My verizon email is beyond repair. Please make note of the new one. Laura.E.Blackwell@gmail.com

If you have sent me an email in the last two weeks, I probably did not receive it.

Alpercy, I got your phone message and your invitation should be arriving shortly. Cyndi, I mailed another to you as well. Robert and D'Andre, You should have received your invitations last week, let me know ASAP if you did not.

Making Calls, Working on Details

Just a brief update...
Made some calls this afternoon. I think I have leads on Chere', Diana, and a slight chance on Roshawn.

As I'm working on the details, there are people who have signed the Evite and not sent money and vice versa. If you hare planning on coming and haven't sent the check, please do so ASAP. Signing the Evite is totally optional.

Also, I have contact with Alpercy, D'Andre and Robert Traylor. The rest of the MIA list stands as is. There were never ANY leads on Brian Peters, Tim Miller or Michelle Lucas. Brian and Tim's names are too common to find on the internet. Michelle Lucas is not the singer on MichelleLucas.com. Any chance of finding them is through you all.

Details to follow.

Feelin' a bit like a STALKER

Margaret Robison/Olmedo came over and we purchased a membership to one of those people finder websites. We obtained leads on all our missing people accept- Brian Peters and Tim Miller. Their names had too many hits. Margaret spoke to Robert and Alpercy's moms on the phone. Whhoo! We are crossing names off our MIA list. I got a strong lead on Roshawn too. I know that will make many of you happy since her name has been repeatedly mentioned as someone we need to find. 

The invitations will go in the mail today or tomorrow.

Minus one more from the MIA list!

Hooray, I got an email from Chad today! We are much closer to having contacted everyone!

Evite's have been sent

Everyone I am in email contact with should have received an Evite today. (There are several people I have only mailing addresses for.)

If you did not receive an Evite, the following will be a link to it. 

http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/UMFBCNJYJQMYRUHPDDBW/BHSclassof1988

MIA List Rapidly Dwindling

Thanks for checking in. Our list of missing people is getting much shorter. A huge thanks to Gwen for all her internet research. At present the following list contains the people we have ZIPPO on or have no reason to assume they are getting updates:

Shawn Albrecht, Alpercy Bennett, D'Andre Brown, Chere Cantrell, Michelle Lucas, Shirley Manus, Tim Miller, Mark Milmine, Chad Newland, Brian Peters, Monica Springer, Chris Steeves, Roshawn Stephens, Robert Traylor.


I will be sending the Evite this week. Watch your inbox. You will get a hard copy invitation in the mail in late June.

Cindi (Patterson) Coffin- Your spam filter is still blocking the correspondence that I return to you.

That's one more!

We can remove Shon Willis from our MIA search. I received an email from him today.

Cindi (Patterson) Coffin: I received your email, but your service provider is not allowing me to reply to it. Maybe your spam filter? I need your mailing address.

Wow, thanks for the help!

We have tracked down lots of people and have leads on others. Here's the MIA list of as today:

Alpercy Bennett, D'Andre Brown, Brandon Bruce, Chere Cantrell, Monica Springer, Marquesa Lawerence, Tim Miller, Brian Peters, Diana Rowell, Chris Steeves, Roshawn Stephens, Lori Williams, Kieshalon Gaines, Shirley Manus, Mark Milmine, Robert Traylor, Shon Willis, Shawn Albrecht, Michelle Lucas, Ericka Dryver.

A very special thanks to Gwen (Lovitt) Sanders. She found a bunch of people. Thanks!

People are being found!!

Here's a greatly revised MIA list.

Dave Bangma, Christy Barnes, Alpercy Bennett, D'Andre Brown, Brandon Bruce, Chere Cantrell, Monica Springer, Kurt Kolb, Marquesa Lawerence, Tim Miller, Brian Peters, Diana Rowell, Nancy Shoenberg, Chris Steeves, Roshawn Stephens, Lori Williams, Kieshalon Gaines, Shirley Manus, Mark Milmine, Carlos Sidney, Robert Traylor, Shon Willis, Matthew Ragsdale, Shawn Albrecht, Michelle Lucas, Ericka Dryver.

I have removed a few names because friends assured me that they have been contacted and added a few because their mailers came back to me. I greatly appreciate any help you can be tracking these people down. 

I have been praying that we are able to contact EVERYONE!

We have a date!

Our reunion will be held on Saturday, August 9 in

 Huntington Beach. 

This is for sure since I have a $550 deposit on the site!!

More details will be forthcoming. 

If you are in touch with anyone who is MIA, let me know.

E- Attendance at the Reunion

I'm very excited about the potential of our blog. Of course, Reunion night pictures will be post here. In the meantime, it can serve to allow people to E-Attend. Meet our first E-guest from Illinois, Jennifer (Weightman) Perkins.

Jennifer says- "Here's a picture of my kids and one of me and my oldest son. I live in the suburbs of Chicago so I probably won't make the reunion. I really wish I could be there to see everyone. But if I don't get down there, I'll see you when we get to Heaven! I hope everyone is doing well, but most of all, I hope you're walking close with Jesus! You can email me at: jennifer.perkins@tecmungo.com.  I hope everyone has a great time at the reunion!!"

If anyone else wants me to post a SHOUT OUT to their classmates, I'd be happy to do so. I think it would be really cool if someone wanted to load up a video "Hello" on YouTube.

Bummed about returned letters

Ok, the last two days have brought several of the letters from my mailing back to me. I even received one back that had been in a fire. How does that happen? I guess I'll add those names to the MIA list. Thanks to the many of you who have sent me email contacts. 

This is going to be FUN!

I just mailed the letters yesterday and already I'm hearing from some of you.  Here's a link to a YouTube video that'll make you laugh!

Mark Wills - 19 Somethin'

Mailing Off Letters

Hey, thanks for all the previous emails. It sounds like people are much more interested in a casual event with the option of bringing kids. By the way, since many of you asked... you don't have to have a Blogger/Google account to post a comment on the blog.

I'm mailing hard copy letters to the addresses from the school database. I recognize many of them as very old. If you're new to this site, email me your contact information.

It is my desire that everyone is contacted, heard from, and given the opportunity to attend our 2o year reunion. 

Please get the word out.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO??

Ok, if you're anything like me, you may be struggling with the reality that you've been out of high school for nearly 20 years. Having been asked repeatedly what we're doing for our 20 year reunion...the whole blog idea came about.

So fellow alumni, what's your preferred activity for the

Brethren High School Class of 1988 20 Year Reunion??

Option A- Formal Event- country club type venue- dinner, dancing, DJ (Approx. $125 per person)

Option B- Classy yet Casual- catered by restaurant, venue-hall/clubhouse- no agenda for evening (Approx. $40 a person)

Option C- No Frills Just Fun- park or school site setting- picnic type lunch- bring your kids, bounce houses, water balloons, etc... (Approx. $10-15)