Don and Shirley Baldwin Chandler

Merry Christmas from Shirley and Don Chandler in Colorado. As I am writing this, snow is falling and everything is beautiful. Don't know if we will have a white Christmas but we will be able to enjoy the snow on the Rocky Mountains. We send our wishes for a wonderful Christmas with your families and friends.

RD and Betty Molcany Barber

Happy Holiday greetings to all of you from Betty Molcany Barber and RD from Lubbock, Texas. We hope that this holiday season finds all of you happy and healthy. We are about to begin our 4th year of retirement and couldn't ask for anything better. To those of you who are still working toward that wonderful goal, hang in there! T'is a shame that we have to work so many years before the fun starts. Play, have fun, and enjoy the coming year of 2007. If any of you ever come through beautiful west Texas, please call us or stop for a visit.

Joe and Betty Cobb McComic

We send our warmest greetings to all the classmates of Fair Park. We sure enjoyed the reunion and being in contact with everyone again. We wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR with PEACE ON EARTH.

Norvel and Barbara Kennedy Blaylock

Our Christmas greetings . . . Remembering our friends from the early 60's with both love and appreciation. It was wonderful to see those who attended the 45th class reunion and to laugh about those memories of "old." It has been wonderful also to "chat" sometimes daily with many of you and to keep up with "what's happening" in our former classmates lives.

Norvel was told of his cancer (non-hodgins lymphoma) in 2000 and the best they could tell us was that we had 18 months to two years to survive and here we are in 2006 at Christmas still so very blessed. This miracle, along with the truly great miracle (Jesus birth), will be celebrated once again through these holidays along with our two children, Kristopher Brent and Kristi Le'Anne, our daughter in love Mindy, our son in love Andy, and our "grands", Brennan Kristopher (4) Braden "Brady" Meade (18 months) Blaylock, Ashton Noel (9) and Andrew Tate (7) Bellamy. The Bellamy's reside in Tyler, Texas where Kristi "retired" from medical sales to be a fulltime wife and mother to her girl and boy. The Blaylock's reside about three minutes from us here in Bossier where Kris is the Pharmacist at Kroger's on Benton Road, and Mindy "retired" from teaching to be a fulltime housewife and Mom to their two boys.

A special thanks to Bill Scott for being the "glue" in the togetherness and for him to know that Norvel and I are lifting both him and his wife up in prayer as they go through with the care and needs of being a caregiver and a patient for this ugly disease of cancer. May the "star" on top of your tree give you both light for the journey and warmth in the assurance that you are not alone.

Merry Christmas to all and to yours also. Please never lose sight of that "baby" who lay in that manager so very long ago and please remember that it is CHRISTmas, not Xmas and that it is not Happy Holidays but MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Lester and Clara Edberg Anderson

Merry Christmas everyone!

Kay Burford Murphy

May everyone have a joyous Christmas and prosperous New Year. Cheers from Kay Burford Murphy.

Leroy and Gaye McWhiney

We are sending you all a message wishing you Happy Holidays and a Very Merry Christmas.

Ronnie Middleton

To all of the class of 1961 - Yes, Ronnie is alive and well and very happy to reconnect with all. I've been having trouble with my old email address so I am changing to rmidd@ballisteelguam.com. Please make the necessary changes in your address book as I have been lost a long time.

May GOD Bless and keep all of you and your families during this holiday season and I wish all of you the very best in the coming New Year ! With the greatest of love and affection.

Ronnie & Kay Bacon Smith

Just wanted to wish everyone in FPHS Class of 1961 a very Merry Christmas. It has been a good year for us----new grandbaby born and another on the way. This will bring our total to four grandchildren. Also, our youngest---a daughter---graduated from Tulane Law School this year and has gone to work for a law firm in Houston. We will be on our way down to see she and her husband Thanksgiving. Ronnie, believe it or not, is working on getting his Master's Degree in History at Louisiana Tech while still working full-time. He hopes to teach part-time in his retirement. Don't know where he gets the energy!! Well, Merry Christmas to everyone and God Bless!

Spate Reg Anthony

Merry Christmas Everyone and a very prosperous New Year. All of you are like family to me! I am doing Christmas in Connecticut this year with a ski trip to Vermont. (Have to go north to see snow). God bless you all !!

Christmas/New Year Greetings

Just a short reminder to everyone to prepare a class wide Christmas/New Year Greetings and send it to me by the end of November. I will add your greeting to the Christmas Blog and activate access to that information on December 1st. Based on the greetings I have received already I believe this can be a very nice way to embrace the spirit of the season as we remember the joys of friendship and good times together.

There is no “format” for your greeting; just whatever thoughts you wish to pass along to folks with whom you share a common bond. Don’t put it off though and miss the opportunity. There will be only one Christmas 2006 in our lifetime.

Sue Roark Henderson

Sue has sent a Christmas greeting in a Jacquie Lawson animated card. Before going to Sue's card:

1. If music is playing return to the website Blog page. Press the Esc key to stop the music.
   
   
2. Return to this page and click on Sue's name in the Title line to go to the animated card.
   
   
3. For best viewing press the F11 key to watch the card in the full screen mode.
   
   
4. Close the card and return to the website Blog page. Click on the [Blog] webpage link to reload the music, if applicable.
   
   
5. Return to this page and continue with the greetings.
   

(If you are using an internet browser that has tabbed pages this switching back and forth is relatively easy. If you don't have this type browser, use the back and forward navigation arrows or menu commands.)

Pat Hayes Smay

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL FORMER FAIR PARKERS!!!!

The reunion was great and I have talked with a lot of old friends and made some special new friends. Life is good! This is the time of the year when we all look back over our lives and take inventory. My inventory is pretty good. My children are well, their families are well, and I am reasonably well. We have our health and we have our families and friends, and I, for one, am very grateful. Thank you all for being in my life all these years. Your friendship is very cherished!

I wish for you what I hope that you wish everyone - have a great holiday and enjoy your families and friends in fellowship during the Christmas season.

REMEMBER: HE'S THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!

Larry and Janie Wade Polk

May the blessing of Christmas bring joy to your holidays and light your way in the New Year. Remember Jesus is the reason for the season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

James and Vel Gilley

To the Class of 1961 from Fair Park High School, may the Good Lord bless you as he has me, and if he does you'll have Christmas every day. Merry Christmas (hopefully) daily. Love from James and Vel Gilley and family.

Edsel and Judy Pace Smith

Merry Christmas Class of 1961 Fair Park High School. May each of you & your family’s have a blessed Christmas & a wonderful year in 2007.

The reunion this past summer was a memory I shall cherish always. It was so exciting to see “kids” that I grew up with in Ingleside Subdivision, played with after dark till 10:00 p.m. in the summer, walked home from school with, went from first grade at Claiborne Elementary thru the 12th and with some went to the same church. After viewing the pictures of the reunion that so many sent in for Bill to put on the website, I realized there were some there that I never even got to speak with -- it was over much to soon. Let’s pray we will all still be around and healthily so we can be reunited again in another five years.

So, my hubby, Edsel and I wish you all God’s richest blessings this Christmas season.

Jerry and Brenda Broome French

Wishing all of you a healthy and Happy Holiday Season. Merry Christmas.

Eugene and Carol Blake

I want to wish all of the Class of 1961 a Merry Christmas/Happy New Year. May God Bless you all.

This has been a special year for me. I want to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers after my heart attack.

Faye Hammons Bailey

I hope everyone has a wonderful Merry Christmas and a safe New Year. Hope to see all of you at our next reunion. So, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Just to let everyone know that we are never too old to learn, I am going to Bossier Parish Community College. I am a Culinary Arts student. If everything goes okay I will graduate in May, 2007 as a Chef.

Carolyn Holliday Eichner

Happy Holidays to all the Class of 1961 and may all of us have a wonderful prosperous 2007. Who would believe that we would be in the year 2007?

Bobby and Linda Terry Patrick

From the Patrick household in Alexandria, Louisiana --
Bobby and I would like to wish our friends from the Class of 1961 from Fair Park High School a very Merry Christmas 2006 and Happy New Year 2007. May this season fill you and yours with joy, hope, health and happiness to last throughout the New Year. May God bless you all and let’s all keep in touch. Our love always . . .

Bill & Pat Pendleton Reed

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all the 1961 class members and their families.

Should any of you decide to get away from Louisiana during the holidays just to have a little fun, we will have SNOW in the mountains, horse drawn sleigh rides, plenty of hot chocolate, the slopes will be ready for skiing, and a good time will be had by all.

From our house to yours, "WE WISH ALL OF YOU A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON."

Camilla Fulco Doughty and Family

As 2006 comes rolling to an end, may my family be one of the first to wish you and yours all the very best for the New Year of 2007. May each and every one of you have the very best Christmas imaginable. My feelings for each of you are still running very high after spending the reunion weekend with so many of you. It was very special to relive moments of our Fair Park history. The laughter, fun, and fellowship of that time together have made 2006 very dear to my heart. Much love and affection.

Family Update by Sue Roark Henderson

I received a note from Sue Roark Henderson recently with an attached photo of Sue and her husband Jim. Sue has also provided the following information for the Blog.
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This picture was taken in Dalton, GA. Jim and I went there to visit Bruce Kruger's cousin, Pete Pangle, and Pete's wife Paula. This picture was taken by our son, Chris. We are sitting in front of a Cracker Barrel restaurant on our 42nd Wedding Anniversary.

Jim and I have two sons, ages 32 and 34. Our youngest son entered the Air Force after he graduated from the University of Florida. After seven deployments to the Middle East (I think he visited every country with a name ending in the suffix “-stan”, plus a few others), he decided to transfer from the Air Force to the Navy. As parents, we are delighted to have him in the United States, and even better than that, in Florida. Greg is attending the University of South Florida Medical School, courtesy of the United States Navy. He is in his first year, and he refers to himself as the “old man” of the class. I will never forget his account of his USF interview when he was applying to various medical schools. One of the doctors conducting the interview asked, “Why are you interested in changing careers at this point in your life? You are an officer, and you have an excellent record with the Air Force.” Greg’s answer was rather pithy, I thought. He said, “Lady, have you ever been shot at?”

Our older son, Chris, is a professional bartender. He attended Miami-Dade College (formerly Miami-Dade Community College, and also my husband’s employer since 1970), graduated with a 2-year honors degree, attended 1 year at FSU, and decided he was tired of school. He had been working as a bartender the whole time he was at FSU, and is now working in Atlanta, still tending bar. He was a night owl as a child, and he is still a night owl. He is the one who took the picture you have.

Although I am retired now, and have been since June of 2002, I spent 38 years as a classroom teacher. When Jim was doing his graduate work at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, between 1965 and 1970, I did my first five years of teaching. When Jim finished his graduate work in 1970, we moved to Miami, FL, expecting to stay one or two years. At that time, there was very little demand for Professors of Biology, and so we stayed. We’ve been in the same house for 29 years. This is where we rode out Hurricane Andrew. Both boys were living at home then, thank goodness. We were without electricity for 6 weeks. It was like camping out. Our daily routine was as follows: Jim, Chris, and Greg would each crank up a chain saw after we had our morning coffee. I often felt like my new career was boiling water on our camp stove so we could have morning coffee. Then, the three men would cut fallen trees (we lost 58). As they cut limbs, I dragged them to the front of our property. This went on for the first 5 weeks.

Strangely, I remember that as a time of intense family bonding. We were happy to be together. We didn’t bother with clocks, telephones, or T.V. Given all the natural disasters Mother Nature has to offer, I’ll choose hurricanes every time. Of course, Andrew was no Katrina! I’m sure some of our classmates from ’61 were affected by Katrina. Jim’s sister and her family live in the New Orleans area on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain. (I’m not sure of that spelling…guess I’ve been away from Louisiana too long.) Jim’s nephew lost his house, but has since rebuilt. His niece had water up to within 6 inches of her front steps, while all the rest of her neighbors’ houses had water inside. Jim’s sister lost over 50 pine trees and was without electricity for quite a while. No one was hurt, and all is well now.

I’m beginning to wonder whether we will ever have grandchildren. Our older son declares women to be too high maintenance to even consider marriage, and our younger son is wise to wait until he finishes medical school (in my opinion). He married two years ago.

I hope your family and loved ones are well, and I wish for you all good health and the best life has to offer.

Sincerely,
Sue Shannon Roark

Bill Scott

It has been said that feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. That sounds right to me so at Christmas 2006 I want to express my gratitude to my Fair Park 1961 classmates. Thank you for every email, phone call, regular letter, newspaper article, photo, phone number, home address, or email address that you have sent my way over the past 4 years. Hearing from each of you not only brightened my day, but the information you shared made it possible for others to reconnect with friends from the Class of 1961. What a joy to be able to stay in touch with each other at this time in our lives.

I hope that you and your family have a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. May your Christmas be filled with the real joy and spirit of the season. And may the New Year bring you a continuation of that joy as we serve the Lord and each other. Joy to the World! The Lord has come!