Around the Horn - September 15, 2006

The following is a collection of tidbits I have extracted from e-mails, conversations and recollections.

Kay Fulcher Carter, who lives in San Antonio, is going to be a grandmother soon. Kay has retired from teaching school after 30 years of developing young minds. Thanks, Kay, for bringing your annuals, class pictures and newsletters to our reunion in July.

Barbara Griffin tells me she took a trip to Colorado in August and is now attending classes so she can take her CPM exam at the end of the year.

Judy Daniel McCollum and her husband Jerry went to the Nascar races in Bristol, TN in August and will be vacationing in North Carolina visiting Earnhardt and Hendricks Motor Sports in September. to view Judy's granddaughters. to view Judy's and Barbara's granddaughters.

John Kirk and his wife Eleanor live in Longview. Their two sons and a daughter-in-law live in South America, and their daughter lives in Cincinnati, OH. John practices OB/Gyn medicine, and Eleanor is involved in education.

Another one of our classmates, Kay Riddle Henderson also is now retired from teaching school, after having taught in Jefferson. She and her husband Peter now live in Jefferson.

Whenever I think of Mike Wommack and his wife Susan, I'm reminded that Mike and I attended twelve years of school together at Pewitt, and also two years at Texarkana College together. My daughter has a hard time imagining this, because she attended a different elementary, middle school and high school. By the way, did you know that Mike holds the land speed record from Texarkana to Naples, having made that trip in less than twenty-five minutes?

Tom Lyles and his wife Louise live in Tyler, where Tom is a CPA. Tom, do you have any legal tax-saving loopholes for us? I'm forever thankful to Tom for keeping us relaxed during our high school basketball games with his one-liners. Sometimes I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing while shooting free throws.

Donna Gibbs Johnson and her hubby just celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary—they have five children, 14 grandchildren (with another on the way), and one great-grandchild on the way. Donna started Donna's Bookkeeping and Tax Service in 2001. Donna, do you know any legal tax loopholes? Prior to that, Donna was an office supervisor for H & R Block.

Jo Etta Richardson sends her best to everyone. She was unable to attend our reunion in July because she was visiting her son in Hartford, CT. As luck would have it, our reunion was at the same time that her son had time off from work. Well, Jo Etta, we will see you in 2016.

Debbie Frost Scaff and her husband Bob live in Daingerfield where Debbie works for the Daingerfield School District. I have never seen Debbie without a smile on her face.

Kate Falls lives in Lake Jackson and is the business manager for Gulf Coast Gastroenterology. Her daughter, son-in-law and grandson also live in Lake Jackson. Next time you see Kate, ask her about her 24-hour-plus trip from Houston to Naples last year when Hurricane Rita hit the Texas-Louisiana coast. Houston became a giant parking lot as folks from all over the Gulf Coast began evacuating.

Tom Brian is a dentist and lives in Allen, Texas. In 2000, Tom founded Send Hope, a non-profit organization that brings dental care to underprivileged families on the Miskito Coast of Honduras. Read about his work at .

If we ever need an improvisation comedy team to represent our class, I nominate Rick Cobb and Tom Griffin. These two kept us entertained at the reunion with their one-liners and stories. And they didn't let up later at dinner at Catfish Village. Rick and his wife Sally live in Naples. Tom and his wife Susan also live in Naples. Guys, please send me some stories to include in the web site.

And last and least, here's Ron Lewis. Tricia and I went to Spain in May to pick up our daughter Alicia, who was in a study-abroad program through the University of Texas. Alicia was an excellent tour guide and took us sightseeing in Granada where she lived for the semester. . We also worked in a trip to Athens and a cruise of the Greek islands.

I would like to close and ask everyone to pause for a moment and think about three classmates who are no longer with us: James Bradshaw, Tim Henderson and Steve Smith. They are missed.

I know I've omitted some folks, but I just didn't have any information. So if you happen to run into any classmates not mentioned here, ask them to send me some material. Until next time, peace.

RL