Pictures from the 2006 Brown Bag Reunion are on the Web site, along with a funny item distributed at the event about "you know you're a Ventura High grad if ..." Check it out and see what you can remember or if you're a "mature" grad.

It's been longer than it should have been, but I've finally updated the Web site. The biggest change is the addition of an article that appeared in The Star about Karen Grassle's appearance in Ventura's Rubicon Theater. There are also some minor changes in the Found, Missing, and In Memory pages.
If you can help us find any of the missing folks or can correct any of the listings, please let me know.

I just sent the following message to everyone I thought I had e-mail addresses for, and a bunch of them have already bounced, so I'm posting it here, too. (If you see this and want to be added to my list for notices of class news send me an e-mail or add a comment to this item and I'll get a copy of it. My e-mail is on the class Web site at venturahigh59.com.)

Hi, everyone: I forwarded a fan letter from the VHS 59 Web site to Karen a couple of days ago and just got a response from her about an appearance in Ventura. Here is the pertinent part:

Thanks for the e-mail. Have been meaning to contact you. I'm in Ventura working at the Rubicon Theatre and we open this Sat night and play for three weeks.

I didn't check to see what play, but Rubicon has a Web site -- OK, hang on a minute and I'll go look: The site is at http://www.rubicontheatre.org/ and here's some info on the play:

Open Secrets
[ Calendar l Single Ticket Price Chart ]

The Premiere of Two One-Acts by Dale Wasserman:
The Stallion Howl and Boy Blacktop Road
Directed by RTC Artistic Director James O'Neil
More on the Dale Wasserman Festival

Starring: David Birney, Cliff De Young, Karen Grassle and Eric Lange

--- end of e-mail ---

I recognize David Birney's name from the old TV show "Bridget Loves Bernie," but he has a lot of other credits; details at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0083709/.

I didn't recognize Eric's name, but he also has a long list of credits at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1441925/

And Cliff De Young's credits are at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002037/

And not to short Karen's other credits (we all know "Little House"), her info is at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002111/

I'm sorry to report that another classmate has left us. William Edward "Bill"Arnold of Oxnard died April 20. He was born in Ventura on May 9, 1941, and had lived in the county most of his life. He graduated from Ventura High in 1959 and was a Realtor with The Cusick Group, Remax Gold Coast, in Ventura.

He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Diane and Mark Hamblin of Crescent City; granddaughter, Kayla Marie; grandson, Keith Allen; brother William W. Arnold Jr. of Ventura, and his stepchildren, Kari, Kristi, April and Zerlina; cousin, Judy Blair of Spirit Lake, Iowa; and his girlfriend, Christine Hamilton.

The full obituary ran in the Ventura County star on April 25, 2006.


If you know of other classmates' whereabouts or deaths, please let me know so we can update the Web site.

I received an invitation the other day to register at http://www.venturaalumni.com/ and was impressed with what I found when I checked it out. Here's some information from the home page of the organization that runs the site (and many others):


"As our name implies we take a far more serious and long term approach to building alumni sites. You can find a multitude of companies offering the same basic features such as a class directory, reunion post, message post and perhaps some limited photo uploading capability. But these features are hardly comprehensive and provide little or no long term value to the alumni.


"Schools and their sponsored organizations can now maintain an active prescence with all registered alumni! As a School News Reporter you can post important information on fundraisers, retirement ceremonies, alumni events and other news within minutes! Simply locate your school from the list and look for the School News Reporter registration link."


The home page is at http://www.alumniarchive.net/


When I checked today (feb. 28), the site included 68 California schools, including Buena, Camarillo, Oxnard and Ventura high schools. It looks like it might be worthwhile to register and check the site periodically. As of now, at least, there is no cost.

I sent the following e-mail out today to classmates whose e-mail addresses I have. A couple have already bounced back, so I'm posting it here, too:

Hello, all: Classmate Butch Peterson died recently. Here are the links to the story that ran in The Star and his obituary:

Story on Butch Peterson ran 12-24-05
http://www1.venturacountystar.com/vcs/sv/article/0,1375,VCS_239_4340033,00.html

Obituary ran 12-25-05
http://www.legacy.com/venturacountystar/LegacySubPage2.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=16072458

If you have never been on The Star site, it does require registration.

My list of e-mail addresses gets shorter with each mailing. If you know someone who'd like to have this information, please forward it to them, just in case the address I have is no longer valid.

The annual Brown Bag Reunion for all Ventura High School classes is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 30, on the Ventura High School baseball field. For more information, contact Ned Bartels at 386-4161.

Our class hasn't had a big representation at any of the Brown Bag Reunions I've been to -- some of the classes from the 1940s have had more people than we have -- so I hope to see some of you there.

There are a lot of other reunions going on. The most recent list published in the Ventura County Star can be found at http://www1.venturacountystar.com/vcs/reunions/article/0,1375,VCS_1803_3661489,00.html

It's a long URL, so cut and paste carefully. If you've never been to the Star's site, you'll have to register, but it's free and will ask for some information that the paper uses to track the use of the site.