I just love these Monday updates

Harry Diavatis

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Monday Update April 14, 2008 The Monday Update is published and edited by Harry Diavatis who is solely responsible for its content. Correspondence, photographs and archival information may be sent to [e-mail] The Monday Update is e-mailed every Monday A year of back issues is available on: www.wdstrong.net Hello Classmates: In this edition: Sandy Caldwell-Garton, Fran Calzacia-Gilbert, Judy Cloud-Metcalf, Trella Foster-Malato, Bill Gordon ‟64, Judy Kleven-Dawal, Linda Lewis-Shuyler, Tom Libby ‟61, Randy Owens, John Parks, Eileen Posedel-Lee ‟64, Loretta Smith-McCracken, Karen Williams-Rampone ‟64, Paul Wright ‟61 and Roberta Zachary-Johnson. Well, this is opening weekend coming up. Am I stressed? Hell, yes! This is just too much work for a guy my age to undertake. Thank God I had great help from a handful of my classmates… couldn‟t have done it without them. Their names bear repeating: Steve Bleamel; Crag Parker; Kent Love; Linda Tholmer-Anderson; Bob Calhoun; Dennis Yen ‟63; John Ranacis; and Mel Brooks has hardly left my side during the entire process… but that‟s another story for another day. Mel‟s wife, Lorraine, has also been a great help. Thank you, one and all. I owe you big time. The week began with some news that wasn‟t totally unexpected. Stan McWilliams, long time Vallejo JC (Solano CC) baseball and basketball coach finally succumbed after a long battle with cancer. I got ...

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• Publié par: Ewlie
• Nombre de lectures: 183
• Langue: English

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  Monday           Update April 14, 2008   The Monday Update is published and edited by Harry Diavatis who is solely responsible for its content. Correspondence, photographs and archival information may be sent to [e-mail] The Monday Update is e-mailed every Monday A year of back issues is available on: www.wdstrong.net        Hello Classmates: I M n  a t l h a i t s o   , e  B di il t l i   o G n o : r   d S o a n n  ‟ d 6 y 4   , C  J al u d d w y  el K l l - e G v a e r n to -D n, a  F w r a a l, n     L C in al d z a a   c L i e a w - i G s il - b S e h r u t, y   l J e u r, d   y T   o Cl m o   u Li d b - b M y e  ‟ t 6 c 1 a , l   f, R  T a r n e d ll y a     O F w os e t n e s r , -   J W o r h ig n h P t ‟ a 6 r 1 k   s a ,  n E d i   le R e o n b   e P r o ta s   e Z d a e c l- h L a e ry e -  ‟ J 6 o 4 h , n L s o o re n t .  ta Smith-McCracken, Karen Williams-Rampone ‟64, Paul       Well, this is opening weekend coming up. Am I stressed? Hell, yes!  This is just too much work for a guy my age to undertake. Thank God I had great help from a handful of my classmates… couldn‟t have done it without them. Their names bear repeating: Steve Bleamel; Crag Parker; Kent Love; Linda Tholmer-Anderson; Bob Calhoun; Dennis Yen ‟63; John Ranacis; and Mel Brooks has hardly left my side during the entire process… but that‟s another story for another day. Mel‟s wife, Lorraine, has also been a great help. Thank you, one and all. I owe you big time.   The week began with some news that wasn‟t totally unexpected. Stan McWilliams, long time Vallejo JC (Solano CC) baseball and basketball coach finally succumbed after a long battle with cancer. I got to know Stan pretty well after I returned to the area from college in Utah and I thought he was a great guy. His son Kelly even coached a year of basketball for me at CMA until he accepted a teaching position down south.   I hope to make the Memorial on Friday if I‟m not too distracted with the play.  

Area coaching great passes on Former minor leaguer a member of 5 HOFs By TIM SCOTT/Times-Herald sports editor 04/09/2008   McWilliams: influential JC coaching great   The Vallejo area lost a coaching institution on Monday, when longtime Solano College coach Stan McWilliams succumbed to a four-year battle with cancer. He was 81. McWilliams began coaching at Solano in 1958, then Vallejo Junior College, and headed up the baseball team for 29 years and basketball team for 22 seasons. He concluded his career in 1986 with 514 wins in baseball and 350 in baseball. McWilliams is a member of five Halls of Fame, including the charter class of the Vallejo Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. He was also a standout athlete, starring in three sports at Vallejo High - baseball, basketball and football - before graduating in 1944. He moved on to College of Pacific, now University of Pacific, and led the nation in scoring in basketball. After serving a stint in the U.S. Army for 22 months in the Pacific, he returned to Stockton and again led UOP in scoring and starred in baseball. After graduating from UOP, "Big Stan" was drafted as a pitcher by the Red Sox, getting a few cups of coffee in spring training with Boston during a seven-year minor league career. In 1951, he was named the top pitcher in the California Class C League, going 23-10 with a 2.55 ERA for San Jose. Known for his sense of humor, McWilliams told the Times-Herald in 2004, just prior to his VSHOF induction, that the eight-team leagues in his day did him an injustice: "I always said I came too late. ... I'd be a millionaire today." McWilliams was just as good at coaching. Notable players of his included major league star Tug McGraw, who led the 1964 VJC team to a second-place finish at the state baseball tournament, and Augie Garrido, the University of Texas baseball coach who is now a legend in his own right. Part of McWilliams' legacy is surely in the coaching tree he sits atop. When he retired in 1986, six of the eight Monticello Empire League coaches had played under McWilliams. Also, two full starting fives - from the '56-57 and '62-63 Solano teams - are enshrined in the Solano College Hall of Fame.

Dave Marshall, the former St. Patrick-St. Vincent and Armijo baseball coach who played for McWilliams at Vallejo JC, told the Times-Herald in 2004: "He had a major impact on Vallejo, a major impact on the county and at one time, the MEL." Said Bob Mansfield, who played two seasons of both baseball and basketball for McWilliams and is a longtime coach at Hogan: "He wasn't only a coach that I respected for the two years, but I respected him as a person, as a mentor. He was one of the reasons I went into coaching." McWilliams' wife of 20 years, Doreen, said he'd battled lung and prostate cancer the past four years and been through chemotherapy. His condition was also worsened by a series of falls, she said. "Well, he was a great guy. He had a great sense of humor. He was very kind," Doreen said, adding that, after they'd each lost spouses, they'd "both filled one another's lives." Carl Everett, a friend of McWilliams who taught at Solano College and officiated baseball, basketball and football with him, said "he's been a real good friend to me." Everett is also on the Solano College Hall of Fame board. "Every year, whenever a baseball player gets inducted, it's always somebody that Stan coached," Everett said. "They always have good words to say about him. High regard for him." McWilliams also had a 35-year career in officiating in high school and college. He is a member of the UOP Hall of Fame as a basketball and baseball player, and entered the UOP Hall again as part of a 1948 championship team. He was enshrined in the California Junior College Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1992. In '95, he was selected as a charter member of the Solano College Hall of Fame. Prior to his VSHOF induction in 2004, McWilliams told the Times-Herald: "Vallejo is a great sports town, with a lot of great athletes. I'm thankful somebody thinks I'm one of 'em." The family asks that any memorial contributions be given to the donor's favorite charity in McWilliams' name. A celebration of Stan's life will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 18, at the Dan Foley Cultural Center. Our condolences to Stan‟s family…    . . .     Karen Williams-Rampone ‟64, Rick Rampone‟s far more attractive half, sent some very interesting pictures of this year‟s sand sculpture festival in Oregon. Here‟s a couple of the more intricate ones.    

  Truly amazing. I wonder how they get the sand to stick together? Is it just water? Maybe they spray something on it. I could never make it stick. . . .   From: Loretta Smith-McCracken You know I am far from “savvy” regarding e-mail, so I do hope I am sending this to the correct link. I would just send Sally a personal note of “Hooray and Congratulations”, but I understand that even handwritten, personal notes get added to the MU…  Sally, I loved the photo of you and your beautiful granddaughter, Nikki, in your wonderful new Mustang! I’m not much of a car enthusiast, but yours is really fun! Harry, you’re a great husband to mark these important milestones with such a grand gift. I’ve been hinting to my husband, Jack that I would really like a little 2 seat, convertible – but I think he’s ignoring me.  I have a deeper motive - with two granddaughters (under 3 years) living 3 miles from me, I can see the “the writing on the wall”, soon I’ll have to add a second car seat to my car and then I may as well have a 2 seater, right? Jack’s really good to me, so ask me next year if I have the convertible – HA! t I o a   t y t o e u n r d  s e h d o t w h   e “   S sy oc m ia p l h  S on e y c   u S ri a t t y u ”. r   d  I a  f y i   n e al v l e y  n h in a g d     w a  it c h h   a L n a c n e a     t P o  o r k e l a a d n   d a     a M n U d    s a h ft e e   r s  s u e g v g e e r s a t l e   d w   e th e a k t s     w a e n   d g   o  the play sounds wonderful – I just might attend a couple of times. I’ll call you for tickets.   Thanks for all you do for so many. Have a great day. That‟s the spirit, Loretta! Come to the show multiple times… we need the money.

. . . From: Linda Lewis-Shuyler Happy birthday to Mustang Sally. What a great gift. What a man you are. Keep up the good work.   I am leaving for Hawaii on April 19th. I will catch up on the MU when I get back. Keep up the good work.     We expect a full report on your trip to the Islands, Linda. Have lots of fun.   . . .   From: Judy Kleven-Dawal Hi Tex and Classmates: I am one of the 95% that don't write very often. But I thought I would let you know that we are all doing fine, except for the usual colds and flu.    Murphy's Law is working for my daughter and her husband. They decided to add a two and a half car garage with a bedroom upstairs. (They don't have a half of a car. Tee Hee. It just is a very large garage.) They applied last February for permits, but didn't get approval until the last of September. So the contractor started it the first of October. If you remember we had a very strong wind and rain fall about the second or third week. The contractor didn't think it was going to be that bad and didn't secure the tarp well enough. Of course, the newly refinished hardwood floors, the new rug and the sheetrock got wet. The house was built in 1962. This meant the sheetrock had asbestos in it. This also meant that a team of specialists had to come in to clean everything up. The insurance took care of everything. This was the reason they went to the beach house for three months. They finally get back in the house and realized that the architect didn't allow for the fireplace in the down stairs room. This means the top of the chimney is under the eve of the new bedroom. Of course they can't use it now because it is not up to the code of today. Oh yes, it would also set the house on fire. Just a small detail. Now they have to put a new fireplace in. I know this isn't funny, but all I could do was laugh. I am no help at all. My poor kids. They have me as a mother. I hope the kitchen goes better that this.    Ted and I are planning a four or five day trip to the Valley. Ted wants to see the wild flowers in bloom. It will be nice to get away for a few days.    I, like everyone else, want to thank you for the MU. It is extremely interesting and fun to read. Sometimes I skip things but for the most part I read everything and laugh a lot. Those of you that have lost love ones or perhaps are dealing with sickness, please know you are in my thoughts and I wish you the best. I know it is a fight to go though things like this, but I also know you are strong with all of us behind you with our thoughts and love.    Well, I guess I have rattled on enough. Plus it is late. I will write more in another six months from now. I know, Tex, you will get on me for that last comment. I’m suppose to write more often.   That‟s right, Judy. Check in at least every couple of months. . . .    

From: Trella Foster-Malato  I haven't checked in with the MU in a while, but have been reading it each week.   My e-mail address will be changing this week. I will be retiring on Friday, April 11th. I have been working from home part time this past year while I care for Joe. The option for me to work from home was withdrawn so I will be retiring.   Joe and I are doing well. I just can't leave him alone for long periods of time. We did manage a trip to Las Vegas for NASCAR week and had a great time. Our son flew in from Texas to help me so we had a wonderful visit with him too. Paid our Nevada taxes while we were there.     I have all these wonderful projects in mind to tackle in the next few weeks but wonder how many of them I will get around to. I may just take a few weeks and enjoy doing nothing except reading and needlework. It sounds like a good way to start retirement.   . . .   From: Sandy Caldwell-Garton Lynda Bingham-Gregor and I plan to attend the Alumni day. Jack Kelly wants Ron to go also, which is a great idea except I told Ron he absolutely CANNOT sit with the class of '60... how rude would that be???? Plus it would make him two years older, yikes!     Lots of fun things coming up... see you at the play!    Not to worry, Sandy. Ron is too youthful looking to be mistaken for a member of the class of ‟60.   . . .   From: Judy Cloud-Metcalf Good day to you hd... I realize you are one very busy guy, so won’t take up much your time.   How many are going to the Sardine Can on Alumni Day? (Al Lehman “guesstimates”  around 100. I thought more like 40-50. Who knows? All are welcome. Should be lots of fun. I think mostly „61 and „62 with some ‟60 and ‟64 thrown in for good measure.)    One other question I need answered; can I donate to our class fund, in “honor of” someone other than a classmate? Thanks much my friend...   Absolutely you can. . . .   Billy Gordon sent me this picture without a word of explanation. Whatever…   

         Jerry “Beefo” Prather, Jensen, Billy Gordon, Anderson, Jeanne Gordon   . . .   I’ve had the time of my life, and I owe it all to you…  Donation Fund for Vallejo High School     The Feather is glowing a little brighter this week with donations from Judy Cloud- Metcalf and Ron and Sandy Caldwell-Garton. Our current total stands at $5,582.   Judy writes: “In Honor of Vincent and Calvin, my grandchildren, and in Honor of Harry Diavatis and Bill Strong for the great work they do for our class of ’62.”    Sandy writes: “Hi Harry, I know this is getting in just under the wire but I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time, honest! (I kinda pay my bills the same way.) See you at Alumni Day. Hope we have a huge turn out.”      This is the last week that we will solicit donations for the VHS Fund. The Reunion Committee will meet next week to determine where all this money will go. Alumni Day, is on April 25. At that time we will make our presentation to the school.  

Please mark your calendar to remind you to attend Alumni Day. We would like to have a large presence at this event and also for the luncheon at the Sardine Can (around 11:30 a.m.)   If you are making a donation in memory of a favorite teacher, family member, or friend, make sure you provide the name(s) when you send in your check.   To date the following have contributed:      Mel Brooks Judy Cloud-Metcalf      Pamela Diggs-Pitts Harry Diavatis      Lynda Bingham-Gregor John Parks     Steve Cotter Steve Bleamel      Sharon Kent-Harris Rena Mae Ashley-Williams     Roberta Zachary-Johnson Ann Lemke     John Lammon Anne Griswold-Gomes     Crag & Claudia Parker Anonymous VHS ‟64     Art „61& Lillian HH64 Morgan-Rust Jerry Orr „61     Glenn Savoy Linda Tholmer-Anderson      Bernadine Gray-Ali Ray Ricciardi „64                 Ron Beckmeyer Sharon Parfet-O‟Brien    Loretta Smith-McCracken Sandra “Judy” Klevens-Dawal    Mary Ann Bolelli-Tilton Tom Libby „61     Carol “Tre” Trestrail-Frane Gayle Emerton-Rodriguez     Bill Strong Rod & Nora Boschee                               Ron & Sandy Caldwell-Garton                  In Memory of Jerry Causey Mel Brooks Anonymous „62  Dick O‟Donnell  Carolyn & Joe Rasler In Memory of Dave Pedrotti Anonymous „62  Carolyn & Joe Rasler In Memory of Pat Brignone Harry Diavatis In Memory of Bob Duncan Harry Diavatis Carolyn & Joe Rasler In Memory of Barbara Costa Judy Cloud-Metcalf In Memory of Dave Castleberry Judy Cloud-Metcalf Dianne Ingram-Mahler Dick O‟Donnell  In Memory of Stanley Foster Judy Cloud-Metcalf In Memory of Darlene Gates Judy Cloud-Metcalf In Memory of Josephine Joseph Judy Cloud-Metcalf In Memory of Cookie Ortiz Judy Cloud-Metcalf

In Memory of Bill Seibel Judy Cloud-Metcalf In Me J m ud o y r   y C   l o o f u   d J - e M rr et y c   a P lf r   ather In Memory of Ernest Simons Steve and Dana Dunn In Memory of Ron DeStefano Glenn Savoy Carolyn & Joe Rasler In S   t M an e  a m n o d r  P y a o t f M   a G t a s r o y n   - A Ab b e e r r n n at a h t y h   y In F M ra e n m k o a r n y d    F o r f e   d G in e a o   r R g o e s   e J  S e V n 6 s 4 e   n In Memory of Ken Ilusorio „64  Eileen Bell-Thompson HH64 In Memory of Patsy McClure-Himes „61 Linda Marcacci-Parsons „61  In Memory of Coach Joe Grove Mary McKinlay-Collins In Memory of Joe Piccolo „54  Carmela Piccolo-Coakley „58  On I e n o   f M M e a m ny o   r O y l   d o  F f ri D e i n c d k s    f S ro aa m l     „63  Dick O‟Donnell  In Memory of Dick Pozzi Dick O‟Donnell  In Mem J o o r h y n     o & f C R ri i s c  P k a   r P k a s rks „69  In Memory of Nancy Eastwood-Camba Diane Brinkman-Imhoff In Memory of John Bunter SV60 Harry Diavatis In Memory of John Lowe, Jr. „59  Barbara Lowe-Louie ‟64 & Gene Lowe „61  In Memory of George Fitzpatrick „60  Jack Kelly „60  In Memory of George Marcacci II „63  Linda Marcacci-Parsons „61  In Memory of all My Departed Classmates Jan McCord-McCoy „62  In Memory of Nancy McDaniel-Center Charlotte Preston-Garner HH63 In Memory of Johnny Fitzpatrick „61   Anonymous „61  In Memory of Seriously ill & Departed Classmates Caryl Ann Perkins-Corder „61  In Memory of Kathy Zundell-Davis Charlene Imhoff-Davidson „61  In Mem C o h ry ar   l o e f n   e P  I a m ts h y o   ff M -D c a C vi l d u s r o e n -   H „6 i 1  mes „61    In Memory of Dennis O‟Donnell, Napa „61  Charlene Imhoff-Davidson „61  Dick O‟Donnell     

In Appr ( e W c h i o a  s t t i ill o  w n a   lk o s f     a H mo a n r g r   y u   s) D   iavatis Pauline Dennis-Bunter In Memory of Jaydeen Piller Steve Cotter In Memory of Don George Steve Martinez In M La e rr m y o ‟6 r 0 y     & o   f M   o M ll e y r  P v o C st o -P u e g tr h i l e a „6 n 1  „   60  In Memory of Bob Hart „61  Ken Werris „61  In Memory of Harry Gray Anonymous „64  In Honor of grandchildren Arianna & Calvin  & In Honor of Harry Diavatis & Bill Strong Judy Cloud-Metcalf   To contribute to the Fund please make your check payable to VHS Class of ‟62 and mail to: Harry Diavatis, 5087 Green Meadow Court, Fairfield, CA 94534.    . . .   From: Tom Libby „61  Good Monday Morning to you, Harry. I have not been able to post on your Update for a while, so I thought you were missing me.   I just got back from Phoenix, AZ for the State Four Gun Tournament. I locked Carolyn up in the Rock Star Bus (that’s what Sis calls it) so she could not beat me. That helped a lot as I won the Arizona State 4 gun. I wanted to do much better at the upcoming shoots so I made a deal with Frank Arellano to be my coach and one of the first things he told me was I needed a new diet to clear my head for thinking. I am not sure I can ever get used to the custom protein mix (hay and seed) Frank put together for me but I have been eating it and as you can see by the picture, I think it is working on my head, although my hat seems to be too tight. Well, I will leave you at this point as I hear Frank calling for that afternoon running thing that he has me doing while he is in his car telling me to try trotting and not stomping.   PS: Harry I forgot to remind you its Franks birthday Monday. Give him one of you special write ups to show him your LOVE.  

Always nice hearing from you, Thomas. Congratulations! The special write up for our buddy Frankie will have to wait until I‟m not as stressed as I am right now with this show. I will tell you that I did dream about Frankie Saturday night… don‟t remember exactly what it was about… sigh…    By the way, I‟m very disappointed that you and Frankie aren‟t coming up for Alumni Day. I thought you were until Sis told me otherwise. Is it something I said… something I did… what? . . .       The Apache Review of Arts…..   Shades of Scott Joplin   By John Parks   Does an ice cream truck visit your neighborhood? The temperature got above 70 here on April 10th so our local Good Humor man reliably arrived -- just as dependably as the spring songbirds. "Abubukar" is originally from Africa and is starting his 15th year as our Burke area ice cream man. He's always happy and cheerful. My first purchase of the season was a Choco-Taco -- for $2.50. With willing buyers at prices like this, why wouldn't he be happy? -- Maybe only because he hears the same song 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, 7 months a year: "The Entertainer". (What song does the ice cream truck in YOUR neighborhood play?) In honor of smiling "Abubukar", our ARA song of the week is "The Entertainer"! Shades of Scott Joplin.   Our staff recently took a little trip up to Havre de Grace, Maryland. During the Revolutionary War Lafayette stood at the mouth of the Susquehanna River, where it enters the Chesapeake Bay, and remarked that the location reminded him of a place in France with that name --- and it stuck. The old part of town down near the water is quaint with many beautiful homes, and tons of pleasure boats bobbing in the harbor. Goll's Bakery in this area was started by the proprietor's grandparents. I later bought some perfect macaroons there. First real stop was the hotel, but at the back of the deep parking lot next door was something very intriguing: a small building with a cute sign -- "Patisserie Lucie". A French bakery! I couldn't resist trying the cinnamon roll with maple topping. DELISH!! Lucie said she is from Quebec and has actually never even been to France. Nevertheless, her pastry shop is GREAT! Then we went to the town's famous Decoy Museum. Very really well done! (This area is a major stop for migrating waterfowl along a coastal flyway -- kinda like Suisun Bay.) Next we went through a nearby building where they teach wooden boat building and saw several boat designs in various stages of completion -- plus a real birch bark canoe and a dug-out canoe.