Final Planning Meeting A Great Success

PLANNING GROUP - Attending and contributing at the final planning meeting for our 50th-Year CAHS Class Reunion were: Front Row - Joyce Moody Fletcher, Joyce Amon Michaels, Chairman Herb Maney, Joyce Shugarts Undercofler and Suzanne Sherkel Nagle. Standing - Wilbur Shirey, Linda Smith Dale, Penny Hile McCracken, Joanne Shimel Magnuson, Dennis Mollura, Orvis Kline, Tom O'Day, Judi Rolley White and Rudy Schrot (St. Francis High Class of '59). Missing from photo is Susan Weisshaus Speicher, who had to leave early to catch a plane.

- Photo by Chief Photographer Karl Nagle

Highlights of the Meeting:

It's been a great several years of reuniting, planning and joviality, and now we enter the final weeks heading into our 50th-Year CAHS/St. Francis Class Reunion. The meeting on June 6 at the Shaw Library in Clearfield was well attended by 14 classmates and Rudy Schrot, representing the St. Francis High Class of 1959.

Reunion Attendance - As of the meeting date, we had 156 class members and guests signed up for the reunion, with a number of confirmed (but as yet unpaid) classmates known to be attending.

Sue Speicher's Class Booklet - One of the major highlights was a preview of our Class of '59 Information Booklet spearheaded and directed by Sue Weisshaus Speicher. It's a knockout! You won't believe how professional and creative it is. Sue flew in from Florida to attend the meeting and deliver the preview in person. We owe her a huge debt of gratitude for all her planning, designing and rounding up the photos and materials from a sometimes reluctant group of classmates.

Judi Rolley White gave a preview of the decorations to be placed around the St. Mary's Church Hall in Frenchville. Not content with mere rosebuds in a vase, Judy has rounded up a multitude of memorabilia from our high school years. Our thanks to Judi! She's a dynamo that won't stop until the last curtain falls on a great time for everyone.

Merlyn "Little Herbie" Maney guided the meeting with his usual balance of patience and no-nonsense precision. Our thanks to Herb for a fine job over these years of keeping the planning group focused on the tasks at hand. Herb somehow always manages to keep the meeting on course when everyone else seems intent on kibitzing.

Joyce Amon Michaels reviewed the food planning and also took on the task of honcho-ing the dessert contributions, which are to be donated by class members. Many thanks, Joyce! Lots of yummy treats on the way.

Karl Nagle, spouse of Suzi Sherkel Nagle, promised to deliver four wet-bottom shoo-fly pies. We are keeping score, Karl.

Wil and Karen Shirey presented a beautiful, wood-framed Memoriam to our "Class of '59 Deceased Class Members," which will be displayed at the reunion. Thanks, Wil and Karen. Great job, as always.

Patsy Livelsberger McCoy sent in a beautifully hand-stitched "Clearfield 59" baseball cap for Herb Maney in recognition of his fine job of leading the planning group. Photos of Herb in cap on the way.

Penny Hile McCracken reviewed plans for the bus tour of Clearfield. While the meeting was progressing, the ever-versatile Karl Nagle wrote a suggested tour guide script. Karl, as you may know, knows about buses and bus trips. All strictly professional, of course. Karl's spent some time with Fullington Auto Bus Company of Clearfield

Peggy Jo Knepp mailed in, via Joyce Moody Fletcher, a slightly altered photo of the Chippendales, who are lobbying hard to provide the entertainment at the reunion. Don't believe we'll take them up on this one. Watch for more on this one in future postings on this blog.

CAHS Class of '59 Blog - Tom O'Day suggested that the group consider providing printed copies of the blog as a memento and as information for classmates who don't have access to a computer. The blog came in for its share of kudos from those attending.

Joyce Moody Fletcher - Everyone agrees that the MVP of our entire effort is our own relentless, untiring, and unstoppable Joyce Moody Fletcher. While Herb keeps the meetings on course, Joyce keeps the entire effort on track. As we've said before, Joyce has worked tirelessly (and mostly alone) for many years to keep the knowledge, the records and the spirit of Clearfield Area High School alive - not only for the Class of 1959 but also the Golden Bison Alumni Association.

If you ever attended Clearfield Area High School, she has a record of it. If you've ever been "lost"or "gone missing," she'll track you down. And if you've ever died, well, she has a record of that, too. Thanks, Joyce, for all you do.

- Dennis Mollura

Reunion Planning Meeting 1 p.m. Today (June 6) at the Shaw Library in Clearfield

If you are anywhere in the neighborhood today, please plan to attend perhaps the final planning meeting for the 50th-Year Clearfield Area High School-St. Francis Class Reunion scheduled for Friday, July 31, through Sunday morning, August 2 .

Today’s planning meeting will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Shaw Library in Clearfield.

A strong gathering of classmates from CAHS and St. Francis will come together to put the final touches on the many activities scheduled for the fun-filled weekend.

Special note: A group of classmates is planning to get together for dinner this evening at the Moena Restaurant in the former McCrory’s building in downtown Clearfield. We’d love to have you join this mini-reunion of friends and classmates.

- The Reunion Planning Group

A Mother's Dream Realized

MANEY GRADUATES - Front row: Claire I. Potter (1957), Marjorie M. McCullough, (1954), G.Lamarr Roussey (1949). Back row: Merlyn L. Maney (1959), Richard L. Maney (1951), C. Dennis Maney (1945), and William Homer Maney, Jr. (1943).

The story behind the photo:

When I graduated from Clearfield Area High School in 1959, my Mother, Edith Imo (Mease) Maney expressed her joy and satisfaction in how extremely proud she, and my Father, William Homer Maney, Sr., were that all seven children had successfully completed their schooling by graduating from Clearfield High.

With seven children, and World War II in the midst of their schooling, this was apparently a rare event of that time. To commerate the occasion, she contacted CHS Principal Howard (Speedy) Mead and arranged for the loan of mortarboards and graduation gowns to permit all we children to be adorned in the ceremonial graduation dress for a group photo taken by Ward Smith at his studio in Clearfield.

Mother and Father were also included in another photo. William Homer, Jr., was fatally injured by a careless driver on Dec. 16, 1965. He was drafted in his senior year, three days after his March 26, 1945 birthday; therefore, he was in the Army at graduation time and received his diploma in absentia, never having the opportunity of the pomp and circumstance of graduation.

I believe this was a contributing factor in why Mother wanted the photo of us all in the graduation attire. C. Dennis passed away suddenly this year, on May 9, 2009.

An additional bit of info: How I got the name "Herb". When Homer, Jr. returned from the service in 1946, he had not seen me since I was two years old. "Little Herbie" was a very popular comic strip at the time and was made available to the soldiers in their newspaper.

Little Herbie had a blond tuft of hair on the top of his head, not unlike the hair I was sporting at the time. When Homer Jr. first saw me, upon his return, he said, "there's Little Herbie"! Hence, I still retain that moniker to this day, and have even passed it on to our eldest son, as "Herbie".

- Merlyn L. ("Little Herbie") Maney

Guy Graham Takes Us Through Time

Guy and Bud with Billy Shaw

Guy and Giles Lanager

Christmas 1958

Ash Woolridge, Guy and Kenny Rishel

Thanks, Guy, for sharing these terrific photos!

Through the Years with Rose McCracken Billotte

Rose McCracken Billotte sent these great through-the-years photos of her and her family. The 40th wedding anniversary cruise photo is one of several taken during fantastic family vacations on the water and on the beach. We look forward to seeing the Billottes at our 50th-Year Reunion July 31 - August 2.

Rose and husband Bill Billotte, military ball, Fort Stewart, GA - 1984

Rose and family, 40th wedding anniversary cruise

Rose in her kitchen - May 2009

Beautiful, Beautiful Biaggina

Biaggina- Age 10

Of all our classmates, I believe the one with the most beautiful name is beautiful Biaggina Accordino - now Biaggina Accordino Haas. Believe there's a song with that title but I can't seem to locate it at the moment.

Biaggina (I shall not stoop to calling her Bea) was canning strawberry preserves and drinking champagne with friends today when I called to persuade her to allow these photos to be posted on our website. It sounded like a swell party and a happy bunch of friends.

Biaggina was a key member of a very classy group of East End girls, whose charter members in our early school years were Sandi Howland, Sandra Unch, Mary Kay Garman, Rose Marie Centra, Nicoletta Mendolia, Judy Stevens, Sara Jane Brown, Jeani Lanich, Betty Jean Royer, and Barbara Marino. It was a great time to be a boy in East End but we didn't know it. We do now.



Biaggina - as a member of the CAHS Marching Band

- Posted by Dennis Mollura

Friends, and Still Together After 68 Years

Linda Smith Dale tells the story:

The friendship between Penny Hile McCracken and me goes back 68 years!!! Here is a picture taken of us with our moms on 8th Street in East End in front of Penny's aunt's home. From left are Dorothy Hastings Hile and Penny and Dorothy Spencer Smith and me. Penny and I are still the best of friends and we talk weekly.

Betsy Kephart Kruckenberg Captures Junior High Memories

Betsy Kephart Kruckenberg captured some memorable photos of faculty, students and and administration in Junior High School. Thanks to Betsy and her omnipresent camera, we now can enjoy some of those memories as we approach our 50th-year reunion. Great work, Betsy!

Mr. Elwood L. Rohrbaugh, Principal of the Junior High School, who later became Superintendent of Schools, in front of the "Old Junior High School." Great architecture, huh? Herb Maney and the blogmeister made a pact at the end of our Ninth Grade year to meet 25 years later on the steps of the school. The school didn't make it, and neither did we.

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- Dennis Mollura

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Miss Stephenson. I recall she was one of our class' all-time favorite Jr. High teachers. Perhaps someone has a story or two to share.

Miss McCune - girl's phys ed teacher shares the spotlight with a 1955 Ford Victoria and 1953 Chevy convertible. Those were the days.

Mr. Bednar - 9th grade teacher who helped inspire some of the better science projects. He could be tough on rowdy boys, too.

Last Call To Send Photo and Blurb for Our CAHS Information Booklet

Don't be left out!

This is the last call to submit a photo of yourself (any age, anywhere, preferably doing something you love) to Sue Weisshaus Speicher for inclusion in the Information Booklet she is preparing for our 50th-year reunion.

The Information Booklet Response Form should be sent by the end of the week to Sue Weisshaus Speicher, 2262 King James Court, Winter Park, FL 32792. Her e-mail address is sspeicher@ix.netcom.com.

You can send a digital photo to her e-mail address along with a short blurb on where you are, what you've been doing, and where you've been. If sending a printed photo, it should be no larger than 3 by 5 or 4 by 6 inches. Your blurb should be no longer than four typewritten lines so she can fit it in just as you've prepared it.

- The Reunion Committee

Photos from Our Younger Years

Linda Wright and Kay Skinner

- Photo by Betsy Kruckenberg


Peggy Borst, Sonia Borst, Sheila Learish and Jane Winslow.

- Photo by Judi Rolley

John Kruse, Beverly Caldwell and Penny Hile

- Photo by Peggy Jo Knepp

Anne Bartley - Love these childhood photos

Reunion Planning Meeting Scheduled for June 6

The next planning meeting for our CAHS 50th-Year Class Reunion will be held Saturday, June 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Shaw Library in Clearfield.

We'd love to have 1959 class members from CAHS and St. Francis present to offer ideas and suggestions as we head into the final planning phase for all the activities and fun scheduled for July 31-August 2.

Anna Unch Shares Photos of Classmates

Lillian Rowles - 1958


Jessie Stewart - Summer of 1958, at the "Old High School"


Anna - Summer of 1958

Anna - Maybe 1955

Thanks, Anna, for sharing these moments in front of a school that we often saw, sometimes visited, but never had the pleasure of attending. We were the first class to attend the "New High School" on Mill Road in Clearfield.

50th-Year Class Reunion

Clearfield Area High School

St. Francis High School

July 31 - August 2

Please send reservations today to:

Joyce Moody Fletcher

P.O. Box 366

Hyde, PA 16843

Hi Classmates,

May 30, 2009 is quickly approaching. If you have returned your response forms, thanks for your prompt reply. If you have not responded, please do so before May 30, 2009. We need to hear from you so we can complete our planning at our June 6, 2009 meeting at the Shaw Library at 1:00 p.m.

The Fantastic 50th Reunion Response Form should be sent to:
Joyce Moody-Fletcher, P.O. Box 366, Hyde, PA 16843. Her e-mail address is jmoody@atlanticbb.net. Her phone number is 814-765-0142.

The Information Booklet Response Form should be sent to Sue Weisshaus Speicher, 2262 King James Court, Winter Park, FL 32792. Her e-mail address is sspeicher@ix.netcom.com.

Please don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime gathering! We also look forward to receiving your blurbs and pictures for our Information Booklet.

- The Reunion Committee

Bonnie and Ed Powell - Stalwarts on the 50th-Year Reunion Committee

Whenever members of Clearfield Area High School and St. Francis Class of 1959 meet to plan our 50th-year reunion, there is a strong core of members who always show up to move the plans ahead.

Among the most loyal and committed are Bonnie Henchbarger Powell and her husband Ed Powell. Bonnie has shared these photos from the Fifties - Bonnie in 1955, Bonnie and Ed in 1968 and a recent photo of Bonnie.

Many thanks to you both , Bonnie and Ed. We truly appreciate your loyalty, friendship and commitment to the making our 50th-year reunion a great success.

- The Reunion Committee

Phil Graham Checks In with Photo from Wyoming

A little history of the picture taken at my home in Cheyenne. Grandson Ryan, Youth Pastor, Church in Wallaceton; Phil, tool & die maker, retired; Rodney, son of owner of Quality Masonry in Woodland. (July 2007)

Sincerely,
Phil Graham

Memories from The Progress - Oct 16, 1952

Leonard Graders
Elect Homeroom
Officers for Year

At elections held recently in their homerooms, the pupils of the fourth, fifth and sixth grades in Leonard Grade School chose their officers for the year.

The voting for homeroom officers is an activity which takes place early in the term each year, arousing almost as much interest, enthusiasm and excitement among the small fry as national elections arouse among their parents. There is a big difference, however. There are no hard feelings and no election bets to mar the happiness of the group after the election is over.

The newly elected officers are:

Mrs. Mildred Bollinger’s Room, Grade 6: President, Beth Newton; Vice President, Alton Davis; Secretary, Thomas Brigandi, Treasurer, Bonnie Henchbarger.

Miss Francis Black’s Room, Grade 6: President, Paul Clarke; Vice President, Bill Fuhrer; Secretary, Patricia Smith; Treasurer, Mickey Wright.

Miss Grace McMahon’s Room, Grade 6: President, Bob Lee; Vice President, Becky Kline; Secretary, Texanna Maines; Treasurer, Peggy Jo Knepp.

Miss Amy Peter’s Room, Grade 6: President, Tom Shively, Vice President, Joanna Shimel; Secretary, Bonnie Wilson, Treasurer, Bette Lou Welsh.

Miss Betty Brown’s Room, Grade 6: President, Bill Hipps; Vice President, Penny Hile; Secretary, Denny Mollura; Treasurer, Vicki Libreatori.

- Research by Mona Kay Mollura Croyle

Reunion Plans Advancing

We had a great turnout at yesterday's planning meeting, including four members of St. Francis Class of '59. Watch this space for a full report soon.

Only 6 More Days Till the Next Meeting

Orvie Kline gives Judi Rolley a "Hello There Again Hug" at the CAHS reunion planning group meeting last November. There's only six more days till the next meeting - Saturday, March 14, at 1 p.m. at the Shaw Library in Clearfield. Please join us. We are a verrrry informal group. We have lots of laughs, and there are lots of hugs to go around. We would love to have you join in and share your ideas.

- Photo by Karl Nagle

Planning Committee Meeting March 14

The next meeting of the planning commitee for our CAHS Class of 1959 50th-Year Reunion will be held Saturday, March 14, at 1 p.m. at the Shaw Library in Clearfield. There's lots of planning and work to do as the reunion fast approaches. Everyone is invited to attend.

Classmate David Lynn Featured in The Progress

February 07, 2009
By Terry Whetstone
Staff Writer

NEW MILLPORT - Have you ever seen some stained-glass windows adorning a church or other building and wondered who takes the time to do such a project? What many may not realize is that a person who would undertake such a task actually lives right here in Clearfield County.

David Lynn started working with stained glass about five years ago, and he's still doing it today.

(NOTE - David's, wife, Annie Freeman Lynn, also is a classmate. She still writes for The Progress, as does their daughter, Wendy.)

The Erhard, Knox Township, resident said he taught himself to make the stained-glass windows, and began to teach a class on the craft in a Curwensville craft shop a few years later. Before working with stained glass, he painted the windows, but over time, even though it was for windows, the paint would peel off.

"My wife (Annie) suggested I try stained glass since the paint wasn't working," he said. He crafted the windows at the Curwensville Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, and he has been around to other churches and buildings creating his masterpieces, including St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, First Baptist Church and the CNB Bank offices on Second Street, all in Clearfield.

At the bank offices, he said that the third-floor window was bulging out toward the street and was in dire need of repairs.

"It was probably 70-100 years old," he said. Mr. Lynn said he took the window apart and rebuilt it, and while some pieces were damaged and non-repairable, he just replaced them with his own materials. Stained glass is made from either a copper or lead base and is sold in a variety of colors. Mr. Lynn said that just about any color can be acquired. He recently built a lamp for his home, and said that he put about 30 hours of work into it, from design to actual completion. This is the second lamp for his home that he has built.

"The designs are all his own, too," said Mrs. Lynn.

Mr. Lynn was an employee of the state Department of Transportation for 33 years before retiring. He held a number of positions including draftsman, highway designer and civil engineer, to name a few. Through his work, he acquired a surplus drafting table, which is where he designs his lamps and other projects.

Among some of his other glass projects are smaller items like snowflakes that are 4 or 5 inches across, and a huge design that is in the living room window of his home that weighs approximately 5 pounds.

The front door to his home is also adorned with stained glass, and the door and the two lamps feature lighthouses, which Mrs. Lynn likes. Mr. Lynn said he has to use a cutting wheel made of tungsten carbide to cut the glass because a steel wheel only works for about 15 minutes. "They (tungsten carbide wheels) are almost as tough as diamond," he said. When he's not working with stained glass, Mr. Lynn enjoys stamp collecting, something he has been doing for a very long time. He got started in the stamp-collecting hobby thanks to his grandmother, Elizabeth Boal.

He has thousands of stamps, most of which he has purchased over the years. He usually goes to the American Philatelic Center in Bellefonte or to Subway Stamps in Altoona, and one book he has purchased has about 53 stamps on one page that were all printed in the 1800s. While he has purchased stamps, he has also acquired some from mail he has obtained. He has many books of stamps, although some of them are not full and he has spaces where some stamps need to go, should he acquire them. So, how much are the stamps worth?

"Some of the unused ones are worth about 50 cents," Mr. Lynn said. "But they can be worth several hundred too." But that isn't all there is to Mr. Lynn - he has also served in the service for the country. "I was shocked at how quickly I got in (to the U.S. Army)," he said. "I was sworn in the day after Christmas." That was in the 1960s. He spent three years in photo interpretation, where he put films and photos together for aerial photography and, eventually, spy satellites.

"Satellites were still very new and very hush-hush," Mr. Lynn said. "People didn't know they existed. Then, when they realized they were feasible, a camera was put on them." Another of his jobs involved driving a colonel around. He recalls a time when he was late one day for a pickup and saw the colonel walking down the road. He stopped and asked if he needed a ride, and while this colonel did, it wasn't the colonel he was expecting.

Mr. Lynn said that when he was younger, he was also into collecting snakes. He said that when he'd go for a walk, if he'd see a snake, he gathered it up and take it home with him. He had around five cages in his Clearfield home where he kept them. His wife is not a very big supporter of snakes, so he no longer collects them. Aside from that, he also likes to sketch and enjoys being with his horses.

He also enjoys reading, including books by authors like John Grisham, Clive Cussler and Tom Clancey.When asked as to which he prefers, stamp collecting or stained glass, Mr. Lynn replied, "It's six of one and a half dozen of the other."