hurricane update

Though we haven’t found classmates living in Louisiana or Mississippi , we do have some in Texas , including Kathy Mapp Wauguman, who has been dealing with the effects of both Katrina and Rita. Last Monday, 9/19, she wrote: “Here in Plano (a Dallas suburb), many churches have taken in families displaced by Katrina. So naturally, the school district has felt a swell in numbers too. At last report, we have over 500 additional students. My school has just 2 families and I happen to have one of them. He's a Vietnamese boy (I teach ESL which is English as a Second Language) and it's been amazing to hear his stories. Most individual schools are taking care of their own families by providing them with everything from clothing to rooms of furniture. It's been an incredible and heart-warming experience to watch the outpouring of support these people are receiving and most of the recipients are beginning to feel fortunate instead of devastated. Unfortunately, we're beginning to see some crimes committed by evacuees, but we're working hard not let those few criminals alter the good works being done.”

In a second note dated Thursday, 9/22, Kathy wrote: “Thanks for the good wishes about Rita – I'm afraid we'll need them. My daughter had mandatory evacuation as did all her in-laws. So I now have Maggie, her cat, her mother-in-law, her grandmother-in-law, her husband's sister's mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law and a black lab camping out in my house! It's quite an adventure – not exactly the hurricane parties we used to have in Va. Beach right after college! Maggie's husband and father-in-

law had to stay as Nick is a firefighter and his dad is a fire chief/director of emergency operations in that area. All of their homes have a very real possibility of flooding even though they're about 20-30 miles inland. They have the Gulf on one side and Galveston Bay on another. [Rita] is due to hit there early Sat. morning and they're even telling us to brace for terrible storms and possible power outages in the Dallas area. I'll let you know how we do on Monday (if we have school) or the first day back.” Stay tuned….

reunion registration

The good news on the registration front is that 90 classmates are now on our list – and still others have indicated their plans to join us, too. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to double that number in the next couple of weeks?  We’re working on it – and with your help (and registration), it’s just possible that we can!

let us know

Here in Richmond , this year’s State Fair opened on September 22 and runs through October 2. Do you have memories of the Fair from high school days? What about other fall events such as hayrides, or Halloween parties, or the Tobacco Bowl Parade?

Send your stories to forty65@hotmail.com -- or go to the forty65 link on the web page and send in your memories from there. We want our class book to include as many voices as possible, and we hope to hear from you soon!