Dr. Bob at Work

In Houston, we had the pleasure of a visit from Bob Matson and his wife Jeanne, from California.  They traveled here to have a booth at the huge Clinical Lab Expo at the Houston George R. Brown Convention Center.  In the photo, Bob is smoozing with a colleague in Bob's booth for Quanti Scientifics.  If you have studied chemistry a lot, you may understand what he does.  His company offers "a diagnostic assay development system for the rapid development of multiplex assays."  Bob will be glad to spend a few hours with you to help you understand.  He and Jeanne run their business in Irvine, California.  Candy and I are pictured with them enjoying time at the Cadillac Bar before dinner at the Salt Grass Steakhouse.

Viet Nam Era

I got Darrell's ok before posting this.  We were not very close in the years after high school, so we keep on learning more about each other.  In the 70's, while I was doing boring corporate stuff, my twin brother was burning a lot of jet fuel on aircraft carriers all over the world.

The Phantom is my favorite of some 18 aircraft I had the pleasure of working with.   It was the premier fighter in Vietnam.  Powered by two huge J79 series jet engines it was capable of  mach 2 plus flight.  Unique for the fighter aircraft community Navy F-4′s had no guns for air to air combat but depended on Sidewinder and Sparrow missiles instead. They could drop bombs but Navy Aviators shunned that like the plaque.  Some Air Force types had guns and dropped bombs regularly.  VF-161 shot down four MIG 17′s in May 1972 and got the last air-to-air kill of Vietnam in 1973.   I was attached to VF-161 aboard the USS Midway from Oct 74 until Dec 77.  As a Phabulous Phantom Phixer I was responsible for the engines and fuel systems of the aircraft.  My job evolved to the point where most of my time was spent in the cockpit running the engines.  I was not only checking the operation of the engines but most other systems as well.  Sometimes it was either required or more expeditious to check other systems for other shops in the squadron.  Airframes had hydraulic leaks to check and flight control systems to check.  Electricians, Avionics and Fire Control technicians had various things to check as well.  The most fun to be had, however was the high power and afterburner runs.  Safety was paramount at all times.  All ground runs required screens on the intakes and upwards to 12 chains as a hold back device for AB runs.

 What a thrill it was for a boy from Anacortes to slam a throttle forward and have the Afterburner kick in and shoot flame out the back of the aircraft!  At night I would light up the whole flight deck and ruin the night vision of every body up there.  At a fuel consumption of 36000 pounds of fuel per hour I must have contributed to the fuel crisis of the 70′s.  This fuel consumption helped spell the demise of the aircraft in favor of more fuel efficient engines but the Phantom ruled the skies in the 60′s and 70′s.  
  Darrell, in Oak Harbor, 2013:

More teachers from our past are gone...

Haven't seen a posting for these in the blog.  Mike Kilpatrick (Whitney Elementary and Central Junior Hi) passed away late this summer and Walter Vonnegut  passed away Wednesday morning.  His service is the 22nd at 2pm at the Anacortes United Methodist Church. ~ Nancy Mudge

Mr. Partlow has passed

I needed help placing him.   He was a young P.E. teacher in our Jr. High years.  Hal Partlow is what I remember and the memory has a positive spin.

.  http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/skagitvalleyherald/obituary.aspx?n=harold-ge...

From Tim Walters: 

OK 65ers and I mean 65(+) yo Class of 65ers. The Class Christmas function has been set for December 1st at Randy's Pier 61. I don't need a commitment this soon but just want to give you a heads up so you can pass the information on to others that don't do FB.
We will start at 6pm and for those wishing to attend to contact me at 360 420 9928 or island_tim@frontier.com. I will finalize plans with the restaurant the 1st of November so a menu can be published.

Paul Evans for the Halibut

In case you did not see it on Facebook, Paul is seen here with his son Mark.  Paul caught the 55 pound Halibut in British Columbia.

Class of 1967 Reunion

You may recognize some faces from the Class of 1967 at their reunion on August 18. It was held at the new Seafarers facility on the waterfront near the Cap Sante marina.  Click on photo to enlarge.

Brown Lantern Duo

Tim Walters and I enjoyed telling war stories while lunching at the Brown Lantern recently.  You probably knew already but I just learned that early ownership of that bar included Tim's Grandfather (?).  He can correct the story.  Fun time but I'll have to plan better to get more of you there next time.  I was in town for the Class of 67 reunion.

Sad but a Relief

The Anacortes Police Department announced Friday that a hiker found remains of Keith Anderson, a former Anacortes High School counselor who has been missing for more than two years.

According to a press release, a hiker reported finding human remains on Saturday, June 23 in a remote area northwest of Darrington. King County Sheriff’s Deputies used cadaver dogs to search the area and recovered enough remains for identification. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the remains as Anderson. A family member was notified last week.

Anderson’s family called Anacortes Police Jan. 7, 2010, after he had not returned from a trip to Snohomish County the day before to meet an acquaintance. Family members say Anderson was meeting the acquaintance to buy oxycontin, a powerful prescription painkiller. They say he originally took the drug after surgery and got addicted.

His abandoned truck was found in late January 2010 on a remote logging road about 20 miles northwest of Darrington. The area was searched extensively by law enforcement officers and search and rescue volunteers.

In a letter to the editor this week, Anderson’s family expressed thanks to the community for prayers, support, donations and time taken to search for him.

“No words could ever express how truly grateful we are for all you have done and the love shared between all who knew Keith,” they say.

A year ago, the search and reward fund was turned into a scholarship fund in Anderson’s name. Numerous scholarships over his tenure were presented by Anderson and the family will continue this legacy. The award will go to a student who has overcome obstacles and adversity during high school.

Mick Cowan

Glad to report that Mick Cowan has surfaced in Oregon.  You can email him via the Anacortes High School alumni site.  http://www.alumniclass.com/anacortes/

Christmas Party for the Class of 1965

Nice job Tim.  Looks like a good time was had by all.  50th Anniversary party?

Merry Christmas!

Class of 65 Christmas Party

Time	Saturday, December 3 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location	Randy's Pier 61 - banquet room 209 T ave Anacortes
Created By	Tim Walters
More Info	Order off of the menu, although this is for classmates, significant others are welcome.

 This function will only be announced on FB, this blog and by word-of-mouth. Please forward.

Please RSVP to:

Tim Walters
            206 719 3588       or
island_tim@frontier.com

Bed Update

 ‘BEDS for KIDS’ donation campaign update.

Terry Kiser reported to me that over $3200 dollars have been raised to date.  Now I can’t tell you, at this time, how much is from our class but that it is a lot of money raised very quickly.    A big thank you to everyone that donated!  But because materials have been ordered ($5,000) and bills must be paid now, Christ the King church in Anacortes has agreed to donate the required balance.   So from this point forward, any donations you may still wish to make to Rehema Ministrieshttp://www.rehemainstep.com
will be used to purchase mattresses & bedding.  Please continue to note that your donation is from the Class of 65.   Remember that 97% of your donations go to support the kids.


Tim Walters

A Challege

 A Challenge for members of the AHS Class of 1965

Our classmate, Terry Kiser, who is a missionary to an orphanage in Kenya, Africa, made the following Facebook plea for help:

“We need 40 of these...my new friend is willing to build them, dismantle them and when they get to Kenya, he will go and assemble them....but.....we need the materials”

In an email, Terry, continued with the following:    “The current beds are in pretty bad shape, and are standard crib size. The new ones will be a little different than the picture, with more safety rails. I got some new costs yesterday and so at this point, the total material cost for 40 of these 3 tier units is about $4600. That works out to about $117 per unit....about $39 per bed. The guy who will build them has a shop and mostly builds bunk beds for a living. He will do all the labor for no cost.”

The current beds are crib size and we have about 60-70 kids that are in the 5 yr old range, with a total of 105 as of last week and of course will be growing, so the beds will be out grown in not too distant time. I think I can rework most of the current beds to keep them in service for the little ones that don't stress the beds. There is some indication that the home will house 3-400 kids in the future. It is the only place that takes babies in the area, so as the Kenyans keep throwing away their babies, Instep will continue to grow.”   (Please check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-aaVN8m5so&feature=related to learn about Rehema Ministries and the In Step Foundation orphanage)

So the challenge to each of you, as a member of the AHS Class of 65, is this:  Please consider a donation to purchase materials for one unit - $117 or as able, any contribution is very much appreciated.  100% of your donation will be used for required materials.

Donations can be made through the Rehema Ministries website http://www.rehemainstep.com

Paypal, credit card or by check to Rehema Ministries, 1113 3rd St, Anacortes, WA 98221. Make sure you tag the donation to 'bunkbeds' from a Class of 65 classmate.

Thank you in advance for your support.  OH, donating isn’t exclusive to the AHS Class of 65 so please forward to others.

Tim Walters

206 719 3588 (c) 360 293 4128 (h)

 Top of Form

Judy Padgett wrote...

Judith wrote:
"Tuesday 28, 2011 at 0730, Marysville, Ca, I know I couldn't ,make it to the reunion because, but my mother passed away June 3, 2011, on ,my Birthday.  I discovered I had Luckemia on May 2011, I spent 40 days in the hospital In Sacramento, but am still undergoing chemo.  Hopefully I will go into remission and be well again.  I hope you have another reunion and I will be able to attend.  Happy 4th to all.  Judith Pitts (Padgett"


We don't have her email address but you can likely find her on Facebook.