W. T. Sampson H. S., (GTMO), Alumni Page

WE

HAD

A

GREAT TIME!!

 

Yes, we all had a perfectly good time!  There may have been a little glitch or two but we all got to see each other exactly as planned.  Things started to pick up on Wednesday morning, October 6th, as a few of us arrived from the airport and other methods of travel. By Wednesday night there were at least a dozen GTMO Alumni hanging around the lobby bar and lounge.

Then, Thursday morning saw many more arrivals. You could hear the “Oh my God, I can’t believe it’s you!” and the “And you are?”  It was almost like being in a masquerade ball.  Some folks were easily recognized and others were completely changed from the forty-year passage of time.

The first official event was at 6 o’clock that Thursday night; we had a very nice wine and cheese reception in the Jasmine Room.  Many of us were made aware, for the first time, that we were actually part of another Gitmo Reunion . . . there were a lot of military folks present. Stan Hunt informed us that they were servicemen and women that served in Gitmo and that the reunion we were attending was actually planned for them; we were just an annex.  Annex or not, we were together and we made the best of it.

                Stan Hunt had many GTMO souvenirs for sale.  He had T-Shirts, Hats, Coffee Mugs, Bumper Stickers, Maps and a few other hard-to get-items.  Another nice touch we noticed:  He had some antique items on the tables for us to look at. We were especially interested in the telephone directories for the Naval Base circa 1959.

 Friday and Saturday were filled with activities such as tours to the Coca-Cola plant and “the Underground”.  Many went to those activities while others preferred to just hang out in the lobby lounge or at various rooms.  Some brought their computers and were busy scanning the old original photos that were offered.  Everyone brought yearbooks and so it was common to see stacks of yearbooks and pictures scattered all over the long tables.  More and more alumni continued to arrive.

So many people came to the reunion that we couldn’t fit in the main banquet hall for the Friday night dinner. Most of those people were military members.  It didn’t make sense to us that we were put in there with all those folks that were totally unfamiliar to us and were having conversations and speeches completely unrelated to our group.  No matter; some of us just simply went along with the flow of things and the glitches were overlooked. We spilled out into the hotel restaurant during that dinner and we had our own speeches and joke sessions.

Another glitch that occurred was the “group photo session”.  We all assembled outside and posed for the photographer. The problem occurred that we were heaped in there with all those military people that we didn’t know. So now there’s a huge photo of half military and half high-schoolers.  It didn’t make sense, so some of us complained to the photographer and managed to get him to take a photo of “us” only.  You can find the name and address of the photographer at the end of this article if you are interested in getting copies sent to you. Beware of a possible mix-up in your order, it would be wise to ask the photographer for a description of the group photo, maybe even a fax, so that you don’t get that first and second picture that had all those military people.  Perhaps we can get something worked out on the subject and give you a notice here on the website. Watch for it!

Most of us went home on Sunday morning. The lobby was our goodbye site.  It was sad. Many had tears in their eyes.  But we were all very happy to have had such a great success!

                There was some talk about another reunion to be located in Virginia or even in Tennessee.  If anyone out there feels like kicking it up . . . please let us know and we can start making some plans.  Bear in mind that Stan has been doing it for years and there is a considerable amount of detail and expertise required. I personally believe it is much better to go along with Stan and simply  “tweak up” his plans a little so that we don’t glitches and surprises.  Let’s face it, it’s much better to let someone else do all the work and we can just go along for the ride.  All in all, he did a good job and provided us with some nice touches that are hard to beat for the money.

Here’s a list of people that attended; many of them brought their spouse.  We now have more data regarding addresses, phone numbers and email addresses for your perusal.

Remember:  The main mission for this website is to provide you with the “whereabouts data” of your friends from the past!  If you want to add something, simply enter it into the GUESTBOOK, or, email us at:   chefremy@yahoo.com  (Remy Morales)  or    slick6211@webtv.net  (Sandy Alton Calvert)    

 

Allen West

Astrid Heimer

Bob Herrin

Bobbie Bernhardy-Yule

Boni Lyman Buyrn

Brenda James Murray

Chuck Ryan

Colline Brotherson Simpson

Dan Schneible

Dianna Bresney (Smillie)

Donna Lee (Thacker) Campbell

Elizabeth McGowan

Ellen Sanborn Parker

Emil Kloske

Jack Kenworthy

Jeanette LaVerne “Jan” Thacker Hanks

Jeff Maddox

Jere Warren

Jim Weeks

John Hunt

Joyce Hughes Mathews

Katheryn Squires (Bernhardy)

Mark C. West

Marsha J. Troutman

Mike Coumatos

Mike Weber

Nancy Avila-Fox

Pat McGowan

Patrick F. and Joan Porter

Peggy Pauly McCombs

Phyllis “Hiddy Patchett” Doren

Poca M. Balot (Smillie)

Randi Marcello

Remy Morales

Sandy Alton Calvert

Teri Luce Kennan

Tom West

Victor Buehlman

Jay Radcliffe

Yvonne (Kemp) Reynolds

(did we miss a few?) (oops, I think we did!) (help!)

 

Here’s the photographer’s name and address:

Don Heath

PO Box 1261

Roswell, GA 30077

(770)752-8006

Fax (770)752-8007

In conclusion:

                In the next few months, we will attempt to find more of our alumni and we will also entertain any ideas for another reunion.  We will try to keep this site here as long as possible. Please “hit it” from time to time and please notice the advertisements that appear on the pages.  That’s what pays for the site!

                Keep in touch. Send us some pictures for the site.  Send us some ideas that might help perpetuate the site. And, if anyone would like to “take over” the site, please come forward and say so!

Thank you very much for your interest. Hope to hear from you!

Remy Morales -class of ‘59