Hello again Joe and the CHS Class of 1968,
I logged on to the most recent edition of our class website and found the poll you were talking about.
One more vote was added. I voted to include all 10 years of classes. My brother, Mike Parks, graduated
from CHS in 1961. I know some of his friends and thought that it would be good to see some of them as
well. During my life I have always gravitated towards older people, probably thinking that I might learn
something from them.

Again, thanks for all the hard work you have put into keeping these files on so many of our classmates. I
also want to thank you for this forum over the internet.

Here is an update to an audience of my peers, of which I know nothing about or you guys know nothing about
me. Knowing each other is certainly complicated by the great size of Central and ‘68 class Time is also
a vast barrier in knowing our classmates after graduation. Such is the nature of the maturation or
in some cases the metamorphosis of our lives in general. Many, gratefully evolve, more rapidly,
especially when one leaves his or her hometown. And in my case, late in life, not only did I leave my
hometown, but I left my home state. While this process is sad, it is a part of life. Still though, I
don’t give up on perhaps meeting some you in the future. Perhaps we will have something in common.

As a youth in San Angelo, I had the uncommon hobby of gardening. My parents never had to do yard work,
because I always beat them to it. I loved it. And it was a real challenge in West Texas, with long hot
summers and very sparse rainfall. Added to this challenge was the hardpan / caliche soil or lack of
soil. Mostly it was the rock College Hills South gardeners had to deal with. In early 1997, I decided
to finally turn my hobby of gardening into a business. Thus, my business Park Place Gardens
Nursery sprang up.

If any of you are interested in this sort of thing, you can get a better idea of what we grow and what our
business mission is all about by going to our website.
The website address is: http://www.ppgn.com (click here, if you have this option with your browser or
email) And we also have recent pictures of me, my wife, Judy, and mother-in-law in the "Our Team and
Nursery in Pictures" section of the website: http://www.ppgn.com/aboutuspics.html

How we ended up in California, is still a surprise of destiny to me. Judy and I moved out here in 1993 with
our Hewlett-Packard employment. Roseville, CA, at the time, was the lesser of two evils. The other choice
was Englewood, CO, which is very near Denver and sadly Littleton, CO. And this move was put to us
as "do you want to keep your jobs or not?" Looking back, I now know that it was a good move. Also our
kids were far away from the Columbine High tragedies.
In short, we love Northern California. Yet, had you told me in 1991, that I would move to California, I
would have said, "you’re crazy."

This inbreed reluctance is especially true of a native Texan like myself. My great grandfather, Spencer
Houston Jack and his father Patrick Jack played important, behind the scenes roles in Texas history.
They both represented Sam Houston as his attorneys. Additionally, my great aunt, last name Wortham, was
greatly into the fine arts and her husband was greatly into the Southeast Texas oil business. If you have
been to Houston you have probably heard of the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts or the Wortham Imax
Theater in the Houston Science Museum. They helped make these arenas possible for Houston. And the
Worthams also started the Central Texas town of Wortham, TX. So we have colorful Texas roots, but now
have a new frontier in Northern California. Try something new, I always say.

Life is short. Don’t live with regrets! This is more profound in the post "September-11, 2001 / terrorist
attacks on our nation" era. I hope that none of you were effected by the disasters. We were not. I also
think, that as we get older, lose friends and loved ones, we must value every moment we have. We tend to
desire more love and look to leaving our legacy.
With all these things in mind, I think that it is important for us to unite as classmates, as Americans
and as human beings in a spirit loving discipleship. We must care more for one another, and perform our
civic duties with determination and joy.

At any rate, that’s all the time I have to write for now.
Write me if you want to catch up on all the years past.

May God bless and protect every one of you in the days to come, bless your families and God Bless America!

Jeff Parks

Make a difference, help support the relief efforts in the U.S. http://clubs.lycos.com/live/events/september11.asp

4th of 5

.GRAND OPENING ...$15 OFF ANY PURCHASE OF $50 OR MORE

I've opened a new store called Marks's Data Central! Why don't you check it out? Here's a coupon for $15 off a purchase of $50 or more (before shipping charges)!

Here's how:
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Hurry this offer expires May 31, 2000. Only one coupon per customer.
You can find my store at: Mark's Data Central

Hi Guys,
I'm not trying to SPAM you all, but did want to share and introduce you to my new on-line store "Mark's Data Central."
I have already tested VSTORES by shopping there myself and I love it! From now on, I'll browse the brick and mortar stores and then buy on-line. It's the best thing since sliced bread.
Also, check out our on-line mall: https://www.angelfire.com/ca5/ps/parksonlinemall.htm
Thanks guys and happy shopping!
Jeff
Jeffery Parks

3rd of 5

From: "Judy Parks"
Subject: ALL THE BEST TO THE CENTRAL, CLASS OF 1968 / MISSED THE REUNION
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 98 07:46:03 PDT

HELLO CLASS,

 AS YOU PROBABLY KNOW, I DIDN'T MAKE THE REUNION. MAN, I HAD MY AIRLINE TICKETS READY, HOTEL IN SAN ANGELO LINED UP AND I EVEN LOST MY BIG $25.00 SIGN-UP FOR THE REUNION.

ABOUT EARLY THURSDAY, @JULY 29, 30TH., WHATEVER IT WAS, I CAME TO THE SAD REALIZATION THAT THE LOGGING PROJECT I HAD STARTED ON OUR GEORGETOWN, CA PROPERTY WASN'T GOING TO BE FINISHED IN TIME. SO, I HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO STAY AND MISS THE REUNION. HOWEVER IT'S ALL DONE NOW AND I'M GLAD THAT I STAYED, ALTHOUGH I'M SAD THAT I MISSED EVERYTHING AT THE REUNION. SO, ONCE AGAIN, I DID THE RIGHT THING, JUST LIKE I KNOW THAT YOU ALL WOULD HAVE DONE. BUSINESS FIRST YOU KNOW.

PERHAPS THE CLASS WILL DECIDE TO GET TOGETHER, IN 2000, THAT IS, IF THE PLANES ARE STILL FLYING AND WE CAN STILL TRANSACT BUSINESS WITH THE Y2K PROBLEM AND ALL; HA, HA. MAYBE WE SHOULD BE MORE CONCERNED WITH BASIC LAW AND ORDER AT THAT TIME. EVEN IF THE REST OF YOU GUYS AREN'T CONCERNED ABOUT PRESIDENT CLINTON, I AND MY CIRCLE OF FRIENDS ARE. IF THIS CURRENT SITUATION DOESN'T RESOLVE ITSELF, I THINK THAT IT IS SAFE TO SAY THAT WE SHOULD ALL HUNKER DOWN AND PRAY FOR EACH OTHER.

AGAIN, ALL THE BEST TO THE CENTRAL, CLASS OF 1968.
JEFF PARKS
P.S. I WILL BE CLOSING DOWN MY JMP@rotfl,com E-MAIL SOON.
PLEASE WRITE TO: loomisweather@angelfire.com

2nd of 5

From: "Judy Parks"
Subject: TO CONTINUE WITH " C O O L " THOUGHTS IN Y'ALLS HOT SUMMER
Date: Thu, 02 Jul 98 23:00:29 PDT
Northern California has been very lucky so far the summer.
I don't really know what we have done to deserve such great weather,but we are loving it. For more information go check it out on our new Loomis, Ca ON-LINE WEATHER SITE :

Again, all the best and we'll see you guys at the reunion.
Jeff Parks

1st of 5

Subject: 30 Year Class Reunion
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 00:12:49 -0500
JMP@rotfl.com (Jeffery M. Parks)
The following Email was sent by Jeffery M. Parks
(JMP@rotfl.com) on Thursday, June 25, 1998 at 00:12:47 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: Hello to the Class of ' 6 8 ! How are all of you at @ 48? It's hard to believe that we have come 30 orbits around the sun already. Don't anyone get dizzy on me.

As you can see I did the unthinkable as a Texan, I moved to Northern California. Had someone told me that I would do this 6 years ago, I would have said that "they're crazy." Now, in hindsight, it seems that we made the right decision. We absolutely love where we live and you couldn't chase me out of this one-horse, small town with a crowbar. A nice "Green Acres" change from Houston, TX. It's also a whole lot cooler than most of Texas. Our highs all this week in Loomis have been around 75*, and we start at about 50* in the morning. For your geography lesson, Loomis, CA is located about 25 miles NE of Sacramento, CA, just a the edge of the Sierra-Nevada Foothills. WE're right on Interstate 80, the road to Reno, NV.

Location, Location, Location . . . Yes, this is just the right real estate, because we are close to everything; The Bay Area (San Francisco) and the Pacific coast - 110 miles, Napa Valley and all those wonderful wineries - @ 70 miles, Lake Tahoe @ 60 miles and, oh yes, Boreal, the first ski resort on the right, going up I80 - a close 30 min. drive. Of course my little place here in loomis, a town of 8000, wasn't enough of the "Gold Country"-"49ner Country", so I bought a place up in the mountains. Now we can rally get away from it all

Vacations are easy, each new place we go to out here, in the Wild, Wild West, is like another field trip in school. Yes, I work for the California Chamber of Commerce now; no just kidding. I'm actually in the plant nursery business.

Of course you can take the boy out of Texas, but you can't take the Texas out of the boy. Even though I speak perfect American English, including addressing people as " you guys", perceptive Californians get a sense that I'm not native to their state. Perhaps it's a Texas attitude more than anything else that is being picked up.

I still like talking about the weather. This is so much so, that I have even become the local weather reporter for the Loomis News. Also, I had fun reporting about " The Winter From Hell " last season. It was not a good time to cross the Donner Summit in a covered wagon.

Our kids have adjusted well to California. Our daughter, Julie, is attending Sacramento State University and our son, Joey, is at Del Oro High School in Loomis.

Again, I'm looking forward to seeing all you "olk folks" even though I haven't changed a bit. And let us hear your side of the story these past 30 years. W R I T E - E - M A I L US.

All the best . .

Jeffery M. 'Jeff ' Parks