40th Reunion

We are getting ready to send out the invitations for the 40th reunion. The committee worked hard to put this reunion together. We can't make the reunion successful, however. We worked at locating classmates, contacting all of you  via email or phone (if we had a good phone number). Our goal was to make sure no one was left out or not notified. We found a DJ, located a hall, and picked a caterer. The reunion committee worked on the preparations...but the success is determined by the classmates that attend.

Be on the lookout for the invitation in the mail.  You'll only have till July 1st to send a check.

If for whatever reason you don't receive your invitation. contact me at Ingrid.m.norris@gmail.com or 219-769-3541 x 370. We thought we had correct addresses but some invitations may still get lost.

 

The last two classmates that we have not located are:

 

Patti Mickey

 Her father was Elmer Mickey and they lived at 4728 E. 28th Ave in 1973. We don't have any information about who she may have married.

 

Kathy Manley

Her father was Billy Manley and they lived at 2465 Huntington. We have heard that she may have married a Jones and lived at 2590 County Line Road. We have not been able to verify that and she no longer lives at that address.

 

 

Roger Szostek in 1973

I read this story when it was in the paper and I just had to track it down.

 

Bear-wrestling legend lives on

Post-Tribune (IN) - Friday, April 29, 2011

Author: By Dale Bowman ; Post-Tribune correspondent

The image of Victor the Bear hightailing it away from Roger Szostek sticks with Walter Coffman.

“I can still picture in my mind the bear running away,’’ said Coffman, a senior vice president of investment for Raymond James & Associates, Inc. “He was running away. Roger had him down. The bear ran away and he was not coming back. The bear gave up.’’

One of the collective memories for those of a certain age was attending the mega outdoors show at the Amphitheater on South Halsted in Chicago. At its peak, it drew more than 200,000 people from across the Midwest. Watching Victor whip all comers was an iconic part of the show.

That’s where the story of Szostek , a private investigator and former Lake Station police chief, is different.

After seeing an old grainy photo published this winter of Victor pinning an attendee in 1979, he e-mailed, “If you happen to have any pictures of a skinny kid on top of Victor or even on the stage I would love to see them.’’

In 1973, he and four high school friends from East Gary Edison drove to the show. Szostek , who lied about his age and said he was 18, was one of five people picked to wrestle. He wrestled at 165 pounds in high school.

Promoters asked wrestlers to immediately grapple with Victor, whose superior size and strength took over in those bear hugs.

“The bear would just flip them, throw them 10 feet,’’ Coffman said.

But Szostek told his friends he had a strategy, “When he blows that whistle, I am going to take off running toward the bear.’’

And things turned out far different than usual.

“By a fluke of luck, or answer to a quick prayer, I caught Victor off balance and he landed on his back with me on top of him,’’ Szostek said. “I was afraid that he would hurl be into the adjoining pool or worse if I stood up, so Tuffy (Truesdale) told me to just roll off. Which I did.’’

And he ran off. What he didn’t see was Victor running the other way. Truesdale, the fabled wrestler, did exhibitions with Victor.

The story lived on. Coffman has told it dozens of times. Szostek used it as an icebreaker during the interview process with the Secret Service, and one of the interviewers had wrestled Victor.

Coffman had one other memory, “We basically had to drive all the way home with the windows down because he stunk so bad (from the bear).”

Memories are nice, but Szostek would love a photo.

“I would probably pay a $1,000 for that,’’ he said.     

We don't know of any video with Roger but if you are interested in Victor the Wrestling Bear, check out this video..Victor the Wrestling Bear Youtube

     

In Memory

The harshest reality of a high school reunion is learning of the death of a fellow classmate. You’re young, or maybe you feel young, so it is hard to believe a classmate just as young is no longer with you.

Linda Miller 5/29/1970

John Ramsey 12/14/1975

Thomas Dunn 12/27/1976

Lester Pointer Jun-1977

Edward Overbay Nov-1979

David Kolosci 5/21/1984

Michael Mosier 12/24/1987

Wilfred Joffre 1/10/1991

Scott Silverthorn 6/6/1994 

Marlo Wahlman 2/15/1997 

Timothy Murray 10/9/1997 

Ronald Williamson 6/26/1998 

Jerry Coppinger 10/28/1999

Mike Forney 1/8/2001 

Cindy Neal Lyons 5/14/2002 

Phil Havard 5/19/2002 

Joyce Blatz Echterling 2/7/2004

Margaret Pilnock Palmowski 2/8/2005 

Danny Hendrickson 3/17/2006

Pamela Tokash Flores   7/29/2007

William Sable 10/11/2008 

James Powers 1/4/2009 

James Mendez 2/5/2010 

Eric Arzola 7/3/2010 

Anita Berkley Hise 6/30/2011 

John Grinder 12/14/2011

Darrell Breckman 10/26/2012 

Jose Cuellar 11/27/2012 

Betty Davis Baldridge 1/8/2013 

So many things have happened
Since they were called away.
So many things to share with them
Had they been left to stay.
And now on this reunion day,
Memories do come our way.
Though absent, they are ever near,
Still missed, remembered, always dear.

Author Unknown

Yearbooks For Sale

Debbie Gray (Hallmark)  is working on a great fundraiser for the Class of 73 reunion. She and Dan Miller,  fellow Edisonian, will be selling CD copies of yearbooks to offset the cost of the (7-13-13) 40th reunion.

 

Cost is $10 for 1 and $25 for 4. Available years are 1970-1974. So.. if you de-cluttered your house and threw out your yearbooks or if you just can't find them in all the clutter here's your chance to replace them and help a good cause. Even if you have the print, you may want to get an electronic version as a backup.  All information and order forms will be on Class of 73 Blog later and in the invitation (due out in late May).   Thanks to Ellen Jean Buchanan (Austin) for helping with the fundraiser.

Ronald Gene "Ron" Williamson (1954 - 1998)

Jerry Gruett

I am still years away from retirement so I'm really impressed with Jerry's chance to retire in 1999 and move on to new endeavors. Article is courtesy of The Times newspaper.

 

Det. Sgt. retires from police force

Jerry Gruett will serve on Valparaiso University police force

March 18, 1999 12:00 am  Carrie Rodovich

LAKE STATION -- Det. Sgt. Jerry Gruett retired from the Lake Station police force Wednesday, after 22 years on the force. Gruett has taken a position on the campus police force at Valparaiso

University, leaving 21 officers to serve on the Lake Station force.

"It's been a real honor to be here," Gruett said. "I've enjoyed working here

... (but) It's time to pass the torch on to younger guys."

Police Chief Jim Strine said Gruett's presence on the force would be missed.

"I'm sad to see him go. He is going to be deeply missed," Strine said. "I've

never heard him say a bad word about anybody. "

"He has given 200 percent his whole 22 years here. He goes the extra length in

everything he's done."

Gruett said that in June 1998, he had a run-in with Kevin Dean, the Gary man

who recently shot and killed Chicago police officer James Camp. That day,

officers located Dean after he stole a car from Portage. Dean had fled from the

car after officers blocked him at a stop light. Gruett, in plain clothes, had

tried to subdue him. Dean had twice tried to take Gruett's gun before Gruett

and another officer subdued him.

The day after Camp was killed, someone reminded Gruett that Dean was the man

with whom he had had a run-in. Since then, Gruett has spoken with those

investigating Dean, and may have to testify in a trial.

"It was eerily similar," Gruett said. "My heart goes out to the Chicago police

and to Camp's family."

To help make up for Gruett's departure, the police department has hired a new

officer, Shannon Hamara, who began working in the department this week.

Hamara, a Lake Station resident, is a graduate of Edison Junior-Senior High

School. He has worked in the New Chicago Police Department and as a millwright.

"We're really excited to have Shannon coming aboard," Strine said. "We like

having new guys come in to energize the older guys."

Newspaper Link

What did we look like in 1967

I didn't attend East Gary schools during my elementary or junior high years but if you did or just want to see what our classmates looked like in 1967-1968 click on the link below.

7th grade yearbook pictures