2010 Devil Mountain Run T-Shirt page

My last post was written two days after our baby boy came home. Yes, a new baby has definitely curtailed blogging time. So have some other family matters that came up in March.

Today, I wanted to post a link to a new web page I just made. I'm getting ready to run my 33rd consecutive Devil Mountain Run in early May, so I thought I'd create a website with old Devil Mountain Run shirts. This site has about 20 scanned DMR logos, flipped into a miror image for use as iron-on patches. Check it out if you want to re-create an old shirt.

Also, this year runners can help make more money for Children's Hospital when supporters donate at our DMR participant page.

Baby Boy for the Ramseys!

We are proud to announce that our baby boy entered the world on Sunday, February 21, 2010. He weighed 8 lbs., 15 oz. and measured 21 1/2 inches. If you were at the '78 & '79 30 Year Reunion in October, you may have met my then-Five-Months-Pregnant wife, MaryEllen, at the event. We are all now home and enjoying this new addition to the family. While he may not be the very last son or daughter born of a member of SRVHS Class of '79, I'm sure he'll be one of the last. I just hope I can stay active into my 60's enough to keep up with my growing boy!

Tidbits

As usually happens after reunions, the website postings and in this case, the blog postings diminish substantially. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years have all occurred since the reunion. Regular life happens, of course.

We had a big snowstorm in Maryland in December. More snow than we've seen in at least seven years and the most snow ever for a December snowfall.

Oh, here's an SR tidbit I've learned. Do you remember the San Ramon High "Walk of Fame", officially called the Gary Leith Memorial walkway? It was on Front Street in front of the Shoe Stable in the 60's and 70's and created to honor the most outstanding student in each graduating class of San Ramon High School. For 1979, it was Bill MacDonald; 1978 - Jim Anklam; 1980 - Paulette Ditzler. The Shoe Stable moved and the old property and street were remodeled and the walkway was eventually moved to a spot on campus near the school's theater. According to Class of '79 classmate, Melinda May Malin, John's daughter, the school no longer recognizes honorees because everybody is above average these days, much like Garrison Keilor's Lake Wobegon.

I saw the walkway while in town for the reunion. It's not looking too good and I couldn't find Bill's footprints, but at least it's there. They aren't in chronological order, but I did see prints from the 1990's, so it did continue for a while after our years at SR.

1977 El Lobo Yearbook

My original purpose for creating a Class of '79 website eleven years ago was to post old high school photos in case we might have misplaced or lost our El Lobo '79 yearbooks. Maybe we'd see a photo of someone and say, "Hey, I remember him. I hope he'll be at the 20 Year Reunion!"

I never owned a '77 El Lobo, but at the reunion, Bob and Rick Riley loaned me theirs so I could scan the yearbook and post some of it online. I really enjoyed this yearbook. We were Sophomores that year, and were beginning to gain confidence. We were hopefully getting taller and no longer looked so much like little kids.

It was great to see these old photos because, unlike the Senior pictures where we were all dressed up, in the '77 yearbook we were dressed in our regular '70s clothes.

But take a look at these 34 pages which I have uploaded -- 10 pages of Sophomore class portraits and 24 other pages. Lots more material to scan and post, but this is the stuff I wanted online first.

Doug Cody's Reunion Pix

We were fortunate to have Doug Cody, Class of '78, take some candid photos at the reunion on the 24th. Doug's a professional photographer, so his photos really do look good as he has a much greater sense of how to do proper lighting thamn most amateurs like myself do.

Here's the link to his BayAreaEventPhotography.com site where he is hosting his photos.

Click on a thumbnail to see a web sized image.
Click on that image, and you'll download the high res image.
Click the back button twice to return to the thumbnails.

First Comments on the 30 Year Reunion

After arriving home late last night from our 12 day trip to California, I finally have the chance to give my assessment on the reunion events of the last weekend.

First, I have to thank my wife MaryEllen for being such a great support for me and being with me at the reunion. Being five months pregnant, she was not up to standing for long periods of time, so she mostly sat at a table in the back room with Randy Blair's wife, Patricia, and Bob Downs' wife, Jeanette. The spouses who accompany us to our reunions are real troopers. My wife is comfortable with new people and she knows so many of my classmates, so she enjoys the reunions. It's just that with her present physical circumstances, a stand-up type party didn't work well for her.

Here's the one big reality I've gleaned from this reunion -- We hit our peak reunion attendance in 1999 and we will never have as high a percentage of attendees again. Were the 2004 and 2009 reunions given the same degree of attention and advance publicity as the 1999 reunion? No, I don't think so. But, still, I don't think that our classmates did not know about the reunion. And the stark reality of it is that we will never see some of our classmates ever again. Maybe that's obvious to others. But, I had this sunny and optimistic attitude that nearly all 400+ of us would come together at our reunions. Obviously, that is not the case.

I was loaned a copy of the 1977 SR Yearbook and while browsing through the Sophomore section, I was saddened to see how many boys and girls from those photos had not been at the reunion last weekend. And I really would have enjoyed seeing them again! My plan is to scan and upload much of that yearbook to the website.

The realists among us will rightly say that you are able to choose your friends and if you don't have a relationship with long lost classmates then you all have made that choice. And that's certainly true. I stay in close touch with Bob, Rick, Rich, Will, another Rick, Brian, Bill, Scott, Chris as well as occasional contacts with another Scott, Mark, Britt, and Steve. But how great it was to talk with Matt Wold and Guy Houston, among others last weekend! Folks I usually wouldn't have a chance to see.

Reunion is almost here!

Two days until our 30 Year Reunion. Claudia Gravelle has told me that the food has been all paid for (a good thing) and that the turnout will be great. She also says that latecomers are welcome, so if you were on the fence, it is not too late. I cannot guarantee it, but as far as I have heard the $30 fee is still valid at the door.

Of course, Friday night gives us an even more informal chance to get together as we meet at the San Ramon-Livermore football game. Varsity is at 7 PM. And then Elliott's Bar afterwards for those who are so inclined.

Given that there are about 800 members of the Classes of '78 and '79, I am sure there will be a lot of surprises at the weekend's events. You will see people you have not seen in 25 to 30 years. And some of us will also see people we've just seen the last weekend. I find it all very exciting and I hope most of my classmates will as well.