GOOD NEWS ABOUT GARY GRASSI

(Connie Engelbart's husband)

(in case you all didn't know, Gary had surgery to remove a tumor on his brain. Let's keep Gary, Connie, and their family in our thoughts.)

News from Kris May regarding Gary Grassi:

Gary is out of surgery and it only took about 5 hours (including pre-op) instead of the longer time. They have already been able to talk to Gary and he can carry on conversation as normal! We went down and saw him last night and he told me that the Drs. told him it could be anywhere from 2 hours to 10 hours. The Drs. were very positive last night and both Gary and Connie have had amazing attitudes about the whole thing. They are just awesome. Chelsea stayed down there with Katie last night and today.

GOD is AWESOME!!--Kris

NEWS FROM JOHN STARR

Carron,

I had some serious back issues a while ago, and hadn’t bowled until this past Saturday. I had a few of my lower vertebrate decide to go out of place, and then refused to return to where they belonged in a timely manner. Then to top it all off, we went out to Pittsburgh in early October to visit with Becky’s sister and catch a Steelers game. To say the least, the trip was very hard on my back, but well worth the pain.
My Brother-in-law scored Jered and me field passes, so that was an experience all by itself. I have never been to a Pro game before, and have been a life-long Steelers fan, so this was a special treat.
I have enclosed a couple of pictures from the trip. The first is the family getting ready to eat at one of the local eateries, and the other is Jered and I on the field prior to the game.
See you soon on the alleys.

John Starr

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

IOWA FALL PHOTOS

BOWLING WITH SCOTT AND DIANE

We spent Friday night tearing up the lanes with Scott Petersen and his woman, Diane. Tony kicked all our butts, but Scott said he broke 100 for the first time in over 20 years!!! Check out his fine form below!

DARCIE'S RIDE FOR BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

Darcie and her group, the Chrome Divas, a national organization of female motorcycle enthusiasts, organized a benefit ride for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. On a beautiful October day, we all went from town to town raising money through raffles, donations, and auctions. After a mere six hours, the group raised $2,220!!

CLASSMATES EVERYWHERE

Darc and I met up to have a brew and watch Tony play in his pool league. At our first stop, we ran into Colleen and her hubby, Denny. We then moved on to stop #2 to listen to Darc sing some karaoke and we ran into Carla!!!

"YARD OF THE MONTH"

Hey!

Last Sunday we woke up and found a big metal yellow tulip in our front yard! A picture of our yard was in the Stratton paper and the caption said, "The Non-Member "Yard of the Month" chosen by the Stratton Garden Club for October is that of Lance and Deb Ludwig, residing at the corner of Main & Wyoming. Their yard is a simple and neat display of flowers, shrubs and trees."

(Unfortunately, we've had a frost and some of the flowers have already bitten the dust!)

I only wish that Lance would have taken pictures when he and his dad bought this place....it has come sooooooooooooooooo far!

Deb (Wilcox)

FINAL CROSS COUNTRY MEET

Wes has his final cross country meet of the season last Thursday night where he beat his personal best time. Also in attendance were Gma and Gpa Bungum.

PRAIRIE ACADEMIC AWARDS CEREMONY

The Prairie High School Academic Awards Ceremony was held this morning and I am claiming bragging rights! Our son, Wesley, received an honor roll award for a 3.5 g.p.a. Daughter, Ellyn, received three awards for highest honor roll (4.0), an academic letter, and an honors science certificate.

WE WON, WE FINALLY WON!!!

Tony experienced his first ever Iowa football game this past weekend and he got to see the Hawks beat Illinois, 10-6!! Getting up at the butt crack of dawn on a Saturday and drinking beer at 8:30 a.m. kind of threw him for a loop, but his brother, Barney, and I - the tailgating veterans - broke him in well!

VOLLEYBALL, HOMECOMING, FLOWERS

Click on the link below to see some awesome pics of Brenda's kids and her gorgeous flowers.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=r4dq2db.c81bqow7&Uy=-xm69b5&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

THE BRADY/RUSHFORD OFFSPRING

Hey Carron,
Here are a couple kid pictures. Jon and his homecoming date/girlfriend, Layne, this past Saturday, and Morgan (in the red shirt) & a volleyball buddy, Maci, at the homecoming parade last Thursday. Jon’s a senior, Morgan is a sophomore.

Take care!
mj

THE COVINGTON/KERNS FAMILY

Here's Dann, Sharon, Charlie (future linebacker) and Rachel (future banker). Oh, yea, and their dog, Schlitz. I mean, Miller.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN GENESEO

Top left: Sharon and Tony

Top right: Todd, Carron, Sharon, and Tony

Middle left: Todd, Jen, Michael, and Elizabeth Schoon

Middle right: Todd, Brad, and Cris Schoon

Bottom left: Todd teeing off

The Schoon family had a beautiful day for Brad's benefit. There were tons of Anamosa people there for golf at noon and many more expected for dinner and the auction tonight. It was so wonderful to see Todd and Jen.

I would like to thank everyone who sent contributions to me, totaling $555.00, which I forwarded on to Brad's family. This is in addition to other classmates who donated directly to the bank in Geneseo, sponsored golf holes at the tournament, or donated items for the auction.

Todd wants me to greet everyone and to thank you all for your generosity and kindness.

MORE PHOTOS

Top left: Todd and Cris Schoon

Top right: Todd, Cris, and Pate Schoon

Middle left: Doug Albertson and Brad Schoon

Middle right: Bird bath donated by Mike Deutmeyer

Bottom left: Just to prove we're in Iowa... an item donated to the silent auction! (Todd and Jen's friend from NYC was going to bid on it just because...)

BRAD'S BENEFIT ON SATURDAY

Tony, Sharon, and I are heading to Geneseo tomorrow morning for Brad's benefit. We collected a good chunk of ching from the Class of 1981 and we are all proud to be able to give it to the Schoon family.

Thank you to all who donated and to those who have sent prayers and good thoughts.

I have checked my mail today and will be leaving before the post office opens in the morning, so in the event you sent some money and I haven't received it yet, just shoot me an e-mail letting me know how much. I will add it to the total.

I'll take photos and share them tomorrow evening!

Thanks again to everyone!

A LITTLE HUMOR

(courtesy of Brenda)

Ain't that the truth?

CARLA'S CLONE

Can you tell the guy in the middle of the top picture is Carla's son, Jacob?

Geez, I've never seen two people look more alike!

Also in the top photo, on the left, is Brenda's son, Nick.

In the bottom photo are Kelly, Carla, and Michelle. The pic was taken at Scott's Welcome Home Party in August.

(Thanks to Brenda for all the photos!!)

MONTICELLO HOMECOMING

A lovely photo of Brenda's handsome son, Nick, and his pretty date at the Monticello Homecoming.

MONTICELLO VOLLEYBALL STAR

Here is Brenda's daughter, Kristin!

DEB CAN FOLLOW ORDERS

You said to send pics of our kids, so here they are!

LOL

Deb

PRAIRIE HOMECOMING

Here are a couple pictures of Dean's and my daughter, Ellyn, with her boyfriend, Josh, on Homecoming this past Saturday night.

Send me some pics of your own kids. I know you all have some...