GOOD TO HEAR FROM DAVE GEORGE

Hey Carron - thanks for checking in. Things are good here. Sam and Lauren are making the jump to middle and high school in the same year, so this fall should be very interesting. Also, Lauren just celebrated her 14th birthday and I'm not ready to have a teen girl in the house. I know how I was at that age and I'm hoping she doesn't follow suit!

I was in England for work about 2 weeks ago. I work for a division of Honeywell. In the past two years, we purchased a company in Poole, England, on the south coast. I have 4 people that work for me there and I get there 3-4x per year in addition to weekly conference calls. The interesting thing about the Poole area is palm trees. It is far enough north that it can get cold, though without the snow we get here. And, because it's on the south coast of the country and on the gulf stream, coconuts actually float from the Caribbean to there and have rooted over time.

At present, we are planning on a trip to Anamosa over the weekend prior the July 4th. The 4th being on a Wednesday kinds of screws up the week, but I'll take Monday and Tuesday off to make it a 5-day weekend. The folks were actually here for Lauren's 8th grade graduation last weekend.

Again, thanks for checking on me. See or hear from you soon.

P.S. I have a thought for you. Have you heard or visited Facebook.com? It's a site like MySpace but geared to the over 18 year old crowd. Another group I'm in has started a group on Facebook. Individual set up their own page with details, photos, etc and we link together as a group. We could have a Anamosa Class of 81. There are already Anamosa people on Facebook - you can search by key words. Most are recent grads it looks like. Anyway, it might be a neat way to stay connected or to gear up for the 30th reunion. Just a thought.

See ya.
Dave (George)

Hi, Carron

Great to hear from you. We did have a good holiday season. We were with the George side for 4 days. We spent Christmas at home then joined up with Mom & Dad first in Anamosa, then Omaha during the week. With a brother in Boulder (with a spouse and twin 5 year old boys), Omaha was a 1/2 way point. We stayed in a hotel with a big indoor pool and let the kids play while the adults talked and ate. I think I gained 5 lbs. on Mom's sweets!

I'm attaching our Christmas letter. Best to you this year. Next time we are in Anamosa, I'll give you a shout. See ya.

P.S. I'm writing this from a Marriott hotel on the beach in Fort Lauderdale. Our company has about 450 people down here this week for kickoff meetings. We got to play a bit today. There were 6 of us that chartered a boat for deep sea fishing. While we only caught 1 fish, it was a big one - an 8', 300+ lb hammerhead shark. The guy that caught it is having it mounted...at a $3000 taxidermy bill!

Dave (George)

Hey Carron -

Thanks for all you are doing to keep the class connected. And, a belated thank you for the wonderful job you and your crew did on the reunion.

Life is good at the George household. We've lived in St. Charles, IL since 1991 so we've got roots in this community. We live about 1/2 mile off Hwy 64. We literally take a left out of our neighborhood and 3-1/2 hours later end up in Anamosa. It makes it convenient to visit my mom and dad. For those classmates that might have had my dad as a teacher, they'll be happy to know Bob is retired but is still active as a City Councilman in Anamosa and involved in a couple local volunteer organizations/clubs.

Sue and I have been married for 19 years and have two kids, Lauren, 13 and Sam, 10. Lauren's an 8th grader and involved in volleyball, band and drama. Sam is a 5th grader and active in soccer, lacrosse and scouts. I am the Cubmaster in Sam's Cub Scout group which keeps me busy as a volunteer during the school year. We are also involved in our church and I'm still singing on their vocal team.

I work for a division of Honeywell called System Sensor. I'm their Director of Communications and run a staff of 15 involved in internal and external marketing and communications. My job takes me to trade shows around the US and quarterly to England. During my career, I've been a salesmen, product manager, sales & marketing manager and publisher, so this job is a neat compilation of things I've done. An extra bonus is I get to work and live in the same city. After commuting an hour plus into Chicago with my last job, this is a major benefit. Sue is now working part time after being a full time mom for 9 years. She is a marketing manager for the Fox Valley Land Foundation, a not for profit involved in protecting and setting aside land in our immediate area. We've had a ton of growth and development in the past dozen years as Chicagoland as expanded north and west.

We'll be in Minneapolis visiting Sue's brother for Thanksgiving but there is a good chance we'll be in Anamosa over Christmas. I'll give you a shout if we come into town. If you plan a get together over Christmas, let me know. Thanks.

See ya.

Dave George

630-513-7260 (home)
drg9@sbcglobal.net

A picture from the reunion in July.

Tammy, Dick, Theresa, DeDe, Brien, Byron, Stu, Mike, Carron, Kath, Ron, Al.

We are in dire need of a picture here......

Here is Dave George and his wife, Susan, taken at the reunion in July. Dave won the "You've Hardly Changed a Bit" award.

Photos, people.........send photos!!!

:-) Carron