Woodrow Wilson High School Alumni Update - May 2010
http://www.wilsonalumni.com

Don't miss your upcoming reunion - make sure to check the reunion section below.

HELP US HELP OUR STUDENTS ... EVERY DOLLAR IS APPRECIATED!
The Wilson Foundation exists to provide resources to support the needs of all students enrolled at our school. Your donations will help us enhance the educational experience for students at Wilson, both now and into the future. By supplementing Wilson's budget for teachers, our student's class sizes will be reduced and we will be able to offer more variety in course offerings. Every dollar puts us one more step closer.

ONE-TIME DONATION
You can easily make a gift by clicking on the Portland Schools Foundation website, http://thinkschools.org. Click on the Donate now button on the left of the page. Complete the form and make sure that the funds are targeted to Wilson High School. Using the drop down menu on the form, select: Wilson High School.

MONTHLY GIVING
Make ongoing monthly gifts to the Wilson Foundation through automatic bank transfers (EFT) or automatic credit/debit card charges: http://thinkschools.org. Click on the Donate now button on the left of the page, then click on For monthly donations at top of page. Complete the form and make sure that the funds are targeted to Wilson High School. Using the drop down menu on the form, select: Wilson High School.

WORKPLACE GIVING AND CORPORATE MATCHING GIFTS
Many companies allow their employees to contribute through payroll deductions. Check with your human resources department. Corporate gifts are often matched by employers, so your donation goes twice as far.

MAIL IN YOUR DONATION
You can send a check (stating that the funds are to be targeted to Wilson in memo line) to:
  Portland Schools Foundation
  Attn: Wilson High School
  905 NW 12th Ave.
  Portland, Oregon 97209

We appreciate all of our alumni involvement at Wilson! Thanks to those that reach out and support Wilson in any way that you can!

LOOKING FOR OLD DRAMA POSTERS
Wilson High School is looking for Performing Arts Posters from years past.  Currenty, we have a wall of ASB Presidents and Rose Princesses in the foyer.  Wilson plans to move these photos out of the foyer and to their new spot in the main hall.  We will then put up old and current performing arts posters in the foyer.  If you know someone who has a poster from a prior Wilson Production 1956-2006, we would like a copy.  Please contact Erica Meyers at: emeyers@pps.k12.or.us or call 503-916-6142.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

WILSON 2010 SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
Five Wilson graduates were recently inducted as members to the 2010 Wilson Sports Hall of Fame during the March 12, 2010 school assembly. We recognize the following individuals for their contributions to our school:

John Dunn, 1973
Joan Edwards Powell, 1962
Jack Hewitt, 1983 (deceased)
John Miller, 1966 (deceased)
Bruce Plato, 1974.

Click here to read more about these talented alumni: http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools/wilson/238.htm.

RETIRED MILITARY ... AND A FEW ARMY BAND CONCERTS ALONG THE WAY
After graduating Wilson, Lawrence Kingsbury '60 determined his goals for the future were vague and believed that taking general business courses in college was not the answer for him. Instead, he enlisted in the US Navy and volunteered for submarine duty. "I knew after my first year in the service, my whole life will be changing," adds Larry. "I felt a great deal of positive influence in my choices for the future. Electronics was beginning to open many opportunities, especially in civilian life after 8 years of military service."

Larry's first employment was with a small company called Cooke Engineering in Alexandria, Va. He received a great deal of exposure to Government contracts from a much different prospective. He then moved to a more familiar surrounding with a company who devoted much of their efforts in research and development, Ocean Science and Engineering. "I was looking for adventure and a company who could benefit from my experience in the underwater electronics world. We built a unique marine research and recovery ship, the Alcoa Seaprobe and traveled much of the world offering its capabilities to Government and private research institutes. One project that I was very excited about was working with Dr. Edgerton and The Woods Hole Institute in the search and underwater photographing of the lost Civil War vessel, the Monitor, which a few months later appeared as a major article in the National Geographic magazine."

In 1972, Larry and his family faced a new challenge when one of his daughters became very ill. She had developed allergic reactions to 72 different substances. They decided it would be best to move to a cleaner environment to relieve some of their daughter's medical issues. They ended up in New Hampshire. Larry was self employed for two years and was offered a position in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard working in specifically Sonar in Submarines once again. He retired after 24 years with the shipyard and civil service. It was while he was working in the shipyard that he decided to return to the military. "This time I wanted to do something different," adds Larry. "I joined the Army National Guard in March of 1979. I became a surveyor with a Field Artillery Battalion, 3rd of the 197th. My unit became disbanded during drastic military cost cuts in 1988. I was a 1st Sergeant without a home. I decided to give the 39th Army Band a call. After an interview and an audition with the unit’s Band Master, I was in for the long haul. My enlistment lasted until June, 2002. Perhaps of all my experiences in life, the Army Band was the most fulfilling. We performed concerts in a lot of different areas in the US and some of the world’s most beautiful and interesting countries. I retired from the military with 31 years total service."

So what happened after he retired from the military? Larry took a whole new approach and decided to work in a field where he had no experience - Security. He tells that it, "doesn’t sound like a wise move to make when your 56, but that’s what I wanted to try. I worked with Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant for a year and then with Exeter Hospital as a Security Officer shift Lieutenant for nearly 10 years. I retired fully in June of 2007." After his second retirement, they bought a fifth wheel camper and got hooked on traveling. Larry and his wife Peg plan to be out on the West Coast next summer and would like to look up some Wilson alumni.

When asked about his time at Wilson, Larry remembers that the most influential teacher was the Music Instructor, Mr. Robert White. "He gave me a great deal of confidence in the music arts. He challenged me to come up to the mark, proficiently and technically." He remembers Mr. White stating, “If you are going to play an instrument, play it with heart, feel the music with your soul.” Larry reflects that in life, it works very much the same way.

1972 GRAD LOVES TO CATCH A "MOMENT IN TIME"
Thomas (Tommy) Compton graduated from Wilson in 1972. He had a few "lost" years after that (like many of us), so we will pick it up in 1991. His son, David, was born early and spent the next month in an incubator. Despite his tiny start, today David is healthy and serving in the US Navy as a Submariner. Tommy's daughter, Caitlin, was born in 1992 and will be attending college somewhere in the LA or San Diego area next year. Tommy adds, "both my kids are healthy, athletic, smart, and wonderful."

Tommy started with his current company, Bed Bath and Beyond, in 1999. He received a recruiting call in Portland and wound up in San Diego, CA. He opened two stores for BB&B in Orange County then moved back to Oregon to open the Eugene store. After a year, Tommy took a promotion and moved to Reno, Nevada, where he is currently living. He loves Nevada, only 25 minutes from his home ski area, Mt. Rose and has 17 other ski areas clustered around the Tahoe Basin. Tommy has lived in South Reno and adds that, "my bedroom window faces the mountains."

Tommy is a budding Pro Photographer and specializes in Action Sports, Landscapes, and Outdoor Portraiture. Three of his images were recently featured in a story in Ski Racing Magazine. Last year he won the Action Category in the Nevada Magazine Great Nevada Photo Hunt. You can view his work at AlpenGlow Images, http://thomascompton.com/.

When asked about advice for current Wilson students, Tommy states, "search your sole for what makes you genuinely happy. Try to leverage that gift into your life and work so you can enjoy yourself as the years pass. Hang on to family love and values, be involved, have a voice."

2007 GRAD HAS BIG PRO BALL SEASON AHEAD
Joey Mahalic '07 was the Class 4A baseball player of the year in 2007, a year after throwing a shutout to lead Wilson to the Oregon State Championship as a junior. Joey was chosen by the Cleveland Indians in the 32nd round of the draft and signed with the organization and has been in pro ball since then. Joey says, "fear of failure is what drives me. Suffering is what motivates me. All the pain and sorrow and the struggle of making it to the top is nothing but love. I will keep working hard every day to become who I am destined to be. Don’t believe me? Check back – I’ll have something for you." To read more about Joey Mahalic's baseball and life journey, go to: http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=127006725927377200.

STILL PLAYING BASKETBALL
Karl Wustrack '62 played basketball and was on the cross/country and track teams while at Wilson. After he graduated from high school, Karl attended Stanford University and Yale University School of Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency at OHSU followed by a plastic surgery fellowship at UCLA. After returning to Portland, Karl began his plastic surgery practice and is still practicing in West Linn.

Following his successes while at Wilson, Karl was inducted into the WWHS Sports Hall of Fame for Basketball and Cross-Country in 2008. He continues to stay active, playing masters basketball.

Dr. Wustrack fondly remembers his teachers at Wilson. He tells us that "Troy Horton was maybe the best for getting us to think." But surprisingly, Al Ludviksen in wood shop was his favorite. Today, one of his passions is furniture making, "and it all started at Wilson, despite the councilors telling me I should take public speaking, etc," adds Karl. He also remembers his Physics teacher, Norm Sipple and Dorothy Sawyer and Brigitte DeWolfe in German.

Words of advice for current Wilson students ... "just follow your interests, or as they say now "passion"--you can do it a lot longer than you think!"

2007 GRAD CAPTURES HIS PASSION THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY
After Wilson, Greg Lindstrom '07 went to the University of Montana in Missoula where he is now a junior. He decided to switch his major from exercise science to photojournalism about halfway through freshman year. He was accepted into the professional journalism program at the end of his sophomore year. During his junior year Greg has been a photographer for the independent student newspaper, the Montana Kaimin (www.montanakaimin.com), and will do the same again next year as a senior. His work with the newspaper included photography assignments and multimedia projects on everything from climate change in Glacier National Park to covering a 12-year-old as she completed a 100 mile dogsled race. This summer (2010) Greg has landed an internship in Boulder, Colorado and will be working as a photographer for the daily newspaper, which is coincidentally named The Daily Camera (www.dailycamera.com). One of Greg's sports photos won third place in a northwest regional contest (Society of Professional Journalists) that featured more than 3,600 entries, and September 2010 he will be entering a portfolio in the College Photographer of the Year competition.

Wilson art teacher Susan Parker was a huge influence on Greg during high school. "She helped me put together an AP portfolio and was always pushing me to get my work out into contests to be seen," states Greg. Throughout his childhood, Greg and his family (Carolyn and Steve Lindstrom and sister Steffi '05) explored the western U.S. This is when he discovered his passion for wilderness and landscape photography. In addition to nature photography, Greg enjoys shooting sports. Not surprising since he played several sports growing up, including baseball, basketball, soccer. He also started running competitively in high school and is currently a member of the University of Montana Grizzly Cross Country team and Indoor & Outdoor Track teams. As for his advice to current students, Greg adds, "I can only echo that of Susan Parker's, get your work out there! Also, I think it is important to find things you love doing and pursue those activities." Check out more of Greg's work on his website, www.greglindstromphotography.com.

SHARE YOUR STORY
Send us the details on where/what you have been doing since graduating from Wilson, and we'll post in an upcoming WWHS Alumni Update e-newsletter.  Send details to Linda Doyle.

ALUMNI RECALL WILSON'S PAST

HILLSDALE AND THE FULTON PARK DAIRY
Click here to read a history of Hillsdale and the Fulton Park Dairy (1880s through 1990s) by Albert W. Wardin, Jr.

IT WAS 1959 ... THE BAND WAS REHEARSING IN THE STADIUM ... OH, WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!
It was early in June, 1959. The senior band students were filing into the band rehearsal hall ready for a full session of marching drill & rehearsal in the football and track stadium. Only 5 minutes had past after formation in the stadium. Mike Folkestad, Drum Major that year, assembled and marched us up then down the field one time, then stopped the band in front of the bleachers when Mr. White blew a gasket. As many were aware of, he was a stickler for perfection and it wasn’t happening. “You have been practicing this exercise for 2 weeks and it looks worse than the very first day of band practice.” On and on, went the reprimand. “You have one more chance, get it right!” Mike reformed the formation, down the field we marched, I see Mike’s left hand raised over his head. He’s holding up two fingers, then the down beat of his baton. “Colonel Bogy” was up. It sounded the best we had ever done, great dynamics, good tone quality, you couldn’t ask for a better drum roll-off and entrance. Even the marching was perfection. Then it happened…… John White, Mr. White’s youngest son couldn’t resist the temptation, he did a glitz on his clarinet, unlike any I’ve ever heard him do. The entire band lost it. Everyone burst out laughing and stumbling. Mike couldn’t halt the band quick enough. Before the band halted, Mr. White was screaming at the top of his voice, “JOHN WHITE, KNOCK IT OFF! Do you think you’re clever? I’ll show you what clever is…..See me after rehearsal!!! I never knew what happened to John after he saw his dad that morning. I often wanted to ask, but thought better of it. A hilarious memory for me while in the band. Maybe you had to be there?
Lawrence Kingsbury, '60

To read more band stories, go to: http://www.wilsonalumni.com/school-history/Band-stories.html

MESSAGES FROM CLASSMATES

LIVING THE GOOD LIFE IN COSTA RICA
Gary Slocum '60 won't be able to attend his 50-year reunion in September, 2010 but wanted let everyone know what he has been up to lately.

"I wish I had some way of attending but the times conflict with the filming of House Hunters International. I bought my home about 8 months ago in Costa Rica. They actually stage the interview as if you are buying a house but every one has already purchased their home. This was news to me. I still have one house in North Dakota, so I can travel back and forth to keep in contact with my relatives there. Is there a list of people still living? I would love to get in contact with my old friends to invite them here for a free vacation on me. I lost my wife about 18 years ago so it is just me and my son, Garron. He lives in Beaverton Oregon. We lived as a family for some time in Alchobar, Saudi Arabia and traveled all over the world. It has been a rich life, certainly different than my grades reflected I would do. I had very sever dyslexia and had no idea what was making my school life a living hell. My son has it too but they have so much help and understanding you don't have to go through what I did. Life has been very good to me. I have a small business called S&H gms that I co own with a friend. I have collected gems since I was 11. The business is just for fun and keeps me on my toes. Don't want to get old till I have to. Lol. I think about all my class mates and wonder?, what they are doing? Hope you have a great class reunion. Maybe you will see me on tv? I don't have any air date yet. Take care love to all." Gary Slocum '60 (ggslocum@hotmail.com)

Here are two pictures of Gary's house in Costa Rica (photo 1 and photo 2) and one of his house in North Dakota (photo 3). 

LOOKING FOR BART BROWN '66
Classmates are looking for Bart Brown, class of '66. If you have information on Bart, please contact Trish Kindberg (Murray) '66 at ricktrishk@msn.com.

1961 GRAD AFTER RETIREMENT
I'm retired and loving it, half here in Oregon and half in Arizona!   Pamela Meier (Hansen) '61

CLASS OF 1961 ... ANY REUNION PLANS YET?
Out-of-state classmates are starting to look at their calendars and wonder if there are any plans out there for your upcoming class reunion in 2011. They would like to start making travel arrangements. If you have any information, contact Linda Doyle at LSDOYLE@earthlink.net.

WWHS Baseball Alumni Game/Social
Saturday, July 17, 2010 at 11:00am is the annual alumni game. A no-host social for alumni, family and friends will be held after the games at the Cider Mill, now owned by Toby Harris '89.

WWHS Baseball Golf Tournament
Sunday, July 18, 2010 is the annual baseball shotgun golf scramble fund-raiser at Meriwether National Golf Club in Hillsboro. Registration form is on the baseball website at: http://www.wilsonhsbaseball.com/.

IN MEMORY OF

KNOWN CLASSMATES/TEACHERS NO LONGER WITH US
Please send an email with details to Linda Doyle if you have an obituary that should be posted here.  Below is a list of classmates who have passed away.  Here are the names for those who have just been added to the list:

SCOTT FULKERSON 1991

CRAIG TEDFORD 1978

DR. BILL PROPPE, VICE-PRINCIPAL AND PRINCIPAL

LORRAINE WERSTLEIN 1967

CHRIS CORNEIL 1968

BONNIE MACBEAN 1967

JOHN CARTER 1964

CARMEN KLUG '75

SHANE BENNETT '97

Read more about classmates, teachers, community members who have passed away...

REUNIONS

CLASS OF 2000 TO HOLD 10-YEAR REUNION ... AUGUST 21, 2010

CLASS OF 1990 TO HOLD 20-YEAR REUNION ... AUGUST 13-14, 2010

CLASS OF 1980 TO HOLD 30-YEAR REUNION ... JULY 30, 2010

CLASS OF 1970 TO HOLD 40-YEAR REUNION ... AUGUST 27, 2010

CLASS OF 1965 TO HOLD 45-YEAR REUNION ... JUNE 18, 2010

CLASS OF 1964 TO HOLD GET TOGETHER ... AUGUST 7, 2010

CLASS OF 1960 TO HOLD 50-YEAR REUNION ... SEPTEMBER 10-11-12, 2010

CLASS OF 1957 HOLDS PICNIC ... AUGUST 14, 2010

Click here for all the reunions and the latest details.

CURRENT STUDENT BODY

DRAMA STUDENTS DEBUT NEW WORK, May 20, 21, 22 ... LAST CHANCE
Wilson High School Drama Department performs a one-of-a-kind theatrical offering: award-winning playwright Matthew B. Zrebski’s Handprint Alley. This new play, featuring original music, tells the story of the mysterious disappearance of five teenagers ten years prior and the effect the resulting mythology has had on the lives of others. With a combination of traditional playwriting, poignant music, simple sets and striking technical elements, ‘Handprint Alley’ promises to both excite and humble; to provoke thought and to entertain in equal measure.

'Handprint Alley' runs at Wilson High School’s Cosgrove Auditorium May 20, 21, & 22 at 7:00pm.

Tickets are available at the door: $10 general admission/$8 students and PPS staff.

For more information, visit the ‘Handprint Alley’ blog at: http://wilsondramahandprint.blogspot.com/2010/04/from-producer.html, contact Director/Playwright Matthew B. Zrebski at m.zrebski.handprint@gmail.com, or Director of Theatre, Jamie M. Miller at trojantheatredirector@gmail.com.

Due to the subject matter, show recommended for middle school-aged students and older.

STAY IN TOUCH

WWHS ALUMNI - WEBSITE
Check out the WWHS Alumni website and don't forget to complete the simple online form to join the WWHS Alumni database. To help us reach as many graduates as possible, please consider adding the link to our website (http://www.wilsonalumni.com/) from your website. Pass the word along to your Wilson High School classmates about the Wilson High School Alumni website and the opportunity to register. Tell your friends.

SPAM OR UNSUBSCRIBE
If you are receiving the WWHS Alumni Update, please make sure to add the following email address to your address book (lsdoyle@earthlink.net). This way your internet/email provider will not view the e-newsletter as spam. Thanks! If you would like to be removed from the list, just send an email to Linda Doyle.