(12/06) - Our 60th Birthday Celebration in Orlando has taken a big leap forward. The Hilton Garden Inn is ready accept our reservations (see the entry below). Here are the instructions: They are ready to start taking our reservations.  Classmates can call toll-free to (866) 274-7182 and ask for "in house reservation."  Once there, mention "Jackson High School" to get rooms in our block. The entire file name is "Jackson High School Class of '63 Reunion Birthday Party" but that's a mouthful so they said that "Jackson High School" will be enough. Hope to see you there! A mailing to all classmates will go out early in 2005.

(11/18) The meeting to discuss our 60th birthday party was attended by a total of sixteen classmates and spouses. Jane Olson gave us thorough presentation on the accommodations and activities in the area. We decided that the Hilton Garden Inn Orlando at Sea World would be our headquarters. Jane has arranged for a block of rooms to be available to us from Wednesday, October 19 through Tuesday, October 25. The price will be $89 per night (around $100 with taxes). We will have a banquet on Saturday night at the hotel. The rest of the weekend will be filled with impromptu and small group adventures to nearby Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios, theme restaurants, shows, outlet malls and other unique attractions. We are working on the contractual arrangements now but please mark your calendars for October 22, 2005 and the days around it. Check back here for updates or contact John White if you want to be added to the mailing list for discussions and receive personal invitations to upcoming planning meetings. The next step will be a mailing to all classmates, probably in January.

(11/14) Planning for our collective 60th birthday party in Orlando for the weekend of October 22-23, 2005 will kick off with a meeting on Tuesday, November 16 at the home of Bob and Linda (Stroup) Trumbull in Jackson. The meeting will begin at 7:00 with a chili supper. Jane (Neilson) Olson, who lives in the Orlando area, will present her findings and recommendations on accommodations. All interested classmates are welcome to attend. Contact John White for details.

(9/8) At the committee meeting on August 14, we decided that our next major event would be a collective 60th birthday party to be held somewhere in Florida during the fall of 2005. Our first choice of dates is the weekend of October 22 and 23. Our second choice will be for a week later. We selected the fall rather than the spring since we thought the weather would be great while the crowds and prices would be reduced. We are leaning toward the Orlando area but could go almost anywhere if a classmate, or group of them,  would like to volunteer to do some organizing down there (hint, hint). The plan for the weekend could be modeled after our previous birthday trips to Las Vegas in that we would select a headquarters location for the weekend but only have one major, scheduled dinner together, probably Saturday night.
Any thoughts for the committee? Volunteers? Send a message to us at reunion@jhs63.org

(8/1) The reunion committee is planning a meeting to discuss the past 40 year reunion and to begin planning for our collective 60th birthday party in 2005. Libby Warner has volunteered to host at her home in Jackson. The meeting will be at 2:30 on Saturday August 14 and will be followed by a potluck dinner. Any interested class members and spouses/guests are invited. Libby will provide the main course and soft drinks so please plan to bring an appetizer, salad, side dish or dessert. Please contact John White to let us know you are coming and, if needed, ask for directions.

Classmate Andre Reberdy Danilowicz has notified us of the passing of Allan Danilowicz, her husband and fellow classmate, on April 27, 2003.

(5/18) Naja (Laursen) McKenzie has reported the passing of her father, Dan Laursen, on May 7 in Tucson. He was 95 and died from complications of pneumonia. She writes, "Dad taught at JC in 1957-58 and again from 1960-66. He coached the swim team and was advisor for the fraternity. Many of the students at JHS knew my dad, and many corresponded with him still after all these years."
Here is the complete obituary. You can reach Naja at mckenzie@ultrasw.com.
Our condolences to Naja, her sister, Helle, and the rest of Dan's family.

(3/28) Thirteen persons met on March 28. Our purposes were to wrap up the 40 year reunion, make some preliminary plans toward the next edition in 2008 and start thinking about what we can do for a collective 60th birthday party in 2005.
The results will be posted here sometime after I sort out my notes.

(2/24) Not much has happened lately but we still need to wrap up our thoughts on the 40 year reunion from last summer. We also need to start planning for an event to celebrate our collective 60th birthday in 2005. One of the ideas we came up with was for a mini-reunion in Florida in February or March. We now have many classmates there and a few volunteered to work on it from that end.
Anyway, the next reunion planning meeting will be Sunday afternoon, March 28 at the home of Lynn and John White in Ann Arbor. All classmates are welcome to participate. Please Contact John by email if interested and you will get a reply with the details.

(2/23) I am way behind on updating our list of classmates but promise to get going on it shortly.