CHEER UP, THINGS COULD BE WORSE

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE. I TALKED TO BOB BLACKSTONE ON SUNDAY AND HE WAS CONVINCED THAT HE STAYED THE REMAINING 3 YEARS AT NILES WEST AND GRADUATED FROM THERE. I REMEMBER THAT WE GRADUATED IN THE NILES WEST AUDITORIUM BUT I KNOW THAT I WENT TO EAST JUNIOR AND SENIOR YEARS. BOB LIVED ON THE SOUTHERN END OF GLENVIEW AND I'M WONDERING IF THERE WERE SOME STUDENTS WHO DID ATTEND WEST AND GRADUATED IN 1961. ANYBODY, ANYBODY.

GOOD MORNING CLASS OF 61

I can't believe I just deleted my whole entry by hitting the wrong button.
Anyway I made a drink for breakfast this morning. I blended carrots, frozen fruit, broccoli, bazil leaf, yogurt and orange juice in my magic bullet blender. Tasted good, tomorrow I'll try nuts also. I've decided to change the name of this section from BLOG to DIARY since I seem to be the only one reading it. Today I will build some shelves in my closet. After 25 years in this house it is about time(comment from my wife, Dolores). After 65 years on this earth we have seen plenty. Nothing that happens should be much of a surprise. The young people today haven't experience much adversity until the past year culminating to a peak in the last few weeks. We know that all things pass and move back to normalcy.
My father-in-law married Coach Basrak's widow. She is still living in an assisted living facility in Niles, IL. I'll talk to myself again soon. Say good-bye Keith

SNOWBALL EFFECT

I DON'T THINK THAT I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO WANTS TO TALK TO AND SEE MY OLD FRIENDS FROM NILEHI. WITH THE VOLATILE WORLD WE LIVE IN IT IS NICE TO THINK BACK TO SIMPLER TIMES WHERE WE ONLY HAD 1 OR 2 WORLD ENEMIES. OUR PARENTS WEREN'T WORRIED ABOUT THEIR 401K'S AND EVERYBODY KNEW THEIR NEIGHBORS. I KNOW THAT IT WASN'T ALL THAT ROSY BUT I LIKE TO THINK THAT WAY. RECENTLY I HAVE TALKED TO A FEW MORE CLASSMATES. STEW ROPER IS IN LAKE HAVASU, ARIZONA AFTER A LONG CAREER IN THE MARINES WHERE HE SERVED IN 4 WARS. BOB ZENDER IS WITH MERRILL LYNCH IN CHICAGO AND STILL PLAYS GOLF WITH TOM RAKOWSKI AND MITCH MELAMED. I TRIED TO TALK TO PETER MUELLER (SAN DIEGO) AND BOB SARNOFF (CHICAGO) BUT I COULDN'T GET PAST THEIR SECRETARIES. I SPOKE TO LINDA JOHNSON (DES PLAINES) AND SHARON KUESTER (MORTON GROVE). THEY WERE BOTH VERY SURPRISED TO HEAR FROM AN OLD CLASSMATE. I ALSO SPOKE WITH STEVE ELKINS (HIGHLAND PARK) AND HE MENTIONED THAT ONE OF HIS CLIENTS WAS CAROL VIRGILIO. WE RECEIVED A NOTE FROM BRONSON DAVIS AND HE MENTIONED THAT HE WOULD FORWARD THIS WEBSITE TO BILL FISHER AND TOD WISE WHO BOTH LIVE IN MEXICO. I THINK STEW ROPER MENTIONED THAT THEY WERE IN LAREDO. IF WE ALL CONTINUE TO CONTACT A FEW FORMER FRIENDS FROM OUR CLASS WE SHOULD HAVE THE LINK TO MOST OF OUR OVER 900 MEMBERS. THEN THE REUNION WOULD REALLY BE A BLAST.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE AN INTERESTING WEBSITE ABOUT THE END OF NILES EAST CLICK HERE. http://nileseast64reunion.org/Being_There/being_there.html

LIFE AT NTHS

The 50 year celebration for Niles West was fun. There were over 400 people there from all the classes and we found several old friends there. I ran into Bob Zender's sister and she told me Bob is working for Merrill Lynch in Chicago. I will call him today. I will also call Peter Mueller in San Diego. More to follow. Our class was represented by Rod Bartels, Ron Hauser, Dick Rehwaldt, Marshall Claassen, Walt Olson, Bruce Mau and me. It was loud at the dinner with all of the chatter buzzing and the "The Buckinghams" causing me to lose my voice. The next day we met at my house for a BBQ and Bob Feinberg also came. We broke out the yearbook and laughed at seeing ourselves as kids.
I plan on working a few more years since my 401K turned into a 301K. I really don't mind since I enjoy the work (I build plastic injection molds for the plumbing parts industry) and my co-workers are fun to be around. Dolores, my wife, works for Trustmark Insurance as a case manager. I work out every other day walking to Bally's, weight lifting and then walking back managing to stop at Starbucks for a Frapacino. managing my shape has become more and more difficult as I age. Having an addiction to peanut donuts doesn't help.
Keep looking for missing classmates on the directory. Keith

LIFE AT NTHS

For the most part I enjoyed my high school experiences at NTHS. I was very shy for most of my four years. It was difficult (no impossible) for me to call a girl on the phone for a date. It didn't help having our only phone sitting in the family room where my parents and sister generally congregated. I remember an incident when Nancy Overton was passing me in the hallway and playfully poked me in the stomach, unfortunately her spiral notebook caught in my sweater and I turned several shades of red as it seemed the whole student body noticed. Well I'm not shy any more. Chuck Worthington, one of my best friends, may he rest in peace, and Emil Lazar, my other best friend, were instrumental in helping me cope with everyday school life. Senior year we formed the India Plaid Society. It was a small group, the 3 of us and Bruce Hirte, and for a while an unnamed photographer for the Nilehilite until we found out that he couldn't get us in the paper. In looking back teenagers could be mean and I hope I didn't cause anyone to feel bad. If I did I am sorry. I am making it a mission to contact as many of you as possible, either by phone or e-mail. So far I have talked to Fred Denkman, Ira Berger, Mike Rothholtz, Harvey Brown, Rod Bartels, Bob Feinberg, Ron Hauser, Marshall Claassen, Walt Olson, Bruce Mau, Dick Rehwaldt, Bev Duffey, Steve Elkins, Gari-Sue Greene and several others through e-mail conversations. After browsing through the directory if you know of anyone please contact them and let them know about this website so that we can continue to add e-mail addresses. This will be your part in helping to bring us all together again. Keith