Social Issues, Opinions, Talents, Honors and Sports

This issue of The Piper is very interesting! On the front page we have an article about married students, some of whom were our classmates and who are interviewed. It gives us some perspective of how some of our classmates had a whole different experience in high school. There is also an announcement of a Family Life class series being offered by the YMCA. How much do you think things have changed since that class was presented?

Take time to read the editorial “On the Way Out.” It speaks on the topic of protests and how they were carried out during those years.

We also get to read about some of our talented classmates who were involved in the plays at McNary. Who remembers Lemon Flatbush? It was well done and the level of talent of our thespians was amazing! And a new play is introduced in this issue. Great job all!

Judy Berg was honored in this issue for winning top price in the Elks statewide Leadership Contest. Her prize was $1000 which she stated with go directly for college.

And, let’s not forget our great athletes…. Basketball, Swimming, Wrestling and Gymnastics. We had so many gals and guys that were outstanding.

Enjoy this issue. Really gives us all an idea of what was happening when we were Seniors.

Happy 1969 + 50!!

Randy Hledik greeted me in this manner when he sent the first two 1969 issues of the McNary Piper, and I like it very much. It puts our 50th Reunion into perspective and makes it even more important that as many of us attend as possible.

Please note on the first page, our Girl and Boy of the Month for January! Dawn Bauer is one of our Reunion Committee Members and is such a great addition to the Committee as she comes up with wonderful ideas to create a meaningful reunion for everyone!

On the second page, you will see an article about classmate Gary Ebert who received nominations to both West Point and the Air Force Academy.

I also love the photos of some of our great athletes which are shown on Page 3. Can you guess who is who?

The Last Piper Issue of 1968….

As we celebrate Christmas and New Year’s, we are happy to provide you with the December 20 issue of The Piper. This issue features an interview with Corporal Ed Holcomb, who had just returned home from Vietnam. His letters to The Piper and this interview give us a tiny glimpse into what he must have gone through there, and of course, we were glad he was able to return home.

Also of interest are the articles on pollution!  I had totally forgotten that this was such a big issue back in High School.  Seems we have not learned a thing since then!!

As we are soon to welcome 2019, we are also coming closer to our 50th Reunion in September!  If you have not yet made plans to attend, we encourage you to do so.  We are working on finalizing venues, etc, and will soon be posting more info about our plans for the event, so check this blog often, as well as our Facebook page – McNary Class of ’69.  

Wishing all of you Happy Holidays!!

 

Closing Out 1968….

This issue of The Piper is the next to the last issue of 1968, with the last issue to be published here and on our Facebook page (McNary Class of ’69) on December 20. 

1968 – What a year it was! MLK Jr. and RFK were assassinated; Tet and My Lai; the Smith and Carlos controversy at the Mexico Olympics … on the brighter side, also at that same Olympics, Beaman jumped the longest and OSU’s Fosbury flopped the highest … Cousteau shared his undersea world with us … we watched Earth rise over the moon with the Apollo 8 astronauts … and Corporal Ed Holcomb made it back from Vietnam in time for Christmas! You can read an interview with Ed in the next issue of The Piper.  

November 1968…Counting Down to 1969!

Randy Hledik just sent the next two issues of the McNary Piper and we can see the school year really heating up in terms of activities, awards, and sports events. 

Probably the most significant historical event of our High School years was the Vietnam War. Please take the time to read Vietnam Chronicles (starting in Issue 2) which was written by Corporal Ed Holcomb while he was serving there, giving us a snapshot of what it was like to be in the middle of the fighting and what our troops endured.  Let us be grateful for him taking the time to share his experiences with us and let us also honor his service with our gratitude.  

Enjoy the November 8, 1968 issue of the Piper:

Do You Remember October 14, 1968?

Thanks again to McNary Piper Editor Randall (Randy) Hledik for saving all these issues from our Senior year.

Here is our next installment! Remember that you can right click on each page to save to your computer to read or print. Enjoy!!

On This Day In McNary History….

On September 9, 1968, as we were starting our Senior year, the first issue of the McNary Piper was published for that year.  

Thanks to Randall (Randy) Hledik, one of our classmates, and the Piper editor for that year, we have the opportunity to read each one of the issues for our last year at McNary!

Starting today, and for each corresponding issue date from 1968 and 1969, we will publish that issue of the Piper.  They are sure to evoke some memories and emotions as you look back and remember the happenings of our Senior year.  

If you Right click on each page, you can save it and then be able to enlarge and read all the text!

Please add your comments, thoughts, recollections, etc below this post.

GET BACK – TO WHERE YOU ONCE BELONGED!!

A PREVIEW OF OUR REUNION WEEKEND EVENTS!

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 13
Thanks once again to the generosity of our classmate Steve Johnson, we will be gathering  at the Grand Hotel for an informal meet and greet to get things rolling. This will be a very informal event with a no host bar and finger food. We’ll be playing music from OUR generation – the BEST one. COST FOR THIS EVENT – $20/person

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 14
A new and unique venue for our Saturday evening gathering will be the Scenic Valley Winery on River Road in Gervais. This is a family owned vineyard and winery right in McNary’s back yard! The reunion members who visited there were impressed with the venue in terms of its location, size, rustic quality, flexible set up as well as the family who own it. We have also received nice reviews on the wine they produce and will be serving at our event. A lovely catered meal will be provided and the evening will be a walk down memory lane as well as an opportunity to get caught up with the lives of our fellow classmates while listening/dancing to the music we loved in high school. We have worked to keep costs within reason and still have a great time together in a beautiful place. COST FOR THIS EVENT – $55/person

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 15
For our last event of the weekend, we have reserved a beautiful picnic spot for a cookout at the South Falls of Silver Creek Falls. Folks who wish can hike the trails or just relax and visit. It is a short distance from Salem and the cost to get into the Park is $5 per vehicle. We encourage folks to consider the Ride Share option!.  COST FOR THIS EVENT – $25/person

IF YOU REGISTER FOR ALL EVENTS – COST IS $85/person ($15 savings over single event costs)

Check back often for new updates, which will be posted here and on our Facebook page McNary Class of ’69

We are also sharing all this info and now getting a lot of classmates join us on alumniclass.com

All that is needed is YOU… so make your travel plans!

Let’s just make this the best event possible……

Our 40th Reunion Group Photo

Remember these folks from our 40th?

 

We Get By With A Little Help From Our Friends!

This last Saturday night, August 20, 33 die hard Celtics came together to celebrate at our community 60th birthday party.  A good time was had by all.

Would you like to see these yearly events continue?  We would like to try and and keep as many of us connected as possible leading up to our next big event – the big 45 – our 45th reunion July 25-27,  2014.  Post a comment here if you have an opinion, suggestion or if you just want to say “Hi.”

We would also like to start using social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, etc to reach even more Celtics who have somehow remained unfound!  If anyone wishes to help out with this, post a comment here and you will be put to work bringing the Class of 69 into the 21st Century!  If you know the whereabouts of any lost Celtics, you can also let us know via the comments section in this post.

Enjoy this group picture from the party, courtesy of Velan Chapin.  Recognize anyone? More pictures to come, so check back soon!