Lyons High School Alumni Update:

The year is rapidly winding down. They already have and have had the Christmas stuff out for a month or more. Remember when we were growing up, I graduated in 1961 you didn’t see any Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving.

Well, we have a new president. He is my president and I have to give him a chance. A lot of people never accepted George Bush as president and that is sad. I voted for him but hate he passed every spending bill Congress put in front of him. I’m for less government, not spreading the wealth and let each man have the initiative to get ahead. I don’t mind giving a hand up, not a hand out. They are already talking about giving another 5 billion stimulus package to stimulate the economy. I thought the last give away was supposed to stimulate the economy. Oh, I forgot, it didn’t work last time, so let’s try it again and expect it to work.

What do you call it when they give you money you didn’t earn. It is not capitalism, which is exactly what made this the greatest country on earth. Our founding fathers wrote the Constitution to give us freedom and not let government get too big. They came from countries where government that was too large and powerful. They new the danger in that.

The fact is Barack Obama is our president. We have to accept that because it is what true Americans do and pray he will be the best ever. People absolutely hated George Bush and it has divided our country like I have never seen. If you disagree with the President you vote someone else in next time, you don’t hate him.

We stayed at the new Celebration Center Inn in Lyons this past week-end. Very nice, and you get a breakfast with the room. It includes cereal, waffles, muffins, bagels, toast, orange juice, coffee, apple juice and peanut butter. Even had popcorn you could microwave. Guess it is good to have two motels and a hotel in town but none was full and they had a horse show, parade, and football play off game in town..

Saw Arlan Swanson, class of 1954 I think. He had his old restored John Deere tractor in the parade pulling the Lion he won at the All-School Reunion on a trailer behind his tractor in the Veteran’s Day Parade.

We went down to Wichita to buy my step-daughter a new saxophone. She is really quite good and only a sophomore in high school. I don’t know how good she could be if she practiced!!

We lost a couple more alumni: Cheryl Hunter Blackburn Class of 1964 passed away on Nov. 7th in Wichita. She had been living in Lyons the past 6 years. In Aug. 1998 she married Jimmy Blackburn in Lamar, CO. She is survived by two sons and three daughters. She had 12 grand children and one great grand child. She will be missed.

Bev Buller (obit attached) passed away Oct. 21st in Sandusky, Ohio. He graduated in 1952 and quarterbacked the team to the league championship. He then quarterbacked for Kansas University and then for a short time played for the New York Giants professional football team. His father John was our superintendent when I was in school and the football field is named after him. Bev was the purchasing director for the Sandusky Foundry & Machine Company. They are going to start a Memorial Fund in his honor called the Lyons USD Education Endowment Association. I believe Wayne Koons and John & Carolyn Sayler are the directors for the fund and if you want to contribute you can send it to the above name P.O. Box 742, Lyons, KS. 67554. Make a note on the check for the Bev Buller Fund.

Received a well thought out note from Wayne Bell for the Class of 1961 Reunion. It will be our 50th. Oh my gosh, you have to be kidding. I believe the next All-School Reunion is in 2011. His thoughts were do we want to coincide with the All-School or do ours at a different time. The last All-School Reunion had people staying in Hutch, Great Bend, McPherson, Sterling and of course Lyons. Our thought was to get out a questionnaire to our class but we would start with this update and ask questions such as:
1.) Coincide with the All-School Reunion
2.) Change our date and have it at a different time in Lyons
3.) Have it some place other than Lyons, Denver, San Diego, etc.
4.) Have a different venue such as a Cruise, could be to Alaska during the summer or Caribbean, Mexico, Baja California in the Fall. On cruises if we get enough cabins sold we can get free cabins that would lessen everyone’s cost.
Start sending in your ideas and we will let you know what our classmates are leaning toward. When we have the reunions in Lyons we get in on a Friday night, have our meeting Sat. night and we hardly get to visit with anyone, but it is our hometown. I just want to see everyone and have some time to spend visiting.

We have a new Lyons Alum who has her own online travel website. Gail O’Hanlon Wolfe.. If you are planning to travel take a look at Gail’s website, it is www.lotsleft2see.com Other Lyons Alumni with travel websites are; Lonnie Morris Class of 1963; Dan Thompson Class of 1964; Bob Moody Class of 1963, and Bob Drake Class of 1961 We would hope Lyons alumni family and friends would use these alumni’s websites found on the www.LyonsAlumni.com website if you book your travel online. You will get the same seat in the plane, the same room at the hotel and the same cabin on the cruise ship, same rental car, same vacation package, that you will get with Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Cheap Tickets, Priceline, etc except you help a fellow Lyons alum by booking your travel or making your vacation plans on their website. You can even purchase flowers, buy cars, set up golf tee times, buy concert or sporting event tickets, purchase adventure, hunting and fishing trips and more on their websites. Better yet ask one of us how you could set up your own family reunion trips or cruises, etc.

You want to purchase an incredible Christmas Gift for family members or friends. What better Christmas gift than to wake up on Christmas morning, take a loved one to the computer and pull up their own online travel website that you purchased for them. Sound unbelievable? It can happen, we have people making millions a year with this business people making a car or house payment and people who use it only for their travel needs and tax write-offs. We personally will be able to legitimately write off our taxes between $15,000 - $20,000 for 2008. We have families in this company who have partnered to work their business. It is a gift that will keep on giving. Jerry is the guy who told me about this business and we love him for it for what it has done for us. You can contact, Gail, Lonnie, Bob, Dan or me about this incredible business.
Juanita Danewitz is back in Rio I believe for the winter and doing her favorite thing, doing the Tango. We will be getting updates from her on her stay in South America.

Jerry Regier Class of 1961 looking for Mike Stephenson Class of 1960. They were good friends and Jerry said Mike’s dad was killed in an accidental shooting. His mom later married Dr. Hill of Lyons. Mike went to Hutch Juco and then Jerry thinks he went on to KU. He thinks he may have taken over the families large feed mill business in Hutch. Jerry said Mike had the fastest 57 Black Chevy in the region and that he an Mike were double dating when Jerry totaled his 1955 Chevy going to Hutch. Jerry said he had a date with Connie Groth and Mike with Colleen Nixon. I remember they were very fortunate to have escaped with their lives in that wreck. They hit a bridge on Plum Street and Colleen ended up in the stream below. If you know where Mike is let us know.

We could sure use some subscriptions or donations for the alumni website for the webmaster. Send checks to the Lyons Alumni Club, Lyons State Bank, Lyons, KS 67554 or go to the website and you can use your credit card. Thanks.

Hope you are all doing well.

Sax Drake Class of 1961