Sunday, March 22, 2009

LHS March 22nd Update

Ahoy, fellow LHS alums!

Announcing the first ever cruise for alumni, February 27 - March 7, 2010, aboard the Carnival Freedom!!! We'll depart from Ft. Lauderdale and visit the following tropical ports of call: San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola and Nassau.

The cruise is being brought to you by the LHS alumni team of YTB Travel Agents. You can book your cruise on any of the following websites:

www.smartway2travel.com
Bob "Sax" Drake Class of 1961

www.moodyranchtravel.com
Bob Moody Class of 1962

www.itssoeasy2travelonline.com
Lonnie Morris Class of 1963

www.advantagefunfares.com
Dan Thompson Class of 1964

www.lotsleft2see.com
Gail Wolfe Class of 1970 (is that right, Gail?) LOL


Just click on one of these links. Once you are on the home page, click on the GROUPS tab. Scroll down to "Alumni Cruisin' the Caribbean" with the date Feb 27, 2010. Click on it and there you will find a detailed description of the cruise, a map of the itinerary, and all the other information you'll need. The prices listed included all taxes and fees, all meals on board the ship as well as all required gratuities.

We got a fabulous deal on this and have 25 cabins reserved, so hurry, they'll go fast! All LHS alums invited..and feel free to bring family and friends.

Our ship, The Carnival Freedom, is only two years old, and she's a beauty!
You can check her out at www.carnival.com

Class of 1955 & 54 Class Reunion in Denver , CO Sept. 11-12 2009. Check the website for information.

Deceased alumni: Donald Ray Purkapile passed away March 8th, 2009. He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters and has eight grandchildren. Memorial donations should go to the Alzheimer’s Assoc.

The husband of Pat Bemis, Edward “Ed” W. Johannsen died Jan. 22nd, 2009. He was a graduate of Little River H.S. in 1954. Pat survives and to leave a message for the family, visit, www.Penwell-Gabel.com.

Delores Smith died Jan. 18th, 2009. She was a 1960 graduate of LHS.

Edith Louis Monroe passed away Jan. 30th, 2009. she was the mother of LHS alumni Herbert, Camp Hill , PA ; Harvey, of Florida ; Roy of Emporia and Elaine of Emporia. She and her husband George farmed in Rice County for 27 years.

I believe someone sent me information about another deceased alum and I have misplaced it. Please let me know and I apologize.

Our prayers are with the families.

Cook family fulfills dream. Town Square Emporium and J & J Espresso filling a niche on the Square. The staff at the Emporium and coffee shop are Janes McCormick, Janet, John, Jane and Janel Cook. I believe they are all LHS Alumni but I can’t tell you the years. John and Jane are the parents of Janes, Janel and Janet.

Janel and Janet bought the old Crawford & Miller building on the south side of the Square. A café is included along with a place for local vendors to sell their wares.

Good luck to the Cooks and make sure you stop and say hi and support them on your return trips to Lyons .

Spring is almost here and I can’t wait. I’m going to CA from April 7th -14th. Will be in the San Diego and Huntington Beach area. Let me know if you live in those areas and maybe we can get together.

I hope all is well with you and your families.
Sax Drake Class of 1961.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Lyons High School Alumni Update

CHANGE!!!!!
A lot of things have happened in the last few months. Most of it out of your control, but as I will show you, you can have control of your financial situation or at least absorb some of the blow.

I really believe I have a purpose in life and that is to help many of you who have lost much of your retirement or who would just like to travel more for less to start your own company. You have the opportunity to do exactly what Lonnie and I and a few other LHS alumni are doing.

Lonnie Morris, LHS alum had to pay $5,000 in taxes last year. That means he had to make $512 extra a month to pay his taxes. Lonnie called the other night and told me because of the company I have been telling you about for the past nearly two years he is getting a $4,000 tax return. That is an extra $333 per month in his pocket because he took a look at this company and bought his own online travel website. The IRS allows you tax deductions most people don’t have the opportunity to get because they don’t have a business. He also received numerous travel perks because of this great company.

At least take a look at this company’s business model and if it doesn’t make sense, by all means don’t get involved. We would still like to have you give us every opportunity to book your travel and vacation packages.

I know many of you think Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Cheap Tickets, etc. are great companies and that Lonnie, myself, Gail, Bob, and Dan can’t possibly have our own companies that rival these. We don’t; ours is as good if not better and you are going to get the same seat on the airline, the same hotel room, the same cabin on a cruise, the same vacation package, because we all have the same vendors. We will have nearly the same rates 95% of the time.

I know many of you are booking travel and side trips which you can easily do on our websites. If you compare our rates and we are not competitive, give us a call or e-mail and let us see if we can get you a better rate. We had someone tell us they got a rate that was a lot better than our airline rate to Vegas and when we went on the website, we found a hotel and airfare rate combined that was better than just the airfare they had found. Can we always do that, No! We just ask for the opportunity. We would hope you would rather book with an alum than the owners of the companies who are already multi-millionaires. By the way, I don’t begrudge them for making that money. They took the chance and invested, just like I did.

Any of you interested call any of the alumni involved and we can give you information. Any of you who would actually like to see the company and meet the owners, I will be in St. Louis on March 17th to tour the headquarters along with 1,000 – 1,500 people from all across the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean Islands.

A number of you received an invitation to be able to shop online in over 600 stores and get cash back. Example, we just bought $25 restaurant gift certificates for $2. Usually they are $10 but we have bought them for $2, $3, and $4. We are eating out more than when this recession started and for less.

It is all with the same company as the travel program. All we need to do for the online shopping is to get your e-mail address and invite you. Like I said, I already e-mailed a number of you.

Like I said I believe I have a purpose to help. I have been with the company for going on two years, so I have taken out all the chances of it not being a legitimate company. The good thing is we have met a lot of new friends all over the country and the positive attitudes of everyone in this company are a blessing.

Contact us and we will answer any questions.

We have lost two more alums and teacher:
Deborah Boggs Gobble died 2-27-09. She graduated from LHS in 1971. She received graduate honors at California State College at Chico, CA. She lived the last 11 years in Hutchinson. Memorials can be sent to A.S.P.C.A. or to the United Methodist Church of Lyons.

Ted White, star guard on the State Championship basketball team for Lyons in 1941, and was among four Marines who made WW II history on Iwo Jima in 1945, passed away at Indian Wells, CA. He was 85. He was one of four marines who scouted the peak of Mt. Suribachi for signs of enemy presence, a few hours before the raising of the American Flag that has been immortalized by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. Ted received a debilitating leg wound 6 days after he was on Mt. Suribachi. He returned to the states and went to University of CA, Santa Barbara on the G.I. Bill. He had first enrolled at the Univ. of Kansas before going into the Marines. He worked for State Farm as a district manager for 27 years.

Ruth Avery died 1-11-09 at Lyons Dist. Hosp. She was 102. She was a retired high school and grade school teacher for USA 405. She is survived by her son Richard, living in Albuquerque, NM. Memorials can be made to the American Red Cross; 111 N. Walnut, Suite B, Hutchinson, KS. 67501.

Our prayers are with the families and they will be missed.

Hope you are all doing well.

Sax Drake
Class of 1961