GHS Class of 1963 entertained by 1863 speaker
By Bob Robinson

GREENVILLE – “We were the first class to graduate from the building in the park… we spent two years at the old school (current junior high) but graduated at the new one… we broke that sucker in!”

Bob Rhoades, Greenville High School Class of 1962, was one of 82 class members who attended the Class of 1963 50-year reunion Aug. 24. Including spouses and guests, more than 140 people mingled and recalled high school memories at Turtle Creek Golf Course. About 5:15 class members gathered for the class picture, then moved into the dining area.

Dick Martin was the introductory speaker.

“I owe you an apology,” he said after everyone was seated. “Everyone in my class was 18 years old. Looking around, these people don’t look like any of the kids in our class. They look like their parents… or grandparents.

“This has to be the GHS Class of 1863.”

Martin told them he rushed into the kitchen – the manager here has a telegraph key – and sent off a quick request.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.”

President Lincoln, portrayed by Robert Brugler, entered the room amid the laughter and applause of class members and guests. He entertained the audience with a mixture of jokes and historical information.

Lincoln asked who the first president of the United States was. When did the War of 1812 begin? The first president with a beard? A stove pipe hat? Ugly…

“I was kicked in the head when I was nine… made an impression on me.”

Someone commented to him once, “Land sakes if you aren’t the ugliest man I’ve ever seen!” “I’m sorry. I can’t help it.” “You could have stayed home!”

The President noted some of Darke County’s historical information, then said, “Did you know my administration started the Department of Agriculture? We established Land Grant colleges… how many of you went to Ohio A&M?”

One person raised his hand.

“Aah, someone who knows what’s going on. The college later became known as Ohio State University.”

Lincoln then talked about Gettysburg, Pa. He spoke of the Trossel and Wiekert farms… they were destroyed in the battle at Little Round Top.

He named several families who left Adams County, came to Darke County and established Adams Township.

“Donna Wright, by the way, is a distant cousin to George Washington. Is she here? Ah, yes, if you see him please tell him hello for me.”

He spoke of his trip to Gettysburg.

“How many of you had to memorize the Gettysburg Address?” A few hands went up. “I apologize for that… I read the Gettysburg Address!”

Lincoln read his speech as he pictured it must have been read 150 years earlier.

Following the speech Lincoln paid tribute to the 31 members of the Class of 1963 who served in the U.S. Armed Forces, two of whom – Rob Fowble and Gene Lutz – had been killed in Vietnam. Then he read the names of the 35 members of the class who were no longer with them.

Martin returned to the podium and said – once again – he owed the class an apology.

“I have to acknowledge that all of our class members are in their late sixties,” he said. “None of us are over 100. So I got on my cell phone and made another call… someone from our generation… ladies and gentlemen… Elvis Presley.”

Eyes were focused on the kitchen entrance from which the president had entered. The King of Rock & Roll, portrayed by Tom Laurent, entered from the opposite side of the room and immediately went into a litany of Elvis favorites, including All Shook Up, Love Me Tender, Teddy Bear and more.

“Elvis may have been called the King of Rock & Roll,” Laurent said, “but he never received a Grammy in that area.” Laurent added a Grammy is the highest award a singer can get, like an Oscar is to an actor.

“Elvis received three Grammies… all in the gospel/spiritual field” He got two of them for the same song, How Great Thou Are.

“He is the only singer ever to do that,” Laurent finished.

Elvis and his wife Becky teamed up to do Unforgettable, the song Natalie Cole recorded using a digital version of her father Nat King Cole’s version to create a duet.

Following the two performances, dinner was served.

During dinner, Honest Abe said he always gets raised eyebrows when he tells someone Abe Lincoln is buried in Kentucky.

“That was the president’s grandpa. His name was Abe, too, and that’s where he’s buried.”

Class of 1963 50th Year Reunion -- 2013

Front Row 1 (on ground): Tom McKenney (teacher), Mary Jane Campbell Dietrich, Tim Scheiding, Jean Hufnagle Gobel, Patsy Carroll Cobb, Keith Yount, Roger Moyer, Kerry Ungericht, Linda Thompson Ungericht, Jim Wick, Jim Lorton, and Gene Ward.

Row 2 (seated): Judy Grodzensky, Tom Brant, Doug McGriff, Dianna Brandenburg Ochs, Cindy Christian Chrisman, Judy Enicks Voke, Billie Butts Hess, Melody Brown Fox, Becky Arnett Simon, LeAnn Shellabarger Nimphie, Connie Barnhart Wyan, Beth Marshall Thomas, Penny Binkley Wills, and Jessie Mock Burke.

Row 3 (first row standing): Gary Wagner, Mary Beth Hunt Tsoukalas, Randa Thompson Snyder, Nancy Bowman Eikenberry, Carolyn Gatchell, Suzy Haren Ables, Rita Doyle Smith, Carol Schlagetter Balser, Sharon Klosterman Nyhuis, Maureen Mote North, Sharon Leis Hollinger, Kay Shields, Linda Trostle Rehmert, Carolyn Thompson Haskins, Norma Smith Hoover, Barb Markwith Dancer, Karen Johnson Kelly, Dora Wright Mosier, Marsha Palser Duvall, Doris Erisman Miller, Zinta Zunde Sundby, Tom Bish, Evelyn Powell Shuttleworth, Doug Scholl, and Myron Sharp.

Back Row 4 (back rows left to right): Bob Brown, John Wion, Joe Mong, Carol Kuhnle Harrold, Larry Turner, Marian Weikert Bassett, Jack Myers, Marilyn Lease Fritz, Walt Rich, John Neff, Doug Black, Tom Feurer, Barry Gettinger, Dick O’Brien, David Dean, Dick Sander, Ed Clark, Tom Mowery, Glenn Rehmert, Paul Whittington, Tom Fletcher, David Farmer, Roland Brinley, Bob Rhoades, Richard Martin, Budd Dancer, Bill Harris, Carolyn Beasley Harpel, Mary Ann Drake Lehman, Dick Byers, and David Wills.

Published courtesy of The Early Bird