Staying in Touch with Classmates:
From David and Kathe Alves
Rae and Mary Ann, Kathe and I had planned on attending the 40th reunion, but the best laid plans… a friend of ours has a coffee and tea plantation in Papua New Guinea and would like to set up a medical clinic for his 400 workers and their families. So, it is someplace we have not been and it is on our list of countries we would like to see. It is not our first “medical mission” and we do like to helping people. We leave March 29th and return the middle of April. Yes we like to travel. So far we have been to about 50 countries and all seven continents. I don’t know if the list of places to see is getting any shorter, but we have to hurry as time is. So for now we will plan on showing up at Rio next year and five years from now.
So to catch you up a little – we have 14 grand children counting all the kids and their new brothers and sisters by new marriages. Meghan and Brian have one daughter who is ten and a new little boy that they adopted last year, Meghan got to cut the cord. Anyway he will be one next month. We will be celebrating his birthday in Palm Springs, the middle of March ( at our yearly family trip). And our son has caused all the rest.
Kathe and I have been working too hard the last few years and are trying very hard to slow down. The medical clinic Kathe has owned for the past seven years is for sale. We still have another business, with about 40 employees that keeps us busy, and I still work for the state full time. I could have retired two years ago, but I really enjoy what I do. We do have to cut back somewhere as Kathe is returning to school this next fall. And we have some more traveling to do.
To the Class of 1968:
March 11, 2008
March 11, 2008It’s hard to believe that 40 years has passed since we graduated at Rio in 1968.
I had good intensions of attending our 40th class reunion at Rio; however, since I retired in 2006, time has gone by so fast and my good intensions didn’t get put on my schedule for 2008. In fact the reunion completely slipped my mind until I received the invitation last month. If I had not already planned and made flight reservations to visit my grandfather in Oregon in May I would have tried to make last minute reservations to attend the reunion. I have been promising my grandfather for a long time that I would come out and go trout fishing with him. Trout season starts April 28th so I made my reservations for May. I have been back to Rio one time since graduation. I took my family on a 2-hour tour of Rio in the summer of 1995 while on our way to a family reunion at my fathers in Eureka, California.
Since graduation my life has been very busy and very blessed. My wife Dianne and I are both retired. She is a retired Register Nurse with 34-years service with the State of Georgia. I’m a retired Program Manager with 37-½ years service with the Department of Defense and a retired Chief Master Sergeant with 31-½ years with the Georgia Air National Guard.
Dianne and I have been blessed with 4 children between us, and 4-¾ grandchildren.
Dianne’s Son, Mike and his wife Amy Layson have 2 children, McKenzie Brooke and Gavin Duane Layson. My Son Daniel Jr. and Cindy Hurst have three wonderful grand-doggies and are talking about having children someday. My Daughter Nancy and her husband Matt Estes have 1-¾ children. Sarah Faith and Rebekah Ann Estes who will be born by C-Section the 21st of March 2008. My Daughter Annie and her husband Alex McKinney have 1 daughter, Alexis Jade McKinney. {SEE ATTACHED PHOTOS}
Jesus is our personal savior, best friend and master of our life. Life is so wonderful when you put Christ first.
Dan & Dianne Hurst (a.k.a. Gramps & Mimi)
112 Sitton Ave., PO Box 832
Gordon, Georgia 31031-0832
478-628-2930
ddhurst@alltel.net
Dan and Dianne Hurst
(Gramps & Mimi)
Amy, Gavin, McKenzie, and Mike
Layson
Dan and Cindy Hurst
Nancy, Sarah, and Matt Estes
Annie, Jade, and Alex McKinney
From Wally Sumner:
What do I do in the cold weather? Try to keep track of my snow shovel for one. I keep pretty busy. Besides running the store, I spend a fair amount of time splitting and stacking firewood, since we heat our house with wood (which is a good thing right now considering the high cost of oil and propane). We try to get to the ocean once or twice a month: the water's not frozen there, and so there are more birds to see. In that respect I haven't changed much over the past 40 years. I do a lot of snowshoeing, and the kids and I go sledding as much as we can (even at my advanced age). I have to make up for all the years I didn't get to go sledding when I was a kid. But, I will admit that the winters are too long, and whenever I decide to retire, I hope to spend a little bit of time each winter (like Jan. & Feb.) somewhere where it doesn't snow. Of course, if gas goes to $8.0 0 a gallon that may not be feasible, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Wally
