Biographies & more

From: HISTORY OF THE DENVER IMPERIAL FLYERS

by Alton Barbour

During Jimmy Kyle’s, Yo-Yo’s and Manny’s tenure there, hundreds of Denver area high school students came through that gym including Wayne Wright, Carol Bosselman, Juan Green, Art Jiron, Don Robinson, Andy Arellano, Donna Lopez, Paul Johnson, Tony Carpenter, Vince Nicoletti, Jim Fulcher, Terry Pershing, Bruce Lonnecker, Bruce Minor, Karen Jeffries, Doug Boger, Albert Heinrick, John Quintana, Georgie DeHererra, Paul Francis, Barbara Moss, Art Guerrero, Jack Van Horn and Richard Greenwood. Jimmy Kyle, the gymnastics and swimming coach at North High School was a YMCA flyer and was coach for Tony Carpenter and Vince Nicoletti. Vince Nicoletti was an all-around gymnast for the University of Denver.

Right after the posting of the historical record above Vince Nicoletti was the first to get us started with an update on himself. Make sure you link to his youtube clip especially if you need encouragement to get in shape for the reunion! I may go out and do a few pull ups myself...

VINCE NICOLETTI
Pat,
Here's part of the DU Winter Sports brochure for 70-71, my senior year. It should work for the competitive picture for me and it also has a picture of Doug Dewitt. For the current picture I made a video of what I did on my 59th birthday last year and it's on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OtdaFqVA8Y&feature=channel_page I think you can put it on the blog with some sort of a link, but I haven't the foggiest idea how to do that.
Since I retired from teaching high school art classes for 34 years, I've gotten pretty good at Photoshop and Video editing, but blogs . . . I have no idea how they work!? So I'd like to help you with the blog but, I no nothing about them.


ART WHITE
Arthur L. White has a Bachelors of Science Education and Grade 7-12 teacher licensure in physical science and mathematics from Colorado State College of Education (now the University of Northern Colorado), and a Master of Basic Science and a PhD in science education from the University of Colorado. He has taught high school science and mathematics in Hoxie, Kansas and at Fairview High School near Boulder, Colorado. He was the boy’s head Gymnastics Coach at Hoxie from 1957 - 1960 and the boy’s head Gymnastics Coach at Fairview from 1960 – 1967. In 1968 he was the Representative for the National High School Gymnastics Coaches Association at the Gymnastics World Games in Dortmund, Germany. He was the author of the Mid-west. The U. S. Gymnast Magazine from 1966 – 1967. Art White also was the head men’s Gymnastics Coach at the University of Colorado Buffaloes from 1967 – 1969. The Buffaloes were the Big 8 Conference Champions in 1968.
Since 1969, professor White has held numerous roles at the The Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus, Ohio. He has served as an evaluator and/or consultant on many local, regional, national, and international projects. Countries in which Dr. White has served in this capacity include Belize, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Kenya, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, Panama, Qatar, Taiwan, The Bahamas, and Trinidad and Tobago.
His research interests include involving teachers in action research in their own classrooms; the use of technology for teaching and learning; the integration of mathematics, science, and technology in the classroom; and concept learning in science and mathematics.
Dr. White served as the co-director of the National Center for Science Teaching and Learning (NCSTL), a project that was funded by the US Department of Education and was located at OSU. He also has served on the Board of Directors and as the Executive Secretary for the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) as well as on the Board of Directors and as the Executive Director of the School Science and Mathematics Association (SSMA). Dr. White is the current Past-President of SSMA and most recently is a member of a STEM Conference National Steering Committee, funded by the National Science Foundation.
Dr. White's publications include co-authored chapters in the Yearbook of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1995) and the International Handbook of Science Education (1997); articles in The American Mathematical Monthly, Arithmetic Teacher, International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, the Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, the Journal of Science Education and Technology, Educational Technology Research and Development, Perceptual and Motor Skills, Phi Beta Delta International Review, School Science and Mathematics, Scientific American, Teaching Education, the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, and the American Educational Research Journal.
Dr. White typically teaches courses related to: the integration of mathematics, science, and technology in the classroom; the engagement in action research in the mathematics, science, and/or technology education classroom; and methods of analysis of quantitative data in education.

Art and Louann in Tucson for the '68 NCAA Championships where CU placed 6th and Jack Ryan won the national championship... finally!




PAT EDWARDS
After graduation from CU I taught and coached at Cherry Creek High School for 2 years. The first year I was Chuck Ehrlich's assistant and we won the state championship with the DeWitt boys and a host of other good gymnasts. Chuck quit and I became head coach with Ed Klanecky as my assistant. We took State again but my perfect coaching record was mostly attributable to Ed and Chuck's knowledge and efforts.
After that I attended Denver Seminary, graduating with an MA in 1975. We moved to Ogden, Utah where I taught courses on the Bible to high school students for the next five years. During that time Chris (whom many of you remember-June 13 was our 39th anniversary) and I had three daughters.
In 1980 I moved to Bountiful, Utah to become the pastor of Grace Baptist Church where I stayed until August 31, 2008. I took disability retirement due to the effects of post-polio syndrome which are primarily muscle weakness, consistent fatigue and difficulties staying warm. It sounds worse than it is as I'm still mobile although I walk as little as possible.
For you latecomers this reunion started as talk between me and Art White about five years ago. It began for Art and the guys he coached at Fairview and CU. But when I was telling Jack Ryan about it he told me Don Robinson had been after Terry Truman for years to organize one so I talked with Terry and the idea of a golden-age reunion took shape - and died. All that fatigue must have been getting to me! Then this March my kid's dog tripped me and I fractured my kneecap which had me sitting a lot for seven weeks. After boredom finally got a good grip on me I started thinking about the reunion again, contacted Terry and we began contacting you. Unlike many sports most of us got to know each other fairly well from all the clinics our coaches hosted where we learned from them and from each other so there aren't many names on the list that I don't remember and can't picture.
I've been away from the sport except as a spectator for most of the last 25 years but I remember when I first saw some of the new innovations like one arm giants and little girls doing double backs. I have to admit I was so puzzled by this quantum leap in skill that I called Bob Fisher for some insight. He informed me about the use of dowels in grips and floor ex pads built like mini-tramps - not to say that today's athletes haven't improved as well.
Well, that's the news from Lake Wobegon....

JACK RYAN













Jack and me- on vacation in Florida

As most of you know, Jack & Tracey have been together forever (married 45 years this August). Upon graduation from CU with an Engineering degree and 2 ½ children, I got involved in engineering management with an aerospace company in Denver. After a half dozen years I decided to move on and that decision ended up moving my family away from Colorado as a residence. We have lived in northern Illinois (12 yrs.), St. Petersburg Fl. (10 yrs.), western Kentucky (4 yrs.), Miami Fl. (5 yrs.) and now back to western Kentucky as we approach retirement. We decided to come back here for two good reasons; one, we didn’t speak Spanish which is a must in south Florida these days and the cost of living here is 46% cheaper than the other choices. We live on a golf course which has become our main recreational outlet (Tracey plays more than me but I plan on catching up) and enjoy the friendly atmosphere of the western Kentucky folks. After college I took up jogging for my “work out fix” as my tennis elbow pretty much shut down my horsing around days(see photo). Turns out that none of my joints are any good as I ended up having BOTH knees replaced a couple years ago. Now my knees are the best part of me! As you can see from the photo, our grandchildren (6 in total) are our joy in life with the oldest being 23 (our son started early too) and Abby (at 5) being the youngest. Tracey says it is only fitting that we started together in Gymnastics and now we are getting together with Gymnasts 45 years later (don’t think she's too happy)…….

Jack still horsing around at 63! (with Tracey, daughter Cathy & her Husband (Larry) and grandchild, Abby)


GENE TAKAMINE

Dear Patrick:

Thank you for all the work you have done. I am sorry to say I do not think that I can come. Perhaps if there is another get together I will. I presently reside between Hawaii and Orange County California. I am a retired attorney and as a widowed father have two wonderful children who are grown. I would like to visit with "the guys" perhaps another time.
Aloha,
Gene Takamine DU 1968

MARTY QUIGLEY
I attended CSU but did not participate in gymnastics and then got out before they kicked me out. Just wasn’t ready to buckle down, then I got the opportunity to see the world, Vietnam & Germany via Uncle Sam.
Marty - Fairview 65

GLENN WILSON AND DOUG BOGER
Tuesday, June 16, 2009

To: Pat Edwards and all the other 60s Dudes at Colorado
From: Glenn Wilson and Doug Boger
Re: Reunion
I used to lecture Doug on making the most of his opportunity to get an education while he was an athlete. Now we have the same job. We own a business called Bounce California where we teach Trampoline and Tumbling. It is a state of the art building for what we do, but we still coach using the old Colorado group as a model. Remember those clinics at the Air Force Academy?

The business is the reason that we won’t be able to attend, but we think it is great that you guys are getting together. We wish we could be there. We are in the middle of the championship season. Next week we will be in San Jose for the JO Nationals, and then we must prepare for the Visa Nationals with our elite athletes.

Doug has become the Guru for the Double Mini Trampoline in the USA, and as such is in heavy demand for Camps and Clinics. Next up for him is a camp in Texas, then back to Woodward West here in California, and finally ends up in Michigan for the National Scholarship Camp. Doug’s girls have dominated the Senior National Championship for the last two years, and he has hopes for another win this year. His coaching prowess has gotten him all over the World—Taiwan, Sweden, Nederland, Germany, Belgium, and Canada. Before we got into Trampolining and Tumbling he had only been to Tijuana—remember that Proulx?

From your email we read that Tom thinks he looks like his Dad. Well Doug looks like his Dad, and I look like someone’s Great Grandfather, but I can still do a full on the tramp. I am reduced to skills like Bobby Fisher used to beat me in Add-on games. All the skills so slowly slip away—whatever happened to our perfect bodies?

So, Doug went from Colorado to Pasadena City College, and then to the University of Arizona. After AZ he went back to Pasadena and ran his own gym club for 24 years. In 2000 he heard that I was getting started in a Trampoline and Tumbling facility and wanted to be part of the movement. As they say, the rest is History, and that is what this letter is all about. Our goal from the beginning has been to produce high level athletes, and to that end we have produced more than 70 National Champions.
My years at CU were from 1961 to 1966. I had a great time there, and I felt like it was a golden era as I look back on it. During that time I was drawing to CU some athletes from such legendary coaches as Don Robinson, Art White, Jimmy Hartman, Ben Coleman, Bill Holmes, Grady Mathews, Lou Baretta, and so many others. Come to think of it I should have had even better teams than we were able to put together. The college coaches at the time were terrific Toni Rossi at CSC, Steve Johnson at CSU, Doug Dewitt at DU and Karl Schwenzfeier at AFA. We all seemed to get along and the gymnastics was some of the best at the time. The judges picked up the new code of points at a time when we all needed it. Colorado was an enlightened gymnastics community for the men.

I’ll bet that Tom Jenkins and Bob Poston will remember the state meet for girls at Cherry Creek. We had a few guys from CU who knew very little about girls gymnastics. I knew even less than they did. We judged a meet for free that had over 400 girls in it. The only thing that saved us is that the girls and their coaches didn’t know that much either. It looks like they learned better than we did, because they are still a sport in Colorado.

I f you know Doug, he has told me every Colorado story at least five times or more. So, even though I won’t get to see you I do think about my time in Colorado. It is the best era for my memory. Thanks for letting us share it with you even though we can’t make the trip this time. We would love to hear from all of you. That is why email was created.

Glenn Wilson and Doug Boger
from Bounce California in San Diego where we don’t shovel snow

BOB WHITE
Hi,

I'm Bob White and I competed for JFK High in 67-68. I probably got on this list due to Cliff Gauthier. I will not be attending as my wife and I have had too much Gymnastics related travel recently (We are both Men's and Women's judges). I already had to skip an FSU gym reunion due to travel (and money).

Thanks for the invitation and I would appreciate being kept on the mailing list. I truly only know a few of the guys but Terry and Sam got me started judging more than 30 years ago. My wife and I were both Men's Brevet judges though we did not go to the last course.

We can still do swivel hips but anything beyond that is chancy.