Good News!

I've got a great price on DVD duplication so thanks to our generous benefactor I hope to send out a DVD to all attenders and others who are interested - BUT I'll need your complete address which you can email to me - PatEUtah@gmail.com if I don't have it already. I will wait a few more weeks to see if any of you are going to contribute photos to the blog from the reunion. The DVD will contain a video that includes almost the entire program. The video ends towards the end of Steve Iannicito's reminiscing. It will also include the brief video of the blog contents that was shown at the reunion and the photos I've collected for the blog. Some of you who were unable to attend have expressed interest in having a copy of the program so we'll get one to you as well. I'll also send this to our email list since some of you follow one but not the other.
Pat

And now for your viewing pleasure a contribution sent in by Art White from a Modern Gymnast magazine. I didn't realize they had stop-action photography back in the good ole days! Remember to click on the photo to enlarge it.

Memorabilia Heaven

I'm going to need help with this one since segregation was practice! I know from left we have Bob Mullins, Bob Popp and Steve Iannicito but which women goes with these guys is beyond me. I do think one is also Ed Klanecky's wife since Bob Mullins is single.

Larry Dardano and Ed Klanecky

From left: Tom Jenkins, Bob Poston, Janie Schroeder, Cliff Gauthier, Steve Schroeder, Dennis Hartman, Jim Hartman

A REUNION STORY
When I was taking reservations for the reunion banquet Courtney Willis wrote to say he would be attending alone since his wife would be attending the World Science Fiction Convention. Since I'm a lifelong fan of science fiction I wrote back to ask him why his wife got to go the World Science Fiction Convention while I got stuck at a weekend with a bunch of old jocks. He never responded but then answered my question at the Saturday afternoon session. At this point I will refer to Wikipedia to share what Courtney shared with me. Those of you who are fans of science fiction will immediately understand the significance of Connie's career. Tomorrow I'll be going to the library to pick up a couple of her books.

Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis (born 31 December 1945) is an American science fiction writer. She has won, among other awards, ten Hugo Awards and six Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for All Seated on the Ground (August 2008). Willis is a 1967 graduate of Colorado State College, now the University of Northern Colorado. ^[1] She lives in Greeley, Colorado with her husband Courtney Willis, a professor of physics at the University of Northern Colorado. She also has one daughter, Cordelia. Connie Willis was the 2009 inductee to the Science Fiction Museum and Science Fiction Hall of Fame. ^[2]

Willis is known for her accessible prose and likable characters. She has written several pieces involving time travel by history students and faculty of the future University of Oxford. These pieces include her Hugo Award-winning novels Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog and the short story "Fire Watch", found in the short story collection of the same name. She is currently working on another book set in this universe. It will be published as a two book set. The first volume, Blackout ^[3] is scheduled for release on February 2, 2010. The second volume, All-Clear,^[4] will be released six months later.

It's hard to believe a little over five months ago I was sitting in my recliner with a broken knee cap and getting bored to the point that I finally decided it was time to do something about a gymnastics reunion some of us had been talking about for more than five years. And now the reunion has come and gone but what a great time it was. The only thing that would have made it better was to have a little more time with each of you.
Here are some more photos from the banquet but I only have a few photos left so it's time for some of you to send me your photos to post.

This actually belongs in the previous post.
Clockwise: Larry Dardano, Ben & Olga Coleman, Larry Hoffschneider, Gloria Salazar, Carla Hoffschneider.

Bonnie & Tom Proulx, Sam Sargent, Jim Royce, mystery couple because I can't blow it up enough to identify them so help me out!

Tracey Ryan is Missing. In the preceding and following photo she somehow managed to avoid the camera. From left: Art White, Jack Ryan, Louann White, Renee Murahata, Ken Macaulay, Rich Murahata

The Senior Table?
From lower left: Dave & Carolyn Wardell, Susie & Jim Ryan, Courtney Willis, Charlie Jackson, Don Robinson, Dottie McGuire

Rich & Connie Jaouen (foreground), Dennis & Marie Berg, Barbara & Ben Blea

Well, here are some photos I took at the reunion and I'll add more over the next few days. If you have some to add be sure to send them to me. I'm hoping to get the video of the program loaded onto my computer and put into DVD format for everyone but you'll have to be patient for that.

Some North Guys: They clean up real well!
Steve Iannicito and Gary Pomeranz

No Hair, Some Hair, A Silver Mane!
Tom Proulx, Ben Blea and Barbara, Dennis Berg

Ed Klanecky and Dave Wardell

My Table with the Private School Boys:
Vince & Joan Nicoletti, Frank Swanson, Mike Meyer, Marty Quigley, Chris Edwards

Gloria Salazar, Carla Hoffschneider, Gil Salazar, Pam & Jim Fulcher, Ben & Olga Coleman

Some of the "good-time boys!"
Ben Blea and Dennis Berg

Some of the Fairview Gang: Marty Quigley, Coach White, Tom Proulx, Me (with a halo!) Ken Macaulay, Rich Murahata

Some of the taller gymnasts: Jack Ryan, Connie and Rich Jaouen, Tracey Ryan

Someone's Trophy Wife, Frank Swanson, Mike Meyer

Hi Pat. This is John Young and I was on the Aurora team for my junior and senior year and graduated along with Terry Truman and others in 1965. Although I wasn't that good, I did manage to letter in both years working P-Bars. Anyway, I have been following the blogs with great interest and fond memories of the guys on the Aurora team and the other competitors from the other schools that we competed with. I have stayed in contact with Terry over the many years and in fact he was the first person that I met at Aurora when I was a sophomore having moved to Aurora after attending Hill Jr. High in Denver. Gary Walker and I both went to Hill.

As a side note, Ed Klanecky and I both took our physical for the draft at the same time and of course he got out with a 4-F because of a bad knee I believe and I was drafted.

It has been very interesting for me to read the many bios and I have to admit that Ben Blea got my vote for the most entertaining and interesting. I got a lot of information over the years from Don Robinson who kept me up to date on the details of the world of gymnastics and also from Terry who, as you all know stayed active through judging.

When I read Rich Jouen's comments about Terry Truman, it jogged a little memory I had of an article that Terry wrote when he turned 30 years old and which was published in, I believe the Rocky Mountain News . I told Terry that I would send this article to him which I did and asked him to get it on the blog which he agreed to do, but knowing Terry's humility or as he would say "I was too busy", I don't think he will do it, so I've decided to include it in this email for the group to enjoy. Because we're all a bunch of old farts I think everyone can relate and will enjoy it. It's pretty remarkable when you read this and realize this was done from rote memory, no research, and pretty much highlights the mis-spent youth some of us enjoyed or at least read about in the papers. It's scary to think this was written 32 years ago and even scarier to think some guys can still do a handstand, not to mention from a press.

I hope everyone enjoyed the reunion and got to establish old relationships as well as realizing the huge impact it had on all of our lives, even if some of us did not continue the pursuit. Best regards to all the great Colorado gymnasts and I hope you enjoy Terry's article.

John Young
909-350-2266
714-747-2555 Cell

One of the newspaper clippings from earlier in the blog declared "3-Man Gym Team Wins Gym Title." I was fortunate to be one of the the three but at the same time I knew we had a lot of other good members on that team - Tim Larson and Ken Macaulay went on to take state championships the following year. So I went and looked at the state meet results and the article was right - so here is a photo from the reunion of those three along with Coach White - Tom Proulx, Pat Edwards and Rich Murahata. The only thing we won at the reunion was biggest waistline!
Now here's a reunion story I hadn't heard before but Ed Klanecky shared with me and since he's an Aurora Central alum I don't know if I should believe him or not. I am inclined to believe him though since he's a first class guy and always has been.
Anyway on with the "story."
Ed told me that the "powers that be" were considering a rule change for the '66 season to determine how the team championship would be determined. Rather than giving points for where competitors placed the option was proposed to move to the format that now exists where are individual scores are added up to determine the team score. Ed shared that Aurora Central thought they had greater depth than Fairview so Coach Robinson wanted to go to the new format while Coach White wanted to stay with the existing format. The traditionalists won and a "three-man" team won the state meet. I personally don't agree with AC's belief that a rule change would have provided them an opportunity to win the team title but someone would have to dig up some individual scores of the team members to get some idea of who is right. And of course teams like Wasson, Lincoln and Ranum might want to add their two cents as well.

SO WHERE ARE SOME MORE STORIES FROM THE REUNION OR FROM YOUR MEMORIES? AND SOME OF YOU PROMISED ME MORE OLD MEMORIES, CLIPS AND PHOTOS THAT YOU HAVEN'T DELIVERED ON YET - SO GET WITH IT!