We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Diane Gurgens Urbanckas, Keith Schnepp, Roy Borg, CE Welch, Mary Houghton Elberson
Carolyn Baldwin Quinlan, Janet Bailey Kerner, Janet Frederick, John Brownback.
(Missing: Ann Tobin Hart, Judy Vicars Van Hagen)

Here's our hard-working 50th Reunion Committee, out in an early Illinois snow and wishing all the '58s a very Merry Christmas and healthy, happy New Year! (Click the picture to enlarge.)

In February they will send us a letter with details of the fantastic reunion they've cooked up, so watch for it. They look forward to seeing us in September, 2008!

Georgia Gehr Luttrell

Judy Vicars Van Hagen writes that an obituary appears in the SJR today for a former teacher at Dubois grade school, Georgia Gher Luttrell, who died on Dec 8, 2007 at the age of 80. At Dubois she launched the 8th grade Sextet (see below), which sang in programs all over town, and several of its members joined the Singing Seven at SHS.

Mrs. Luttrell received degrees from SIU and Northwestern. She taught at Huntington College in Montgomery, AL and toured as a concert pianist in the Gulf states. As an music educator, she taught in Marion, IL and Springfield, where she also directed choirs for several churches. She was pianist for the Springfield municipal choir, opera, and symphony. She also sang in the Illinois Symphony Chorus and published poetry.

Judy recalls, "When we 8th graders first met her, Mrs. Luttrell was a most imposing person. She wore high platform heels, was quite a buxom lady, had bright red hair and was much in command. Actually, we were almost afraid of her."

Mrs. Luttrell was preceded in death by her husband, Claude E. Luttrell, and she leaves several cousins and surrogate grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her friends and students may leave messages of tribute at the SJR obituary. A copy also appears at this memorial site.

The Dubois 8th Grade Sextet, 1954
Elizabeth Tinsley, Lynda Bradley, Carolyn Baldwin,
Judy Vicars, Betsy Mylroie, Joanne Grove

State Fair Museum

Several of the '58s are State Fair buffs, so they may like to know that an Illinois State Fair Museum Foundation has formed in Springfield.

Currently located under the fair grandstand, the foundation plans to raise $5 million for a permanent building on the fair grounds. A full story appears in the SJR today.

History: in the 1860s, Springfield had a choice between the new state university and the "annual agricultural exposition." It took the Fair, and Urbana got the school. Far-sighted?