Jo Meiers Leggett

Jo Meiers Leggett died on April 15, 2009 after a long struggle with cancer. An accomplished photographer and editor-publisher, she lived near Alamo Square in San Francisco.

Jo was a natural leader in the Class of '58, engaged in a range of activities from cheerleading and student council to class offices and both homecoming and prom courts.

After college she married and settled in Pittsburgh, where she chaired the board of an alternative open school and raised two children, Cameron and Catherine.

She studied photography in Pittsburgh and began to teach, exhibit, and win prizes, especially for her studies of animals and flowers. She also served as director of development for the Western Pennsylvania Family Center.

Moving to San Francisco in 1989, Jo became the publisher of photo metro, a large format magazine devoted to b/w art photography. She encouraged photographers, sponsored their work, and brought them wider public attention.

She also sold her own pictures to museums in Pittsburgh, San Diego, Austin, Brussels, and Paris. Her writing appears in two books, Our Mothers and Our Grandmothers, both available from Amazon.

Although Jo was never able to attend a reunion, she took a great interest in class news and had a large store of memories about growing up in Springfield. Her home was the former Day family house at Fourth and Canedy.

An archive of Jo's works resides at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas-Austin. Tributes to Jo are posted at the Benham Gallery. An obituary is now in the SJR.

Dream the Dream

If you think life is over before it's over,

heed the story of Susan Boyle from West Lothian, Scotland.

It's a small village near Edinburgh. 

She is 47 and single, with a dream of becoming a singer.

Watch this video to see what happened on April 11, 2009.

To see the lyrics, click on (more info) in the upper right.

Thanks to Judi Dunkel Headrick for the tip.

Easter

Happy Spring, Solstice, Passover, Easter. 

Easter, what an odd word. 

In most languages, the name of this 

spring festival descends from the 

Hebrew word for Passover: Pesach.

Pascha: Greek

Pascha: Latin 

Pascua: Spanish

Pasqua: Italian

Pascoa: Portuguese

Pasen: Dutch

Paske: Danish

Paske: Norwegian

Pask: Swedish

Even the Welsh, Cornish, and Bretons

say Pasg or Pask.

Only the English have Easter.

It comes from Anglo-Saxon

and names a goddess, Eastre

who appears every April

to warm the skies and

make the flowers bloom.

Whatever your beliefs

Or how you say it,

It's a good time to celebrate

the return of life and light

after a long, dark season.

Cub Scouts

Last night I received an e-mail titled "Hi Billy!" No one has called me that for 50 years, so I figured it was from a sister. No, it's from my 91-year-old Cub Scout den mother, Virginia Newell.

Since I imagine few of our vintage have a den mother who writes e-mails, I'll pay her tribute and also remember a great organization for boys. (The picture above is from June, 1950)

Virginia is the mother of Bob Newell '58. She lives today in Rockford, Illinois, still able to drive and live independently. Bob tells me that "Ginny" owes her vigor to much hiking and biking in her later years.

The Cubs operate in packs and dens for boys aged 7 to 11. Our den met often at the Newell home, where both parents set up projects to keep us engaged and non-destructive: tie racks, wood-burnings, and other crafts. I vividly recall building a crystal-radio set under Mr. Newell's supervision. Outmoded technology, but I used it in 1951-52 to track city and national elections.

Later my mother, Mary Howarth, held den meetings at our house. She specialized in taking us on trips. We visited Sangamon Dairy, Ray's Chilli and Chips, and the City Jail. I believe she was trying to help us avoid delinquency. (At 95, she may still have that hope.)

I can't remember all the boys in our den: Bob Newell, John Stone, Bill Ice...and then my list runs out. Perhaps others can fill in the blanks with a comment or two?

Girls' Basketball

State Journal-Register

Two weeks ago, Sylvia Staley attended the Illinois State Girls' Basketball tournament at ISU, in Bloomington. She was there to cheer on the SHS girls' team, which qualified to play for the first time in history. 

Sylvia found one of her SHS buttons and wore it proudly. The Lady Senators entered the the tournament with an 18-game winning streak. Alas, they lost to Freeport, played a consolation game, and settled for fourth place.

Sylvia felt they played well, displayed good sportsmanship, and received much encouragement from team members and the coach. After the game, she spoke with the coach, Brad Scheffler. 

Brad is third in a Scheffler-SHS dynasty: his father is Mark Scheffler, former principal, and his grandfather is Herb Scheffler, the varsity basketball coach when we were freshmen.

The SJR site has a story and short film of coach and players at the Freeport game. Thanks to Sylvia for the news and her support of SHS girls!

Paddy Day

Top 'o the day t' you. Thanks to 

Judi Dunkel Headrick for the note, above,

And to Harriett Smith Sidoli for

this little charmer of an animated card.

Did you notice that the O'bamas

perpetuated a Chicago tradition

by tossing green dye 

in the White House fountain? 

Lois Body

On March 23, 2009, Miss Lois Body will turn 95. To put her life in perspective: in 1914, the year she was born, Charley Chaplin made his film debut, and Babe Ruth played his first game for the Red Sox. All of Europe fell into the first World War, the Panama Canal opened, and the last known passenger pigeon died in Cincinnati.

She's lived through seventeen U.S. Presidents, one Great Depression, and countless recessions. During her 30-year career at SHS, she taught thousands of students, marked endless sets of papers and exams, and somehow always managed to be alert, cheerful, and supportive, even of her least committed charges.

Today she lives in a resident home in Watseka, near her birthplace, a farm in nearby Woodland. Her life has diminished, but she still enjoys receiving notes and cards, which the staff reads to her. If you could please take a moment to write her, that would say that many '58s remember her well.

Address: Miss Lois Body, Iroquois Resident Home, 200 East Fairman, Watseka, IL 60970.

A Request

 

We received the following post today:

Dear Springfield High School Class of 1958,

My name is Seena Tabibi and I currently attend Springfield High School as a student in the class of 2011. In the past month or so, a group of Springfield High School students and I started a "Rally Against Childhood Cancer" for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Then our group created a Facebook cause as well as a Facebook group to help us raise awareness and donations for cancer. I would be glad if you could help us spread the word to people whom you may know.

Click here to reach the Facebook group.

Thank you for your help,
Sincerely,

Seena Tabibi
March 9, 2009

John Sowinski

John Sowinski, pictured here in our 1958 yearbook, died from a heart attack on Saturday, March 7 in Springfield. He was 78.

Sowinski attended St. Patrick High in Chicago, served in the Marines, and earned a B.S. and M.S. in education from Eastern Illinois University.

He joined the SHS faculty in 1956, teaching history and economics in the Social Science department. He coached tennis and was assistant coach in football, for coach Willard Duey. Sowinski served as head football coach in 1962-78. He had 9 winning seasons and a career record of 76-69-8.

He then became manager of field service in the State Employees Retirement System. After retirement in 1987 he worked as a coaching assistant at Sacred Heart-Griffin for 22 years.

Among city coaches, Sowinski holds the fourth best-winning record and positions in two sports Halls of Fame, for Springfield and the state of Illinois. For a full story, see today's SJR.

Pluto Day

Are you ready for this?

Pluto is a planet once more.

At least in the state of Illinois.

The IL state legislature has so ruled.

Why? Because the discoverer of Pluto,

one Clyde Tombaugh, was born in

Streator, Illinois. He is the only planet-man

ever born in Illinois, so by gum,

the state will recognize him

by declaring March 13 as Pluto Day.

I'm not kidding. Here's the story.

As for Pluto the Disney character,

He has no known connection to Illinois.

Yet.

Back to the Sixties

A little bit of spring in the air today,

So it's time for nostalgia.

Several classmates have recommended a site:

Take Me Back to the Sixties.

It's a slide and music show, well done.

It's more Fifties than Sixties,

But fun to watch.

Tip: set your browser window

to avoid the ads at top and bottom.

Strange College Courses

A friend sent me a link to

The Fifteen Strangest College Courses in America.

Some are doozies.

Did you ever have a strange course

in college?

Rifle Club

(click to enlarge)

A moment of memory for Rifle Club, to which I belonged for two years. We met in the basement of the old YMCA, across from the Lincoln Library. 


The above shot is 1957 and all boys, but girls belonged in other years. (Look just beyond Rod Gabel's shoulder.) 


The club had no social purpose: we rarely talked, just practiced shooting, studying the targets, and cleaning up rounds. It was a brief pastime, but memorable. Perhaps you had one like it. 

Lincoln Day

Big excitement in Springfield today:

200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.

Visit and speech by President Obama.

Landing of Air Force One at Capitol Airport.

All details, and video, at the SJR site.
See also pictures here.

Thanks to Judi Dunkel Headrick for the heads-up.

Boat House

A story in the SJR today reports that the Washington Park lagoon will once again have a boat house, thanks to an anonymous half-million dollar donation.

Designed by famed landscape architect Jens Jensen, the boathouse was built in 1914 and stood until the 1960s, when it was torn down.

I remember ice-skating on the lagoon in the 1950s. We went into the boat house to warm up by a pot-bellied stove and sip hot cocoa provided by the Girl Scouts, at five cents a cup.

But that building was on the south side of the lagoon and it was shingle-style, all closed in. This postcard drawing may be of an earlier boat house, built in 1903.

Do you remember the boat house, the concession stand and natural spring, the riding stables west of the park? So do the commenters on the SJR story.

Ice-Storm

The most dreaded winter words are ice-storm. On Jan 27-28 a big one hit Richmond KY, and Allan Stephens sent us an account of his epic struggle with Ma Nature. 

Electricity went off at 7:30 pm, and his basement sump began to overflow.

He lit candles around the sump, then began to bail with a pitcher into a bucket. Each bucket was two gallons, or 16.68 pounds. Then up a flight of five stairs to dump in the toilet. 

A few trips would not be bad; he did this for nine hours until 5 AM, with help from wife Mary Lou and an additional, heavier 5-gallon bucket. 

On day 2, the rain turned to snow and the sump level subsided. Al went out in search of a generator; no dice. Tried McDonald's for coffee; the line was three blocks long.

Finally at Wal-Mart he found a bilge pump and marine battery, hooked it up and began to empty the sump.

By now the inside temp was 40 so he lit a wood fire and raised the house to 50. While he enjoyed some hot soup, the power returned after a 25-hour outage.

Five days later, some of his neighbors STILL do not have power. Thanks to Al for his letter, and get some rest!

Cuckoo

In this time of national economic crisis, Illinois and its current governor are providing a bit of comic relief. Mayor Daley of Chicago, normally no barrel of laughs, had this to say about the Governor's state of mind the other day.

Obama Horseshoe

Springfield restaurants, ever ready to set trends, have fashioned three variations of an "Obama horseshoe sandwich" to mark the inauguration of the 44th president, and the fourth from Illinois (we include Grant and Reagan).

The State Journal-Register proposed a competition, and three chefs responded, at Maldener's, Sangamo Club, and D'Arcy's Pint. You won't find the usual combination of hamburger, fries, and cheese sauce; these concoctions emulate Chicago-style hot dogs and Hawaiian comfort food, in keeping with the new President's tastes.

The story appears today in the SJR. For background on the horseshoe, see this Wikipedia article, which proclaims that Springfield is indeed the birthplace of the artery-clogging sandwich. Do any of our readers still eat this stuff?

A Considered Life

As promised two years ago, Jim Hollis has produced his 13th book. They keep rolling out, each one building a bigger audience for Jim's profound yet practical approach to human problems.

What Matters Most draws on Jim's background in literature and psychology to ask how can we find our way to what he calls a more considered life. He asks us to deal with fear, tolerate confusion, learn to grow, and always pursue life as a journey.

You may learn more at Jim's web site , which lists his lecture schedule, perhaps at a city near you. His latest book is available at Amazon or your local store.

Happy 2009

New Year's Eve in Sydney, Australia

It's Jan 1 there, so let's celebrate!

Enjoy some nice cards from

Judy Van Hagen 

Al and Diane Urbanckas 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

to us all!