Last Dance - Friday night!

In addition to re-connecting with friends old and new, Friday was Dance Fever Night - once everyone got to rocking, it was just like old times at Central High - only better!

Below, Linda Wicken Delone and Pete Falletta dance to the classics of the 60s.

Sue Wallace, Jim's wife, and Kathy Brown Putman check out the Memory Wall.

Committee members Nancy Carhart Pope and Crete Crawford Wood chat with Crete's husband, Chips.

David Binkley and wife, Marilyn, catch up with Carol Todero Smith (center).

Linda Wicken Delone and Jim Wallace strike a pose.

Bill Chapparo and Danny Daurio appear to be having some laughs and a good time catching up.

Danny Smith and Jim Allen deep in conversation...

Robert Holland, in town from Las Vegas, hangin' out with Cheryl Vala Concialdi.

ok, this one is a mystery to me, but looks like Robert is going in after Cheryl's drink. Hey, Robert, there's ALREADY a drink in your other hand!

Danny and Carol Todero Smith visit with Mike Cullen - also in town from Vegas.

Committee Members Rich Sell and Crete Crawford Wood take a short breather.

Reunion Committee Members catch-up time - Nancy Carhart Pope, Gale Hoover Hammond, and Pete Falletta mull things over and savor the success of the 45th!

Seated between Pete Falletta on the left and Les Robinson on the right are Mr. and Mrs. Vince Vigil who attended the reunion. Vince was a graduate of Pueblo Catholic High, but a good friend to many Centralites. It was nice to see Vince again and for many of us, to meet his wife for the first time!

Joe Klune (center) steps away from the camera and finds himself on the other side of the lens with friends Rich Sell and Nancy Ward Weldon. Nancy was in town all the way from Iowa Falls, Iowa.

David Daurio and Chips Wood seem to be in a pretty serious discussion!

First to arrive and last to leave...Committe Members Nancy, Rich, Les, Pete with Chips Wood and David Daurio way back in the background...Wrapping it all up....Friday night was "in the bag" at last after many months of planning, meeting, organizing, searching for classmates,worrying over budget matters and generally Keeping in Touch....and knowing it was all SO worth it!

This concludes Joe Klune's "Picture Show" of Friday night. Next stop: Saturday night at the Pueblo Country Club.

And a huge THANK YOU again, Joe, for your great pictures. We'll never get tired of looking at these!

More coming soon - GO WILDCATS!

Two Dozen More...Friday Night Mixer - Thanks again, Joe Klune!

Joe's pictures from Friday night continue. I think Joe could work as a wedding photographer - he got some great candids and posed pics alike. He did such a great job that I'm thinking of leaving my camera at home next reunion! So, as promised, here are some more of Joe's fun photos...

Charlie Tappero (in Pueblo from Scottsdale, Arizona) and Dave Binkley seem to be having an interesting conversation...could Dave be explaining to Charlie Einstein's Theory of Relativity perhaps?
Patty Concialdi and Brenda Sell catching up.

Well, these three look like they are up to absolutely no good...shades of high school?....Listen: those flashbacks are rough! Left to right - Pete Falletta, Mike Cullen (in from Las Vegas) and Robert Holland (also visiting from Vegas). Might be appropriate to insert at this point, "What happens in Pueblo..."

Bill Chapparo and Jim Wallace confer in the background while Jim's wife, Sue, and Duane Takaki chat in the front portion of the photo.

Reunion Committee member Richard Sell and his wife, Brenda, find a few minutes to relax and chat.

A picturesque group here...left to right Sue (Jim) Wallace, Bill Chapparo, Jim Wallace, Charlie Tappero, Loretta Douglas (in Pueblo from Virginia) and Duane Takaki.

An expanding group...on the left, Jim Wallace, Joe Klune (who turned over his camera for a moment so he could get into one of his photos!), Bill Chapparo, Charlie Tappero, Loretta Douglas, Gale Hoover Hammond and Duane Takaki.

What do you suppose these guys were talking about? Ok, never mind...probably just another foiled plot to blow up the Central High chemistry lab...Les Robinson with his back to the camera, David Daurio and looking over David's shoulder, Bill Chapparo.

Four more friends catching up...Jim Wallace, Cherie Ludlow, Duane Takaki, Gale Hoover Hammond...

Reunion Committee(s)...Nancy Carhart Pope, on the committee for the 45th reunion, hangin' out with Sherry O'Brien Massarotti and Jan Fisher Jones - Reunion Committee members for 10, 20, 30, 35, and 40th reunions! WHEW!

Chips Wood, Crete Crawford Wood and Marilyn (David) Binkley hold court at one of the round tables on Friday night.

That's Bill Hodges (seated) visiting with a fellow classmate who MAY be Tim Simmons - he has his face turned just a TEENEY bit too far away from the camera to make a definite I.D.! So - correct me if I'm wrong, somebody! And that's Dave Binkley in the yellow shirt you'll notice in the background.

Gary Mencimer and Larry Lewis seemed to have hit upon an interesting topic of conversation...

Steve Bateman, on the left, and Dave Binkley, to the right, share a few words.

Is this a great picture or what? Mark and Peggy Mutz share their happy smiles for the camera.

Still as cute as they were in high school...that's Linda Wicken Delone with Rick Roblek and Danny Daurio.

Ray Hernandez visits with Carol Todero Smith and Danny Smith.

Bill Chapparo (on the left) and Elaine Gilbert Bateman (on the right) seem to each be making a point...Duane Takaki is taking it all in - could he be caught in the middle???

All smiles for Joe's camera - Sherry O'Brian Massarotti, Chips Wood, and Nancy Carhart Pope.

Round table discussions...Lynn and Tim Simmons on the left with Crete Crawford Wood in the center, and Marilyn and Dave Binkley on the right.

Nancy Ward Weldon, Gale Hoover Hammond, Jaci Tomsic Roseman and Cathy Kopules Wilkens are all smiles for the camera.

Those great old songs of the 60s were just too good not to dance to and several couples made it out to the dance floor Friday evening - Ron Concialdi and Linda Wicken shake what their mamas gave 'em.

Meanwhile, back on the sidelines, Jack Tomsic found himself caught between Nancy Ward Weldon and Gale Hoover Hammond on the left and twin sister Jaci Tomsic Roseman and Cathy Kopules Wilkens on the right.

Last but not least....Danny Smith, Pete Falletta and Rick Roblek - cookin' up trouble? Well, we can only hope!

Until next time, enjoy the pictures and stay tuned. LOTS more are on the way. Bye for now - and GO WILDCATS!

Still More Friday Night Pictures - Thank you, Joe Klune

Shortly after arriving back home in California after the reunion last month, I received a wonderful CD from Joe Klune - it is PACKED with great pictures that he took at all three events of the reunion. Eventually, I will have all of Joe's photos posted; since uploading is a rather slow process, it will take a few visits at the keyboard to get them all on the blog. But here is a small sampling. Stay tuned for more to follow soon.

In Pueblo from Longmont, CO and enjoying the Friday night fun were Tim and Lynn Simmons and from Grand Lake, CO, that's Dave and Marilyn Binkley.
Tim Simmons chats with Pete Falletta below.

More old friends found...Tim Simmons on the left, Kathy Brown Putnam who flew in from Surprise, Arizona (I would live there just because I love the name), then Tim's wife, Lynn and last but not least - Tom Sarconi is on the right.

Below, Steve Bateman and his wife, Shirley, joined us, too.

That's Duane Takaki, his wife Jeanne and Tom Sarconi below.

Jan Fisher Jones and Larry Lewis catching up. Jan was part of the previous reunion committee before "The New Kids" took over. We now know how hard they worked putting things all together!

Last of this bunch...Dan Pavlika and Mike Healy in earnest conversation!

Thank you again, Joe, for the great pictures. Stay tuned everybody, there are LOTS more to come! Thanks for visiting the blog, and GO WILDCATS!

More Friday Night Mixer Pics - Thank You, Sherry O'Brien Massarotti

The pictures on this posting almost didn't happen. When Sherry O'Brien Massarotti arrived at the Friday night event, she was stressing out. Mad at herself because she couldn't find her camera. Oh, yes, I felt her pain. Who hasn't had one of those days, right? You know the feeling, the memory is shot to shreds and we admit that getting older pretty much sucks...But then a small miracle occurred because when she opened her purse, there was her camera. It had been there all along. And I think we could all agree we're happy she found it.

Since Sherry and Jan (Fisher) Jones were able to attend just the Friday night event, Sherry made extra copies of her pictures and dropped them off to me on Saturday morning. When I returned to California, I scanned them in to my home computer - and Voila! Enjoy Sherry's photos below...

Going left to right: Jan Fisher Jones, Ethel Corcodilos Campagna, Ray Roseman (Jaci Tomsic Roseman's hubby), and Cathy Kopulos Wilkins. THANK YOU, ETHIE CORCODILOS CAMPAGNA, FOR YOUR HELP ON GETTING RAY'S NAME CORRECT...ETHIE'S HUSBAND, JERRY, WAS ALSO WEARING A BLACK SHIRT AND HE HAS A NEATLY TRIMMED BEARD, TOO. THAT'S MY EXCUSE FOR THE ERROR AND I'M STICKING TO IT :)

Raising a toast to 45 years, Sandra Nesslage Garner. On Friday night, Sandy and I laughed ourselves silly remembering way back in the day when her mom drove us to school on snowy mornings. A couple of times Mrs. Nesslage spun out on the ice and did some fantastic 360's along the old boulevard. She never freaked out about it, and we just went spinning along until her car was somehow facing the right direction again, then off she'd go. I thought she was the coolest mom ever.

Remember those gorgeous Pueblo sunsets? Looks like the old hometown's still got 'em. Over the shoulders of Kathy Brown Putman, Gale Hoover Hammond and Nancy Carhart Pope, the sunset is stunning.

Reunion Committee member Crete Crawford Wood enjoys a moment with her hubby, Chips.

Cherie Ludlow Chapparo and Bill Chapparo traveled from Mesa, AZ to attend the reunion. On Bill's right, Cheryl Vala Concialdi who lives in Pueblo.

Do these pretty women look like flowers picked fresh from the garden or what?! On the left - Claudia Otero Robinson and on her right, Flora Pacheco Trujillo.

Ron Genova brought his fiance, Debbie. After subjecting Debbie to an evening with these crazy Wildcats, is the wedding still on, Ronnie? Next to Ron and Debbie are David and Carolyn Daurio. Carolyn was behind the wonderful food we enjoyed on Friday night and at brunch on Sunday morning in the new Central cafeteria. Great job, Carolyn!

On the left, Gale Hoover Hammond and Linda Wicken Delone. It was fun catching up with Linda who has been teaching 3rd grade in the Colorado Springs area (unless my memory is failing me again). We chatted about mutual friends and social issues - lots of common ground. Linda lost her older brother, John, just a few days before the reunion. Our sincere condolences go to Linda and her family, and we're so happy that she was able to join us.

On the left is Jim Allen who showed us some pretty snazzy dance moves later in the evening (pictures will follow soon), is joined by Carol Todero Smith, Dan Smith and Leonard Dionisio.

A great looking group here: Joe Klune, Karen Coker Miller, Mike Miller, Nancy Ward Weldon, Mary Ann Caporicci Davis and Sherry O'Brien Massarotti.

Catching up...Charlie Tappero was here from Arizona. In the center, Linda Wicken Delone and to Linda's right, Rick Roblek.

Ok...What's Ron doing with all these ladies? Left to right - Cheryl Vala Concialdi, Kathy Brown Putnam (who also lives in Arizona - a popular place to retire perhaps?), Ron Concialdi, Toni Just and Jan Fisher Jones.

Larry Lewis still has a great smile.

Here's a friendly group having a good time - on the left is Lorraine Tortessi Reilich, Jerry Campagna (hubby of Ethel) and Jack Wilkins (hubby of Cathy).

More of the Pueblo sunset that came through the many windows at the Olde Towne Carriage House...a great backdrop for David Binkley, Jan Fisher Jones, Jim Wallace and Joe Klune.

There you have it, friends - another version of Friday night, thanks to Sherry O'Brien Massarotti.

Meanwhile, if I have mislabeled someone, please set me straight...that also goes for misspelled names. Thanks for visiting our Central blog - more pictures to come soon - and Go Wildcats!