good , has his share of health issues , but is fine as is his wife Maria . Was good to talk to Jack , he ’ s healthy and had some great stories to tell .
Got this email from John Row back in November . Hey , Rick , I just finished reading the 7W4 news and seems like someone has placed a jinx on our class . My prayers go out to everyone and trust by the next update everyone will be recovered and the COVID virus will be a thing of the past . Not much news to pass on as we all have been staying low to avoid getting COVID . I ’ m still at the Duke Energy project in Goldsboro , N . C ., which is in the performance testing phase and the final stages of construction . I am retiring when this is completed which should be no later than the middle to end of January . I ’ m looking forward to retirement , slowing down , and just enjoying life . Melissa , our three children , and five grandchildren have all avoided the COVID virus to this point which is a miracle ! I have sadly not communicated with any of our 7W4 classmates , but I do speak with Jay DeMuth 7W6 who is also working for Duke Energy on a sister project in Moncure , N . C . Give my regards to everyone and lets all make it to our 50th reunion .
From Bob Righter : Hey , Rick , Hope you and the family had a great holiday . My family has been blessed to not have any COVID and everyone is working . Had the family in for the holidays and football games . May 2021 be a blessing to all , Roll Tide .
Hag has been working on building a new garage , he has the ground work done including the foundation and pad . He is using the ash he milled for the roof beams and has been getting them ready . Gotta like that he is still able to take on a job like this , and making use of all his ash . Got this note from Hag : Not much to report from NE PA , guys — we ’ ve been hunkered down since the COVID business started , but all in all , our lives aren ’ t much different than they were before . We ’ re more than content just hangn ’ out at home . I ’ ve continued to take down ash trees and saw them into post and beam material for our planned garage . It ’ s been ideal weather for those activities — ground ’ s frozen with some snow , but not so cold that staying warm is a problem . So … got plenty to do without leaving the ranch , and am looking forward to when the social distancing is done , and we can schedule a cabin gettogether for any and all interested in hangn ’ out . Hang in there , boys !
And this from Mr . Mason : I visited with Hag at the end of October . It was nice to get away for a couple days and see his ugly mug again . We had an enjoyable two nights sitting around a couple nice fires with his family , shooting the breeze , eating well , and drinking lots of beer . He was in the process of building a garage so I gave him a couple lessons on how to drive his John Deere tractor as I helped him put gravel
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around his foundation . Before I left , he also gave me some shelving that came right from his very own lumbering / saw milling operation which fit nicely in my garden shed . I also had a nice visit from Grant Walk and his wife Emmy after my prostrate surgery in August . They showed up bearing pizza and their own beer . I hadn ’ t had pizza in quite a while so it tasted really good to me . They hung out and we chatted for a couple hours . They were both in good health and doing well at that time and had been hanging out at their cabin almost exclusively since the coronavirus hit . Unfortunately , my PSA was continuing to rise after my surgery so the next step was to get an Axumin pet scan . This is a fairly new scan that pinpoints exactly where the cancer is . I just got that done and will have a teleconference with my doctor in Pittsburgh once he reviews the results to determine what type of treatment , I will need next . I got some very bad news last Friday concerning my mom . Despite being in a personal care home without visitations she has come down with COVID . Currently , she is being quarantined in her room for the next two weeks . Hopefully , she can fight through it , but at 86 it ’ ll be a tough battle . Hope everyone else is doing well . Stay safe and healthy out there .
From Gary Marlin , great to hear he is cancer free : Rick , I ’ m doing well , last scan was clear again , the drug they are giving me is working great . In Alabama now visiting my son and grandson . Take care my friend and say hi to all the guys .
Scrounge 7W4
W 75 Stephen M . Krupa 505 Thomas Road Downingtown , PA 19335 Cell : 610-314-1879 dadoson @ verizon . net
Gentlemen ,
Another year gone by and spring can ’ t get here soon enough . Like most of you , I ’ ve been cooped up and keeping busy around the house with plenty getting done . Yes , we are all waiting to be inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine … and it can ’ t get here soon enough . Like you I ’ m getting tired of hearing the TV and politicians tell us to wear a mask and wash our hands every time we go out the door .
It seems like everything is either breaking down or in need of repair around our house . Maybe I just have more time on my hands to observe what needs to be done around here . Since the breakout of COVID-19 , I ’ ve cleaned out my bedroom closet , reorganized all the stuff in the basement , cleaned the gutters several times , made some repairs to the shed , replaced the three toilets , clothes washer , deck banister , and now I need to replace the kitchen faucet . I wish I was getting paid for all this work .
Not much to report to you guys . I haven ’ t heard from anyone since I last wrote . I imagine I will be hearing from
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the college soon with a plan for our postponed 45th year class reunion . When I do I ’ ll pass along the info to those of you who I have email addresses . I ’ m looking forward to seeing you guys again . As always the school includes both my email address and phone number above . I ’ ve reached out to most of you in the past . It would be great to hear from you … so pick up the phone and give me a call .
Enough for now . Stay healthy 7W5 and keep busy around the house .
Krup
W 76 Gordon Douglas Merry Heart Ministries 86 Governor Markham Dr . Glen Mills , PA 19342 Cell : 610-883-2972 gordoncomedy @ gmail . com www . GordonDouglasIsFunny . com
My fellow Americans and Williamsonians ,
I write this as the world waits to see who will be our next president . My church is pretty divided , my Facebook friends are very divided . I ’ d love to share my beliefs as I pray for “ GOD ’ S WILL ” to be done , for TRUTH to prevail , corruption to be exposed and removed , and a mighty REVIVAL to RESULT . You will have to message me to get my “ predictions ” and prayers as I continually get censored , something that should alarm us all . This year could be the most “ exciting ” in U . S . history . Get ready for battles and blessings . There is some amazing stuff happening in the church . Wanna know more ? Email me .
So here I sit , with no news to report . It is cold , snowy , and the smell of my wife baking cookies fills the room . Before me , our yearbook . On the cover , a picture of the Main Building covered in snow . Some memories of shoveling snow come to mind , a few scattered storms , but I don ’ t remember any major blizzards . Were there ? I remember a few snowball fights that were vicious . Those city guys packed the snow tight and hard , and threw with the intent to kill . Nothing like my friendly fights in my suburban neighborhood . What was the coldest you remember ? Can you hear the sound of the heating systems ? Putting a roof on the last dorm on the left ( EYRE ??). How many dorms can you name ? My mind seems frozen today . The day before we left for Christmas freshman year comes to mind . It was snowing , I was skinny ( was ??), the roof was slippery , and the roll of tar paper was heavy . When I lost my footing the tar paper flew off my shoulders , rolling down the roof and right under the legs of Big Jack Leary who shouted a few words that are not in my BIBLE , but like a miracle in the Bible , he did not go over the edge .
Smells ?? With a cold it is hard to smell anything . Sadly the first thing that comes to mind is a student who needed a bath and his clothes washed had the
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nick name of “ STINKY .” Any guesses ? Whose shoes were in the hallway ? Ever notice how different each dorm or room smelled ? And the buildings ? Power Plant had a unique smell with the fuel and steel in an old brick building . Take the tour today and walk into Machine Shop and you will be hit with an oily vapor . Brick Shop always seemed cold and dry to me , with a hint of concrete dust in the air that never went away . You could get high in Dec Shop from all the fumes of the paints and varnishes , and some got high without it ( just saying ). And to this day I still love the smell of sawdust . Smells like songs can trigger your memory bank . Do you know what was the popular aftershave then ? Was Brut or Musk out then ? I don ’ t remember . Remember “ CHARLEY ” not LUDWIG but the perfume for girls ? The Science Building was a bit mixed , with the geological stones encased in a glass display by the main steps . Did we ever learn why they were there ? Something to do with Machine Shop I think . The stairwells smelled more of cleaner . Led Zehner ’ s classroom was different then the upstairs drafting room . How would you describe the smell or the feeling when you walked in . Remember the little powdery bags we used on our drawings ? What were they called ? Ever take the buckets of garbage out to the truck ? It made me gag . Didn ’ t some farmer come and pick up the “ SLOP ” for his pigs ? Ever wiff the chemicals in the photo lab / dark room behind Power Plant ? Thanks Jeff Rachlin , who did so much work on our yearbook along with Chris Toth , Bruce Radebaugh , Tom Krall , Dennis Warner , and Brian Hassel getting sponsors . I didn ’ t spend much time in our fieldhouse , or the locker room . How bad was that ? Can ’ t remember anything specific about our “ house mothers ” in terms of hairspray or fragrances , though some dorms did have a bit of a Mary Jane smell , and I don ’ t mean the candies . As I battle a bit of a cold , I am reminded of our nurses station ( didn ’ t that have a name ?). Remember how popular her cough medicine was . Lots of guys had a tickle and needed to carry a bottle of it around . Can ’ t remember it ’ s name either .
Well that is all I have ? Maybe it ’ s the Vick ’ s Vapor Rub , or the Benedryl . Blame it on COVID , but I have no NEWS . Several sent holiday greetings , most are hunkered down for the holidays trying to stay safe . All are disappointed we can ’ t do our Christmas dinner at the Jordan ’ s this year . But I believe better days are ahead . Life is filled with battles and blessings . And for some reason , the idea of smells seemed to trigger some memories . Please email me some news , correct my faulty memories of names or places or people . Thanks to our president Jake Giaccio for a note , Paul Brunhammer ’ s greetings from Florida , and I saw some well wishes from Joe D . and Glen K out in Arizona . Oh , did I mention that Ann Hayes is
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