2016 West Virginia Reunion in The Villages, Florida March 5 & 6

John Olesky with sign at entrance to West Virginia Reunion



Monongah High's former Karen Pflock and her husband



1944 Shinnston tornado survivor (at 3 1/2 months) Dawn Mastrodonato, John Olesky



Jean Pigott, John Olesky



Table 36 with John & Paula & others



Table 36 again



Another Table 36 view

Fairmont West graduate Ed Patterson, John Olesky

Fairmont's Jim Law, Sharon Julian, John Olesky

Some of the 400 who attended the annual West Virginia Reunion in The Villages, Florida

Guest lists follow, alphabetically, by county and by table seating so you can find people you know

Mountaineer & state outline on back of shirt of attendee. Nearly everyone had a "WV" shirt on

2016 West Virginia Reunion in The Villages, Florida

Paula and I attended the 2016 West Virginia Reunion in The Villages, Florida Friday, March 5 and Saturday, March 6. There were 400 Mountaineers enjoying the vittles and the conversation.

There was the former Karen Pflock, a Monongah High graduate and sister of Toni Pflock Hennis, who also lives in Florida. There’s a third sister; same father, two moms.

Ed Patterson, Fairmont West graduate, was there. He was a Polar Bear at the same time as my late cousin, Don Futten, and former Monongah resident John Brzuzy, also deceased, who worked for Boys Clubs in Indiana for decades.

John’s parents owned the PNA Tavern in Monongah. His siblings graduated from Monongah High – Walter, Freda, etc. – but the family moved to Country Club Road in Fairmont about the time that John was in junior high.

He went to Sts. Peter and Paul School and was famous for taking the wooden paddle the nuns used to whack us away from the nun and running away before he could be whacked. He was a hero among the students.

Also there was Jean Pigott, widow of World War II flight instructor George Pigott, who with former Monongah High teacher Mary Weis' husband trained U.S. and European pilots how to fly near and over Germany. Jean lives in the On Top of the World community near Ocala, Florida.

One of the luckiest people at the reunion was Dawn Mastrodonato, who survived the 1944 Shinnston tornado – as a 3½-month-old! She was with her husband, Ron Mastrodonato.

The June 23, 1944 tornado ripped through her Pleasant Hill home, hardest hit in Shinnston, where 30 of the 103 victims died and 50 domiciles on the hill were leveled.

 

There’s a list of everyone there in the photos atop this article. Maybe you’ll recognize them although I couldn’t find many from Monongah. A few from Mannington and Farmington.