From the left: Joe Martin, John Olesky, Bob Arnett, Barb Arnett, Lyla Howell, Mary Fleming Toothman, Sandy Cook, Ruth Enoch Starcher, Peggy Rauer Orsini, Lloyd Schell, Bill Meredith

11 Lions reunite in Florida

20 people, including 11 Monongah High alumni, showed up for the annual Florida reunion of MHS alumni in Sarasota, Florida.

The alumni are Barb Arnett, Bob Arnett, Sandy Cook, Lyla Cosner Howell, Joe Martin, Bill Meredith, John Olesky, Peggy Rauer Orsini, Lloyd Schell, Ruth Enoch Starcher and Mary Fleming Toothman.

Bob Arnett, Lyla Cosner Howell, Peggy Rauer Orsini, Joe Martin

 

Bob, Class of 1957, and wife Barb Enoch Arnett, Class of 1960, live in Scherr, West Virginia, but were vacationing in Florida.

Sandy, Class of 1959, and husband Bob live in Fort Myers, Florida.

Lyla, Class of 1958, and husband Len live in Fort Myers, Florida.

Joe, Class of 1957, and Canada-born wife Arlene Kitchin Martin who live on Treasure Island, Florida.

Lloyd, Class of 1957, lives in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Peggy Rauer Orsini, widow of Tom Orsini, Class of 1950, lives in Titusville, Florida.

Paula Tucker and John Olesky, Class of 1950, live in The Villages, Florida and Tallmadge, Ohio, an Akron suburb.

Bill and wife Roleta live in Sarasota, and use their home for most of the gathering of a pride of Lions. Their other home is on Buckeye Lake, Ohio.

Bob Arnett, Lyla, Peggy and Joe lives in Carolina during their Monongah High days so Carolina’s most famous former resident, Alabama football coach Nick “Brother” Saban, was mentioned a lot.

These MHS alumni Florida reunions have been going on since 2012, at least.

In 2015 Joe and Arlene, Lloyd, Merlin and Patty Timms Davidson, Len and Lyla, Sandy and Bob, Roleta and Bill and Louis “Kipper” Fabian showed up in Punta Gorda.

In 2013 in Sarasota Bob and Barb, Lloyd, Lyla and Len, Sandy and Bob, Joe and Arlene, Bill and Roleta and John and Paula gathered.

In 2012 it was Joe and Arlene, Lyla and Len, Barb and Bob, Sandy and Bob, Bill and Roleta and John and Paula.

It’s not just in Florida, either.

In 2016 Lyla and Len Howell; Rosemary Raymond Pagliaro, Class of 1958, and husband Carmen Pagliaro; Donna Colvert Davis, Class of 1961, and Bill Davis, Class of 1958; Tom Shelosky, Class of 1958, and Phyllis Shelosky; and Dixie Slimmer Rogers Edmond, Class of 1958, and Bruce Edmond, Class of 1957, had another pride of Lions reunion in Elkins.

We were a family when we attended Monongah High. We still are no matter where we travel in the world.

Donna Davis, Monongah High Alumni Association treasurer, replied: “Nice attendance. How many are coming to the dinner in May?”

That would be the 2017 Monongah High Alumni Reunion, which was started by Greta Martin Mike in 1922. It will start at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 27 at Knights of Columbus Hall on Mary Lou Retton Drive in Fairmont.

I sent my dinner-dance reservation in a couple of weeks ago. Bill indicated that he was coming.

If YOU want to be at the 2017 MHS Alumni Reunion, just print the dinner-dance reservation in this blog, fill it out and mail it to Donna.

It will make her happy. And when you attend the reunion, it will make you happy. Take the word of a retired newspaper editor who has been there and done that.

Monongah alumni are joined by their mates and friends for a photo of the 20 who showed up