In May 1965 the Thoburn School patrol boys went to Washington, DC. Their chaperones were Bob Levelle, Roy Foster and Lawence Kendall.

The photo memorialized that day.

Since my Catching Up With and Then & Now articles in the Monongah High Alumni blog are so popular – the hits on the blog double when I post them – I spent weeks looking up everyone in the photo. And got lots of help from fellow Lions, including Jay Holman who was in the Class of 1971 with everyone except Mark Jones, who left Monongah before he graduated from high school (but no one knew where).

·         Jim McDaniel, Class of 1971, also took the journey with the Worthington patrol boys, but nine years earlier in 1956.

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·         Jim wrote:

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·         “James Nottingham and I went on that trip in 1956 from Worthington Grade School. Lanny Rauer and John Stalnaker went from Thoburn. Seems like 3 or 4 buses were used.”

Nottingham, Class of 1961, and Stalnaiker are deceased. Rauer is Class of 1960.

Stalnaker’s parents were John Alfred Stanlaker and Roxie Fay Jordon Stalnaker, also the parents of Bill “Skip: Stanaker of Springfield, Missouri; Rachel Stalnaker Sloan of Fairmont; and the late Dick Stalnaker and Wendell Stalnaker.

Enjoy this trip down memory lane!

Unfortunately, some of those 1965 Thoburn patrol boys, like chaperone Lawrence Kendall, passed away.

Like Ed Graffius, whose widow is Brenda Ridenour Graffius, Class of 1974, a Licensed Practical Nurse living in Pleasant Valley. Their son is 1982 North Marion grad Jon Graffius. They had five grandchildren.

Ed’s siblings are Brenda Graffius Barna, Class of 1974; Dave Graffius, Class of 1973, and the late Donald Graffius, Jr.  Their parents were Helen Prahl Graffius, daughter of Paul and Beulah Toothman Prahl,  and the late Donald Graffius. Ed was a Wal-Mart receiving manager starting in 1991 until his retirement.

And Gary Haught, who passed away in 2016 and is buried in the West Virginia National Cemetery in Grafton. Gary’s parents were Nellie Fortney Haught, who shared a Traction Avenue home in Monongah with Gary, and the late Jennings Haught. Gary’s children are Shawn, Jennifer and Sunnie. Gary’s sister is Tammy Haught Vandergrift of Frankfurt, Kentucky.

Gary was a fighter, as a member of the Army and as a boxer. He owned and ran Gary’s Pro Painting.

And Dennis Prahl, son of the late George Prahl and grandson of Paul and Beulah Prahl.

Rick Yanero, who once owned Rick’s Belleview Lounge in Fairmont, is married to Jennifer Jane Sabo Yanero. Rick is a retired Fairview Loveridge Mine coal miner living in Barrackville. Rick and Jennifer have been boyfriend/girlfriend since fifth grade at Thoburn.

Rick’s siblings are Rosalie Yanero Kleman, Class of 1959, in California; and, in West Virginia, Sandy Yanero Hatley, Class of 1960; Frank Yanero, Class of 1964; Alfred Yanero, Class of 1967;  and Larry Yanero.

Rick played in some of the Monongah High Alumni Reunion golf scrambles at Green Hills, as I did (with Bob Kasper and Tony Eates, my fellow Class of 1950 classmates; we finished last in 2000 and successfully defended that "honor" in 2010).

Rick’s cousins include Pamela Yanero Bragg, Class of 1969; Fred Yanero, who was a successful high school basketball coach in Ohio and Baltimore; and Daniel Yanero, Class of 1961, who passed away in 1977.

Bob Hess is a son of Helen Hess. His siblings include Mike Hess, Class of 1975, whose constant companion is Parma Fetty; Pam Hess Ice; Linda Hess Postlewait; and Michelle Nichol Ice.

Dave Gowers, who was at the 2016 Monongah High Alumni Reunion, lives in Martinsburg.

Pat Levelle is married to Fairmont East grad Cindy McVicker Levelle, whose father was the postmaster in Fairmont and whose mother is Ocie Motter McVicker.  Pat and Cindy live in Athens, Georgia.

Jim Roy Foster married wife Linda, Class of 1977, at Valley Falls State Park in 2014. Linda and her sisters, Brenda Phillips Waugh, Class of 1978, and Jeanie Phillips Nibert, Class of 1975, are all former Monongah High prom queens.

Jim was a sales representative at Swanson Industries. His parents were Roy Foster, Jr., Class of 1945, and 1948 Farmington High grad Dolores Headley Foster.

Roy’s sister, the late Ida Foster Shaver, also was a Monongah High grad.