Well, Marshal Matt Dillon won’t be at the J&J&Lions
Get-Together on Saturday, July 17 in the Monongah Town Hall, but Miss Kitty
will be there.
That would be Mary “Kitty” Ahouse Morrison, Class of 1968, who
helps so many people in Monongah, often quietly and without seeking applause
for it.
I received her Reservation in the mail today. Along with that of
her sister, Susan Ahouse Schrader, Class of 1971, a Piscatway, New Jersey
resident for years and years before moving to Pittsburgh, and Jay Holman, Class
of 1971, who organizes reunions at the drop of a hat.
Jay
resides in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina with wife Margaret, a Fairmont West graduate. He lived in Carolina during his Monongah High days.
Jay
and Margaret have three sons: Jay Holman III, a Chicago banker; Robert Holman,
who works for the federal government out of Clarksburg; and Fairmont State grad
Michael Holman, a North Carolina Teacher of the Year.
First
Kathren Herndon Loss, Class of 1942, who will be either 95 or 96 at the
gathering. And now four of my favorite Monongah High Lions will be there!
So will
Monongah Councilwoman Susan Staron Sanders, Class of 1971, who with Shellie
Yankie are doing a bangup job of helping me plan for the July 17 celebration of
the closest thing to normal we’ve had since the pandemic began. Everyone there
will have their required COVID vaccine shots. No one is allowed to be in the
building July 17 without being vaccinated, even the music-makers.
Jay and
Susan both were born in October.
Dinner
at 6 p.m. supplied by Say-Boy Restaurant where my father introduced me to my
first glorious ribeye steak when I was a teenager. Till then, at our Church
Street home, I thought pork chops were “steak,” because that’s closest I got to
biting into “steak.”
A lot of
people in Monongah don’t go hungry because Kitty makes sure a couple of food
pantries are stocked with starvation-preventers.
Kitty
and Sue also travel around America and other parts of the world, just as I have
with my visits to 56 countries and 44 states and 30 winters in Florida of up to
4 months each time. Brother Mike Ahouse, a North Marion graduate and Monongah mailman, accompanies them
sometimes, too.
Kitty has partied it up with a limousine loaded
with ladies of similar bent on their way to New York City, lived it up in Key
West, soaked up sun and fun in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and run a
half-marathon in Chicago.
Here traveling companions at times included the
late Bertha Jones Wilson, Class of 1972. Kitty, Sue and Bertha also were joined
at the hip at Monongah High Alumni Banquets over the years.
Kitty
won’t have to travel far for the J&J&Lions Get-Together: From her
Lyndon Avenue home to the Town Hall. Now she’s retired from Wal-Mart, Kitty has
even more time for her gallivanting and helping others.
North Marion graduate Rick Morrison is Kitty’s son.
Monongah High's Miss Kitty is more famous in
Marion County than the one on TV in "Gunsmoke."
Another of my favorite Monongah High graduates
will be there, too – Jackie Olesky Straight, Class of 1955, who lives in
Rivesville and is helping me brainstorm how to make July 17 safe and memorable.
After all, the J&J in the event stands for John Jr. and Jackie.
Jackie is a widow but some of her family will
be with her in the Monongah Town Hall. I’m 88 years old so she’ll never catch
up to me in longevity as long as God keeps me above ground. Our paternal
grandmother and maternal grandfather put in a lot of miles before they left for
Heaven so I think their DNA is helping Jackie and me to keep enjoying life.
What about YOU? Are you going to be a
stick-in-the-mud and miss out on all the fun and nostalgia? Or are you going to
print up the Reservation form at the top of this blog, fill it out, confirm
that you’ve had your COVID vaccines and mail the Reservation form and your check
($20 per person) to:
John Olesky
217 N Thomas Road
Tallmadge, OH 44278-1776
The deadline for the check being IN MY HANDS is June 26 so that I can tell Say-Boy how many are coming to the dinner they will be catering and what types of dinner they prefer.
Kitty, Sue, Jay, Kathren, Jackie and I will be
there waiting for you. Dinner at 6 p.m., music from 7 to 9 p.m. Fun every
second of the night.
This is NOT the annual Monongah High Alumni banquet but a
John Olesky attempt to get family and classmates together during the summer as
a break from the COVID restrictions.
The annual Monongah High Alumni Banquet will be September
4 on Labor Day weekend at the Knights of Columbus in Fairmont. If you have any
questions call Donna Davis at 304-534-5636.
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