Lions in winter find warmer climes

 

“The Lion in Winter” was a 1966 Broadway play by James Goldman, depicting the personal and political conflicts of Henry II of England, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their children and their guests during Christmas, 1183.

 

Linda & Jim Gandy in Florida

Robert Preston and Rosemary Harris starred on Broadway. Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn did the 1968 Oscar movie. The play has been produced numerous times, including Broadway and West End revivals.

 

Monongah High has its own Lions in winter escaping the bone-chilling north.

 

Monongah High Alumni Association president Linda Lopez Gandy and husband Jim, on the Alumni board, are in Sanibel Island, Florida, about midway between Sarasota and Naples.

 

Posts Linda:

“Hope you people up north are dressed for the weather, because we sure are down here. GREETINGS FROM SANIBEL ISLAND.”

Cora Fazio, who runs Fazio Eldercare on Stoney Lonesome in Monongah, won’t be cold much longer. Nor will husband David Fazio.

Posted Cora: 

    

“I'll be in the Caribbean in 3 weeks. I'll rub it in then, Linda Lopez Gandy.”

And MHS Lion Sharon Satterfield is vacationing in Orlando.

Plenty of Lions in winter are permanent Florida residents.

Such as Bill Meredith, Class of 1957, who will host the 3^rd annual Monongah High Alumni Reunion/Sarasota at noon Friday, Feb. 6, 2015 at the home of Bill and wife Roleta, a Clarksburg Washington Irving High graduate.

If you live in Florida or will be vacationing there Feb. 6, 2015, email John Olesky at jo4wvu@neo.rr.com to let him know if you think you can make it.

John Olesky and Paula Tucker are renting in The Villages, Florida for three months (January-March, 2015). If you’re near The Villages (it’s not far from Tampa or Orlando), call John at (330) 388-4466 and we’ll arrange a Monongah High reunion of former Lions. 

You'll probably encounter Monongah Lions at the West Virginia Day Picnic March 1 in The Villages, too. Call John for details if you can be there. Or call him on his cellphone when you arrive.

Joe Martin, Class of 1957, and wife Arlene Kitchen, a Nova Scotia native, live on Treasure Island, near St. Petersburg.

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

Lyla Cosner Howell, Class of 1958, and husband Len, live in Elkins and Fort Myers Beach, Florida.

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

Joyce Cowart Davis Peck, Class of 1966, lives in Palm Harbor, Florida. So do John Matkovich, Class of 1948, and wife Dolores Sweede Matkovich, Class of 1953.

Bettie Hensley Lowther, Class of 1948, lives in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Leo Kubiet, Class of 1942, lives in Largo, Florida.

Pat Meredith Wills, Class of 1950, spends her winters in her Crescent Beach home near St. Augustine Beach, Florida with husband Don Wills (and summers in their Fairmont home).

Ted Nagel, Class of 1954, has homes in Vinton, Virginia and Micco, Florida.

Bob Cottrill, Class of 1951, lives in Melbourne, Florida.