Monday, August 30, 2021

100 RESERVATIONS FOR 98th MONONGAH HIGH ALUMNI BANQUET

 

Nearing a century, Monongah High Alumni Banquet has 100 reservations for Saturday’s 98th Banquet

 

It is fitting that the 98th Monongah High Alumni Banquet has 100 reservations.

It is the longest continuous high school reunion in West Virginia history. The Lions alumni will be gathering for the 98th time for the annual banquet at the Knights of Columbus on Mary Lou Retton Drive in Fairmont on Saturday, September 4.

Two more Banquets and the magic 100th high school reunion will become part of West Virginia history.

The majority of the "Semi-Formal" banquets were in the Fairmont Hotel.  The banquet site was switched to Morgantown’s Ramada Inn in 1972. Later, it was  moved again, to Westchester Village in Fairmont. When Westchester Village closed, the MHS Banquet switched to the K of C in 2014.

Greta Martin Mike, Class of 1922,  founded the Monongah Alumni Association in 1922 and came up with the first Monongah High Alumni Reunion that year, which was held in Mannington.

The dinner will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday. Honor Class group photos will be taken at 5:30 p.m. for the 1960, 1961, 1970 and 1971 graduates. The Stepping Stone father-son band will provide music for listening and dancing, as is has for several years.

10 members of the Class of 1971 Honor Class will be there.

Saturday, August 28, 2021

LINDY HUFFMAN HAS HIS FIRST GREAT-GRANDCHILD. NO PHOTO YET.

 


Paul Lyndon “Lindy” Huffman, Class of 1973, of Virginia Beach, Virginia has his first great-grandchild, Harper Grace.

 

Lyndy posted:

 

Congratulations to my granddaughter Kylie and husband Jeff for the arrival of their first child, Harper Grace. I am sure it has been a trying time for her but now that it is over they get to reap the enjoyments of parenthood. I would like to have all my friends from all over to wish them the very best.”

The photo montage is of Lindy with Kylie, mother of his first great-grandchild, Braden and Brennan, also Lindy’s grandchildren.

Lindy has 4 grandchildren.

Lindy went from Monongah High to Fairmont State, where he probably met wife Rebecca Snyder Watkis, who also went to Fairmont State, from Lewis High and Weston.

Friday, August 27, 2021

BILL McCULLOUGH CANCER-FREE WITH CERTIFICATE TO PROVE IT!

 


Bill McCullough is certifiably cancer-free. He has the certificate to document it.

Wife Linda McCullough reports:

Have the Best news ever to report to Everyone…. Bill had scans and saw all his doctors, He’s now Cancer FREE!!!!!! Finished his last chemo treatment today. We are beyond Happy about this. Follow up and rescan in 3 months. Now to get him feeling better and build his blood and immune system back up. Thank you all with all my heart for all the prayers you prayed for both of us for almost a year now. It’s been a rough year but we are climbing back up to the top of the mountain. God is so good.”

Linda is on Susan Sanders’ Monongah Christmas Street Lights Committee.

Her parents are Joyce Locke and the late Larry Hamilton. Her siblings are Christy Hamilton and the late Lori Lee Morris.

Linda’s sister, Lori Lee Morris, a 1994 North Marion graduate, passed away in 2019.

Christy Hamilton, a registered nurse anesthesist in Butler, Pennsylvania, is Linda’s sister.

Linda has served as treasurer and Bill as an alternate to the Monongah Christmas Street Lights Committee headed by Susan Sander, Class of 1971, the Angel of Thomas Street.


Thursday, August 26, 2021

TWO CHANCES TO DONATE FOR UPGRADING MONONGAH COMMUNITY BUILDING

 

2 fundraisers for Monongah Community Building

 

The PACE  Project of Monongah will hold a fundraiser for the community building, former home of the Monongah First Methodist Church.

There will be a Road Toll at 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, August 28.

On Sunday, September 12 there will be a pepperoni roll lunch in the Monongah Town Hall from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Pepperoni roll is the official West Virginia state food since it was first created in Fairmont a century ago.

The money will be used to add a handicap-accessible bathroom and fire escape to the upper part of the building in order to open the center.

The center will offer free classes, movies and house Christmas and holiday giveaways.

The PACE Project of Monongah is at 649 Pike Street.

If you want to mail in a donation, put

 

PACE Project of Monongah

 

As the Name on the check.

 

And mail it to:

 

Pace Project of Monongah

Co/Shelly Yankie

682 Pike Street

Fairmont, WV 26554

 

You can get a tax credit for it when you file your IRS tax return.

 

PACE stands for Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency.

REVISITING THE CAMEON SISTERS

 


This photo of the Cameon sisters Angela, Joanna, Francine and Denise sent me into the jungle that is the Cameon family tree.

Frances King Cameon, Class of  1942, who passed away in 2019, and Joe Cameon, who passed away in 2014, are the parents of Angela Cameon Viney, Class of 1968; Joanna Cameon Reeves, Class of 1971; Francine Cameon Kincaid, Class of 1979; North Marion graduate Denise Cameon Jett; George Claudius Cameon and Joe Cameon, Jr., Class of 1974, who passed away in 2019.  

Clyde and Maggie Cameon of Carolina were the parents of Joe Cameon, Sr., Virginia Cameon Mezzanotte, Bill Cameon, Class of 1960, Nathaleen Cameon Oliverio, Class of 1948, Pete Cameon, Class of 1958, Linda Cameon, Class of 1966, Arthur Cameon and Rudolph Paul “Rudy” Cameon, who passed away in 2013.

Frances was born in Widen, West Virginia to Dorothea Anna Tekaucic Kralj and George Kralj. The family name later was changed to King. Frances moved with her family, at the age of 12, to Carolina. Frances worked at Owens Illinois, Westinghouse and, where she met her husband, Joe Cameo, at Consolidation Coal Company Store. Joe passed away in 2008. Frances and Joe’s sons George Claudius passed away in 1992 and Joseph in 2019.

Stan is Insurance Connexion owner/agent in Fairmont.

Frances was the sister-in-law of Al Cameon, who passed away in 2014 and was married to Alice Cameon.

Joe Cameon, Sr. was one of nine children of Clyde and Maggie Cameon.

Angela lives in Spartansburg, South Carolina and received the Lifetime Conservation Award from the Conservation Voters of South Carolina in 2018. She is a board member of Spartanburg Water’s water and sewer commissions and was the oldest of the six children. Angela graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in business administration. She served 20 years at the Red Cross working in communities from West Virginia to Missouri to South Carolina.

She also served as executive director of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation and coordinated the first statewide National Hunting and Fishing Day.

Joanna is married to Arthur Reeves and lives in Mannington. 

Francine lists herself as a 1982 North Marion graduate and Monongah Class of 1979.

Denise is a North Marion graduate who is Student Services Coordinator at Pierpont Community & Technical College, Manager at Hidden Treasures and Assistant Manager at JOANN Fabric and Craft Stores and lives in Fairmont. Of course, she grew up in Carolina, as nearly every Cameon did.

Joe, Jr. was a construction worker married for 27 years to Mary Satterfield Cameon.

Virginia lives in Fairmont. She married Pat Mezzanotte. Her niece is Debbie Oliverio. 1981 North Marion graduate Stan Cameon is her nephew and lives in Fairmont with his wife, 1980 North Marion grad Sheri Slamen Cameon. Virginia’s cousins are Loretta Mauro Ferguson, Lorraine Chiaravalle and Nicole Chiaravalle Holmes. Kim Haught Mezzanotte is her daughter-in-law.

Bill moved to Highland, Utah to work for All Systems Electric.

Nathaleen 60 years ago moved to East Chicago, Indiana, across the state line from the windy city of Chicago, Illinois. She is the widow of Sam Oliverio. Their sons are Dominick, Lowell and Tom. Dominick became a psychologist who worked in federal prisons. Tom became an Illinois State Trooper captain. Lowell became a police officer for Lowell, Indiana. Nat said she moved away from West Virginia to keep her sons from dying in the coal mines. She succeeded.

Pete Cameon is a WVU graduate who married Beth Passarello Cameon, who once lived in Rome, Italy, and lives in Morgantown.

Linda lives in Carolina, of course.

Arthur Cameon was Class of 1947.

Rudolph Paul “Rudy” Cameon, who passed away in 2013, served in both the Navy and the Army during the Korean War. He had three sons, Christopher, Craig and Michael who live in San Diego, California.

Connie Koldres Cameon, Monongah High Alumni Association secretary, will be at the oldest continuous high school reunion in West Virginia history on Saturday, September 4 at the Knight of Columbus on Mary Lou Retton Drive in Fairmont.

If you want to be part of a unique history, make YOUR reservation for the September 4 MHS Banquet, send a check for $30 per person made out to the Monongah High Alumni Association and mail it to:

Donna Davis

858 Park Avenue

Monongah, WV 26554-1143

The Reservations deadline is Thursday, August 26. So step on it!

Photos for the honor classes (1960, 1961, 1970, 1971) will be taken at 5:30 p.m. Dinner will begin at 6 p.m. The Stepping Stones band – Ron Poole and son Todd Poole – will provide music for dancing till 11 p.m. 

53rd WEDDING ANNIVERSARY FOR LINDA & JIM GANDY

 


Linda Lopez Gandy, Class of 1965, and husband Jim Gandy, Class of 1964, are celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversary.

Linda, president of the Monongah High Alumni Association, posted:

“Happy Anniversary to this wonderful man and father. When Henry Lipinski told me when I was young, ‘See that boy down there helping his mom wash windows? That’s the boy you marry, best boy in Monongah.’ That was 60 years ago. I was smart and listened to him. Love you forever and ever, Jim.”+

Jim and former President Donald Trump were born on the same day – June 14, 1946.

Linda was one of coach Gene Kenzior’s softball players on the 1960 Marion County champs from Monongah. And, for one year, under coach David Van Meter.

Linda father, the late Sam Lopez, Sr. survived the 1945 sinking of the USS Indianapolis, including four days in the Philipines Sea with sharks picking off crew members floating in the Pacific Ocean. With 880 dead from the Japanese submarine torpedoes’ explosions with 1,196 aboard.

 

That is the worst at-sea death total in Navy history.

 

They live in Alachua, Florida but, since Linda is president and Jim is on the Monongah Alumni Association board, they will be at the oldest continuous high school reunion in the history of West Virginia on Saturday, September 4 in Fairmont for the 97th Monongah High Alumni Banquet in the Knights of Columbus Hall on Mary Lou Retton Drive.

If you want to offer them congratulations face to face then show up at 6 p.m. for the dinner and stay for the Stepping Stone father/son music and dancing till 11 p.m. make YOUR reservation for the September 4 MHS Banquet, send a check for $30 per person made out to the Monongah High Alumni Association and mail it to:

Donna Davis

858 Park Avenue

Monongah, WV 26554-1143

The Reservations deadline is Thursday, August 26. So step on it!

Photos for the honor classes (1960, 1961, 1970, 1971) will be taken at 5:30 p.m. Dinner will begin at 6 p.m. The Stepping Stones band – Ron Poole and son Todd Poole – will provide music for dancing till 11 p.m. 

Sunday, August 22, 2021

PAULA VISITS JOHN OLESKY IN OHIO

 






Paul Stone Tucker visited John Olesky in Ohio for 3 weeks in August. John was Pat Engelhart's assistant State Desk editor and Paula was John's reporter in the 1970s at the BJ.

Paula rescued John from his misery when John’s wife, My Mona Lisa as he called her, passed away. For 17 years.

Paula has a home in The Villages, Florida.

John still lives in the condo they jointly purchased in 2006 and lived together in Talmadge.

Paula left The Villages on July 30 and arrived at John’s condo on August 1. She left for the 2-day auto drive to Florida on Sunday, August 22.

Paula and John made good use of the time.

They had dinner in Sugarcreek at Der Dutchman Restaurant, as they have several times before. After visiting the Atwood Lake A-Frame owned by Paula’s parents where she spent her childhood summers.

They walked through Gorge Park in Cuyahoga Falls, even though they had to crawl under a 100-foot toppled tree that blocked the footpath.

They visited the Beaver Pond in Summit County Metro parks and ran into Ranger Bob, Paula’s brother-in-law.

They hiked around the lake in Munroe Falls.

Paula and John golfed together at Mulligan Springs in Portage County, which shares a border with Tallmadge’s Summit County.

They visited Paula’s sister, Janet, at her Lakeside getaway on Lake Erie.

Paula visited all of her siblings: Tom and wife ‘Rae in the former Tamsin Lake area turned into housing allotments; Janet and husband Bob in Boston Heights; Michael and wife Ann in Silver Lake; and Raymond and wife Mary in Akron.

Paula and John also attended the Akron Porchroker event where Raymond and his barbershop quartet sang. The crowds were so thick that they had to walk 11 blocks from where they parked their car, the nearest empty parking place to the porch where Raymond and his quartet sang. Musical groups performed from porches on residential homes in block after block of the city. It’s an extremely popular annual event.

And, by driving 200 miles each way Paula spent her August 20 birthday with her son, Patrick, who drove from New York City for the Bear State Park rendezvous in Pennsylvania.

At Paula’s suggestion John and Paula looked at John’s My Mona Lisa photo album of his late wife and their extended family.

Paula and My Mona Lisa never competed with each other for John’s affections. They were bookends to his love life.

Paula took the sunshine back to Florida with her. But it was lovely while it lasted.

 

 


Friday, August 20, 2021

SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS TO BE AT SEPTEMBER 4 MONONGAH ALUMNI BANQUET

 Make your Reservation to meet future leaders !

If you attend the Saturday, September 4 Monongah High Alumni Banquet at the Knights of Columbus on Mary Lou Retton Drive in Fairmont you will be in some fine company: The future.

 

The 2021 Monongah High Alumni Association Scholarship winners will be there for the 6 p.m. dinner along with their parents.

 

Sarah Shumate the Memorial Scholarship

 

Elias Shane Wyckoff the Monongah High School Alumni Scholarship

 

Hadessah VanGilder the Raymond Glover Scholarship

 

Congratulations to all from the Monongah High School Alumni”

 The annual Monongah High Alumni Banquet is the longest-running high school reunion in the state of West Virginia.

 

Sarah lives in Worthington with Robert Shumate and Hannah Shumate.

 

Elias lives Monongah.

 

Hadessah lives in Mannington. Her father is Todd VanGilder. Her mother, Constance “Connie” Lynn Tennant VanGilder, passed away January 10.

The annual Monongah High Alumni Banquet will be September 4 in the Knights of Columbus Hall on Mary Lou Retton Drive in Fairmont. Class photos (for $15) starting at 5:30. Dinner at 6:30. Dancing at 8 pm.

 

If you would like to attend, call Alumni Association treasurer Donna Davis at (304) 534-5636.

 

Checks for the Reservations -- $30 per person -- should be mailed to:

Donna Davis

858 Park Avenue

Monongah, WV

26554-1143 

 

Show up September 4 and applaud the 3 fine young people who may make Marion County proud a decade from now. They are our future.

 

Thursday, August 19, 2021

CAROL MICHALSKI DRAKE PASSES AWAY

 


Carol Michalski Drake, daughter of Ramona Michalski, Class of 1949, and the late Frank Michalski, passed away Thursday, August 19.

She is survived by her husband, Robert Drake. They lived in Shinnston.

Carol attended Thoburn Grade School, Monongah Junior High and Monongah High School. And later was a teacher in Monongah Middle School.

Carol’s sister, Mary Michalski Gapen, Class of 1968, who predeceased Carol, was a teacher in the Barrackville school system for years.

Carol’s other siblings are Mike Michalski, Class of 1969, Jay Michalski, Marcia Michalski Westfall, Class of 1974, and Ramona Marie Michalski, named after her mother.

Carol’s obituary:

 

Carol Ellen Michalski Drake

May 19, 1957 - August 19, 2021

Carol Drake of Shinnston passed away on Thursday, August 19, 2021 peacefully at her home. She was born on May 19, 1957. She is survived by her husband of 30 years, Robert L. Drake.

She is the daughter of Ramona Jean Michalski and the late Frank Michalski. Also preceding her in death are her sister, Mary Gapen; great-grandparents, Clay and Mary Fullen; grandparents, Jake and Mildred Puffenburgar; and Frances Michalski Cavallaro.

She grew up in Monongah and attended Thoburn Grade School, Monongah Junior High, and Monongah High School. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Fairmont State University and a Master’s Degree from West Virginia University. She worked for the Marion County Board of Education, spending most of her time at Monongah Middle School. She was also a member of the Former Faith Reformed Presbyterian Church where she taught Sunday and Bible School Classes. She was a dedicated teacher and loved working with children.

Carol is survived by brothers, Mike (Jan) and Jay (Debby); sister Marcia (Dave); her very special sister, Ramona, and brother-in-law, Rick Gapen. She is survived by 14 nieces and nephews, and 30 great nieces and great nephews who she admired and dearly loved. She also leaves behind her beloved pet cat, Floyd.

She was very grateful and appreciative for the kind and caring treatment she received at Fresenius Medical Care.

At her request, her viewing will be private. Burial will take place at the Grandview Memorial Gardens. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.domicofh.com .


Wednesday, August 18, 2021

ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT TO MAKE MONONGAH HIGH BANQUET RESERVATIONS !!!

 


Not even COVID, one of the worst pandemics in American history, was able to stop the Monongah High Alumin Banquet from being the longest continuous high school reunion in West Virginia history.

The 98th annual banquet will be at 6 p.m. Saturday, September 4 at the Knights of Columbus on Mary Lou Retton Drive in Fairmont. That’s only TWO years from the Centennial Banquet in 2023!

The town of Monongah has only received its charter in 1891.

The majority of the "Semi-Formal" banquets were in the Fairmont Hotel.  The banquet site was switched to Morgantown’s Ramada Inn in 1972. Later, it was  moved again, to Westchester Village in Fairmont. When Westchester Village closed, the MHS Banquet switched to the K of C in 2014.

Greta Martin Mike, Class of 1922,  founded the Monongah Alumni Association in 1922 and came up with the first Monongah High Alumni Reunion that year, which was held in Mannington. Irene Waltz Joyce, Class of 1922, attended every MHS Alumni Banquet for 64 years.

Greta was married to Jimmy Mike, of the legendary Monongah Mike family barbers that included Dominic Mike and Mutt Mike.

Warren G. Harding was America’s President in 1922, when the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. was dedicated and New York’s Yankee Stadium was being built and legendary “Golden Girls” and “Mary Tyler Moore” actress Betty White and singers  Doris Day and Judy Garland were born.  

The first Monongah High graduation class, in 1918, was four students – Dr. Stanley Skarr, a physician in Davis, West Virginia; Robert Jones; William Fay Holbert; and Sylvia Swisher. That was the year that World War One ended on November 11, Armistice Day when eventually became the national holiday known as  Veterans Day.

They were in one room of the Thoburn Graded School building. In 1921 the name was changed from Thoburn High School to West Monongah High School.

Greta Martin Mike, Class of 1922,  founded the Monongah Alumni Association in 1922 and came up with the first Monongah High Alumni Reunion that year. Greta was married to Jimmy Mike, of the legendary Monongah Mike family barbers that included Dominic Mike and Mutt Mike.

Rose Marie Mike Merrifield married Bill Merrifield. Her parents were Franklin and Emma Jean Mike. Franklin's mother was Rose Scudure Mike, who passed away at the age of 96 in 2014.

 

Rose’s husband was Dominic Mike who had the barber shop under the Monongah Bank on Main Street where I got many a haircut during my childhood in Monongah.

 

Rose’s siblings were Joe Scudure, Cora Scudure Mike, Anna Scudure Olds, Mary Scudure Scrivo and Virginia Scudure Richardson.

It was Greta, later a teacher in Worthington, who began compiling Monongah High graduation lists that I use today in putting together information on this Monongah High Alumni blog. It also was Greta who began the practice of finding out where former Lions lived and putting in their post-Monongah High addresses and marital information.

Ramona Fullen Michalski, Class of 1949, who lives in Monongah, took up the cause after Greta passed away. Ramona has been my go-to person for Monongah High information ever since, along with the 1973 North Marion Alumni Directory that includes Monongah High graduates.

The last graduation class at Monongah High was the Class of 1979 before Monongah consolidated into North Marion High. The Lions won state titles in football in 1952, 1955, 1968, 1969 and 1973, baseball in 1925 and 1955 and basketball in 1928.

Among the 3,143  Monongah High School graduates are doctors, nurses, state legislators, prosecuting attorneys, engineers, attorneys, school superintendents, judges, educators, business leaders, military personnel including a general and newspaper editors and reporters.

That includes Dr. Michael Bruce Edmonds, head of WVU Medical Center in Morgantown, a pioneer in the treatment of COVID patients through use of fecal matter. His method is used today throughout the world.

And Nick Saban, Class of 1969, who has won more national college football titles than anyone else in history with 7, including 6 at Alabama.

Linda Lopez Gandy, Class of 1965, is president of the Monongah High Alumni Association. She lives in Alachua, Florida with husband Jim Gandy, also on the Alumni Board.

Donna Davis, Class of 1961, has been Alumni Association treasurer since forever. She is married to Bill Davis, Class of 1958.

Donna’s parents were Norma Lee Croaston Moorehead and Walter Colbert, killed during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.

To make YOUR reservation for the September 4 MHS Banquet, send a check for $30 per person made out to the Monongah High Alumni Association and mail it to:

Donna Davis

858 Park Avenue

Monongah, WV 26554-1143

Photos for the honor classes (1960, 1961, 1970, 1971) will be taken at 5:30 p.m. Dinner will begin at 6 p.m. The Stepping Stones band – Ron Poole and son Todd Poole – will provide music for dancing till 11 p.m.

Ron Poole began his music career in 1961 and is a guitar player. His son, Todd Poole, began performing with his father in 1976 at the age of three for a local Lions Club. Their first album in Nashville, with Wedge Records, was in 1989. In 1991, they changed the group’s name to Stepping Stones.

There also is an In Memoriam list of those Lions who passed away since the last MHS Banquet.

There will be a rotating picture frame with almost 2,000 photos of Monongah High alumni, a large framed photo of the Monongah High Lion and photos and obituaries/tributes to those who have passed away since the 2020 reunion.