Keeping in Touch

It has been awhile since my last post!

But believe it or not, some people still read this blog.

I have been casually keeping in touch with quite a few Bolivar Grads through MySpace and Facebook. I happen to have both, while others just have one or the other. If you would like to keep in touch with other Bolivar Grads, go create an account at www.myspace.com or www.facebook.com . Once you create the account, fill out the profile and put in your High School (Bolivar) that you graduated from.

From that point, you can search on other Bolivar Grads that are members of that site and send them a Friend Request. Don't think you need to check this site every day or be a computer guru to do it. It is simple and takes as much time as you put into it.

I hope to get a Friend Request from you soon!

JR

Class of 1987 Reunion

I just got an email today from Laurie Morehouse (Ball) of Class of 1987.

The reunion for the class of 1987 will be held on the weekend of July 21-22.

On Saturday the 21st, the class will meet at the Bolivar's Elk Lodge at 6:30pm and enjoy a catered dinner. After dinner the classmates will be able to hang out and talk and reminisce the good old days at BHS.

On Sunday classmates will meet at the first Pavillion at the park from 1:00pm - 3:00pm and enjoy Sheri's Saved Ice!

Anyone interested in attending can contact Laurie Ball at 417-777-5151 or can email me for Laurie's email address.

Have fun Class of 1987 and make sure to send me some pictures that I can post!

JR Mariottini
Class of 1988
JR@bolivargrads.com

Has It Really Been 20 Years?

20 years ago today, the Class of 1988 was getting ready to begin their Senior Year at Bolivar High School.

To honor this occasion, the Class of 88 will be getting together for a reunion this September in Bolivar.

From Mary Ann Callaway I have learned this:

The Class of 88 will have its reunion this September to coincide with it's homecoming of our Senior year. This was also in September of 1987.

The dates for the Reunion will be September 14th and 15th.

Friday the 14th will include the Homecoming Parade at 3pm and the Homecoming Football game at 7:00pm. The game will be held at SBU's Football Field and the Class of 1988 will be recognized at half time.

Saturday the 15th will be family day with Golf available to those who would like to Golf. Dinner will be held for the Class of 1988 at a yet to be determined location.

This reunion will be depending on word-of-mouth to get the word around to all alumns of 1988.

If you would like more information, feel free to send me an email and I will get you to Mary Ann who is coordinating this. If you are not on her email distribution list, email me with your contact info and I will get it to her as well!

I will post more details as they come in.

JR Mariottini
Class of 1988
JR@bolivargrads.com

Farewell to a Friend

Another person I grew up with and hung around has passed.

Becky Martin
1971-2006

Obituaries
Rebecca 'Becky' Joyce Martin (January 5, 1971 - November 8, 2006) Guest Book Sign Guest Book Send Private Condolences

Rebecca Joyce Martin, of O'Fallon, MO passed away at her home on Wednesday, November 8, 2006 at the age of 35 years, 10 Months and 3 days. Becky was born to Danny Joe and Frances Jean (nee-Swann) Martin on January 5, 1971 in Springfield, MO. She was the General Manager for Drury Hotel in St. Peters, MO. Survivors include her life partner, Shael Snow of O'Fallon, MO, her mother, Fran Martin of Warrenton, MO, one sister, Kelly Chmiel and husband Ray, of Warrenton, MO, one brother, Chuck Martin and wife Kyle of Warrenton, MO, four nephews, Logan Chmiel, Brendan W. Martin, Braydan Chmiel and Nolan Chmiel, one niece, Rebecca Chmiel, one grandmother, Trudy Swann of Warrenton, MO, one aunt, Joy Rogers of O'Fallon, MO, cousins and other relatives and many friends. She was preceded in death by her father, Danny J. Martin, her grandparents, Enid and Joe Martin and Elmer Swann. Funeral services were held on Monday, November 13, 2006 at 10:00 A.M., at the Martin Funeral Chapel in Warrenton, MO. with the Reverend Christiane Batjer officiating. Graveside Memorial services will be held at 11:00 A.M. Thursday, November 16, at Greenwood Cemetery, Bolivar, MO Memorials may be made to the Danny Martin Academic Excellence Scholarship Fund in C/O the Martin Funeral Home, 510 E. Main St., Warrenton, MO 63383. Friends may sign the guest book or send private condolences at www.butlerfuneralhome.com

The New Year Is Here

Hello all. I hope you had a good Holiday Season. I have taken a few weeks off from the blog, but I am back and ready to get going on some more updates. I am also hoping to preview the new website here in the next week or two. At that time I will be looking for volunteers who can help me out. Either answering emails or posting updates. I hope to have a bunch of people who would like to post. So if you are interested, let me know.

I have had several people contact me over the last 3 weeks with updates, and I know some of you have been itching for a new post.

Class of 1986

Angie Johnson - Angie had gotten in touch with me a couple of months ago, but she didn't give me an update on her until the last couple of days. She is still in Bolivar and works as a Registered Nurse/Case Manager at Citizens Memorial. She has been divorced for 4 years now after a 15 year marriage, but she is engaged to a wonderful guy now named Mark Nord, and they are planning a wedding for the spring. Angie has two boys in Jordon 16 and Austin 8. She also sees others from her graduating class including Catulpa Meadors (McDowell) who cuts her hair.

Class of 1988

Mary Ann Callaway - Mary Ann said that so many of our classmates had been telling her to check out the website and she finally made it over the New Year weekend. Mary Ann got her Bachelor's Degree in Accounting and Math from Central Methodist College in 1993. She now lives in Bolivar with her children Jacob 14, Josh 7 and Charlotte 5. Mary Ann has overcome a lot in the past few years. In 2000, while pregnant with Charlotte, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor (an acoustic neuroma). Six weeks after she had Charlotte, Mary Ann underwent surgery to remove the tumor. The doctors were able to remove all of it, but they had to sever her facial nerve which ended up leaving the left side of her face paralyzed. She had to learn to walk again and after 9 months of intense therapy she was able to swallow again. Mary Ann said her life is wonderful now and she is looking to hear from me and others. I can't wait to call her.

David Hockanson - David gave me a call during my darkest time of the past year. I was sick! So I was not able to chat with him long, but I can't wait to call him again and catch up. In 1997 David finally received his Doctorate Degree in Electrical Engineering and he went to work for Sun Microsystems building computers. He lives in the Santa Cruz mountains in a house on several acres of land with this daughter from a previous marriage and a number of pets. David said that the Redwoods soar all around them where he lives but he is not far from beautiful San Francisco if he ever wants to drive to a city. You can read more about David and see pictures of him on his personal blog. Take a loog at http://www.redwoodfolk.com/

Mark Davis - I got an email from Mark after he saw Chris and Greg Redford at the Battlefield Mall in Springfield over the Christmas Holiday. He is living in Springfield now and said that he is going through some exciting changes in his career which he will keep me posted. Mark, who now goes by Storm, said that he is extremely proud of his 10 month old nephew William. Attached is a picture of Storm and William.



Class of 1989

Tammy Wakefield (Herbert) - Tammy heard about BolivarGrads.com from Angie Mann (Grey). Tammy recently moved back to Bolivar from Austin, TX. She was happy to say that she and Danny Herbert have reunited after 10 years of divorce and they are doing great with their three children in Anthony 16, C.J. 15 and Lacey 13. Tammy said that she has not heard back from many people since she has been back and is hoping that this site will be a good way to get back in touch. Make sure to register for the Messageboards Tammy!

Bryant Foster - Bryant learned about the website from John Casebeer. After he poked around on BolivarGrads.com and thought it was pretty cool, especially the Messageboard Forums where he got to see plenty of names posting that he knew. He currently lives in Springfield, MO where he is living a bachelors life! For 8 years he was in sales where he had to travel frequently. He said he travelled so much, that he now dreads travelling anywhere. Even the drive from Springfield to Bolivar seems tortuous (You wouldn't make it in Chicago my man!). Bryant is currently the manager of a northside Pet Warehouse and said if you have a pet question, he probably has the answer. Below is a picture of Bryant at Halloween at Brian Lightfoot's house in KC. We look forward to seeing your posts on the Messageboard Bryant.



Class of 1990

Stacey Allen (Berry) - Stacey said that she had been terrible at keeping in touch with High School friends and she hopes this can help jumpstart her into re-establishing some relationships. She has been living in Seattle, WA since 2002 with her husband Bob and two children; Will 5 and Ally 2. They moved to Seattle so that Stacey could finish her residency in pathology at the University of Washington. In June she will complete a fellowship in Pediatric Pathology and she has accepted a position that will move them to the Phoenix, AZ area. Stacey said she still keeps in contact with John Casebeer, Holly Parker (Gardner), Sandy Ferguson (Nance), Barbara Gothard (Lee) and Sharon Long (Muir). I have posted a picture of Stacey and family below, or you can look at their family website at: http://homepage.mac.com/sbw_berry





Kevin Cribbs - Kevin emailed me from Bolivar where he lives with his wife of 4 years Amanda. Together they have a 2 year old son named Cooper. He is currently working for the Bank of Bolivar and its hometown bank owned by several stockholders. Kevin still stays in contact with Adam Quennoz, Tim Phillips and Frank Richards. Send them this way Kevin!

Class of 1991

Tracy Wakefield (Hillenburg) - Tracy heard about the website from her sister, Tammy. She spent some time reviewing the website and said it was neat to see so many old faces and names. She lives in Bolivar and has been married to her husband Tim for 14 years. Together they have a daughter Taylor 9 and son Ty 7. Tracy is a Registered Nurse and has worked for CMH for 11 years. Presently she is an OR Nurse. She is also finishing her Bachelors Degree in May. Tracy said that she would send us some pictures soon. We can't wait Tracy!

Other Items

Don't forget to put yourself on the BolivarGrads Map if you have not done it already! It is simple and takes 30 seconds. You can do it by clicking HERE. The last few people that have updated it have been Tony Stauch, Brett Potts, Gary Keeling and Carrie Roberts. Who will be next, and will we get more states covered?

Also you can be notified by email when there is a new post by putting in your email address into the box in the right hand column called Blogarithm.

And Don't forget to check out the Bolivar Messageboards. Many people are posting there already, but they want to see more of their High School friends posting there as well. You can look at the Messageboards by clicking HERE.

If you have not contacted me yet, please drop me an email!

JR Mariottini
Class of 1988
JR@bolivargrads.com

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I am not sure how much I will hear from Bolivar Grads over the next couple of weeks since the Holidays are here, but I have heard from quite a few this week.

Class of 1985

Gary Keeling - Gary emailed me from Hazelwood, MO which is a suburb of St. Louis. Gary said he is not married and does not have any kids, but he has been quite successful after graduating from BHS. He received his B.A. in Psychology from UMSL and now owns his own Field Inspections Company doing field work for mortgage companies and insurance companies. Currently Gary is considering furthering his education by getting a Masters degree somewhere in the Psychology field. He also said he has a good list of email addresses from the Class of 1985 after they did had their 20 year reunion back in October. Hopefully some of them will drop me a line!

Class of 1987

John Porter - I actually called John Porter up from the phone number that Karen Myers (Ice) had tracked down for me. After High School, John got his law degree from Oklahoma City University. He recalled the day in 1995 when the Oklahoma City bombing happened and he was down the street. It was a terrible sight for the world as well as John who was seeing it firsthand. John is now the Prosecuting Attorney for Polk County. We talked a bit about the things he is seeing as Bolivar continues to grow. Methamphetamine (Meth) is a big problem in the Bolivar area. With it being so cheap to make as well as needing some open area to make it in (without tipping off neighbors), rural areas like Bolivar are hotspots for the distributors to make it in. On a lighter note, he has two beautiful girls in Abbey 10 and Alex 7. He still sees Bolivar Grads around town and said he would check out the site when he had time! Great to talk to you John.

Class of 1989

Tim Steely - Tim said he had been checking out the site for the past few weeks but finally contacted me after Bret Stottlemyre threatened him! He just moved back to the Kansas City area after spending some time in 6 years in Phoenix, AZ where he was a Real Estate Agent. He will pick that up now that he is back in KC. He and his partner adopted a boy from Eastern Europe 2 years ago named Baylor. Baylor is now 6 years old and is pictured below. Tim still keeps in with Bret and Janette Serls (English) who lives in Monett. Thanks for stopping by Tim and register for the Messageboards!



Class of 1990

Jason Blum - Jason learned about BolivarGrads.com recently from Carrie Kallenbach (Gordon). He is married to Melissa Palmer (Class of 1992) and they have two children. Jason has been training paramedics and EMT interns for almost then years now. He also works with CGI computer animation and graphics and was on the development team for the PC game "Counter-Strike" a few years back (Interesting. I want to talk to you about that). Jason said that he keeps in touch with Eric Raney and John Frost who attends his church when he is not in the mission field. Also Brent Hopkins (Class of 1990) is currently his church's youth pastor. Below is a picture of Jason and his one son, Chase.



Amy Sellers (Hubbert) - I got a hold of Amy through an email that Sharon Long (Muir) had given me. She has been married to Dan Hubbert (Class of 1988) for 15 years now and have a 2 year old son named Dylan Joseph. Dan works for Nick's Transport hauling gasoline, diesel and occasionaly jet fuel. Amy works as an optical assistant for Dr. Lane Nutt in Bolivar. Last March the Hubberts moved about 4 miles out of town where they own 3 acres with a nice creek running through it and a lot of space to raise Dylan. They stay in contact with Jody Presley, Eric DeRossett, Brandi Wimsatt, Lynn Ward, Kim Payne, Shannon Kuliju. She also sees various Bolivar Grads at work or around town. Tell them to send me an email Amy!

Class of 1991

Jenny Eggert (Gambriel) - Jenny emailed me from Bolivar where she lives with her husband Joe Gambriel (Class of 1988). Together they have 3 boys in Cody 11, Caleb 9, and Josh 5. She is the Office Coordinator for Rehab at Citizens Memorial Hospital while Joe is a maintenance supervisor at Citizens Memorial Healthcare Facility. Send us some pictures Jenny and have Joe look at his picture HERE.

Jeff Miller - Jeff emailed me from Bolivar where he lives with his wife Laura and two girls in Ashton 8 and Ali 5. Jeff and I used to play basketball together since he and his brother Mike Miller lived in the Prairie Heights subdivision with me. Now Jeff is an Administrator for CMH and his wife is a nurse at Bolivar Family Care Center. A couple of weeks ago, Jeff saw Shane Davolt at a Chiefs game. He also works with Lisa Wolfe (Stringfellow), Michelle Rhodes (Parsons) and Jenny Eggert (Gambriel). Jeff said he would send some pictures in the near future. We can't wait Jeff!

REQUESTS

I am going to to a post in the near future on Bolivar Grads that have served in the Military. If you are a Bolivar Grad and have served in the Military, send me an email with a picture of you in Uniform and tell me what branch you were in, where you served, and what rank you attained. I have already received a few pictures and stories that I will post and I would love to have some more.

MESSAGEBOARDS

The Messageboards are starting to pick up. Take a look at it HERE.

We want to have 100 people registered to continue with our online community. Take a look (and join) some of the conversations going on!

Mike Miller started a thread on funny things that teachers said in High School. You can read about it HERE.

Kim Salam (Warren) started a post about funny things that happened on the Senior Trip. You can read about it HERE.

Chris Eyl started a post about Batman Begins. Join the discussion HERE.

Ashley Carpenter (Wilson) started a post asking if anyone has confessions they need to make. Read about them HERE.

Gary Keeling started a thread that asks the question of why our town is called Bolivar. Add any information you may have HERE.

Bret Stottlemyre shares some DEEP thoughts in a thread. You can read about them HERE.

I started a thread to do some trash talking with Chiefs fans, since I am a life long Raiders fan. What do you have to say about that? Say it HERE.

Elaina Daniels (Kates) asks what fights do you remember the most in High School. I definitely want to hear your stories HERE !

Chris Eyl and I discuss the best "Hair Bands" of the 80's. Take the poll and then you can comment below HERE.

Holly Parker (Gardner) suggested that we have a forum to post Wedding Pictures. After all, we all look our best on that day. You can send me your pictures to post, or go ahead and post them yourself HERE.

Sharon Long (Muir) sent me some great photos from the Class of 1990 Reunion this summer. They are posted HERE.

There are many more posts to read, but you need to be registered to post! Make sure to email me to get the instruction and the PASSWORD to post. We want to hear from all of you! (We really do)

Until Next Time!

JR Mariottini
Class of 1988
JR@bolivargrads.com

Helping Hands

One thing that I have really appreciated over the past weeks is the help that I have been receiving from folks to help track down people.

I want to thank Kahlie Brown (Krtek) for sending me a list of people that are in the Bolivar Phone Book. She has already prompted several people to contact me but she spent the time to type out about 15 people name, address and phone numbers for me.

I want to thank Sharon Long (Muir) who sent me a list of a dozen contacts email addresses from the Class of 1990 Reunion. I will be contacting them this weekend in order to try and track down what they are doing.

I want to thank David Rash who is making phone calls to Bolivar Grads parents in order to track down where their kids are today. I think he has tracked down Rick Mayfield and will have him contact me soon.

I want to thank Karen Myers (Ice) who has spent time doing some Google Searches and tracking down leads for me to call. She also has forwarded my site to folks and had them contact me.

Thanks to all who have forwarded this site to their friends or siblings and had them contact me so all Bolivar Grads can read where their classmates are today!

Since my last post, these people have contacted me:

Class of 1986

Janell Ice (Helton) - Janell was clued in about our site from her sister-in-law, Karen Myers (Ice). Janell is living in Houston, TX with her husband Bill Helton who managed the Pizza Hut in Bolivar during the 80's. They have been married 18 years and have 3 teen age daughters. Janell is a substitute teacher in the Houston area and sent this great photo of their family. Thanks Janell!



Class of 1988

Carrie Roberts (Wood) - Carrie was forwarded the site 2 months ago when the site started and forgot about it. Just last week John (Chris) Smith (Another Helping Hand) forwarded her the site again and she contacted me. Carrie moved away at the end of her Junior year so she didn't "officially" graduate from Bolivar, but she still made many friends that she keeps in contact with. She is living in Fayetville, Arkansas husband Paul Wood. They have been married for 14 years and together they have a daughter named Kailee 13 and Kyndall 10. Paul also has a son named Trent 18. Paul is a Sales Manager for Tyson Foods and Carrie is a Sales Manager for a large candle company. They both travel frequently and she just got back from New York where she was able to visit Greg Redford. She also keeps in touch with John Smith and Mary Ann Callaway. Below is a great photo of the Wood family. Thanks Carrie!



Class of 1990

John Casebeer - John heard about the site from Holly Parker (Gardner). After graduating from BHS, John spent several years working on-air in radio, and a couple of years doing iron work (His last job was the Banc One Ballpark in Phoenix, AZ). He finished his degree in Political Science at SMS and is about to make Captain in the U.S. Army. John said he loves is job in the Military. He will be departing soon for the "sun-soaked desert climes of Iraq". He said when he gets back he should have his Sand Wedge mastered. In 1996 John married Ginger Worthington (An SBU '93 Grad) and they now have 3 children in Ben 7, Emily 5, and Abigail 4. He still keeps in regular contact with Bryant Foster, Chad Daniel, Mike Rice, Stacey Allen (Berry), Holly Parker (Gardner) and Stephen Beaman. Here is a picture of John and Gingers children making scary faces.



Class of 1991

Sandy Branstetter - Sandy emailed me from Springfield, MO where she lives. She works for Electronic Video Systems where she does Smart Board sales and training in the schools as well as systems integrations in churches. She travels quite a bit with her job and loves seeing different places. When she is in town she is usually hanging out with the singles of Second Baptist Church in Springfield. She says that there is quite a contigent of Bolivar Grads that attend Second Baptist Church. If you would like to learn more about Sandy, check out her personal website HERE.














Wow, 4 updates and all of them sent in Pictures! That is a great update! If you are a Bolivar Grad and have not contacted me yet, send me an email! We all really want to know where and what you are up to!

My email address is JR@bolivargrads.com . Also make sure to put yourself on the Bolivar Grads Map! I want to see how many states we have spread out to. So far there is no one listed in states like Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Iowa, Colorado, Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kentucky, Mississipi and more. If you live in one of these states, put yourself on the Map HERE!

NEW MESSAGEBOARD FORUM

So Holly Parker (Gardner) gave me a great idea that I decided to use. She suggested being able to see Bolivar Grads Wedding pictures since afer all, we usually look our best on that day! There is a new forum on the Messageboard that I started to post them HERE. Send me your wedding photos or you can post them yourself if you are a member of the Boards. Let's see those Brides and Grooms!

Until next time!

JR Mariottini
Class of 1988
JR@bolivargrads.com

Adding To The Network

Well I had a good weekend as far as people contacting me since my Friday email went out. Let's hope we hear from several more people before the next post!

We are about half way to our goal of registering 100 people on the Messageboards. Make sure to register if you haven't. And make sure to post! It doesn't even have to be about High School matters, just keeping in touch.

Here is who contacted me over the past few days.

Class of 1986

Tracy Vaughn - Tracy got an email from me that I sent through Classmates.com. She is in Florida currently after travelling the world. She and I talked on Friday afternoon via Yahoo Instant Message. I will have to give you an update on what she has done later since I chatted with her on my laptop (which I left at work tonight) and the message history is on it. I want to make sure I tell you some of the very cool things she has done accurately. On the next post!

Class of 1987

Paul Penticuff - I actually talked to Paul on the phone a few weeks ago and relived some funny High School times with him. He has been travelling quite a bit and is just now able to sit down and write an email to me. Paul is one of 9 partners in a Law Firm in Kansas City of over 50 lawyers and 100 employees. In the last month he has travelled to Charlotte, Atlanta, D.C., New York, Philadelphia, Houston, Seattle and San Diego. He is doing some national litigation for a pharmaceutical client and he has had to travel to get expert witness depositions for the case. He will be leaving again for D.C. and Las Vegas soon. Paul said he occasionally runs into Bolivar Grads while visiting his parents in Bolivar on holidays and just recently he went on a Golf Trip with David Crain (Class of 1987). If you want to see what Paul looks like these days you can see him HERE. He also sent this picture of his little girl, Katherine (Katie) Michelle. I have said before and I will say again that the best part of seeing recent pictures and the children of Bolivar Grads, is to be able to see them in their kids! Thanks Paul!




Marc Ferguson - Marc emailed me from Springfield, MO where he lives with his wife Rebekah. The have been married for 5 years and have a 5 month old daughter named Malorie. Mark graduated from CMSU in Warrensburg with a degree in Aviation Technology. He maintained pretty tight with Mike Miller after college and for awhile they Co-owned a small airplane together. He held a few jobs before going to work for Springfield Charter as a flight instructor and charter crewmember. For awhile, he was the guy that flew the SMSU's Men and Women's basketball teams around! Marc now works for Flight Options out of Cleveland, OH and flies Corporate Executives and Wealthy Individuals around where they want to go. He works 8 days on and then 7 days off. This allows him plenty of time in the summer to spend at Lake Pomme de Terre fishing and water skiing on his boat. Recently Marc has started his own company called "SOME BEECH" after his newes airplane - a Beechcraft Duchess. Other than Mike, he still keeps in touch with Stacy Sikes, Jim Duryee, and Dennis Inglis. Thanks for contacting me Marc. It sounds like you do a lot of interesting and cool things!

Class of 1988

Carol Cunningham (Cates) - Carol emailed me after hearing about the site from Emily Westervelt (Johnson). She is living in Morrisville, MO with her husband Johnny and four children: Maggie (Margaret) 11, John Michael 8, Olivia 6 and Jessica 20 months. For the past 6 years, Carol taught at the Polk County Christian School. She now currently substitute teaches in Morrisville and "volunteers for everything under the sun". Thanks for emailing Carol, now send us some pictures of that family of yours!

Class of 1989

Matt Jones - Matt emailed me from St. Charles, MO where he lives with his wife Anna. They have been married for 11 years and have 4 great kids in Zachary 8, Tucker 6, Mackenzie 4 and Tanner 1. Matt got his degree from Mizzou in 1993 and now works in Business Development for Sealed Air (which according to Anna, means he travels the country telling a lot of people they need to buy his foam). The funny thing is I had emailed Matt and had some exchanges with his wife Anna before I ever heard from him. They were introduced at a Lifeguard party by Chris Redford back in 1991. Matt doesn't get back to Bolivar much anymore since his parents moved to Lake Pomme de Terre and he is up in the St. Louis Area. Anna was kind enough to scan a picture of the Jones family and had Matt send it to me . What a great looking family. Thanks Matt and Anna!



Class of 1990

Holly Parker (Gardner) - Holly went to college in Grand Rapids, MI for 3 years majoring in Music until her mom came down with Cancer. Holly left to take care of her mother until she died in 1993 (I always thought Mrs. Parker was an extremely nice lady. I was sad to hear of her passing). Holly finished college at Limestone College in South Carolina with a History major. She met her husband, David Gardner, in South Carolina and they got married in 1995. Since then, she has lived in Louisville, Omaha, and now Greensboro, NC. They don't have any children yet, so she is able to spoil her choclate lab Jackson and they like to travel the world. (Recently went to Nicaragua and Mexico). Holly said she corresponds regularly with John Casebeer (Class of 1990) and she would love to get back into contact with Stacey Allen, Deanna Welborn, Ginger Hancock and Terrah Hale. I will send her Terrah's contact info, but I need help tracking down Ginger, Deanna and Stacey. Can anyone help us find them?


I am still looking for people to send in any of their High School pictures they may have taken. Right now they may be collecting dust in your closet or scrapbook, but let us have everyone enjoy them! Scan them and send them to me or send copies to me and I will scan them and post them for you. I just added some candids on the messagboard HERE. The first one was taken by Cary Huser who used to go around and take pictures of everything for the Newspaper and Yearbook. We need to find Cary because I bet he has a Treasure Chest of pictures from High School!

If you are a Bolivar Grad and have not contacted me yet, send me an email or call me! We ALL want to hear from you.

JR Mariottini
Class of 1988
Email : JR@bolivargrads.com
Cell: 630-841-5130

60 Days

It has almost been 2 months ago (October 8th) that I started this site and it has been amazing to see how many people have responded so far. Doesn't this beat Classmates.com?

Here is a list of the current Bolivar Grads Network (1985-1991). These people have contacted me and are getting my weekly emails on Friday. This does not include the spouses of these member that are also Bolivar Grads. For example, I have Jennifer Appleby (Follis) marked, but I have not figured in Jack Follis yet. I will go through the list and add the spouses soon.

Class of 1985 - Lisa Beals (Jenkins), Claudie Fernandez, Sarah Leininger (Jones), Walter Westervelt, Susan Leaverton (LaBay)

Class of 1986 - Greg Greven, Becky Crain, Dawn Neal (Cosby), Janet Cline (Ward), Betsy Fullerton (Eckols), Kerri Koon (Simon), Angie Johnson (Combs), David Rash, Lori Voris (Buckner), Mick Simmons, Lynette Bosak

Class of 1987 - Melissa Spiegel (Burks), Terry Pursley (Spence), Kristina Taylor (Hager), Kim Vest (Jarman), Shelly Abel (Chaney), Laurie Morehouse (Ball), Karen Myers (Ice), Tammy Brown (Jenkins), John Kallenbach, Jill Wilkinson, Denise Crain (Jenkins), Terri Hoffman (Barngrover), Jim Jones, Lisa Gray (Wolfe), Mike Miller,

Class of 1988 - JR Mariottini, Ronda Fink (Riden), Steve & Kim Hawk (Hale), Chris Smith, Brad Roweton, Mary Beth Jones (Vance), Terrie Flint (Reed), Brian Mitchell, Daniel Rash, Kim Brubeck (Wilson), Jennifer Koon (Spangler), Kim Salam (Warren), Bobby Miller, Brenda Eggert (Young), Jon Esterline, Erica Moore (Noyes), Patrick Richey, Tina Young (Early), Terrah Hale (Kelso), Greg Redford, Chris Redford, Christopher Eyl, Ray Crane, Jeremy MacLaughlin, Brian Leach, Eric DeRossett, Raquel Vest (Boyce), Leslie Jarman, Barbara Burrows (Davolt), Laurie Nash (Fisher), Daniel Hicks, Stephanie Farmer (Lawson), Lisa Scott (Martin), Brad Taylor

Class of 1989 - Michael Davolt, Ashley Carpenter (Wilson), Matt Jones, Mark Penticuff, Rob Parsons, Jill Jones (Jackson), Brett Stottlemyre, Carrie Kallenbach (Gordon), Kahlie Brown (Krtek), Staci Garretson (Wendland), Emily Westervelt (Johnson)

Class of 1990 - Brandi Westmoreland (Wimsatt), Grady Davolt, Marian Derryberry, Sharon Long (Muir), Dawn Keeling (Petersen), Matt Roberts, John Vaughan, Marian Derryberry, Kim Beckler (Payne), Scott Emmert, Alma Adams (Lindsay)

Class of 1991 - Michelle Kirby (Darby), Shelly McMasters (Wyatt), Shannon Lightfoot, Tricia Myers (Pyle), Renee Morehouse (Jones), Jennifer Appleby (Follis), Julie Wollard (Trout), Ty Stephens (Smith)

If you are not a member of the Bolivar Grads Network yet, send me an email at JR@bolivargrads.com . Let me know where you are. Married? Children? Job?

As for recent updates:

Class of 1985

Susan Leaverton (LaBay) - I got an email from Susan asking me to put her on the Bolivar Grads Network so she can receive the weekly email. She sent the email from Roseville, CA and you can find her on the Bolivar Grads Map HERE. She didn't give me anymore information but I asked her to update us on what she is doing these days. Look for an update in the future.

Class of 1989

Emily Westervelt (Johnson) - Emily emailed me from Wilmington, DE where she lives with her husband and three children: Sven, Rebecca and Margaret. She graduated from California State University and is now working as a part-time Sales Rep for Hewlett-Packard. Emily also works part-time for a Industrial/Commercial Real Estate Agency in town. She said she has spoken with Carrie Kallenbach (Gordon) and Carol Cunningham (Cates) on occasion and gets a Christmas card every year from Matt Jones (and wife Anna). Emily also said she would love to hear from Shane Davolt and Lory Pulley. Can anyone help me track them down? Here is a great picture of Emily and her family!




Picture Updates

I have started a section on the Messageboard for current pictures. I love to see pictures of Bolivar Grads with their kids because you can see such a resemblence of your High School freinds in a new generation!

You can see updates for Tammy Brown (Jenkins) and Renee Morehouse (Jones) HERE.

Also, some people have told me that they have not read the Bolivar Grads Article because they do not have access to it. I posted a copy of it HERE on the Messageboards. You can get a free subscription to the Bolivar Herald Free Press Online HERE. It allows you to read the current articles and news. There is also a paid subscription that you can get which lets you search their archives.

Until Next Time

JR Mariottini
Class of 1988
JR@bolivargrads.com

More Updates!

It is just a few weeks before the NEW Bolivargrads.com will be rolled out to incorporate all Bolivar Graduates and that looks like it may include a new and different messageboard. After reviewing some other options I have found what appears to be a much better messageboard that is also FREE to build. The current one that we have in place I payed $20 for 4 months and it will come due in February. Not only is the new option free, but it has a lot of cool customizations that Janet Cline (Ward) has already created. What does that mean for current Messageboard members??? Well, unfortunately it means that you will have to register again at a later time. It will be a one time (and last time) process.

Last Friday I also chatted with some Bolivar Grads online or I called a lot of people to actually hear their voices for the first time in 15-18 years. It was nice talking with Janet Cline (Ward), Mick Simmons, Renee Jones (Morehouse), Stacy Garretson (Wendland), and Chris Redford. I have also chatted on Instant Message with Kim Salam, John (Chris) Smith, Chris Eyl and John Vaughan. I also tried contacting other people but either could not reach them or left a voice mail. I might be calling YOU next! The neat thing is, I would not have talked to most of these people if I did not start this little project. I hope everyone can stay in casual touch.

On another note - Mrs. Vincent (Parsons) is now my Editor. The teacher in her misses grading papers so she is now sending me emails with my spelling and grammatical errors so I can fix them. I told her that I don't proofread these posts, so I appreciate her help.

Class of 1986

Mick Simmons - I got Mick's work phone number at a Nissan Dealership in Kansas City, MO from Karen Myers (Ice) who ran into him there. I gave him a call last Friday and we talked for a bit. He is doing well there and has 3 boys. Mick and I talked about High School debate and reflected how amazing it was for a small little town like Bolivar was a debate powerhouse for several years under Mrs. Beryl Harris. People like Russ Jackson, David Crain, Will Westomoreland, Kelly Shay, Paul Penticuff, Mick and later myself all enjoyed success even against the larger Springfield Schools. It was cool to catch up with Mick and I forwarded him to Janet Cline (Ward) and Greg Greven for the 1986 reunion.

Lynette Bosak - I love how Lynette started her email : "Now I feel bad - I was contacted earlier and never took the time to respond. Walter Westervelt actually called from Germany last Friday [and told Lynette to contact me]". Thanks Walter! Now that is a cool way to get someone to contact me. After graduating from SMSU with a Degree in Accounting, Lynette remained in the Springfield area (Fair Grove). She is a CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) and a CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor) at Associated Electric. She doesn't have any children but loves to spoil her nieces and nephew. She is also a Lake Bum during the summers! Thanks for emailing me Lynette!

Class of 1987

Mike Miller - Mike emailed me from Edmond, OK where he lives with his wife Robin and 2 year old son Grayson. He works for the FAA as an Operations Inspector and Robin is a Pediatric Physical Therapist. Mike likes coming to the site and seeing what everyone is up to these days. He also reminded me that we were neighbors in Prairie Heights in Bolivar. He also travels up my way to Chicago occasionaly, so we will have to get together for lunch sometime! If you would like to see a picture of Mike, he posted one on the Bolivar Grads Map. You can see it by clicking HERE and if you have not added yourself yet...do it! At the time of this post we had 47 Grads on the Map. Can we get to 60?

Lisa Gray (Wolfe) - I mentioned Lisa in the last post, but she sent me an email with some updated information. She is living in Overland Park, KS with her husband Chris and 4 great kids in Darby 15, Lauren 8, Margaret 7, and Christopher 6. She stayed at home with the kids until this year when Christopher went to kindergarten. Now Lisa works at Shawnee MissionWest High School as a Nurses Aide. She gets to take her kids to school and pick them up, so the hours are great! She is also a Girl Scout leader for her 9 year old. I think Lisa needs to send us a picture of her and her kids! She also created her first post on the Messageboard, so everybody say hello to Lisa HERE.

Class of 1988

Brad Taylor - Brad is another one that started his email about how Jeremy MacLaughlin had told him to come to the site a month ago and he finally made it around to the site. Thats great, we will take you anytime! Brad is in Bolivar where he lives with his wife Suzanne Farmer (Taylor) (Class of 1989) and their 3 children Jacob 10, Bryson 9, and Kara 5. Make sure to send us some pictures Brad and we will see you on the Messageboards.

Class of 1990

Scott Emmert - I actually got an email from Annabelle Emmert, Scott's wife. She had heard about the sight from an email from Sharon Long (Muir). Annabelle said that Scott is computer illiterate, which I believe is not uncommon! Seriously I belive that there are a lot of Bolivar Grads that may or may not know about this site, but it will not be from an email that I hear from them because they don't mess with computers. Thanks for sending me the email on behalf of him Annabelle! Together they have 2 children from his first marriage in Daiwa 10 and Brandon 7 and Annabelle has 3 children in Ethan 7, Mollie 4 and Everett 2. So they have quite the "clan" as she put it. Scott works for Ozark Fire Protection as a Sprinklerfitter and travels all over the state doing installations, inspections and repairs. He also spends a lot of time on the Lake in Fishing Tournaments. Now that sounds exciting!

Alma Adams (Lindsay) - Alma emailed me from Bolivar after reading about the site in the Bolivar Herald Free Press article. She has been married to Matt Lindsay (Class of 1992) for almost 7 years and together they have a 2 year old daughter named Payten. Alma is an Assistant Vice President at Bank of Bolivar and she and Matt live in a house that they built just south of Bolivar. Alma said that she also works with Kevin Cribbs (Class of 1990). Recently she has seen Brian West (Class of 1986), Kelly Meyers (Class of 1987) and Rob Fraser (Class of 1990). Send them this way Alma!

Picture Updates

Here are some pictures that have been sent to me recently. I hope to receive more soon.

David Rash and Family



Carrie Kallenbach (Gordon) and Family



I might start doing a few posts that have no updates but just some whimsical things that I thought would be High School related and funny. When I was talking with John Vaughan the other day, I told him my idea about transcribing all of the entries that people wrote into my yearbooks and putting them into a spreadsheet. Then I would run some statistical analysis of how many times people said things like:

"I am really glad I got to know you this year"
"You are a really sweet guy"
and "Keep in Touch"

Just some stupid things I am thinking about doing. I am also up for any ideas someone may have. So let me know.

If you are a Bolivar Graduate and have not contacted me yet, email me at JR@bolivargrads.com . Or if you are Computer Illiterate, give me a call at 630-841-5129. By doing so, you will become a member of the Bolivar Grads Network and will receive my weekly email that I send out every Friday. Some people have told me they really like getting that email and seeing the summary of what has happened for the week.

I will be talking to some of you soon!

JR Mariottini
Class of 1988
JR@bolivargrads.com

I have seen the future...

...and it is good!

BolivarGrads.com will be undergoing a major change in January! As I have mentioned before, I have been looking at some options that would not only accomodate all BolivarGrads on the Messageboard, but also on this site as well. So, we could have updates on what Bolivar High School Graduates are up to from EVERY graduating class. Luckily I work for a Technology company with many great minds. I mentioned my dilemna to a few developers a few weeks back and they said they could build something to accomodate my needs.

So...yesterday I saw a prototype of what BolivarGrads can look like and I was thrilled! I will be purchasing a license for a Commercial Blogging Software Package that will allow us to do what we want and more. If I were to describe what I saw, the main page would be a full list of updates on individual Bolivar Grads. It would be much like what you see today when I update what people are doing. But each person would have their own update and it would be placed into a category by the Graduation Year. That way, if you want to come to the main page and not read about people you don't know from a different era, you can simply click on a Graduating year and see all the updates from that year alone! Now to do this, I still will ask for some help from Bolivar Grads who would like to Volunteer. Things like answering emails, creating an update for a Bolivar Grad, and sending information to someone who wants to join the messageboard. I also would like to know who might have some HTML expertise and may ask for some help from our Graphic Designers to help "snazzy" up the look. You will hear more from this as December moves along.

I already have my first two Volunteers to help with administration. First Elaina Daniels (Kates) (Class of 1994) who I have mentioned in a recent post has been active already on the Messageboards. She has volunteered to help with her era.

The second person that volunteered was really cool to hear from! It was Mrs. Jean Parsons (now Mrs. Vincent). Yep, most of us remember her as our American History Teacher -- Mrs. Parsons! She is remarried to another Bolivar Grad in David Vincent (Class of 1964) and is currently living in Greenbelt, Maryland where David works for the USDA Research Center. Mrs. Vincent (I just can't call you Jean!) has been doing some part-time substitute teaching but her real love has been her volunteer work at the National Archives working with old Military Records and giving tourists the tour! In April, 2006 David will be retiring and the Vincents will be heading back to Bolivar for good. I want to thank Mrs. Vincent for volunteering to answer some emails for me when the new site is ready.

Some new contacts in:

Class of 1985

Walter Westervelt - Walter emailed me just this morning after hearing about the site from his sister Emily Westervelt (Class of 1989) (I need to hear from her too!). Walter is living in Frankfurt, Germany where he is working for Siemens AG. Since graduating from SMSU he said he has lost touch with Bolivar Grads with the exception of John Samek. Walter said he would love to hear from Bolivar Grads Emily Pace and Jay Stevens and also asked about some of his favorite teachers like Mrs. Smashey, Mrs Whatley and Art Stevens. I will try and track them all down for you Walter and give you an update. Thanks for the email!

Class of 1987

Lisa Gray (Wolfe) - I got a brief email from Lisa. She thought the website was great and wanted to get access to the Messageboards. I will send her the instructions and try to learn more about what she is up to and give you an update.

Class of 1988

Stephanie Farmer (Lawson) - Stephanie was on the Bolivar Grads Most Wanted list from a previous post. I will now mark her as "Found". She lives in Bolivar still with her two beautiful daughters Ashley Ann 11 and Nicole Rae 8 and their Yorkie named "Biscuit". She attended SBU for a time but finished her B.S. in Human Resource Management at SMSU in 1993. Stephanie worked at HealthMEDX in Ozark for a few years but is currently working at McKesson in Springfield as a Project Support Analyst. She loves her job but said she is still trying to figure out what she wants to do when you "grows up" (I know exactly what you mean). Stephanie is facing some tough times right now as the health of both of her parents is breaking down. I know this is something we all will face at some point but it is never easy. Lets all keep Stephanie in our thoughts and prayers. Thank you for emailing Steph and lets see some pictures of you with your girls sometime.

Lisa Scott (Martin) - Lisa recently moved back to Bolivar from Tampa Bay, Florida where she was spoiled on the December weather there! She lives in Bolivar with her husband Billy and and kids Derek 14, Sierra 11, Billy 5 and Grayson 4. Lisa has been an over the road Truck Driver for the past 9 years until she was in an accident in August when another truck ran off the road and hit her. She has now slowed down and stays home full time with the kids. Lisa said that her daughter, Grayson, has Cerebral Palsy and that Sarah Leininger (Jones) has been working with her as a therapist and has been doing a WONDERFUL job. The last thing Lisa said is that she would love to hear from people now that she is back in Bolivar!

I also heard from some other Bolivar Grads that want to be a part of the Messageboards. They include:

Class of 1963 - Olle Jobe
Class of 1963 - Jerry Harris
Class of 1996 - Emily McGlone
Class of 1996 - Amanda Orrell

See you guys there!

Requests
I have a few requests for the Bolivar Grads Readers.

• If you have not added yourself to the Bolivar Grads Map yet, please do. It takes 10 seconds to put in your name, and zipcode and a little message. A picture is optional. You can see the Map HERE.
• If you know where any of the current Bolivar Grads most wanted are, please have them send me an email at JR@bolivargrads.com . Currently I am searching for Kasey Stewart, Lory Pulley, Christina Babb, Kristy Glover, Christy Hagerman, Amy Jump, Heather Moore, Marcia Miller, Malissa Davis, Julie Moffett, Brenda Stevens, and Emily Pace. I am going to add some new ones here since Bolivar Grads have asked for them specifically. Jay Stevens, Shannon Hodges, Allen Crabtree, Tricia Crippin, Becky Crain, and Betty Baker. If there is a certain Bolivar Grad you would like to get in touch with, let me know so we can focus on tracking them down.
• Pictures! Many people have told me how much they enjoy seeing pictures! So send me a recent picture of you and your family. Also, it is really fun to go back and look at pictures of us from the High School days. If you have pictures from High School, scan them and email them or send me some copies in the mail and I will scan them. Don't let them collect dust! Chris Eyl just sent me some pictures that he scanned and I posted them in the Bolivar Messageboard Forum for Old High School Pictures. Look at these and tell me if you can recognize some of the other Bolivar Grads HERE.

People who have contacted me get an email every Friday as part of the Bolivar Grads Network Email. If you have not contacted me, make sure to send me an email with your contact info so I can include you.

Until Next Time!

JR Mariottini

Class of 1988

JR@bolivargrads.com

Bolivar Grads Messageboard Opened Up

Well the article in the Bolivar Herald Free Press has definitely helped in getting people to notice Bolivar Grads. A few people have emailed me to let me know that they saw it in the paper.

One email I received was from David Hutcheson from Charlotte, NC. He is a graduate from Bolivar High School, Class of 1955! He found our website by reading the online addition of the newspaper article. He has been building a database of ALL Bolivar Graduates both living and deceased. He said has built his database up to Class of 1983 and then his information becomes incomplete. His sister, Jean Hutcheson (Raney) (Class of 1956) provided some updated information from the ALL School Reunion this summer. Sylvia Simmons (Thomas) (Class of 1954) who has retired in Bolivar is also helping to furnish data as a result of her volunteer position at the Polk County Genealogical Society. So if you graduated in the Class of 1984-2005 and can provide me a list of who was in your graduating class, I will forward that to Mr. Hutcheson.

Mr. Hutcheson had also hoped for some website that would allow Bolivar Grads to contact each other. So, I have decided to open up the Bolivar Grads Messageboard to ALL Bolivar Graduates, regardless of the year they graduated. If you are a Bolivar Graduate, email me at JR@bolivargrads.com and I will forward you instructions and a password to join the messageboards. As far as this Blog, I will continue to still only give updates on Graduates from 1985-1991 while I look for options to accomadate other classes. I may be asking for volunteers to help at a later time.

Here are a few updates this week:

Class of 1985

Sarah Leininger (Jones) - I was excited to hear from Sarah. I only knew for a year or so, but I had a lot of fun getting to know her at First Baptist Church Events. She was informed about the website from Eric DeRossett. Sarah lives in Bolivar and just celebrated her 15 year Anniversary to her husband, Tom Jones. Together they have 4 children in Madelynne (12), Abigail (10), Sam (7) and John (5). Besides being a full time Mom, Sarah works two days a week at CMH as a pediatric physical therapist. Sarah told me a funny story about how time flies! When her son Sam found out a couple of years ago that his teacher would be Amy Whatley (Roberts), Sarah told him that he would definitely like her because she is nice. Sam asked his Mom how she knew Mrs. Roberts and Sarah replied "Because I used to babysit her when I was in High School!". My how time flies when you are having fun.
Take a look at the picture of Sarah and Me in High School HERE. Her kids gave her a hard time about her hair. :) And take a look at the great looking Jones Family today!



Class of 1990

Kim Beckler (Payne) - Kim emailed me from Bolivar where she lives with her husband, Jeff Payne (Class of 1989). Together they have 3 children in Mary Beth 9, Mason 5 and Mia 2. Kim went to college and studied Biology and Chemistry and she now works at a Laboratory in town. Jeff and Kim now own a new business in town that specializes in Natural Meat and Gourmet Food. After 7 years at Coca-Cola Jeff decided that he had enough injuries and they started down the road to start their business. A couple of years ago the Paynes built their own house on 50 acres outside of town and they love it. They still actively spend time with Bolivar Grads like Teresa Mitchell (Holt), Jamie Laird (Shay), Tracy Wakefield (Hillenburg), Dawn Keeling (Petersen), Amy Sellers (Hubbert), Ashley Howlett (Miller Zolkowski), Lynn McFarland (Ward), Amber Ferguson, LeWane Mashburn, Tom Campbell, Jack and Jennifer Follis, Darryl Brannon, and Todd Lindsey. Send them this way Kim!

Class of 1991

Ty Stephens (Smith) - Ty emailed me from Bolivar after reading about the site in the newspaper. He is married to Misty (who he met while living in Dallas) who works for his dad at Stephens Studio in town. Ty is a High School Social Studies teacher for the Bolivar Alternative School (which serves 14 districts). It is actually in the old High School building that we went to and his classroom is in Mrs. Morehouses old typing classroom. Hmm. When did this happen? I will have to catch up with Ty. Ty is also a basketball coach for the 8th grade boys team. He said he is going to send me some pictures real soon. We look forward to them Ty!

Some updated pictures recently forwarded to me!

Tim and Erica Noyes Family



Kim Salam (Warren's) Girls



Sharon Long (Muir) and son Ethan




If you are a Bolivar Grad and have not contacted me yet, send me an email at JR@bolivargrads.com and let me know what you are up to these days. Also I will send you instructions of how to join our messageboards.

Until Next Time!

JR Mariottini
Class of 1988
JR@bolivargrads.com

BolivarGrads.com Featured In Local Newspaper

BolivarGrads.com was featured in the Friday edition of the Bolivar Herald-Free Press. Editor Charlotte Marsch did a great job with the story and hopefully that will lead us directly or indirectly to some more Bolivar Grads. You can read the story HERE.

I have already heard from 2 people who have read the story. First I heard from Elaina Daniels (Kates) (Class of 1994) who read the article and loved the idea of the site. She wanted to know about Grads from her era -- Grads of 1992 and down. Well right now I am not currently tracking them down, however, I may open up the site to ALL BolivarGrads. That would be a major undertaking though because I would have to go from a "Blog" style site to a truly information website that would allow updates to be classified into Graduating years. I would also need volunteers from every "era" to maintain a section, because I just don't have the time to do it. It can be done though, and I will look into it.

The other person I heard from was Libby Friend (Farrell) (Class of 1984). She also read the article and gave me some great information. She also gave me the email addresses for Phil Friend (Class of 1985) and Melissa Friend (Fenton) (Class of 1987). I will contact them and try and get updates.

I have not heard from anyone new from our target range of 1985-1991 since my last post, but I am sure the Holidays have a lot to do with it. I really hope to hear from the people I posted in Bolivar Grads Most Wanted earlier. Since it worked for Terri Hoffman (Barngrover), I will post a few more that I hope to hear from soon!

MISSING!......MISSING!


MISSING!.........MISSING!


MISSING!........MISSING!




The First Bolivar Chat Session!

The first Bolivar Chat Session happened on Tuesday night. We had 4 people turn out for it and at first I wondered if we would have much conversation since it was 4 people who didn't know each other too well. We had David Rash (Class of 1986), Tammy Brown (Jenkins) (Class of 1987), Kim Salam (Warren) (Class of 1988), and myself. We all logged in and ended up chatting for 40 minutes and it FLEW! We all admitted that we had a suprisingly great time as we caught up and talked about Bolivar. Next time we all agreed that we would like to at lease double the attendance, but we figured the Holiday week was a factor in the low turnout. I had emails from a few people who said they could not attend because they were travelling or getting ready to travel for Thanksgiving. Perhaps next time.

Hope to hear from more Grads soon!

JR Mariottini
Class of 1988
JR@bolivargrads.com

We Gear Up For The First Bolivar Chat Session

Tomorrow night, Tuesday November 21st will be our first Bolivar Chat Session on the Bolivar Messageboards from 8:00pm - 8:30pm CST. We can create rooms for up to 25 people to hang out, chat, and catch up. You will need to go to the messageboard and look up to the top left hand corner. There is a an option to "Join Live Chat" with a Chat Bubble Next to it. Click on that and it should put you into the Chat Room. I hope to see a good group there tomorrow! You must be a registered member of the messageboards and that means you need me to send you the instructions if you are not a member of the Bolivar Grads Network yet. If you have any thoughts about joining, send me an email and ask for he instructions and password.
JR@bolivargrads.com

A few people have contacted me over the past 3 days.

Class of 1986

Lori Voris (Buckner) - Lori heard about the website from Kahlie Brown (Krtek) (I think I need to put Kahlie in charge of marketing. I think that is 3 people referred by her). Lori still lives in Bolivar, about 13 miles north in the big town of Rondo with her husband of 13 years in Lloyd Buckner (Class of 1982). They own a farm in Rondo and live with their two children Mikayla 9 and Lance 7. Lori is teaching 1st Grade at the Bolivar Primary School and Lloyd is a farmer. Lori remembered sitting behind me in Mrs. Neuharts Biology Class and said she could always depend on me for a good laugh. Lori it was pretty easy really considering it was Mrs. Neuharts Biology Class. :) Thanks for emailing me and send some pictures of you and your family to us!

Class of 1987

Jim Jones - Jim emailed me from Overland Park, KS where he lives with his wife Angela. They have been married for 6 years and have a 2 year old son Luke and a daughter named Lilly on the way (Dec. 27th). Congratulationas! Looks like a welcome addition for Christmas and another tax break for 2006! Jim has been a Sales Rep for a paper company for the past 10 years and Angela stays home with Luke. He has also kept in close contact with Kyle Hatfield (Class of 1987) and was going to forward the site on to him. Jim also mentioned that he enjoyed seeing what everyone was up to these days and that is a common theme that I hear. Thanks for emailing Jim.

Terri Hoffman (Barngrover) - I love how Terri started her email. "I have to admit that I am one of the guilty ones that has been looking at your web site for a few weeks and have not taken the time, until now, to send you an email. I think I was motivated by the Most Wanted posting." Terri, I am positive that you are not alone. Hopefully a few more people will contact me. Terri emailed me from Springfield, MO where she lives with her Jon, her husband of 2 1/2 years. She said he is really a great guy. Together they have a 10 month old boy named Evan. Terri has worked at Jack Henry and Associates since 2000 and manages the Education Group for their Core Director, Banker II, and Banker E products. She does a bit of travelling with her job and this summer she will be coming to Chicago (West Chicago actually) for a customer rollout. That is only 20 minutes away from me so I hope to see her if time permits. Terri attached two pictures for me. The first picture is of her and her new family. The other picture she said was taken for this site. On Saturday night it was "Girls Night Out!" in Springfield and they all met at Terri's house afterwards. Do you recognize Jennifer Potts (Randolph), Terri, Laurie Morehouse (Ball), Malissa Davis (Julien), Sheri Hobbs (Hess), Christy Hagerman (Mitchell), Kim Vest (Jarman), and Missy Spiegel (Burks)? Thanks for taking the moment to finally email me Terri and a special thanks for the pictures!





Deceased Bolivar Grads

In a recent post I mentioned some Bolivar Grads that have passed on since we had graduated. A few of you sent me emails and informed me of some more, but then I got several emails saying "I didn't know X person passed away. How and When did this happen." I don't know those answers, so I am hoping all of you can help me fill in the missing pieces to let everyone who is concerned know what happened. I have started a new thread on the messageboard HERE and would appreciate if you can post any additional information you might have. I wish they could all be here today to share stories of High School with us on Bolivar Grads.

Tom Endrizzi
Class of 1988
Sept. 12, 1969 - November 3, 1987



Other Notes

• There are a couple of polls up on the messageboards. If you have a moment click on your choices. You can find them HERE.
• The Bolivar Grads Map is HERE. Add yourself by entering your name and zip code.
• I am in search of High School candid photos to post on the messageboard. You probably have a box that is collecting dust of some photos from Sporting Events, Dances, Homecoming or Courtwarming, Church Events, Senior Trips, or simply just around school. Instead of them collecting the dust, let's put them to use! Scan those pictures and send them in, or if you want to make copies and mail them to me, email me and I will send you my address and I will put them up. I am putting them in the High School Pictures forum on the messageboard HERE!
• Someone noticed that the Archive Logs were not working properly over on the right hand column. Thank you for pointing that out. I have fixed them now. If anyone notices something not working, please let me know.

Lots of fun things to do on the Messageboards when you are bored at home or at work (I do not officially condone taking away from work time. :P ) Our goal is to have 100 registered members for it to be a viable online Bolivar Grads Community. Right now we stand at 30 registered members.

I hope to see you tomorrow night in the Chat Room!

JR Mariottini

Class of 1988

JR@bolivargrads.com

A Post For Friday

I just wanted to post a few more people that have contacted me in the past two days before I send out the Weekly Friday Email. For those of you who have not contacted me yet, every Friday I send out an email to the Bolivar Grads Network. This is everyone who has contacted me and that I have an email for. This way they get updates of who I have talked to and who is "In Network". So if they see someone they would like to contact in the Network, they can email me and I get them in contact.

Class of 1987

John Kallenbach - John emailed me from Bolivar where he lives with his Marie Kincaid (Class of 1991) and eight month old daughter, Elena. Together they own A-1 Tool, a manufacturing company of Paintless Dent Removal tools which are used to remove hail damage and door dings from automobiles. John also has the title of being "Of Counsel" with the law firm Douglas, Haun & Heidemann. He explained to me that being "Of Counsel" is a sophisticated way of saying "part-time". (I did not know that, I learn something every day). Previous to having their daughter, Maria taught 3-4 grades in Bolivar for 5 years, sold Real Estate and became a licensed cosmetologist. John said that he works with Jeff Howe (Class of 1987) at A-1 Tool and occasionally sees Lynn Coffey, Joe Follis, John Porter, and Tony Hitchcock. He told me some of the cool things that they do, but I am hoping to hear from them so I can update everyone. The last thing that John said was that he had seen the pop-up for Classmates.com but always wished there was a better forum to keep in touch with people. I say Amen to that! That is one of the biggest reasons I have spent the time to put this together, and it is free for everyone!

Denise Crain (Jenkins) - Denise was forwarded my site by Johnna Vaughan (Lynch), who I am waiting to hear from myself. I used to bump into Denise frequently in Springfield while I was going to SMS. She lives in Frisco, TX which is just north of Dallas with her husband Jeff and two daughters Ashley 4 and Abigail 3 weeks! She has been in Texas now for 8 years and loves it. She is a Tax Manager at Pepsico in Plano, TX. Denise doesn't make it back to Bolivar often but does keep in touch with Johnna and Kira Lower (Bradley). I used to sit in front of Kira and Lori Voris (Class of 1986) in Biology and would love to hear from both of them! Send some pictures Denise!

Jill Wilkinson - Now Jill I used to see all the time in Springfield. She has sent me two emails already, but I don't know anything about what she is doing! I hope to hear more from her so I can let you all know soon.

Class of 1989

Staci Garretson (Wendland) - Carrie Kallenbach (Gordon) told Staci about the website so she emailed me from Bolivar where she lives with her husband and two sons Tanner 8 and Dayne 6. She also has a step-son in Kyle 13. She was telling me how things have turned out differently than she expected after she graduated from High School. She chickened out of going to Oklahoma State (Don't worry Staci, I was all teed up to go to Baylor University and then I chickened out about 3 weeks before classes started) and went to SBU (So did I, initially) where she got her degree in Math. Staci runs the Office for her parents at Garreston Trash Services and she also teaches at the Dance Studio, Center Stage Dance Academy in Bolivar. She teaches 3 classes that are for young kids (4-7), juniors (8-12), and adult (13 - up). Staci said that she has talked to some of the girls in the area that were on the Bolivar Cheerleading squad or Drill team to sign up for the Adult class and they would call it "I Can Still Do That!" Both of her siblings Trudi Garreston (Class of 1985) and Greg Garretson (Class of 1988) live in Bolivar. She also still sees Paul Long, Brady & Missy (Morrow) Vestal, Mark Roberts, Kelli Moffett (Blankenship), Cammie Selvey (Wine), and Lynn McFarland (Ward). She also has a lot of Bolvar Grads children in her dance classes. Hopefully she can tell them to contact me. Staci told me she was going to send me some recent pictures soon, but in the meantime, I opened my vault of pictures and found only one picture of Staci. For some reason, I bet she looks much different!



While I was in the VAULT, I thought I would post a couple of more pictures of People I would like to hear from! Maybe I will start a section called BOLIVAR GRADS MOST WANTED and I will post pictures of them until I hear from them. Can anyone get these people to email me? JR@bolivargrads.com


MISSING! Found!



MISSING! MISSING!



MISSING! MISSING!



Found! MISSING!



Why do I only post girls pictures you ask? Because not too many guys ran down to my locker saying "I signed a picture for you JR!" I have like 200 pictures in "the Vault" and maybe 10 are of guys.

Don't forget, there is a Bolivar Grads Chat Session scheduled for next Tuesday from 8:00pm - 8:30pm CST on the Bolivar Messageboards. You need to be a registered member to participate. If you need instructions of how to join, email me and I will send them to you.

Until Next Time!

JR Mariottini
Class of 1988
JR@bolivargrads.com

Exciting News for Bolivargrads.com

Well it has been awhile since my last real post. I am feeling great today and ready to keep networking with Bolivar Grads.

First, I got some exciting news the other day. I received an email from Charlotte Marsch who is the Editor of the Bolivar Herald Free Press. Someone had brought this site to her attention and after browsing through it she decided it may make a good story for the paper. She sent several questions that I answered and we can only hope that it makes it to print. She also mentioned that she wanted to interview some of the people that have made contact with me and what they think of the site. The #1 reason that I would love to see a story run on Bolivar Grads is because I know there are many Graduates who have left the Bolivar area but their parents or family members still live in Bolivar. If they see the story, then hopefully they will have their kids contact me and get into the network. Time will tell. Thank you to whoever forwarded my site to her.

I heard from a few people since my last post, so let me share with you who they are.

Class of 1986

David Rash - David emailed me from Bolivar where he works for Tracker Marine as a CAD operator. David was in the Army for 8 1/2 years and served with his brother Daniel Rash in Operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and Desert Calm. He has 4 children in Jonathon, Matthew, Trevett, Ashley and 1 more on the way in June of 2006. David said that he works with Steve Skopec (class of 1987). Thanks for contacting me David!

Now David said some things that I find interesting. He said that he visits the site recently but never got in touch with me until now. I have a feeling that there are many more like you David. I just hope they drop me an email soon! The other thing he said was "You probably don't remember me" It is amazing how many people have said that to me, but the truth is I remember everybody! Especially someone like David who has a brother that was in my grade. I have 4 yearbooks sitting here at my desk, and if I can't recall a name, all I have to do is see a picture and I always say "Oh yea, I remember walking down the hall and seeing her/him". If you enjoy reading the site but have not contacted me because you think I won't remember who you are, trust me, I will remember.

Class of 1988

Barbara Burrows (Davolt) - Barbara emailed me from Bolivar where she lives with her husband of 17 years, Paul Davolt (from Stockton). Together they have two boys in Phillip 15 and Joey 10. Paul recently graduated from law school and is with the Malkmus Law Firm in Springfield and Barbara is the Public Administrator for Polk County. She ran for office last year and won! She is a guardian for people who have disabilities and also handles some descendants' estates. She loves what she is doing. She still sees Lisa Scott (Martin), Jeremy MacLaughlin, Lewane Mashburn and Mary Ann Callaway around. (Interesting note- Barbara said that they have always lived in Bolivar except for 2 years she lived in California while Paul served in Desert Storm. That got me wondering how many of our Bolivar Graduates served in Desert Storm. A topic for another time)

Class of 1989

Carrie Kallenbach (Gordon) - It was fun to hear from Carrie. She heard about the site from Kahlie Brown (Krtek). Carrie is living in Belmont, California (in between San Francisco and San Jose) where she lives with her husband John and daughter Eleanor 2. They also have another one on the way in March. Carrie works as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. Now Carrie brought up some stories from High School that I can't wait to chat with her about further. Also, I was out in San Francisco on business in September for 8 days! If I had know she lived in the Bay Area, I would have arranged to meet her and her hubby out for Dinner one night! Next time Carrie! Send pictures too.

Class of 1990

Marian Derryberry - Marian emailed me from Boston, MA where she lives. She didn't tell me too much except that she enjoys coming to the site and reading about everyone. She did send this picture of her and her son Miles along with Carrie Kallenbach (Gordon) and daughter Eleanor when they visited Boston. Two Bolivar Grads living on opposite coasts that still keep in contact. That is cool! Thanks for the picture Marian!




Class of 1991

Jennifer Appleby (Follis) - Jennifer heard about the site from Michelle Kirby (Darby). She lives in Bolivar with her husband of 8 years Jack Follis (Class of 1989). Together they have 2 kids in Jacey 6 and Jackson 4. They also have one on the way in June! Congratulations. Jennifer graduated from SMSU with a Bachelors and Masters in Social Work and worked for Family Services for 3 years. She stopped when they had their first child, but she is partners in a clothing store on the Bolivar Square called Westide For Her. Jack owns H&H Farm Products and he has been there for 13 years now. A couple of years ago they built a house on the edge Jennifers parents farm (in Cliquot). She sent me an email last Wednesday and they were preparing to go to Disneyland on Thursday where they go every year. Jennifer keeps in regular contact with Michelle Kirby (Darby), Sarah Hoffstetter (Parrott), Betsy Cribbs (Berry), Kasey Stewart (Sallee), Kami Stanley (Macias), Cyrie Coover (Cunningham), and Tracy Wakefield (Hillenburg). Jennifer noticed in an earlier post how Jon Esterline and I were tracking Liberator Football this year. Her nephew is Brayden Payne, a junior runningback for the team. They took a tough loss last week to Cassville in Sectionals ending the Liberators season. A real heartbreak she said, but they were fun to watch. Send some pictures Jennifer!

Julie Wollard (Trout) - Julie is one of the dozen or so that started her email with " I doubt you remember me but...". Of course I remember you. We went to First Baptist Church together and did all the same activities together. I remember you Julie! :) She lives northwest of Bolivar with her husband of 12 years now, Brian. They met while attending SBU where Julie got her degree in History. They have two sons in Christian 8 and Jonathan 4. Julies parents live across the street from them. (I hope Brian likes the in-laws!). Julie volunteers at the Polk County Genealogical Society Library in Bolivar. The Society bought the old Public Library that was on the square when the Library built a new building 5 years ago. She is the treasurer for the genealogy society and in her free time she helps people trace their family history (Good to know). Brian works for John Kallenbach (Class of 1989) at A-1 Tool Inc. John is married to Maria Kincaid (Class of 1991) and one of Julie's best friends. (Have either one of them contact me Julie). Thanks for contacting me Julie and send some pictures soon!

That was it for the week. I am relying on all of you to help me track down people and get in contact with me. If you have a sibling or good friend that is a Bolivar Grad, have them spend 3 minutes to drop me an email and let me know what they are up to these days.

Requests:

Messageboard - The Bolivar Message Board is now at 25 Members! That is awesome because my goal is to have 100 people sign up for it to really make it a cool community.
Next Tuesday from 8:00pm - 8:30pm CST we are going to have a Bolivar Grads Chat Session. The messageboard allows us to create a Chat Room for up to 25 people to chat and have a good time. I hope to have the room filled to the Max if possible, but you have to be a REGISTERED member of the boards to participate. If you need the instructions of how to register, send me an email and I will send it to you.

Bolivar Grads Map - If you have not done so yet, take 10 seconds to put yourself on the Bolivar Grads Map by clicking HERE. It just helps us visualize how spread out we are and who might live close to us. You don't even need to contact me to be a part of that. For example Scott Emmert, Will Westmoreland, and Amy Wollard (McHolland) have not contacted me, but put themselves on the map. That is great, it lets me know that people are coming to the site and enjoying it even if they have not sent me an email!

High School Pictures - I am requesting anyone who might have candid pictures of Bolivar Graduates during the High School years to either post them on the Bolivar Messageboard or send them to me so I can post them for you. The Forum for High School Pictures is HERE and I would love to see more on there so we can go down memory lane some time.

The Deceased - Over the past month I have learned that some of the people we grew up with and went to Bolivar High School with have moved on. Ronda Fink (Riden) let me know about Mike McGowan, Carrie Kallenbach (Gordon) informed me about Mark Garrett and Julie Wollard (Trout) told me about Shawn Degraffenreid. I have put together a Class Tracker on the Messageboard that you can see HERE. I have made a note of those that are now Deceased. If you know someone that has passed on, please let me know. I want to do something to honor those that we have lost, but I still thinking of ideas. Thanks.

Until Next Time!

JR Mariottini
Class of 1