This is what I hope will become the first in a series of articles. John Newquist attended University Park Elementary and forwarded photos and memories from those years. I hope that others will want to contribute photos and stories about their school days for future newsletters. The photos and stories below are from John:

The Town

University Park began its corporate existence on August 3, 1936, being acquired from the Riverdale Realty Corporation. My parents moved there from Washington DC in December, 1950. Knowing that Northwestern High School would open in 1951, one of their motives was that we would be living within walking distance of all the schools I would need to attend (elementary through the University of Maryland). I have early memories of my house under construction and of 40th Avenue being paved to only a house or two above mine, just shy of Emily Coker's. The "woods" to us at that time were just a block or so above Frank Murray's house. Adelphi Road was then called Colesville Road and the Heurich Estate tract (west of Adelphi Rd and south of NHS) was undeveloped (before PG Plaza and Belcrest Rd) and we were forbidden to go there (mostly, I believe, our parents didn't want us crossing the busy 2-lane Colesville Road).

University Park Elementary School

Deed covenants restricted commercialization so the school was the focal point for town activities. We had a 1/2 day kindergarten to which most of us walked and the school had a fully-equipped playground - swings, parallel bars, etc. Even at this age, most of us walked unsupervised to school. The town sponsored a "summer playground" at the school with organized handcraft activities and board games (e.g., Carroms, which I was GOOD at!). Third grade was a big deal because I was old enough to join Cub Scout Pack 214. Not only did Pack 214 take us to Philadelphia and Valley Forge; Den 5 also went to see a Senators versus Red Sox baseball game! (I still have the program and scorecard and Ted Williams got 3 walks and 3 hits!) More importantly, we had our own organized inter-Pack softball games and Pack 214 was REALLY GOOD!

Pack 214 1956 Cub Scout Softball team. L to R: Robert Beckman, John Newquist, Richard Savage,

Jim Cutting, Billy Marr, Delmar Bluehm, Kenny Temple, Larry Pearson, Robbie "Star" Taylor, Skipper Blankenship

Mrs. Bolton's 6th Grade Class

Mrs. Bolton's 1959 6th grade was really formative. First, I discovered I was nearsighted so I was more than happy to put up with the inconvenience of glasses. Second, we studied rocks (zoom in on the back wall) which inspired Bill Cordua to a geology professorship in later years. Third, I observed that the storage area in the desks, when cleared of books, made an excellent airplane hangar - where I neatly parked exactly 30 handcrafted paper airplanes of my design and, on the last day of school, rapidly launched all of them into the classroom (the Navy refers to that as an Alpha Strike). Others picked them up and re-launched them and the air show continued for minutes. The real humor was that when Mrs. Bolton returned from a brief absence there were many airplanes still soaring, some were decoratively stuck in the wall posters, and Janet Ramsen, of all people, was caught red-handed holding on to one. I knew better. After my initial launching I disengaged completely and started twiddling my thumbs and pretending to be minding my own business. (I was GOOD at that too!) I'm sure this is why I went on to become an Aero Engineer.

Class members: 1st row: Billy Absher, Rosemary Taff, Gary Davis, Marjorie Gray, Elisa Bragunier, 2d row: Camile Kauffman, Richard Savage, John Newquist, Arnold Parreco, 3d row: Cindy Woodell, Linda Schmedegaard, Nancy Crowther, Janet Ramsen, Jimmy Cutting, 4th row: John Manwaring, Bill Cordua, Vernon Chappelear, Bobbi Purks, Robert Dowell, Janice Atwood, 5th row: Joyce Bass, Charles Gienger, Ronnie Shnider, Standing: Diane Ayres, Chip Ambrose, Janice Hawkins, Gary Schwartz, Dwight Gentry, Mrs, Bolton. Not shown Phil Volland, Carlyle (Henri) deLozier and perhaps others.

The 6th Grade Championship Softball Game

6th grade should have been a fun year. But, in addition to losing my dad to leukemia, we failed to beat Mr. Toohey's class to win the school softball championship. Look at the team we had: Arnie Parreco catching, Savage pitching, Cutting at 1st, me at 2d and deLozier at short, and Chip Ambrose at 3d - an airtight infield with a stunning double play combination. We also had Volland, Gienger, Gentry, Dowell, Shnider and Chappelear holding down the outfield. All we had to do was show up; they would freeze. We even had the best cheerleaders: Hawkins, Schmedegaard, Woodell and Crowther... Further, we went in to the last inning up 4-0 and then, somehow we let Franklin, Gronert, Murray, Hoffman, Sheelsley, Frew, Jim Smith, Page and others catch up. The game ended in a 4-4 tie. What a bummer that school year was.

Mr. Toohey's 6th grade class.

Many thanks to John Newquist for the photos and memories. And if anyone from Mr. Toohey's class can remember all the names of class members please let us know. John's memory is fantastic but not perfect. Thanks again, John.

John Newquist, then and now.

Ed Lee

ON THE TRAIL OF THE CLASS OF '65

Where do you start, four decades later, trying to locate an old school chum?

If you are a member of the Northwestern Class of 1965, you start with classmate Eddy Lee. Ed, a retired Electrical Engineer with the Department of the Navy, still lives near the high school, but his reach extends around the globe.

A computer guru, Ed knows his way around the Internet like most of us know the way to the local mini-mart. Armed with a computer, this man can find ya!

Oh, we've had tips from here, and an address from there, but for the most part, Ed is the person who in the past 3 years has located almost 300 previously lost classmates, increasing our found classmates to almost 700 of our 970 class members. Starting with only a name from the yearbook, graduation program or student directory, he'll search and winnow the possibilities down to the most likely leads. Using those leads another member of the reunion committee will telephone, e-mail or write to the individual to verify that indeed, that person is the one who was part of NHS Class of '65.

"He's amazing," says reunion committee member Karen Walker Lowman, who, along with Terry Herren Gilead, Jeanne Sparrough Chicca, and Mary DiCarlo Tadle, have made most of those phone calls or mailings to verify Ed's leads.

Ed searches telephone databases, property and tax records, social security death notices and a host of other resources that are out there, IF you know where to look.

Besides the wealth of information on the Internet, Ed has spent many hours in the nearby Prince Georges County Memorial Library's Maryland Room doing research. He has also contacted other Northwestern Reunion Committees to share information and used their lists to match up potential siblings of Class of '65 members. So, by locating an older brother in NHS '62, for example, or a younger sister in NHS '67, we are able to contact that person and ask the whereabouts of the NHS '65 grad.

And while the committee is grateful for information received from fellow classmates, you can bet that if it were not for ED, most of us would still be "missing".

If you have any tips or information that could help locate one of our remaining lost classmates, please share them with Ed at NHS1965@gmail.com.

Story by Karen Walker Lowman.

LOVE ACROSS THE OCEAN

Newlyweds Nancy Warren, '65, and husband David Nelson are living in Scotland.

Nancy Warren and David Nelson met eight years ago. She was a public health nurse in Oakland, California.

He was a visiting Scotsman from Edinburgh. Over the next six years they saw each other only once,

but maintained an e-mail friendship.

But maybe there was something more to the relationship than just a long distance correspondence. David made

the bold move - an e-mail valentine. Nancy was delighted.

Soon, David was on a plane to California and in one week, they were engaged! That was May, 2006. The couple

has been very busy with some major life-style changes since then.

They were married - twice!. In Oakland, California and in Edinburgh, Scotland. Nancy retired in December,

2006 and in April 2007, the newlyweds relocated to Charlestown, Dunfermline, about 15 miles north of

Edinburgh. Nancy is enjoying her new stepson and granddaughter. She is finding life in Scotland to be

quieter than Northern California, but quite appealing as she watches the seasons change and the oats

and barley and wheat being grown and harvested.

The health care system is good...and free. Nancy finds the people welcoming and friendly. And let's not forget

the European "bonus" ... the ability to easily and economically travel from one country to another. In less than

a year, Nancy and David have been to Paris, London, Brussels, Venice and Spain. Says Nancy, "I'm able to

see all of Europe without being wealthy".

But Nancy and David haven't decided where to permanently put down roots. Nancy says, "If the decision were

about weather only, California is the clear answer. What I miss most are my kids, then my good friends,

and then the sunshine! The grayness here bothers me more than the cold, but I'm not so fond of the cold

either." Nancy's two daughters live in New York and Michigan.

Story by Karen Walker Lowman.

What's New?
Help make this newsletter and our website better. Please send interesting photos to Dwight Gentry, newsletter

editor, with a short statement about what's going on in your life. Where are you working now? Do you have

children or grandchildren? Have you traveled to interesting places lately? What about retirement plans, hobbies, community activities. Your classmates would love to know. And, of special interest, are you still in touch with classmates? If so, we'd love to know how you have maintained your friendships over

the years and interesting things you may have done together. Photos and stories are needed!

Depends Upon Your Point of View, I guess.

My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring

at a drunken woman swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.

My wife asks, "Do you know her?" "Yes," I sighed. "She's my old girlfriend.

I understand she started drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since."
"My God!" says my wife. "Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?"

So you see, there really are two ways to look at everything ...

Joke forwarded by Terry Herren Gilead.