Class Of '72 Has Its Reunion Plans Together

Melody Weaver Slater checked in to say that the Class of '72 is planning to meet on the Friday of Alumni weekend at the VFW, starting around 7 p.m., and then again on Saturday at the Legion, starting at 11 a.m. Then, they're planning to go to the social hour and dinner at the school.  We've put a copy of their invitation here, and will attach it below as well (just click on the headline "LVCS CLASS of 1972 Invitation" to pop up a larger view).

And if this blogger has figured things out correctly, Class of '72 members should be able to add comments to this post (if your email addresses have been passed on to me -- memmottmark@yahoo.com -- and you've accepted an email "invitation" to join this blog).


LVCS CLASS of 1972 Invitation

Class Of '62 Is Getting Together Before The Dinner

Judy Mager Hauck from the class of 1962 emails to say that her class:

"Is having our 50th reunion this year prior to the banquet. We are meeting at the VFW on Saturday, June 23, 2012, from 12:30 to 4:00 for a social.  We are then planning to have a table at the Alumni Assoc Reunion and Banquet plus touring the school."

Have fun, 62rs.

For This Year's Reunion, It's Dinner In The Gym

Hopefully most everyone has gotten the annual invitation to this year's Alumni Dinner. If not, important things to know include:

Date: June 23, with the social hour starting at 5 p.m. and the dinner at 6 p.m.

Location: The gym at good old LVCS. Yes, you read that right. The location has changed from recent years. President Kevin Andrew tells us he hopes having the reunion at the school will mean a lot to everyone.

Note: The school will actually open at 4 p.m. and there's talk of tours being conducted.

Also of note: Because we're gathering at the school, there will be no alcohol at the social hour. 

The food: A choice of stuffed chicken breast or Swiss steak. They both come with garlic roasted potatoes and mixed vegetables. The cost: $18 per dinner. This year the food's being prepared by Catering Plus of Sugargrove, Pa. Apparently, the Old Library doesn't do outside catering anymore.

Keynote speaker: Some guy named Jim Memmott from the class of '60.

Musical guest: Jeri Parkhurst Harris, class of '59.

If you haven't gotten a letter, signing up isn't too hard.

-- Write a note saying who you are, whether you're bringing along a guest or two and which dinners you want.

-- Write a check covering the cost of your dinner(s) and your $5 dues. Make it payable to LVCS Alumni Association. If you want, add a donation to the Alumni Association general fund and/or the Memmott-Langhans Scholarship fund to your check total. (Say in your letter how much you want to go to either fund.)

-- Mail everything to 

       Little Valley Alumni Association

       P.O. Box 162

       Little Valley, N.Y. 14755-0162

Hope to see you there!

Board Votes To Move All Students To Cattaraugus

By a 5-2 vote Monday night, the Cattaraugus-Little Valley Board of Education voted to "move all district students to the Cattaraugus campus beginning in September," the Olean Times Herald writes.

The Salamanca Press notes that "critics of the proposal cited a legally nonbinding assurance signed in 1998 by the Cattaraugus school board that promised an elementary building would remain in both communities when Little Valley was annexed." And it adds that:

Richard M. Williams, who said he served as president of the Little Valley School Board when the annexation took place, said he sympathizes with the board’s position in facing difficult decisions but feels a vote to close the Little Valley campus would generate negative votes on any future issue or budget.

"Little Valley as a community would always look toward Cattaraugus with ill feelings for an act that can so easily be avoided," he said about the closure prior to the board’s decision.

Gretchen Taft, a Little Valley resident and director of the Memorial Library of Little Valley, had been a vocal opponent of the proposal and also spoke Monday.

"If you close Little Valley School and dishonor all the people, including me, who worked toward this annexation, then you’re not being honorable," she said.

The two board members who voted against putting all students in Cattaraugus were Kent Joesel and Dave Shinners.

There's no word in the reports about what the district plans to do with the L.V. building.

Looking For L.V. Data In The 1940 Census?

It took a little bit of digging around on the new Census Bureau website containing the 1940 census records, but I was able to find the lines for Arthur and Sara Memmott, as I explain here:

Census Bureau's Website Is Coming Back: 1940 Data Now Viewable.

Some of you may be interested in finding records from the '40 census of Little Valley. Here's some information that may be of help as you use the bureau's online databate:

The LV "enumeration districts" were 5-30 and 5-31. As you'll see, if you know the enumeration district you're looking for, you can get to where you want a little faster.

You can get to the bureau's materials from 1940 here: 1940 Census.

A Bit Of L.V. History Down Here In Virginia

We Virginia Memmotts were surprised to see this case on a table at the Lucketts (Va.) Fair on Saturday.

The antique dealer who was using it to display some of her items didn't want to sell the case to me, unfortunately. It would have looked nice in our dining room.

2011 Dinner: Another Fine Evening

Well, the 2011 Alumni Dinner was yet another "good time had by all" evening.

Harlow Fisher, Class of '61, was the keynote speaker. And as you can tell by the audio (click "play" below), he wove together an address that was funny and inspirational (if you want to download the audio, click here):

(Photo by John Memmott; he has more from the dinner posted here.)

Class Of '71 Looking To Get Together

Julie Dykstra sends this along to her classmates:

Class of 1971: Look for an invitation to our 40th reunion weekend (if we can find your address)! We’ll start slow with a casual dinner at the American Legion on Friday, June 24, then move on to a snacky reception in Ellicottville at Tips Up Café Saturday afternoon. Thoroughly primed, we’ll attend the Alumni Dinner Saturday evening.

Contact Julie Dykstra (jmd3@pitt.edu), Kathy Lindell (jdrkfl@roadrunner.com) or Mike Young (for the locals who see him around; he's at 716-257-9157)) for more information.

If you have contact info for any of our class, please get it to Julie so we can reach everyone. Ditto for suggestions, inquiries, pictures, memories, etc.

2011 Dinner Invitations Are Out

Your 2011 Alumni Dinner invitation should be arriving in mailbox this week, if it hasn't already.

Here's the key information:

Guest speaker: Harlow Fisher, Class of 1961.

Caterer: The Old Library restaurant, from Olean.

Dinner options:
-- Boneless stuffed chicken breast. It comes with cornbread stuffing and Swiss steak. $18 per person.
-- Two mesquite-grilled vegetable kabobs (they come with plum sauce, wild rice and a potato-crusted veggie cake). $17 per person ($1 less than last year!).

Everyone, according to the letter, also gets a "decadent dessert." And, of course, salad, rolls, coffee or tea.

Members of the Class of 1961, by the way, get to eat free (as the 50-year folks always do). So hit up one of them for a beer.

Dues: $5; same as last year.

Deadline: The Alumni officers would really like to receive your reservations by June 20. That's not an absolute-must, but would be much appreciated.

Mailing address:

-- Little Valley Alumni Association
-- P.O. Box 162
-- Little Valley, N.Y. 14755-0162

As always, if you wish you can also send along contributions to either the:

-- Little Valley Central School Alumni Association's General Fund

or the

-- Memmott-Langhans Scholarship

Just include a note (if you haven't gotten your invitation form) about where you'd like the donation to go and if you'd like it to be in memory of a fellow alum.

Checks should be made out to the "LVCS Alumni Association."

Hope to see many of you there.

This Year's Speaker: Harlow Fisher

There's confirmation from Alumni President Kevin Andrew that the featured speaker at this year's Alumni Dinner (scheduled for June 25) is the Class of 1961's Harlow Fisher.

Many alums will recall that Harlow's brother Joey had some fun at his sibling's expense a couple year's back.