Sad News: Laura Mae Mitchell, Class Of '43, Dies

Gale Goodrich See passes along word that her mother -- Laura Mae Mitchell -- died this fall. She was 88.

As the attached obituary says, Mrs. Mitchell was a member of the LVCS Class of '43. She had lived in Las Vegas for more than five decades, but often came back to L.V. -- including for the 2013 Alumni Dinner.

Gale tells us her mother "really loved the Alumni and her class." There's an online version of her obituary posted here.

Sad News: Laurie Keenen Urbanski Dies

Laurie Keenen Urbanski -- daughter of Tom and Juanita Keenen; sister of Ann, Matt, Bernie, Charlie and Kevin; and a member of the Class of '75 -- died on July 30 after a long illness. She would have turned 56 on Aug. 3.

As the obituary in the Olean Times Herald notes, along with her mother, siblings and husband Dennis, Laurie is survived by "two sons, Jason (Holly Edwards) Urbanski and Jordan (Amanda Spaulding) Urbanski, both of Salamanca; [and] one grandson, Cole Urbanski of Salamanca."

According to the newspaper, "a memorial Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday (Aug. 10, 2013) in [Salamanca's] Our Lady of Peace Parish with the Rev. Patrick Melfi officiating."

LISTEN: Ira Joe Fisher's Remarks At The 2013 Dinner

As promised, here's the audio of Ira Joe Fisher's very well received remarks at this year's dinner.

A couple notes:

-- The sound "fades in" as Kevin Andrew is introducing Joey. It takes 4-5 seconds to reach full volume.

-- If you'd like to share this with others, send them the link to this post or click the "share" button (the little arrow next to "like") in the box below for other ways to spread the sound around.

Enjoy:

WATCH THIS SPACE: For Audio Of Ira Joe's Remarks

The 2013 dinner is in the history books. This blogger is now back at his home base in Virginia and will aim to have the audio of Ira Joe Fisher's well-received remarks posted later this week. It was good to see everyone!

2013 Dinner Invitations Are Out

In case you haven't gotten yours yet or aren't on the Alumni Association's mailing list, here are the key details about this year's dinner and how to reserve your seat.

-- Date: Saturday, June 22.
-- Location: The gym at the LVCS building.
-- Times: The school will open at 4 p.m. for those who want to look around. The social hour starts at 5 p.m. (reminder: there's no alcohol being served). The dinner starts at 6 p.m.
-- The meals: Either stuffed chicken breast or Swiss steak. They come with garlic roasted potatoes and green beans.
-- The cost: $19 per person for the dinners.
-- The dues: $5 per alum.
-- Keynote speaker: Ira Joe Fisher, class of '65 (he's also going to be reading some of his poetry at the LV Memorial Library on Sunday the 23rd at 1 p.m. ET).
-- Where to send your reservation:
           Little Valley Alumni Association
           P.O. Box 162
           Little Valley, N.Y. 14755-0162
-- What information you need to provide:
           Your name
           Your class year
           Name of any guest you're bringing
           Which meal you want (the chicken is #1; the Swiss steak is #2). Be sure to order
                for your guest or guests too if you're bringing anyone.
-- Checks should be made payable to:
           LVCS Alumni Association
-- Be sure your check:
           Covers the cost of each dinner ($19 per).
           Includes your $5 dues.
-- You can also include in your check:
           Donations to the
                 Little Valley Central School Alumni Association General Fund
                       or
                 The Memmott-Langhans Scholarship Fund
           Just include a note about how much you'd like to give, and to which fund. Then add
                  that amount to the total on your check.

We'll see you on the 22nd!

Ira Joe Fisher Will Return As 2013 Dinner Speaker

Ira Joe "Joey" Fisher, Class of '65, will make a return appearance as the Alumni Dinner's keynote speaker at this year's get-together, President Kevin Andrew tells us.

Those who were at the dinner in 2007 will surely remember his speech that year. We expect to hear more tales of the good old days.

The dinner is set for June 22 and will again be in the school gym. On Sunday the 23rd, Joey's due to give a reading from his latest book of poetry (update at 9:50 p.m., the reading will be at the L.V. Library).

Kevin also reports that Alumni Association officers are starting to move the trophies, banners, photos and other school memorabilia that they've collected into a room at the school -- where everyone will hopefully be able to see it this June.

Alumni Association Will Have A Room At The School

President Kevin Andrew gets in touch to say that the CLVCS school board has approved the Alumni Association's request for a room at the school building in LV. So there will be a home for the memorabilia that the association has accumulated.

Also, Kevin says the trophies will be going back into the case on the school's first floor.

Meanwhile, here's an update (as of May 2019) on the association's current officers and board members:

President---- Kevin Andrew 716-628-8643
Secretary---- Nancy Paschen Shinners
Treasurer---- Susan Ellis Koch 716-938-6014

Board members: Linda Bryant Milks, Karen Holtz Taft, Nell Fellows, Sherry Nichols Charlesworth, France's Harvey Walters & Karel Beeles Hamilton. 

Recipes Needed For LV Library's New Cookbook

A message from Gretchen Taft, the Little Valley librarian, about a worthy cause:

"As you know, Patchwork Pantry was put together for the Little Valley Centennial celebration in 1976. Chris Huntington designed the cover, Pam Frenz created the Centennial Seal and LVCS art teacher Linda Freaney printed the category captions.

"I don't know how many of the Ladies of the Cook Book Committee were LV graduates. The committee included Rhea Ford, Donna Liskow, Velma Liskow, Rhea Campbell, Willow Ford and Marie Glow.

"The proceeds from the sale went to the Library for its building fund. That money made a big difference toward our ability to build at our present location. Later, when the books from our first printing were about to run out, we opted to invest in a second printing. It was a big decision to go with it, but we're glad we did. We not only brought in money, we were able to provide gifts for other non-profits in the village. And, of course, there is nothing better that leafing through and remembering the contributors.

"I'm often told that cooks in our area go to it to find the right thing for a special occasion. Not to mention that I always have a wedding shower gift handy!

"Most everyone I talk to agrees that community cookbooks are the greatest; the recipes are tried and true and the kinks have been ironed out.

"So we're starting a new cookbook project. We need lots of recipes. We're asking for new recipes, not for repeats of those in Patchwork Pantry. We're also asking for recipes from former residents, alumni, their families and their deceased friends and relatives. If they're giving us recipes from these relatives, we'd like them to mention the names."

Everyone should know where the libary is. But in case you haven't been in town lately, it's at 110 Rock City, right across from the UniMart and just before the bridge if you're coming in to town from the Salamanca side. The email address for the Libary is memliblv@atlanticbb.net. The phone number is 716-938-6301.

2012 Dinner: Big Turnout, Good Time

More than 200 LVCS alums -- one of the biggest turnouts in years -- gathered Saturday in the school gym for the 2012 Alumni Dinner.

Highlights of the evening included being able to wander the old halls again (though they certainly don't look old, thanks to all the work done on the building in recent years), Jeri Parkhurst Harris's singing, the Class of 1962's generous donation to the Memmott-Langhans Scholarship fund and brother Jim Memmott's keynote address.

He took us through some of his LVCS memories, speculated about how 58-year-old Hazel the rabbit might be doing today in the wilds of Cattaraugus County, and brought things around to today and the kids who attend classes up at the CLVCS campus.

A recording of Jim's remarks (starting with an introduction by President Kevin Andrew) is posted online here and we're embedding an audio player below if you'd like to listen right now. Just click the "play" button and it should work.

On Dinner Day, A Few More Class Of '72 Bios

The tour of the school (4 p.m. ET), social hour (5 p.m. ET; no alcohol this year) and dinner (6 p.m. ET) are today. We've gotten a couple more "where are they now?" notes from the Class of '72 (previous ones are here and here).

Clydia Minich: 

-- Isn't married now. She has "one daughter, Abby Maria aged 21.  She is going into her senior year at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford majoring in Economics and Business Management.  I have no grandchildren."

-- College is on on her "bucke list. I heard of a man who just got  his degree at age 88.  I hope that this is not going to take me that long but it proves it can be done."

-- Clydia has "worked for Beacon Light (aka Children Home of Bradford) since 1981.  I worked in direct care for many years with behavioral problem kids (mostly teenage boys) and then mental health clients.  I can honestly say I have parented hundreds of kids over the years.  I hear from many of them thanking me for doing my job and making them toe the line regardless of their problems. I tried to look at it in that I was helping one kid at a time cope with their mental illness.

"I switched over about 5 years ago and now run the Recreation Department.  Now most of the time if I don’t like behaviors I can send them to their staff. I am responsible for about 65 kids. I help organize and supervise an annual Fishing Derby put on by the Kinzua Fish and Wildlife Association which they put on for the kids I work with every May in Kane, Pa.  I am a CPR and First Aid instructor through me workplace which I have been doing for about 15 years now.  I have been teaching an autistic teen age boy to play the piano for almost 4 years now. It certainly has been educational.  Yet even though he has severe socialization skills he finally worked up enough nerve after contemplating it for six months to play a song for the Agency’s annual Christmas party.  In addition I run community service for the many clients with hours to work off."

-- She lives in Limestone and has "been in the same house since 1982. I have vacationed mostly in the South since that is where my heritage stems but not too much further than that. I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz in that 'there's no place like home.' However I have been to  Texas to Houston, Texas and visited NASA, Arizona as well as Mexico, Florida and the Carribean.

-- Clydia adds that "I have raised a healthy, law abiding and productive child.  I have worked with so many kids who  did not did not grow up in healthy environments and so their future does not hold have much promise.  Hence I think anyone who has raised children can be very proud of that achievement."

Bernie Keenen:


-- "My wife, (Barb Jones, class of 76) and I have been married for 35 years in July.  We have 4 children:  Bridget 32, Brooke 28, Jessica 26 and Jacob 19.  Bridget and Brooke were born before Barb and I left LV in 1985.  Jess was born while Barb and I lived in the Albany area.  Ravenna and Jacob were born while we lives South of Youngstown, Ohio in East Palestine, Ohio.  We also live around Pittsburgh in Penn Hills for 4 years."

-- "I hired on the with the Railroad in 1974 in Jamestown, NY with the Erie Lackawanna and have since worked for Conrail and now CSXT.  I was a clerk until 2000 and was going to have to move to Jacksonville, Fl but was lucky enough to get a job as a Yardmaster in Erie Pa. Barb and I presently live in  Girard, Pa., about 15 miles west of Erie.  I can retire in Feb of 2014 when I turn 60."


-- My oldest daughter Bridget has her doctorate in Bio Medical Science.  She got married last year between Christmas and New Year in a small ceremony in Columbus, Ohio, and the party for it is on June 23rd or I would be with you all. My second daughter Brooke is married with 2 children -- Keene  8 and Kirsten 5.  She and her husband only live about 3 miles form us so we see them often.  Next daughter Jessica is now living back at home and my son Jacob just graduated from high school.


-- Dad passed away in 1999, Barb's father also died that year.  Mom still lives at 427 Rock City St and is doing well.