CLASSREPORT.ORG
provides free class reunion websites for every graduating class
of every
high school, with free access for all class members. No ads, no spam, no
pop-ups, no fees.
Spartans
THE FOLLOWING CLASS
MEMBERS HAVE MADE
THIS WEBSITE POSSIBLE
BY THEIR GENEROUS
CONTRIBUTIONS:
9/20/2009 Al Malmberg's father succumbs to cancer.
Accordionist Larry Malmberg leaves illustrious legacy
By TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune
When Larry Malmberg was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 1997, he stood at the microphon
. . .
Continued
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.......
Dear fellow 69ers,
First off, I want to thank the Reunion Committee for all the work you put into the get-together. The only recommendation I have for the next one is to make the name tag fonts about four times bigger – for our maturing eyesight. You deserve our collective and grateful tip of the hat for reassembling the last RHS class of the sixties.
My wife Mary Jo and I started the afternoon attending Larry Malmberg’s funeral service. Al was Master of Ceremonies for this amazing celebration of his father’s life. The church literally overflowed as a wondrous musical salute merged seamlessly with a traditional Christian farewell. Al’s easy public persona introduced a parade of friends and family who spoke fondly of, and made musical tribute to, the father, teacher, composer, and honorable Larry they all loved. It was the most fun I have ever had at a funeral. Al and I have been friends since we were sophomores in high school. As much as I mourned the loss of his father, I couldn’t help but admire the grace of the son.
A few hours later, Mike Freundschuh was the first person I saw at the door upon entry into the Knights of Columbus hall. We exchanged a warm greeting. He was especially grateful for the comments I made on my personal page of the reunion site. His honest reaction to them set the tone for the evening. Forty years earlier we were a collection of teenagers, flush with vibrant invincibility, boundless ambition, idealistic notions and empty resumes. I moved into the hall to meet my fellow damn near sixty year olds with eager anticipation.
The first fellow I met didn’t know me from Jack Rabbit. That was just fine. I didn’t know him either. It didn’t matter. We had a brief chat and we both moved on. As the evening progressed, we would nod as we passed each other, on our way to talk with those we remember. I am certain everyone in attendance had a similar experience.
Then I started to run into people I hoped would be there. Jim Rasmussen, our host (he runs the hall) and classmate was among the first. Keith Huber and Joan Olson were near the bar. Suddenly, Mark Shea appeared out of the corner of my eye. Then, while chatting with Barb Janisch, Donna Anderson came from out of the blue. While going back to the bar to get Mary Jo a glass of wine, Steve Riebe’s eyes caught mine and bursts of bullroar erupted between us (we kept seeing each other throughout the night). Bill Budroe seemed to be everywhere. I barely knew Ginger in high school, or Jane or Kathy. It was a big class. Once again, it didn’t matter, we enjoyed our conversations nonetheless. While talking with Al Eklund, Gregg Byers showed up. And on and on it went. Bill Shimkus, Doug Quick, Dave Hagen, Ray Buck, Steve Trebil, Pete Opsal, Blair and Pam Malinski, Diane Hanson, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
We all had our friend’s way back in the day. Whoever your group was, I sincerely hope you were able to mix with them to rekindle the youth you once shared. The wonder of the evening was the absence of pretence. No one cared what your current title happened to be. Most of us have grown children. Many have grandchildren. Some have divorced. Who cares? We have lived almost six decades. We all have a story. Our common thread was the passage from adolescence to young adults in a building on 70th and Harriet in Richfield, Minnesota. Sure, it was a long time ago – and just yesterday.
I may not have mentioned your name above, but please know I am grateful for the opportunity to have seen you again. We have attained an age where the generation we spawned looks back on our time with nostalgia. They question how the “free love” of the sixties (BTW, I loved the peace signs we got at the door) could have possibly emerged out of the old people who brought them up. They claim our music as their own (what’s up with that?) and most have never even put vinyl on a turntable. We were who they are now; filled with confusion and promise. We may not be the Greatest Generation, but we are our generation. The time we have passed together is kind of its own glue. It is a bond unique to us.
No doubt you have noticed the clock has been speeding up lately. I sincerely hope you all continue to make the most of the time we have here. Breathe in as much life as possible every single day so when we meet again down the road, our shared and seasoned paths will once again be renewed at their roots.
It was a genuine pleasure to see you all last Saturday night.
Dan Colvin
dcolvin@perfpapers.com
Our Class Message Board
Your participation is requested!
We would like to hear from you. Post your messages here.
It took me 13 years to move 13 miles from home. Living in Maryland, Illinois, Rhode Island, Hawaii and California before I settled in Wayzata. I have worked at Park Nicollet, Carlson site for 13 years.
DAN COLVIN'S MEMORIES OF HIS 5 YEARS AT RICHFIELD HIGH SCHOOL.........
Richfield High School Memories
I went to Assumption for eight years . . . hated those St. Peter Catholics . . . Ken Andersen . . . Greg Byers . . . we drank a lot together after high school . . . hate faded . . . didn't know what a Baptist was . . . except we couldn't marry them . . . Pete Opsal's dad was a pastor . . . a Lutheran I think . . . they could go to Heaven . . . we couldn't marry them either . . . bought my comics at Congdon Drug . . . my sister sold them all at a garage sale . . . just found that out two months ago . . . all these years she blamed my mom . . . Mom ratted her out . . . Schmeltz Bros . . . bought a VW squareback from their Penn Ave store . . . Steve Gobel and I used to smoke cigarettes at Richfield Lanes . . . after school . . . or was it before track practice? . . . Mark Shea's mom June worked at Richfield Bank . . . always had a smile for me . . . I was top Christmas tree salesman at Lyndale Gardens in the "64 season . . . I was 13 . . . charmed the moms . . . B.S.ed the dads . . . got the order . . . Arby's sandwiches were cut from real beef roasts . . . none of that pale processed cereal meal we get today . . . Greg Myre could eat six of them . . . his dad would give him the money . . . at first they were 59 cents . . . for about an hour . . . then went up to 69 cents . . . Sweden House was the original Pig Farm . . . Summit Bank replaced the old Richfield Theater . . . saw Ben Hur there with my parents . . . not sure I'm going to make the Heaven gig . . . Pete probably will . . . got my RHS graduation pics from Gopher Studios . . . suit . . . tie . . . short hair . . . big bucky smile . . . Al Malmberg had a big nose . . . he's older now . . . good grad picture though . . . I think he's a Presbyterian . . . what the hell is a Presbyterian anyway . . . no, he's a Lutheran . . . he met Kathy at Richfield Lutheran Church when they were about six . . . married her when she was 12 . . . oh yea, now I remember . . . you had to be a Presbyterian to shop at Walsh's . . . used to buy L&M cigarettes at Roith's Drug . . . Lonnie Gutzke had really good handwriting . . . he would write a note to Joe Roith asking him to send a couple packs home with Lonnie . . . and sign it Mrs. Gutzke . . . 29 cents a pack . . . I think I was 13 . . . smoked 'em in the back lot of Lyndale Gardens when Christmas tree sales were slow . . . probably couldn't marry Presbyterians either . . .
. . . awesome memories fellow Richfielders . . . anybody else got a memory or two to share? . . .
Dan Colvin
Class of '69
***************************************
**********************
* * * THE VIEW FROM RICHFIELD IN 1969...BY WADE YARBROUGH
In speaking with people over the years, it has become clear to me most of them think their high school class was something special, and in some superficial way, they may be correct.
But any objective observer can fairly say 1969 in Richfield, Minnesota was truly unique. We were lucky to have experienced the perfect storm, the great confluence of a special time with a special place.
We were in Richfield, Minnesota in the early 1950’s, a place adjourning the southern border of Minneapolis. Everything was new: schools (with the exception of Woodlake Elementary), houses, and neighbors. Most all houses contained kids - lots of kids. There were no long-time residents; everyone and everything was new.
We were born six years after the greatest event of the 20th century: World War II. The stock market was on the verge of clawing its way back to where it was pre-1929. Born twenty years earlier (1989 in today’s world) we would have grown up in hard depression instead of being on the cusp of great prosperity.
And just as we were old enough to get our drivers licenses, Detroit introduced their muscle cars: 442s, GTOs, Super Sports, and RoadRunners. Testosterone meets muscle. What a cool time to be in high school in Richfield Minnesota, 1967 – 1969!
Looking forward to seeing all, especially those Woodlake Elementary Alums.
Wade Yarbrough
Family News Summary
Enter your Family News Item choosing from our pre-defined categories:
Anniversary, Award, Birth, Death, Diagnosis, Engagement, Graduation,
Lottery, Retirement, Vacation, Wedding, Other.
Add a slideshow or video
to your profile! Just click the link to edit your profile and you will find instructions to create a Slideshow or Video for your profile! Show us your family
or your best snowboard tricks.
This class reunion website is a complementary
addition to your existing alumni resources. It is a product of
Classreport, Inc. and may not be affiliated with Richfield Senior High School or its alumni association.
Does your High School Class have a full-featured Alumni Website?Start One Now!
(Or start one for your Mother, Father, Sister,
Brother, Spouse, Son, Daughter, Friend . . .)
"I just can not imagine pulling this huge project together without your creative Classreport.org website. Our reunion team is so very grateful to you."
10/20/2009
"What a wonderful site. I'm having great fun re-acquainting myself with people I haven't seen for years! Thank you."
10/19/2009
"We appreciate all you are doing with the website!"
10/19/2009
"I just came back from my reunion and I have to say one of the main reasons for attending the reunion was the breadth of information available on the website. Thanks for making available so many links and information pages."
10/18/2009
"We had an incredible time at our reunion. Thank you for your website and all the great administrative tools. What a great way to keep all the information accessible to all organized."
10/17/2009
"We greatly appreciate all that you have provided for us and will certainly take advantage of future enhancements that you all will add in the future."
10/16/2009
"I was responsible for a customer service department before I retired last year and I must say that Classreport's Customer Service has been world class."
10/15/2009
"Nice job with the website!!!"
10/14/2009
"I heard about this website from a friend who used it for her high school reunion. Its a great site, and I'm looking forward to using it to reconnect with my fellow class members. I appreciate the service!"
10/13/2009
"Our class continues to enjoy Classreport very much."
10/12/2009
We DO NOT sell
advertising to support this site.
We DO NOT sell names and addresses to third parties. There are NO POP-UP
ads. There are no registration fees required for participation.
Please support this site with your voluntary contributions.
We cannot provide this service without your support. Thank You!
Read Our Story
Indicates an included photo
