Enews Past Messages

Enews: Recently Sent Messages

July 2012

December 2011

Season’s Greetings, Tigers!

Joy to all Tigers!

That includes 830 of you active members and an additional 400 who are shy (They receive my Znews but haven’t opened their profile page, yet.).

New Connection.  If you haven’t visited the official website of our school district -- http://erhs.ercu1.net/ --  you’ve not noticed their revised navigation list at the top of the ERHS page:  It’s to us!  It’s a link, named “Tiger Alumni,” and if you click on it, you jump to our Home page, erhsalulmni.net.  How about that! Try it!  Neat!

New links.  I’ve learned to create links between spouse members.  It means a member can be visiting a friend’s profile -- who has a partner (wife or husband) who is a member – see the words “TO VISIT THE PROFILE OF MY SPOUSE CLICK HERE!” and click on the phrase and jump to the other’s page.  To see an example, go to my wife’s page, Barbara (Williams) Olson, 1962, click on it and land on my profile page.  I can fix such a link up for you and yours in just minutes.  Let me know! 

Also if you are a both a graduate and ERHS district employee (or were), I can link both if you’d like (Of course, you’d have to have both pages).  Let me know!

Member Recruiting.  In the last issue of my Znews to you, I wrote that a website was only as good as its members,  and good members recruited new ones.  I bet some of you took me up on that.  Thanks!  I know for a fact that Ruth Ann Nicholas (Zwilling), 1959, did so.  Thanks, Ruth Ann!  We gained five new members the same night!  And are gaining new ones!

Our Scholarships.  My understanding that the ERHS accountant will send me periodic lists of donators -- and I will.  Remember, with over a thousand getting this message, we should meet our goal easily.  Wouldn’t that be a wonderful way for a Tiger to donate to a good cause?  For directions, see the Scholarship page.  The link is 

http://www.erhsalumni.net/member_dosurvey.cfm?SurveyID=15400

Happy Days!

Richard (for Stan, Ann, Judy, Nancy, and Peggy)

Tiger Alumni Center

Where Classmates Connect with Friends

and the Present with the Past!

Enews October 7, 2011     Happy Friday 750 Tigers!     Every Day, Every way, your Tiger Alumni Center Keeps Growing!         New Staff Member. Welcome Our Newest Administrator, Nancy Huchel (Rumsey), Class of 1966! Nancy isn’t really new. She’s been our “Anonymous Olney Connection” for months now. She’s retired as the Parkerburg Postmaster (35 years), busy doing community service, and an excellent researcher with her specialty being obituaries.  So if you guessed that she’s responsible for the hundreds and hundreds of obituaries published in your “In Memories” page, you’d be right!         Reunion Pictures. Check out the new albums posted on the “Photo Gallery” page. New reunion pictures are posted for the classes of 1935, 1961, 1964, and 1966.  Yours are welcomed!  Try this link: http://www.erhsalumni.net/class_gallery.cfm?gallery_link_id=5242         New Musical Feature. Bill Hill, Guest Administrator, posted a music page for us with five ‘juteboxes’ – one for each decade beginning with 1950. The songs are “Billboard Top #1” records. Our school years were partly defined by the music of our time. Hearing a music title from that time now brings back vivid memories of events and things that were going on then. So click on the link below, select a decade, and click on a record, and remember “Happy Days!” http://www.erhsalumni.net/member_dosurvey.cfm?SurveyID=16987   More Teachers. Judy (Walker) Hill (1964), Teacher Recruitment, has listed just about every teacher and administrator who was at ERHS! I mean what she’s got done is very impressive! Check out her list! Got a way to contact any? Recruit them! http://www.erhsalumni.net/class_teachers.cfm       Senior Pictures. Stan, with a little help from Nancy who’s been posting class names, has almost every year done but the ones after 2000.         The Numbers.  750 active members with a daily average of 50-plus visiting the Tiger Center daily.   We’ve got 10,800 inactive members. Our emails go out to over 1,000 Tigers. Daily we have average of around a hundred hits with our grand total (counting since day one) now at 13,696. And what page do most of our members go to when they log on? The top scoring page remains, yes, “In Memory.” (If you see your name there, let us know. And we’ll ask if you want to write your own obit! I jest of course!)         What else? Want to join the staff? Got an idea for making your Tiger Alumni Center better? Let us know!       Happy Days! Richard       Tiger Alumni Center Where Classmates Connect with Friends and the Present with the Past!   http://www.erhsalumni.net

September 28th, 2011

 September 18, 2011

Classes of 1930 - 2012    Happy First Birthday September 18, 2011     Greetings Tigers!   Today we pass a hallmark of our first Birthday! Yes, 706 active members, 8,400-plus members in our database, and over 12, 000 contacts since last year at this time.    What a great year! We stared out a week before the 50th reunion celebration of the class of 1960 with 18 members within the first few days. Then in mid-October we grew to 43; had 70 by Christmas week; and hit 100 on December 31st.   During the 2010 months we’d go days without a new member. Spring of 2011 was a little faster: by March 8th we had 265 members.  Ann Weesner (King), Class of 1960 was our biggest recruiter at that time. Then Peggy Long, Class of 1955, helped with the classes of the 50s.   At the beginning of May we had 340 active members with close to 2,000 inactive ones.   June 11th, we’d grown to 367 active members and around 2, 500 inactive ones. Stan Gill Class of 1964, had come on by that time and was posting the senior pictures of class after class. And those alumni began to join by the score!  Also very helpful were Judy Hill (Walker) Class of 1964 and our unnamed volunteer who does the obituaries.   And then, at the end of August we were up to 646 members.     Also, by the end of August over 14 (some were couples) donated enough to see all of our financial needs for this ‘new’ year.   We’ve got over 50 pages (links)  to our center, many informational and a few interactive. We’ve got much space for growing!   Yes, this is a wonderful birthday! You can enjoy it by just dropping by and enjoying your Tiger Alumni Site!   Happy Birthday and Many Thanks!   Richard   Tiger Alumni Center Where Classmates Connect with Friends and the Present  with the Past!   http://www.erhsalumni.net

August 27th Enews

Hello Tigers!

Here we are at the bottom of August already!  We’re up in membership with 646 and growing.  We’re good on finances, too, what with a balance of $519.  That’s after renewing our contract with ClassCreators.com and also paying for two years for our domain name.  I’m posting the financial information on the “Help with Expenses” page.  Thank you, our Contributors!  We had members donating amounts from $10 to $25 to $40 to $50 to $100 to $350.

Like to Know.  How many of you members have multiple generations as members here?  I’ve wondered who you are for some time.  Then, Stan and I were talking last week and he said he had an idea that required using all of your multiple family photographs together.  I said, “Great, go with it!" Let us know (I want to know too), if you’ve got various generations of members here.  Could be great grandparents, aunts and uncles, parents, and children (including nieces and nephews).  Thanks!

Did you know?  Each of you control the best way for us to maintain security on our site.  First, in your profile data where administrators only can see it, post your phone number and also post your zip code.  For a variety of reasons, some I can figure out, Class Creators reports that having those numbers posted on each profile, greatly improves security.  Also you help by logging out when you leave the site.  I know!  I do know.  It’s so easy just to leave it open, just a click away!  Easy return.  But when we don’t log out (and keep our computers on for hours or all the time), we are visible to those whom we don’t want to pay any attention to us.

Map Fun.  Do you know, if you click on the map near the bottom of the Home page, you get a popup that has a menu that can be real fun to know.  You give it a year and all the classmates of that year are located on the map with a pin.  Click on the pin and you see their name and picture (if posted).  Or, rather than clicking on a year, go for a state.  See a pin for every member living in that state.  Click on the pin and again see the picture and name.  Click on the name and you find yourself at that person’s profile.  Let’s say you’re planning to return for a reunion.  You can, on the map, find classmates across the U.S.A.  Now the key that makes the map work is the zip code.  If someone doesn’t have her/his zip code posted in the profile, they’re invisible.

Don’t Leave, But.  When I’m not here visiting with schoolmates, I’m usually on one of three places.  Sometime, I’m on facebook.  Other times I’m watching a video or listening to a lecture.   For the most interesting videos, I go to wimp.com.  Click  http://www.wimp.com/    Classmate Sharon Street (Burt) shared a fun video with me http://wimp.com/helpfuldog/  and the animal videos sure are fun but so also are many others.  The other place I go is my IDEA place.  I love to think about all sorts of stuff.  And a few years ago I found TED (Ideas worth Spreading) The place sponsors talks about everything under the sun.  Often, while I’m working on our Tiger Alumni Center , I’m listening to a lecture.    Here are two links.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_makeover.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/yves_behar_on_designing_objects_that_tell_stories.html

That’s About it!  Don't forget we're collecting Olneans (But you know that) and band and choir pictures. Message Mary Ann Noerenberg Cummings on the site.  She'll tell you how to get them to her. 

Have A great Labor Day week-end if I don’t get back to you before then!

Richard

Your Tiger Alumni Center

Where Classmates Connect with Friends and the Present with the Past

August 14th Enews

Hello Tigers!

Band/Choir Pictures wanted.  Mary Ann Noerenberg (Cummings), Class of 1970, is collecting band and choir pictures.  Months ago when our membership was much smaller, I asked Mary to give leadership to this drive.  We’re convinced that there are many pictures of the ERHS music program – and we want copies.  Please contact her if you’ve got pictures of either the junior high or high school programs!

Donations and More: $545.   I asked for help and you answered! As of Saturday, August 13, 2011, we’ve received donation checks for a total of $495.  That’s great!  We also got a surprise ‘landfall’ check of $50 from Class Creators as a result of their reference program.  We were named by another alumni group as a model.  To date, we’ve had an income of $545.

Class Creators and erhsalumni.net. : three-year plan.  While your checks were beginning to come in, Class Creators ran a 30% off special on their best platinum, three-year program, offering it for $307.51.  I couldn’t turn it down.  My reasoning was that, if we continued to purchase our ‘starter’ program at $97 a year, we’d pay almost the amount and still have the ‘starter’ program -- assuming we stayed within our very small contracted vault size. 

So soon you’ll notice some changes around here at your Tiger Alumni Center, erhsalumni.net.  While I was at it, and needed to renew our domain name, I paid for two years at $37.90.  So our site is taken care of for three years.

Potential Confusion over Web Alumni Organizations.   I assume you members know that we’re the only ERHS alumni group that is referenced by our school district as the Tiger Alumni group and also the only one that is non-profit. 

You may hear from some other classmates that they joined what they think is the east richland high school alumni site, and you’re confused as you can’t find them here.  They aren’t our members. They have accidently joined a market outlet, for-profit, site.  That site is somehow getting our name, picture, and email address from our face book profiles.    I checked it out.  I went to the site and looked around, and at one point my name, picture, and email address appeared in a popup.  I was invited to join.  I didn’t.  So, be sure your friends join us.

Special Interest Groups.  For some time now I’ve wanted to invite members to form special interest groups, clubs, or chapters.  What’s your special passion?  Interested in Veteran affairs?  Music?  Sports?  Interested enough to start such a group for your fellow members?  With our coming additional vault size we could have a special image library for each.  We could have special links where the activities of the group are recorded by the chair of the group.

“Help Wanted” – From the 70s, 80s and 90s.   We are looking for a few more great administrators.  We’ve got a great team right now!  But we’re thinking of future growth! 

I want to hear from you, if you like our alumni center, are a team player, talented, time on your hands, and believe you can help make us better!  We’d love to add one for each of the decades of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.  Get some younger blood here! 

If you’d like a good example of a superior administrator, take a look at any of our administrators, Ann, Judy, Peggy or Stan.  These are great people!  -- Motivated, Friendly, love our Missions, talented, and great Team players.  If that describes you, send me an email telling me what you’d like to do here.

Richard

Your Tiger Alumni Center

Where Classmates Connect with Friends and the Present with the Past

July 24th 2011 

 Sweet Memories You Share With Me!

Sharing memories with me, Wendy named Mr. Rumsey and some Silver Street teachers.  Then she really made me smile (thinking of my grade school girlfriends) when she wrote, “I recall my first boyfriend in Miss Fletcher's Kindergarten class (1960) and back then they did not mind that we "napped" together -- holding hands none the less!!!” 

 Freedom – July 4th

 

Have a great Fourth!

 

First, Historians have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.

 

Second, Check out new features added to the website!

 

“1939 Graduation Program” See who gave speeches and see the list of grads. Also, if you go to the 1939 class profiles, you’ll see their senior pictures, which Stan posted using Ann Weesner King’s “Olnean.”

 

“History and Her Story.”  Wes Weston and I tell our love stories, each with a Candy Striper!

 

Life Style and Behaviors of Real Teachers.   Some are serious and many are just funny!

 

Think you can pass this final?  Take a look at this final exam.

Students write the darndest things. Here’s a list of odd, at times funny, expressions.

 

Fourth of July -- Independence Day -- Family Time Some pictures of Barb and my Family Fourths!

 

Third, go to the “In Memory” list. Judy Hill (1964) has added the names of a couple of dozen teachers who have passed. 

 

Fourth, as some of you know Stan’s been busy posting names and senior pictures!

 

From Stan:

 

“Last couple of weeks have been very rewarding, Schoolmates! First thanks to my relatives who shared their Olneans.   Then, thanks, Jim Pass, Class of 1964. He mailed me his copy of the 1964 Olnean.   I completed the scan and edit of the 64 senior pictures last week. The entire process for each class takes me 20 hours. Got good news from Ann Weisner King (1960) and Judy Hill Walker (1964). Ann has begun mailing me Olneans from her collection of 19 yearbooks from 1927 to 1960. Judy writes that she will help.  Her collection of Olneans spans 1977 to 1988.

 

What I really want is to find those classmates that enjoy this site as much as I do and contact me to say, ‘you can borrow my yearbook’.     It is evident that as classmates find out about the site they are excited to register.”

 

Finally, share the good news. If you do enjoy this, your alumni website, let your friends know. Also, if you look through the oldest profiles, as in the 1939, and see the name and picture of a beloved family member who has passed, you can still activate the profile and share their life story.   Interested? Need help? Stan or Richard can help you.

 

Our Best,

Richard and Stan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 1, 2011

 

Hello Tigers!

 

Trust you enjoyed your Memorial Week-end! I did! I added new members; chatted with some.   I rested on the back porch, reading a good book (Larsson’s The Girl who Played w Fire) and listening to the birds singing. I planted dozens of annuals around the backyard. Saturday evening, Jim Olson (Class of 65) and his wife Cindy took Barb, his sister, (Class of 62) and me out to a steak dinner.  Pleasant week-end!

 

Above I mentioned talking to schoolmates. I had a phone conference with Stan Gill, Class of 1964. And I can now announce that Stan has accepted the position as our newest site board member. Stan’s our website Photographer. He’s already getting jobs done. He’s uploaded the senior pictures for three classes. He told me that his aunt shared with him her Olneans and with those of his wife Jan (Jenkins, Class of 72), he’s got the seniors of 1972, 73, 74, and 76. 

 

Each class represents over 20 hours of work as one has to create an Excel file listing the classmates, post it, copy each senior’s picture, edit it, and, finally, upload each picture individually! Hours and hours of work! And the work requires a skilled photographer as yearbook pictures are very hard to duplicate clearly. Send him Olneans so that he can get your senior pictures up on the site.   He wants you to know that he will return them to you unless we can add them to our permanent collection. Stan’s got ideas for other alumni photographic projects. Want your class represented with senior pictures? 

Contact Stan Gill, ERHS Alumni site Photographer.

 

More good news. We continue to grow. At the beginning of May we had 340 active members with close to 2,000 inactive ones. As of today we’ve got 367 active members and around 2, 500 inactive ones. We have members from 58 ERHS classes, most with just a few members. The years with the most members are those of 1960, 61, 62, and 64.   The Class of 1964 (45 active members) may overtake my own, Class of 1960 (56 members), as people like Cindy Kribbs (Combs) and Bitsy Walker (Sinex) are very busy recruiting classmates to the site.

 

In closing, Reunions! We’ve got reunions this summer and fall! Send me details! Give me a "news bit!" I’ll help promote it!

 

Father’s Day is coming soon! My best to all you dads!

 

Got to go! My Best to you All!

Richard 

 

 

 

 

 March 8

Growth – Progress – Needs

Hello ERHS Tigers!

We’re STILL on our way to 300 members -- now just needing 35 more before March 20 recruitment period ends. We now have 265 active members! You are the most qualified to recruit your classmates and family members. Contact them! Let them know we’re here! Be an ERHS ALUMNI Ambassador!

You know the value! You know your class/schoolmates who aren’t members yet! Recruit them!

I’ve said it before but with our growth, many haven’t hear it: Did you know that the main reason members visit the website is to look for friends?   It’s true. They’re looking for you. They want to see your pictures and read up on you. They want to know what you’re doing now, where you live, and your current joys. Work on your profile. Give us your story and post pictures. And, if you are enjoying this site, won’t they? If not members, invite them to join!

I talked to Director Peggy Wilburn Long (Class of 1955) today. She reported that she has sent images related to the Slivas, that is Band-Chorus pictures, from the early 1950s to Mary Ann Noerenberg Cummings(Class of 1971). Earlier I reported the Mary is heading up our Music feature that’s in progress.

I’m soon going to call on some past ERHS team players to begin to recruit writers for a sports feature. Got anyone you’d like to volunteer? Sure be nice to have different decades covered as with the music feature.

I’ve been sharing emails with Mr. Chris Simpson, Principal, ERHS and hope to have a major announcement to share with you soon! You will be pleased.

From Nancy Hargrave Terito (Class of 1966) yesterday and she reported on that the 1966 ERHS reunion will be held August 26 and August 27, 2011. The 26th will be a picnic at Miller's Grove and the 27th will be held at the Olney Country Club. Letters should be sent out announcing it to classmates the beginning of April. Thanks, Nancy!

I know that the classes of 1961 and 1976 are also having their reunions this summer. I’ll share details as I get them!

Got to go and so I’ll leave you with my best wishes and happy thoughts! Keep recruiting!

Richard

 January 2, 2011

 Website Statistics

Hello Tigers, Members and Future Members!

The last several days have made history for our website, erhsalumni.net.   While our site history is short (started in September 15^th, 2010), our growth has been good. 

Facts:

Day with the Most Visits in 2010: December 31, 2010

Day with the Most Visits for 2010 and 2011: January 1, 2011

Number of members in September, 2010: 18 (Mostly from the Class of 1960)

Number of members by mid-October: 43

Total Number of members up to Christmas: 70

Total Number of members on December 31, 2010: 100

Time and date when the 100^th member joined: 11:56, December 31, 2010

Person who was the 100^th to Join: Marla Beam (Boxell),  Class of 1971

Range of membership: From the Class of 1936 to the Class of 1995

Classes with the most members: 1960 with 50 (Richard Williams’ class). Next, Class of 1962 with 10 (Barbara Williams’ class) For the rest of the listed years: 1 to 5 each.

Day when members sent the most messages to each other: January 1, 2011 (22 messages with  30 members visiting the site.)

Most common question new members ask: “Would you like to have members from all classes?”    (The Answer: Yes!) 

What can you do to help others join?

1. When on the site, visit pages of your friends who have not joined and send the “Invite” if you know their email address. If not send me an email with their names.

2. If you can’t find a friend’s or a family member’s class year or name, send me an email with the necessary contact information.

3. If you have a current list of classmates, please send me a copy.

4. Want to volunteer to help the site? Send me an email with your phone number.

What happened to account for the spike in membership over Christmas? Ann Weesner King published a note about our site in her OM. Thanks Ann!

Each of you can help! Like me, you’ve got family members who attended ERHS and have not joined – Don’t know about the site. Recruit them!

Thanks!

Richard Williams

January 2, 2011

September 18th 2010

Hello Tigers!

I have a wonderful announcement!  Your alumni website is on the web!  It's just its first day - and we have much growth ahead of us!

Come!  Take a look!  The link is www.erhsalumni.net.  (Note that this is a NET)  Most pages are are not password protected, but , if a popup demands a password, type in the word snowball (lower case).  I used "snowball" as our senior Olnean picture of the officers of the Class of 1960 shows a scene with the officers snowballing one of their own.  SNOWBALL (but lower case). 

Look for your page by clicking on "Classmate Profiles."  If you're ready to join -- It's FREE! do so and save the link, the site address, and save your password.  We'll keep snowball

Then tell your ERHS friends!

As I wrote above, its all new -- join now and watch it grow!  For many of you, I'll see you in a week, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 24th and 25th, at our 50th reunion!

If you want help, just phone me or email me!

Richard