Date: Thursday, April 22, 1999 9:22 AM Subject: Encina Update (columbine/bios/alexanders/bacigalupis/classof74/lewis/goldbar/braio/reunion committee/franklin/pelle/masters/missing/whats new) ENCINA ALUMNI, This is a long one folks. COLUMBINE HIGH A moment of silence to reflect upon those who were killed or injuried at Columbine High in Littleton,CO. I'm unable to understand what could motivate someone to do such a thing to their fellow classmates. Steve Thormod 72, Debbie Fetch 73 and Lori Shearer 72 have addresses in Littleton, CO. I hope they were not affected by this tragedy. BIOS If your class is having a reunion this year, please consider submitting a bio for yourself so your classmates know what you've been up to. I'll add your bio to your class homepage and email it to your classmates. ALEXANDERS Jodee Alexander 84 wrote: I recently received your e-mail regarding Encina High siblings. I have already registered in the directory, but I don't believe any of my siblings have registered. Yes, we are all EHS grads. Janet Alexander '73 Susan Alexander '76 Sandra Alexander '82 (married Ron Astle '79) Jodee Alexander '84 Robert Alexander '88 Plus information on the Mills family: Jeff Mills 72 Kevin Mills 74 Teri Mills 76 Lori Mills 78 Jennifer Mills 84 and the Astle family: Stan Astle 69 Katie Astle 72 Ron Astle 79 Thanks Jodee! BACIGALUPIS I also heard from Deborah Bacigalupi 87 this week: Jenna Bacigalupi 83 Kristen Bacigalupi 84 Deborah Bacigalupi 87 All have email. CLASS OF 74 REUNION The Class of 74 reunion committee met last weekend. The reunion will be held sometime in September on a Saturday evening. Julie Eissinger is the email contact LMeador@compuserve.com. Steve Palmer is the new class webmaster and will take over the 74 homepages. RICK LEWIS Congratulations on his new son Trenton Reece Lewis, who was one week old when Rick wrote April 15th. Rick Lewis started an Appliance Parts business in Hawaii (www.appliancepartsoutlet.com). Rick is offering a special deal to Encina alumni. Encina alumni will receive 20% off on all appliance parts purchased from Rick's website. I have added a link to Rick's store on the Encina Store page. RAY GOLDBAR Kathryn Keyes 77 wrote: "Coach Ray Goldbar and his UC Davis Gymnastic team WON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP in gymnastics late last week!!! Gymanstics is one of only two sports at UC Davis (Wrestling is the other) that compete at the Division I level instead of the Division II level. GO AGS! Coach Ray Goldbar was also voted Coach of the Year by his peers at the final day of the USA Gymnastic Collegiate National Championships!" BRAIOS And speaking of athletics, this week I heard from Becca Braio 87, daughter of former Encina teacher Andy Braio. Add three more siblings: Angie Braio 84 Amy Braio 86 Becca Braio 87 REUNION COMMITTEE We're looking for reunion committee members for several classes. Please write if you know how to contact any of the following people: 1961: Joan Sietz 1964: Keith McDonald Cathy Metcalf 1979: Cyndi Parsons 1982: Diane Hagy 1984: Becky Fransham BEN FRANKLIN Ben Franklin 73 sent me this TRUE story which he was inspired to write after reading about the changes which occurred at Encina after we left: When I decided to stay in AZ for my senior year, I went to a "Senior" High School with only grades 10-12, so I had to repeat several classes that I took in 9th grade at Encina. They didn't have most of the classes that I was ready to take, such as Physics, Spanish 5, etc., so I spent most of my time goofing off in the library and I took Shop and Drafting which I don't think I would have taken in Sacto. The night before the ACT test, I was out all night ( and some of the morning ) on a date. There was a blizzard, so I couldn't go home ( I lived about 20 miles out of town ). At about 2:00 I ended up sleeping on the floor of the church, after taking my date home and then helping several other friends to their homes. I awoke at 7:45 and I realized I was supposed to go "someplace" to take some sort of test, but all of the paperwork was at home. I starting calling around and learned that the test started at 8:00, but fortunately it was in a very nearby building, so I waded through knee-deep snow and waist-deep snow drifts to arrive on time, still in my finest formal '70s attire. When the scores came back, the guidance counselor was SHOCKED. Here was this fast-talking, smart-mouthed hoodlum from California who got the highest score in the school! I'm sure that the first impulse was to think I had somehow cheated. My GPA ranking had me only in the top 25% of the students, if I remember correctly. The Point: Compared to my AZ high school, Encina (and maybe the whole California school system) gave a MUCH better education. There was really NO COMPARISON. In AZ the grading was more lenient and the expectations were much lower. Maybe in southern AZ where there was a significantly larger school system it would have been more comparable to Sacto, but even back then I was very thankful for my Encina education! TIBOR PELLE Last Saturday Chris Kojima wrote: "Front page of the Sacto Bee today....Tibor Pelle...... Currently a teacher at Country Day here in Sacto...had a college friend in Kosovo and when the war broke out, he tried to contact him. He had his class surfing the internet with him trying to locate his friend.....they finally found him....he had escaped a few years ago and is currently safely residing in New York. What a great story and to see my little Tibor (I remember him as our soccer player) a grown man, and a teacher at that! How proud I am! Imagine, he is 37 which makes me OLD." Here's the story off the Sacramento Bee website. It brought tears to my eyes: Web nets Kosovo comrade By Marcos Bretón Bee Staff Writer (Published April 16, 1999) They were bright students at Sacramento Country Day School who knew all the facts of the war in Kosovo, but their teacher wanted them to learn more. He asked them: What is the emotional reality behind the casualties beamed home to America every night on the evening news? The students discovered the answer was friendship, the ache of memories a kindred spirit leaves when that friend might be a casualty of war. Tibor Pelle, a popular teacher at Country Day, taught his students that by sharing with them his friendship with Fatih, an ethnic Albanian he met in Kosovo a long time ago -- when he wasn't much older than his students now. Pelle, who is 37, lost track of Fatih 13 years ago and has tried finding him endlessly since -- during a time when, increasingly, being Albanian in Kosovo meant death or displacement was never far away. Three weeks ago, when American-led NATO forces launched their bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, Pelle recruited his students to join in his search, a journey in which teacher and pupils found more than they ever imagined. They scrolled Web sites they hadn't known existed, at all hours of the day and night, finding death across their computer screens, postings of the Albanians feared killed or wounded by Serb forces. The students chased down every lead, every half lead, swept away as teenagers are when a passion for knowledge is lit. For them, Fatih became the face of the war in Kosovo, even though they'd never seen his face. "Finding Fatih became like a 24-hour obsession," said Ashley Hildred, a 17-year-old junior at the school. Along the way, the true meaning of war showed itself to be more than facts and figures. The students also learned about mortality and the dread of losing someone dear. Much of this is attributable to Pelle, a spirited, engaging teacher, who has an easy relationship with his students -- like a big brother or a wise friend they trust. Pelle has a way of connecting with them, of drawing them in with personal stories told in dramatic anecdotes, where his voice will rise and fall like an actor. And though professional in his tweed jacket and scholarly beard, Pelle isn't shy about showing his emotions. While teaching his kids about Kosovo, about the war, his stories of Fatih, of days spent together trooping around foreign lands, will bring him to tears. "For us, Fatih represents the victims of Kosovo," said senior Soroush Rahimian. Several of Pelle's students have traveled abroad, experiencing the intensity of friendships made across borders during the tumult of youth. And because they considered Pelle their good friend, Fatih became a friend as well. So it was with deep sorrow that the students read of the destruction last Saturday of Pec, Kosovo's second-largest city and the city where Pelle had stayed with Fatih during a summer in college. Then this week, the searchers at Country Day found a name identical to the one they were looking for on a list of arrested and detained Albanians. "I was convinced he was killed," Rahimian said. A sense of dread filled the dozen or so students searching with Pelle. Each braced for the inevitable, for the words they didn't want to hear: Fatih was dead. While his students were off at spring break last week, Pelle would go to Country Day to search the Internet. He e-mailed dozens of Albanian sites, asking if anyone had ever heard of Fatih. He got many e-mail addresses in return. He followed those leads, sending numerous blind e-mails into cyberspace. On Thursday, he gathered his students. "I said in the e-mail, 'Fatih, is that you?' " Pelle told them. He paused for a moment, while his kids grew silent. Then he pushed a button and the words came back. "Yes, this is Fatih." Pelle tried to read the e-mail but couldn't. One of his students did it for him. And then, a big, laughing, crying, cheering group rushed into an office and called Fatih on the phone. "Hello," came a voice. "Fatih, is that you?" Pelle said. It was. He was alive. And he was in a place none ever would have imagined: New York. He had been there for nine years, having escaped Kosovo when he could. It didn't matter that he was a waiter in an Italian restaurant and not some romantic rebel fighting for his cause as some at Country Day had imagined in their daydreams. What mattered was that he was alive. "I have a lot of students here who've been searching for you," Pelle told Fatih. "They would love to meet you." The two friends agreed to talk again. Then Pelle hung up, smiling as his students cheered. Since Timor Pelle was 37, he should have graduated about 1970. However I couldn't find him in my 70 or 71 yearbooks. Can someone tell me what class Timor was? MASTERS Last week I wondered whether any Encina alumni had ever been fortunate enough to attend the Masters in Augusta. Brett Stover 76 wrote that he went this year! I was sitting about 30 feet from Greg when he sank the Eagle on 13 on Sunday. The roar was deafening! Then had a perfect view as he lined up to drive on 14. There were literally 12,000 people standing within 50 yards watching him line up the shot... then it happened... you could see the hesitation in his address of the tee... the pressure made him begin to start thinking... then... bogie... bogie... ... another opportunity lost... so sad. Went with my Dad and another friend of his. I organized the whole trip and, believe me when I tell you, Augusta is everything you have heard it is... and MORE! Almost surreal... I secured tickets through a friend of mine who has been sending people there for years. The club puts out 5-day passes which are "brokered" out on a daily basis. I bought Sat and Sunday for $1,000 per person per day. Guess what? It was worth every penny! ALUMNI SEARCH If you know how to contact these folks let me know. 1988 Ryan Meckfessel 1989 David Francis WHAT'S NEW Another good week for new listings... 4/21/99: Deborah Bacigalupi 87, Kristen Bacigalupi 84, Jenna Bacigalupi 83, Heidi Allgaier 84, Sondra Jarvis 84 update, Eric Jarvis 86, Debbie French 74, Rick French 76, Stephanie Opitz 84, Amy Braio 86, Angie Braio 84, Katherine Shaffer 88, Polly Pickens 82, Todd Calvin 82, Rob Henderson 81 Store: Appliance Parts Outlet 4/20/99: Becca Braio 87, Jason Fuller 86 4/19/99: Steve Pawlowski 79, Andrew Pawlowski 80, Bill Burr 87, Kathy Godfrey 87, Kim Larson 87, Katie Astle 72, Stan Astle 69, Jeff Mills 72, Kevin Mills 74, Teri Mills 76, Lori Mills 78, Jennifer Mills 84, Elizabeth Robinson 77 4/18/99: Joseph Stern 90/bio, Mike Palmer 79, Joe Grasso 79, Staci Grimm 87, Bill Kreutzer 80 4/16/99: Marsha De Souza 92, Terri Ferreira 79, Jami Ferreira 80, Michael Rogers 78 update, Janet Alexander 73, Susan Alexander 76, Sandra Alexander 82, Robert Alexander 88, Ron Astle 79, Debi Connell 71 4/15/99: Denise Dugally 76 update, Michelle Kirkman 84/bio, Kari Reser 84, Jason Reser 87, Michael Browning 71, Richard Harris 69, Mollie Harris 72, Jennie Harris 74, Reed Harris 75, Rick Lewis 87 bio, Don Wright 81, Ken Wright 83 Progress in perspective: The Wright Brothers, in their first attempt at flight in 1903, managed to get their aircraft off the ground for 120 feet. Today's domestic Boeing 747 has a wingspan of more than 195 feet. Have a good weekend! Harlan Lau 73 Encina webmaster www.encinahighschool.com harlan@rambus.com