1950 Grads Love to Sing

It is amazing how many of the reunion attendees have
been engaged in singing or musical activities ever since 
high school! 

Martin Kienitz - credits his fourth grade teacher at 

Pratt school with starting him on a lifetime of singing; 

it was part of the Minneapolis curriculum to teach 

music sight-reading using the do-re-mi method. No 

matter where he has lived, he has belonged to one or

more singing groups and he married a music teacher.  

Martin Kienitz - by EF

Bob Summers - went to the same school as Martin,.  He doesn't

remember the singing lessons but has sung his whole life.  He

remembers most the penmanship lessons.  Bob traveled the most

round-about way to the reunion.  There was a snowstorm in the

mountains so he had to drive many hundreds of miles out of the

way in order in order to catch a plane in California to get to

Minnesota. 

Marty & Bob Summers - by DT

Ruth Sundberg Donhowe talked about being on the board of the
Weisman Art Museum.**  She passed around pictures of Frank
Gehry's initial drawing/plan and pictures of the finished building.
It has been called ,"the largest sculpture in the Twin Cities." (The
original plan looked like something a five year-old would scribble.)
**see picture at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weisman_Art_Museum

Ruth spends a lot of time painting at her University Avenue studio.
She's also a gardener (herbs, wild flowers and prairie flowers) and
sings in her church choir.

Ruth Sundberg Donhowe & Jane Fellows Buffington - by DT

Ted Anderson sings in a church choir and a Norwegian men's choir
and the Augsburg Centennial Singers (all male group that tours
Tucson, Arizona each winter.) He telephoned MANY U High grads
urging them to come to the reunion.  He even convinced Dick

Ted Anderson & Connie Matson's daughter, Ellen Ferwerda

Thompson to come and form the band behind him.

U High Reunion Tidbits

Our 62nd reunion was held October 25, 26, 27 at 
the Danish American Center in Minneapolis.  Fourteen
grads from 1950 and 3 from 1949 attended.   All were 
encouraged to tell U High "life stories" . They could talk
about anything except surgeries and health. Two of their
stories are below;  if you want a larger picture, click on
the corner of the picture.  Photographers were Ted 
Anderson , Ellen Ferwerda  and Dick Thompson -- TA, EF
and DT.

Today I've been thinking about what a creative challenge
this was for me.  There was something for everybody among 
the presenters and that was my goal.  But I am proudest of
how  the needs of the man who needed gluten free food was 
met.  Thursday night we got pizza from Papa Murphy's and 
I wanted to be sure the man ate pizza. When I found gluten
free pizza rounds in the local Cub Foods freezer, I had a 
brainstorm.  We took the unopened pizza rounds to Papa  
Murphy's and they put the toppings on one of them for the 
price of an eight inch pizza!  (Maybe Papa Murphy's ought
to offer gluten free pizzas.) 

Some of the stories people told:  

Jane Buffington – reluctantly told about her worldwide  

travels and national tennis medals that she has won.

(She said she didn't want to brag.) She recounted how

she had run into Lois Simonson at the Bach Festival

last summer.  Jane was an ice skater in high school.

She knew Val Ray Kohner ('49) who came for dinner 

Friday night.  Val Ray left U High in September 1948

to tour with the Ice Follies.    

Jane and Jack Buffington by TA

Tony Garmers - guides visitors up the Witches

Hat water tower in St. Anthony Park. He lives in the

community and enjoys the once-a-year event. The 

architect for this tower back in 1913, Mr. Cattelen, has 

a U High connection. Tony still makes tools for dentists 

at a firm started by his father.  As he says, 

"I'm not re-tired, I'm tired only once."  One other fact 

about Tony is that in June 1955 he was the only grad-

uate in Metallurgical Engineering and Arthur Upgren 

was the only graduate in Astronomy and Jerry 

Wolterstorff was the only anthropology graduate.

 

Tony Garmers , Jane Keyes (right) by TA

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