Hi Everyone,

Rainy gloomy day in St Paul today but not at the  lunch with 17 of your Cretin classmates. The  guys  there today  were Joe Brooks, Dave Britz, Rick O’Connor, Charlie Evans, Dave Tyree, Roger Neils, Pat McDonnell, Dick Butler, Frank Villaume, Joe Schufman, John Lentsch, Joe M McGrath, George Bonfe, Tom Schleck, Mike Swenson, Gene Bovy and Tom Troskey.

We started off the meeting with some thoughtful silence in memory of two of our classmates who passed away this past month; Pat Curran in August and Rodger Slater this week. Please keep those guys and their families in your prayers.

Dave Britz who took over as the organizer of the annual class golf outing after the death of our classmate Charlie Schuldt in 2016 has procured a traveling trophy for the group each year that wins the annual CHARLIE golf outing.

This year the winners were Joe Schufman, Ed Sund and Bob O’Malley and you’ll see in one of the photos Dave presenting the trophy to Joe—–something for the rest of us to shoot for next August.

Don’t forget the Cretin High School Alumni banquet next Thursday the 19^th—A separate email was just sent out with details for the event. Hope many of you will be able to attend.

Next monthly class of 63 lunch will be Thursday October 10^th—mark your calendar.

Thanks and best to all of you,

Tom Troskey

(click on photo to enlarge it)

Our classmate Peter Zierden has provided valuable information for any of our Vietnam veterans. In his dealing with the VA he found that their are compensatory programs for any vet that has health issues related to Agent Orange. We have added a tab under veterans with the specific information Peter would like to share. You can find it on our website by clicking here.

Everything takes soooo long!!!   I’ve been told this is “normal”.  I wouldn’t know as this is my first (and my last) book.

I’ve been working with Covenant Books since last December.  The final step before actual publishing was approval of the cover designs.  I just signed off on them (well, I should have signed off, after all, I designed them).  It just took them a month to copy them!  Sheesh.  I’ve also attached the books first right hand page which I wrote to describe the premise (okay, and to sell it a bit).

The next steps will be printing for stores, digitizing for on-line purchase, creation of a “RAMBLINGS” web site, distribution, and finally, promotion, advertising and marketing.  Based on the pace of things thus far, I suspect that it will be two more months before it is in stores and on-line.  I sure hope that it is sooner… I ain’t getting any younger.

Loved the pictures of our classmates who played golf and had a nice time at George’s place.  I lived on Forest Lake for 16 years and still miss it.  I used to bump into George at a place called Willow Point Resort.  Back then it was a bar/restaurant/convenience store.  Long gone!  Great memories.

RAMBLINGS – first right hand page in book

There are 135 interconnected short stories in this book.  Some are hilarious, some quite serious, many are great fun and upbeat while others are really sad.  Your emotions will go up and down like a roller coaster, but in the process, that ride will be well worth it as you will be thoroughly entertained. 

There are tales of childhood mischief, adventure, hot rods, romance, suspense, parenting, business advice, the newspaper industry, history, heartbreak, a puppy and even slot machines! 

Most of the stories occur in and around Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, Birmingham, Alabama and Omaha, Nebraska.  If you are familiar with any of these cities, you’ll instantly recognize the locales mentioned. 

Interestingly, each and every name in this book is real with one exception, and that one was changed due to a most unsavory deed perpetrated by that individual.  That story will make your blood boil. 

Buckle up for a crazy Baby Boomer ride.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but most of all, you’ll fall in love with RAMBLINGS.

Tom Golden

Hello all,

Could not have been a nicer day weather wise than today at classmate George Bonfe’s house on Forest Lake for the class of 63 lunch at the lake.

Had about 15 guys including two men from—–STMA class of 63—Larry Poppler and Tom Healy. Tom and Larry brought the beer—GOOD ASS BEER. Zoom in on the photo of Joe M McGrath and you’ll see that is really the name. The guys said it was very good. Thanks Larry and Joe. Larry also brought homemade baked beans—best I have ever tasted.

Classmate Tom Racine help get the food prepared and it was all terrific. Burgers, brats, a whole deep fried turkey, salads, cheeses and desserts.

George’s granddaughter and daughter helped put things together.

George —-thank you for sharing your home and putting this on, it is very much appreciated by all.

Next class luncheon is on September 12. Check the Upcoming Events calendar for details.

Tom Troskey

(Click on any photo to enlarge it…)

Hey everyone,

What a wonderful day we had yesterday for the 6^th annual class of 63 annual golf outing. As many of you recall this event is called THE CHARLIE in memory of our classmate Charlie Schuldt who started the event in 2014. Charlie passed away just a few weeks after the event in Sept of 2016. Our classmate Dave Britz took over organizing after Charlie’s passing and with the help of Charlie’s wife Mary has kept it alive and well.

This year the event was held at River Oaks Golf Club in Cottage Grove MN. The first 5 years it was held at Charlie’s course in Elk River MN.

As we played the course and settled into the 19^th hole the conversation often drifted to stories involving Charlie. We all remember him fondly.

The course was in terrific shape, the weather could not have been better and as you will see in the attachments the scores were pretty good. We played a “Britz”scramble and each team shot better than our age—less than 73.

The guys that played were Jim McCormick (pictured in the sand trap) Gary Stoffel, Jim Dimond, Dave Britz, Bob O’Malley (flew in from Phoenix where it was 115 degrees) and enjoyed the cool weather, Joe Schufman, Ed Sund, Ray DiPrima, Don Danneker, Tim Valento, Pat McDonnell, Dick Butler (sank a 60′ putt), Tom Troskey.  We hope to get 20 guys next year so keep your calendar open for the Wednesday before the second Thursday in August 2020.

Great fun and hope to do this gathering for years to come.

Tom Troskey

(Click on any photo below to enlarge…)

To see a video of the presentation ceremony click here

Hi Guys

Beautiful day today to be down next to the Mississippi. 15 of our class were there today to enjoy the company of old friends.

A few things were shared with the group.

On very very sad note …………… we had a moment of silence to think and pray for our classmate Bill Moosbrugger and his family. Bill and his wife Brenda lost their 31 year old daughter Lindsay last week. She was a new mom of 4 months. Many of you will recall Bill and Brenda lost their 27 year old son Michael in 2010. An unimaginable time for their family. Please include the Moosbrugger family in your prayers.

Another sad note, Joe Brooks said he ran into Classmate Richard Dennis and this military veteran is not doing well. Joe asked that we keep him in our prayers.

CLASS OF 1963 WEB SITE

I asked the guys at lunch today what they thought of the Cretin Class of 1963 web site that was brought on line this past month—Thumbs up from everywhere— When I asked Joe Schufman what he thought about a web site for our class, he said “let me think about it” and two weeks later he called me to say he had something he wanted to show me. He has done a terrific job, I know he has spent many hours putting this together and making it easy to navigate and interesting to browse. Joe told me in the beginning that the most important thing we need to consider about this web site is CONTENT. Keeping it fresh and interesting will make it successful.

Joe did all the work to put it together and bring it to reality and it is up the rest of us to provide content. So far Joe M McGrath provided many things related to our 50th reunion, Tom Golden provided info on a book he just finished writing and will be published very soon and Dick Skinner provided a slide show of our 50th reunion party at the Pool and Yacht Club. Other items on the web site have been accumulated over the past few years from our luncheons and correspondence with classmates; List of Veterans, Vietnam Service, 50th wedding anniversaries.

Also on the site is a calendar of events, luncheons, golf outing etc.

So with that said I hope that many of your will think of items to  put on the Class web site. Are you a classic car buff? Did you get a hole in one? Catch a big fish, run a marathon, meet up with old classmates.

Think about it and as Joe said CONTENT will keep the site fresh and interesting. If you have something use the “contact us” on the site to submit.

Finally, Joe was not at the meeting today so I told the guys that besides all the work Joe has done to establish the site he also spent his money to pay the company that sells the stuff necessary to get a web site. That did not seem right and the guys at the lunch today contributed $ so besides Joe doing all the work  he does not have to pay to do it! Thanks guys and I will be sending Joe a check.

6^th Annual Class of 63 golf outing  THE CHARLIE    Wednesday August 7^th at River Oaks in Cottage Grove.

Dave Britz handles this but was not at the meeting today but asked me to let everyone know who has already signed up. They are  Bob O’Malley, Don Danneker,

Ray DiPrima, Jim Dimond, Pat McDonnell, Jim McCormick, Dave Britz, Tom Troskey, Ed Sund, Richard Butler. Dave has tee time for foursomes at noon. This is not an event that requires great golf expertise but requires wanting to have a fun time with friends. We refer to the format as the “BRITZ SCRAMBLE”.

If you want to play, contact Dave     I will send out a notice as the date draws near.

4th annual lunch at Bonfe’s Thursday August 8^th

George Bonfe will have lunch on his patio, with burgers, hot dogs and a whole deep fried turkey. Other fixings such as  potato salad, chips. Bring what you want to drink. As in the past George suggests a $5-6 contribution to  cover the food.

George lives on Forest Lake    I will send out a notice as the date draws near.

Finally, many of you know that CDH is putting on and addition, it is well under way. It is on the NW corner of the building next to the Holy Spirit lot. This addition will be the main entrance and welcoming center. It will resemble the old Front entrance on Hamline with a tower. Besides the new sexy part, CDH is upgrading the mechanicals (remember the clanking radiators, they are still their),new lighting and a sophisticated security system where all doors including classrooms can be locked instantly.

I think that is all I have for now—NO wait!  Remember the class web site is    https://cretinclassof1963.org

T. Troskey

We received the following note from our classmate Bill Jack who has published a half-dozen books…… Hey, y’all (I’m allowed to write that because I lived in Texas for six years) – My author’s Page on Amazon (click here) leads to my published books.  Warning:  When a new edition comes out with a different title, Amazon won’t remove the old editions.  The most recent version of any book is the one that appears higher on the list.  A quick “Look Inside” will tell you when you’re looking at a similar work…You wouldn’t want to be bored twice by the same story, right? Maybe you want to include this link on the class website.  It’s a truly great site, by the way.  Fellow Luker Joe Schufman did a great job of it.  I hope people come up with some great photos from those years.  My place burnt down in Dallas in 1980, so I lost my yearbooks and photos.  Regards to all, Bill

Jim Hannegan , Cretin Class of ’65 sent us this comment via the “Contact Us” page –   
Just spent a couple hours going through your 50th Anniversary Book and the site. Looks Good

For the first 5 years of this great event it was held at the Elk River Golf Club and due to a conflict we have moved the venue to The River Oaks Golf club in Cottage Grove MN on August 7th. See upcoming events for the details.