Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

A school shooting is defined as when, "...a gun is brandished, is fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims (including zero), time, day of the week, or reason." 

"Our country deserves leaders who are willing to step up and address the constant prospect of terror and violence when our children attend school or go about their lives in public space."

Stewart Myrent

Janis, I'm freaking out about your story on the shooting at Oshkosh West H.S., which I believe I saw on the news on Mon.  I did note, from your story, that the retired Navy SEAL was only moderately succesful in his attempt to ward off the student attack.  But, it's still got to be nerve-wracking to experience it in your own community, with your own children or grandchildren, despite seeing stories like this (on an almost daily basis) in other communities.  In your following post, you stated that "There have been eight shootings in Wisconsin public schools in the past three school days."  How is that possible?  The reason I've been freaking out, is that in my years as a student at Lincoln Hall & Niles West (or even during my career as a college student), I don't remember even one school shooting occurring, ever, or even hearing about a mass shooter at any other school.  So, it seems to me that, being a school student (at any level) today, is something I am totally unfamiliar with, compared to my own experiences.  It is difficult for me to comprehend what being a student today must be like, compared to the good old days, when I actually was a student.  Eight shootings in 3 days, & in Wisconsin?  It seems improbable & illogical.  Holy cow!

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Stewart, in the heat of the moment, conflated news reports were aired.

What is going on? Fears of school shootings hit eight Wisconsin high schools in three days.   Milwaukee Journal Sentinel  December 4, 2019

Gov. Tony Evers: "Though the threats in schools across the state weren't similar in seriousness - they are emblematic of the terror lurking as shooters continue with horrifying regularity.  It's impossible to ignore the fact that in addition to today's officer-involved shooting at Oshkosh West, the Sparta School District is closed due to security threats, and that this happened just a day after we had another school shooting at Waukesha South.  

"The last two days tells us that we can't keep pretending that this only happens in other communities or in other states - it's happening here, too."

The school shootings at Oshkosh West and Waukesha South high schools are among the threats in Wisconsin high schools that did not result in gunfire.  In all, teenagers in at least eight high schools across Wisconsin were stung with terror within three days this week (starting on Sunday).

The school shooting Monday at Waukesha South was the eighth school shooting in Wisconsin this decade; the school shooting yesterday at Oshkosh West, the ninth.

Paul Richard Hain

Yesterday, Maxwell and Marcie, our two standard poodles took a walk with me as the day was transitioning to nighttime.  The sun had set about fifteen minutes earlier.  The sky was a beautiful mix of deep colors, cloud   formations and the dark azure above me.  It was a magnificent moment that faded over the next five minutes or  .  so.I was so grateful to have lived to see it.  My dogs pay little attention to the sky.  They like sniffing the leaves along the edge of the road.  They are my companions, though and we enjoy each other's compan.

Another of our tribe of Niles West Indians has left us.  I got a call from Cathy, Tom Hansen's wife who told me that he passed away yesterday as the day came to an end.  He was in the Cleveland Clinic, awaiting a heart transplant when he lost his battle.  This must have happened when I was watching the sky.  I don't know if it's soulfulness, sentimental, wishing or if there is something more to it, but the sky holds a mystical magnificence to me and it is my hope that those who have passed somehow are enjoying the same beautiful view, as me.

Tom was a sprinter in high school.  He could run, and after a race, his heart-rate would be in the 50's. We joked about how that was possible.   About five years ago, his heart would go so slow that he began to black out.  That began treatment including a Pacemaker and heart monitor.

His career had been a professional black smith in southern Illinois.  Cathy retired as a school librarian and Tom sold the black smith shop.  They headed west to Placitas, NM and personally built a beautiful desert hacienda bed and breakfast called The Blue Horse.  They ran it for about 15 years.  About a year ago, they decided to sell The Blue Horse and move to Cleveland, OH where their oldest daughter and family live.  Good thing.  Because Tom's health problems got worse and were well-served by the Cleveland Clinic.  Tom and Cathy have two daughters, Laura and Carrie and four grandchildren.  

Tom and I were friends for more than sixty years, and I will miss him dearly.  No arrangements are made at this point.  For those of you who knew Tom and want to send a card, please contact me for the address.

David Steinberg (Noel)

Great  memories about Jack and Paul!

All the Best to Jane Stenson grads, 

David Steinberg Noel

Jack Edmund Bookwalter

Jack Edmund Bookwalter

Jack Edmund Bookwalter

Jack Edmund Bookwalter

Stewart Myrent

Paul, saw your post about the passing of Tom Hansen, your friend of 60+ yrs.  I don't remember Tom, but I'm pretty sure we had a graduating class of 450-500 students, & I'm sure I couldn't possibly have met everyone in the class.  I seem to remember having closer relationships with those who attended grade school with me, in my case Lincoln Hall.  One of the weirdest things about being in your early (mid?) 70's, is that, you can know a person for 60+ yrs.  The first thing I think of when I hear of a couple celebrating a 50th or 60th wedding anniversary, is that they BOTH lived long enough to reach that milestone.  My parents were married for 35 yrs., but my mother passed in 1976 (over 40 yrs. ago) from breast cancer, at age 53.  My father made it to 90.  I'm fairly confident my parents would have made it to a 50th or 60th anniversary, if my mother had survived.  Which is why I've been thinking for the longest time, that if you're in a long-standing relationship with another person, you would prefer to be the first to go.  At that point, any problems you had are done, over.  For the one who's left, however, it's a totally different story - any problems are still there, & you have to deal with the loss of this very important person in your life.  But, Paul, I really liked the story of Tom & his wife moving to Placitas, NM (wherever that is) & building a hacienda bed & breakfast - The Blue Horse (good name).  Sounds fairly idyllic to me.  So, he had a good life - and you & his wife & his 2 daughters are left behind to deal with this loss.  Sorry to hear about it, even though I don't remember Tom.

Stewart Myrent

After my last post, I realized some of you, maybe not many, have already reached, or are fast approaching, a Golden Wedding Anniversary, & are looking forward to a 60th.  Congrats!  You are truly blessed.  And, also very lucky, of course.   My marriage lasted 22 yrs. & I am still very close with my ex-wife.  She is one of the all-time great girls!  (Although she is 63 now - maybe I shouldn't refer to her as a girl.)  But, that's another story.  So, I started thinking about these long-standing marriages, 50 yrs. plus, & I started wondering, after the first 20 or 30 yrs., is part of it, in fact, habit?  I realize part of it, is acceptance.  None of us is perfect - even though we are looking for that perfect person (the one that has 0% chance of actually existing) & we finally realize that THIS other person, is as close as I'll ever find.  So, it's OK if they're 95% of my ideal.  I'll just have to accept them with their (few) flaws, or faults.  So, I am curious, first of all, how many of you have already celebrated, or will soon celebrate, a Golden Wedding Anniversary?  I would also appreciate any feedback on my thoughts about long-standing marriages.  I would be very interested to know.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Crossing the threshold - our children are messengers to a future we will never see.

Condolences to Tom Hansen's family and friends.

Nancy Doyle (Sudlow)

My granddaughter is a junior at Niles North and participates in several choral groups at the school.  Last night was their winter concert.  They ended the program with the Hallelujah Chorus just as we did at our winter concerts over 50 years ago.  It was wonderful.  Such good memories.

Beverlee Ann Arpan (Marshall)

Nancy,  I also remember our Christmas concert senior year when a member of concert choir, with Mr. McGee at the helm.  Funny what the mind retains. I remember singing with Snookie Perri, Pat Bateman and Janis Kliphardt in the alto section.  My twin brother, John, and Len Bennett sang in the base section, Kerry Kenney and Lee Miller we’re part of the tenor section, and Amy Gabriel, our best soprano, years later, sang with the Chicago Symphony.   Nancy Doyle and Holly Thompson accompanied the choir and orchestra on the piano.  The Hallelujah Chorus was the highlighted finale. Thanks for the fond memories, Nancy, who remains a close friend to this day.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

   What will money buy?

Paul Richard Hain

Some of us who were part of the Concert Band joined the Orchestra and Choir to perform the Hallelujah Chorus. I remember it well, the antiphonal sound and blends of voices and instrument. A few concert band members that come to mind are Jack Bookwalter, Nancy Novak, Scott Mermel and Mike Hansen. I'm sure I am missing others. That program was always a highlight for me each year.  Was it just my perception that Mr. Magee barely tolerated us band members?

Beverlee Ann Arpan (Marshall)

Anyone have a guess what Janis’s post of a banana duck taped to ? with the caption “what will money buy?” means?  I haven’t stopped laughing.

Scott Mermel

The "Hallelujah Chorus" will always be a fond memory for me (even though I'm Jewish!).  If you remember, we had band members in the balcony and along the sides of the auditorium, so the sound produced was incredible!  Every time I hear it played during the holiday season, I remember the times we performed it during the Christmas Concert at West.  It's become more poignant recently as when I hear it, I remeber recent the losses of Mr. Groeling and our classmate and trumpet player, Larry Burkhardt.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

    How do we place value on material goods?

    A banana duct-taped to a wall sold for $120,000 at Miami's Art Basel this week.

    Two of three editions have been sold, each for $120,000.

    The final edition is expected to go for $150,000.

 Why?

    What happens when the bananas start to rot?

    No problem,

    the art connoisseurs buy more bananas to duct-tape to the wall.

 Art is in the eye of the beholder.

    Facts are not.

    Neither is hunger.

Beverlee Ann Arpan (Marshall)

Yikes!  And, there is no accounting for taste.  

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Does anyone know?

Is the banana duct-taped to the wall a scam?

There's nothing new about fake news, it's old as time.

Things we think or wish could have been true are easier to believe.

Are these banana transactions plausible?

The artist claims he spent a year working on the piece (yes, he really said that), "agonizing over whether to make the banana resin or bronze"... but eventually woke up one day and said, "the banana is supposed to be a banana."

Paul Richard Hain

Very interesting explanation regarding the state of art appreciation these days, Janis.  Do you think the purchasers that paid $120,000 may have been contributing to a group that supports the arts?  I'll tell you a true story. In the summer after my sophomore year in college, I met a small group of art students.  One was a man eight or nine years my senior.  What some would call a perpetual student.  He complained how art students (like himself) struggle to make enough money for paint, brushes and canvases while Picasso was the wealthiest artist on the planet.  Couldn't he donate some money or even a pencil drawing to hungry art students so they could continue their education.  

The friends convinced him to put his request in a letter and mail it to Picasso, who at the time was living in the south of France.  He airmailed off his letter and did not think of it again.  One day the letter came back marked "return to sender."  On the back of the envelop, Picasso had drawn a pencil drawing of a horse and tree by a balcony and signed it, "Picasso."  What a surprise!  Picasso (unless it was his publicist) had slit open the envelop, carefully taped it shut and wrote "return" on the front.

The art student now had an original Picasso.  Would he sell it to buy art materials?  No way! He kept it!  That a letter with a picture drawn by Picasso made it back to the sender without getting stolen amazes me.  That is a true story and I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.

Stewart, I guess I am a lucky guy to have known Tom Hansen for 64 years.  He is not the only long-time friend.  Jack Bookwalter is a friend even longer than that by about a year and David Steinberg Noel is right about 60 years.  The Message Forum helped bring us back together after our lives diverged from high school.  Nowadays, life has changed from ambition to caring about people old and new.  Scott spoke true words about the large role Mr. Groeling played in the lives his students. As adults a few years before his passing, he would join our German Band reunion at Mermel's house and bring the music and laughter back again.  Let those good memories swell up in thought.  That's what matters.

Scott Mermel

The banana was eaten as "performance art"!!!  Read this article:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/performance-artist-eats-120-000-banana-duct-taped-wall-calls-n1097696?cid=public-rss_20191208

You couldn't make this up!

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

                        "Hungry Artist"  

a performance artist ripped the banana duct-taped to a wall from its delicately positioned perch, ate the banana, and called it "very delicious".

The gastronomical action was proclaimed "art performance" at Miami's Art Basel.

Gallery spokespeople said, "The art work was not destroyed by the performance artist."

"The banana is the idea."

The banana comes with "instructions" that "the banana should be replaced as necessary."

Scott's link, a click away:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/performance-artist-eats-120-000-banana-duct-taped-wall-calls-n1097696?cid=public-rss_20191208

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Carnivore: "I only eat meat."

Herbivore: "I only eat plants."

Omnivore: "Food is food."