I am sad to announce that Hollye Fincher Young passed away Sunday April 19. Her funeral will be Wednesday April 22 10 AM at Christ the King Catholic Church in Little Rock. Her obituary can be viewed at www.littlerockfuneralhome.com. While Hollye did move to Newport and then Crossett before she graduated from high school, she spent a significant part of her school years with us. She was always a cheerful lady and she will be missed. Please keep her family in your prayers.
October 26, 2008
Hi everyone. I now I am waaayyy overdue (understatement of the year) on posting updates. Well I made several attempts to figure out how to extract the video from the 20-year reunion, edit it, and convert it to a format everyone can see. Finally I found a piece of software that is relatively easy to use that does all of that. So I have extracted a piece of it and have uploaded it. This video clip shows a bunch of us dancing to Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees. Check it out and let me know what you think. There are two different ways to view this: Youtube and a direct download.
If the file you downloaded from this link does not work, then you probably don't have the correct codec installed. I suggest downloading and installing it from http://www.filehippo.com/download_klite_codec_pack. You will only need to install it once.
Again, let me know what you think. I hopefully will have another video posted soon.
October 22, 2006
I have some of the 20 year reunion pictures posted. Sorry for the delay - its been very busy for me. But progress is being made. Be sure to check out the pics by clicking 20 Years link to the left of the page. More pics will be posted in the next few weeks. Stay tuned.
Also I bumped into Lara Thompson and Coach French at the AATYC (Arkansas Association for Two Year Colleges) Conference in Hot Springs. Lara is now on the nursing faculty of a two year college. So if you are ever in Hot Springs and need someone to give you a shot - give Lara a ring (just kidding of course). Coach French is now a Deputy Director of the Arkansas Department of Workforce Education.
July 10, 2006
In memory of Patrick Goodman
I was deeply saddened when I found that Patrick Goodman passed away yesterday (Sunday July 9th). I do not know the details of it but here is the arrangements for his funeral:
Visitation - Friday July 14, 2006 from 4:00 to 6:00 at Stephenson-Dearman
Funeral - Saturday July 15, 2006 at 1:00 at Pilgrim Rest AME Church
I saw Patrick at the 20 year reunion, just a bit over 2 weeks ago. While its always hard to accept a class members death, I am thankful I had a chance to visit with him recently. Please keep his family in your prayers during this time of loss.
I also want to say that every day we get on this earth is truly a gift from God. Its easy to forget that, but each one of us (this especially includes me) should take time and reflect on what is important to us - family and friends. We as a class are in many ways a family. We often don't get to see each other as much as we would like. But when one of us departs this life, we all feel a piece of us missing.
Patrick, we will all miss you.
July 2, 2006
Its hard to believe its been a week since the reunion. Pictures are coming in and I even got some videos. I hope to have a video posted in several weeks. My brother-in-law has the "know how" to do that but he is out for the next week and a half. For now I have posted a group pic at the top of this page.
I want to throw an idea at each of you. I am entertaining the idea of scheduling an informal event. It is NOT an official event. Its not another reunion on the same scale of the one we just had. Here's what I have in mind. During football season, we get a group together and attend a Billies football game. We can go out somewhere and eat dinner before or after the game (we would determine the location beforehand). This will be communicated through website and e-mail only. I will not put out the time to call everyone or send mail through the postal service (thats something we do only for the big reunions.
So e-mail me what you think. I am aware that some people live closer than others. Do you want to do this in Monticello (at a home game) or have this in Little Rock? The Billies play one or two games in the Little Rock area every fall. There is a handful of us that live in the Central Arkansas area. If there is enough interest we will do this, but I want this to require minimal planning. So talk to me if you have an opinion.
June 25, 2006
Wow!! What a reunion that was. We had an excellent turnout. My guess is 40 or 50ish but Susanne will let me know when we have a final official count. We had a great time on the dance floor and just hanging out and catching up with each other. Not to mention a few karaoke songs. The only bad news is well, that its over. I wished that it would last for a month.
If you have pictures or videos that you would like to submit to the website, click the 20 Year Reunion Pics link on the left side of this page. That page has instructions on how to submit pictures and videos to the website. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we will have some pictures posted.
June 24, 2006
The reunion is in progress!! We still have the main event at the country club tonight. But here's a recap for those who were not able to attend.
We had an excellent turnout so far (although I hesitate to guess a number). We gathered at Misty Saffold's parents' house on Friday night. After trying to recognize everyone and mingling for a bit, we decided to pay a visit to The Chocolate Factory (formerly the Monticello Social Club). Unfortunately it was closed, so we moved the party to the All Stars Sports Club in Monticello. We had a good time socializing, getting caught up, and then hitting the dance floor. Its a good thing everyone got to sleep in the next morning because it was late when we left.
Then on Saturday afternoon, we met up at Western Pines park. We got to see everyone's kids. A big thanks to Tim Smith's parents for bringing their oversized grill and cooking up all the hamburgers and hot dogs. We managed to take a group picture inside the tennis court shortly before it started raining. Lots of other pictures were taken from that event, so I hope to have some of those posted soon.
June 20, 2006
Three days until the reunion begins! Just a quick update. The Saturday mid-day picnic has been moved to Western Pines park (so close to where I grew up). It has much more shade and things for kids to do than the Lake Monticello pavilion.
The schedule for the reunion weekend is as follows:
Friday
6:00 pm to ?? - Misty Saffold's Parent's house (click 'Directions to Reunion' if you
need directions)
Saturday
11 am to ?? - picnic at Western Pines Park (click 'Directions to Reunion' if you need directions)
6 pm - Meet at Monticello Country Club - start with Happy Hour
7 pm - Dinner
8 pm - Class Picture
Visiting and dancing until ????
June 16, 2006
One week until the reunion. The waiting is almost over!! Be sure to get those dancing shoes out and click here to brush up on your dance moves!!
June 3, 2006
In memory of Steve Gibson
April 28, 1969 - June 2, 2006
Steve Gibson (Class of 1987), age 37, passed away on Friday June 2nd at the Baptist Medical Center at Little Rock, following a lengthy illness. I visited with his family shortly after his death. The funeral will be on Tuesday June 6 at 2pm at First Baptist Church of Monticello. Please keep the Gibson family in your prayers. He will be missed.
I remember him sitting next to me in band and also a few desks away in Mr. Stover's World History Class. If you have any stories to share about Steve, please email them to myself or Kevin. If I get enough of them, I will make a memorial page.
Kevin Wooldridge posted some videos Steve took at the Mississippi coast shortly after Katrina. He drove all the way from Monticello to locate some members of his family. To view those videos, go to the blog at Kevin's webpage: http://www.kevinwooldridge.com/blog/10282005/index.php
May 8, 2006
The reunion is getting closer!! You should have received a letter in the mail with some detailed information about the reunion. Be SURE to return the RSVP form along with a check to cover the costs, if you haven't already. Don't let it go because our planners need an accurate headcount so we have plenty of food for everyone. If you can't make it, please let us know too so we don't have to guess. If for some reason you didn't get the RSVP form or misplaced it, click here to download it (then print it and send it back). The cost for the reunion is $65.00 for singles and $75.00 for couples.
Return the RSVP forms to:
Timberland Enterprises
Attn: Tim Smith or Susanne Kibodeaux
PO Box 557
Monticello, AR 71657-0557
Also for those of you that remember Steven Gibson (class of 1987), he is on life support at the Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock. Please pray for him and his family during this difficult time.
Disclaimer: This website is NOT affiliated, operated, hosted, endorsed, or in any way associated with the Monticello School District of Arkansas. Any opinions stated on this website are not necessarily the opinion of the school district. If you need to contact the school district, the url is included in the links listed below.
