WPHS Web Site
HOW IT ALL BEGAN!
     My arm felt a tug as I was about to leave the room. The Winter Park High School Class of 1961, 40th Reunion was over. What a crowd! What a wonderful time! We certainly had a memorable experience. But we had missed so many names and faces. Where was the rest of the group?
     Sharon Spelzhousen Bozarth was on the other end of the hand tugging at me. Among the kind words and thoughts was her question, "What can we do to contact everyone?" My first thought was the Internet. "But how?", Sharon begged.
     The rest is a blur. Early on I had learned that Anne Laing Ryder was really not dead (as one report from an unofficial publication had made it seem) but very much alive and designing web sites for senior citizens as a hobby.  Bill Ronay, 40th Class Reunion
June 27, 2001 - E-mail sent to Anne Laing from Bill Ronay in part reading: "One thing we did discuss was the possibility of having a WPHS 61 web page. Nothing fancy...just the basics and a way to e-mail back and forth. Would you be so inclined as to consider doing this for the group? I am already compiling e-mail addresses from the respondents. All this will make it ever so convenient for the 45th!"

20th Reunion

30th Reunion

40th Reunion
June 30, 2001 - Test page went online for review in GeoCities free web space. Much more to do but e-mail, in part from Bill Ronay was: "The way the Then and Now looks is just what I had in mind. I will try to get a list of the lost to you as soon as I can. There was a roster of all "known" addresses including names without any information beside it . . . distributed at the reunion. Woody Woodall has the database and he may be able to zook an attachment file to you."
      Recruiting the help of Mary Phillips as "sleuth" and Bill Ronay as "public relations" contact, these three were the "unofficial" committee. Sharon May, Carol Streep, Marcia Gruber, Dewey Ramsby, Sharon Spelzhausen and several others pitched in to make the beginnings go smoothly.
      We had no idea how the WPHS web site would hold up. It was changing into a wonderful Papillion before our eyes. The reaction by the alumni was a bit slow in the first stages. However, this was short-lived as we discovered GeoCities was temporarily shutting the site down without warning due to extreme traffic.
      Fast forward to today . . . and our very own web site, wphsalumni-1961.com thanks to Dewey Ramsby and his recommendation that money left from the 40th reunion be used for maintenance of the new web site, we have paid the first year for the web host and our own domain name. If there are awards out there for eye-catching, informative, user friendly web sites, in our opinion this would be the winner! In large part the success of this web site is due to all of the members of the Winter Park High School Class of 1961 who have come forward with their selfless help and generosity of time and talent.
      Bill, Bobby, Chip, David, Karen, Ann, Larry, Tom, Susan . . . and so many others are to be thanked for their efforts. If it were not for the group as a whole coming together with such enthusiasm, you would not be reading this FIRST ANNIVERSARY NEWSLETTER.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
     More than 70 classmates have been located or re-located through the efforts of our "Private Investigator" Mary Phillips with help from other classmates. Participation in the web site is great fun and has led to some pretty cool stories, as a result. For more information, visit "Where are they now?"
     If you know the whereabouts of classmates, please share that information with Bill Ronay or Mary Phillips and they will make every effort to contact them and invite them to visit the new web site.
THE EVENTS OF SEPTEMBER 11th, 2001
     A separate web page has been linked to this newsletter with original text from classmates who personally felt the effects of September 11th and wanted to share with the rest of the class. Although we all have felt some effects from the tragedy of that day, we felt it was pertinent to share within this first newsletter the feelings of your classmates that you would not otherwise have known had we not been online with the alumni web site. To visit that special web page all you need do is click here . . . .
HOLIDAY WISHES WERE SENT TO CLASSMATES
Winter Park - December 25, 2001
     I just drove through Winter Park about an hour ago, driving up 436 (Semoran Blvd.) to Aloma and I turned left on Aloma towards Park Avenue. I went around Brewer's curve where Nancy Temple lived. I saw construction there -- I'm told she is moving back to her old home and remodeling it rather extensively. It's a beautiful drive down there towards Winter Park. I drove past the old Langford Hotel that has been bought and is being renovated by some big company turning the hotel into the first 5 Star hotel in central Florida we are told. Quite honestly, when the Langford was built I thought it was a 5 Star hotel, didn't you? Click here to view the entire 'Holiday Wish' web page. . . . .
FIRST OFFICIAL "UNOFFICIAL" WEB SITE RELATED EVENT
     For any one of a number of reasons including it being Bobby's 59th birthday and also to celebrate the opening of the new Class of 1961 alumni website, Bob and Cheryl Cross hosted a cookout in their home. Using the addresses on file from the 40th class reunion along with the new web site and over 100 e-mail addresses, invitations were sent out via 'snail'-mail and the internet.
     To visit the picture with section of the April 13th cookout all you need do is click here. It was great fun. Maybe we'll be fortunate enough to celebrate Bobby's 60th birthday with him next year!
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
     Since the posting of this new web site classmates who have been disconnected from one another have made contact. Some have not only connected via the internet but have traveled from one home to another to visit with and to talk about all the years in between since high school.
     Your web'mistress and members of the web site committee are extremely happy hearing the stories of connectivity this web site has brought about. We hope it will continue to grow as more classmates are located. It is through not only the efforts of the "unofficial" committee members of the "unofficial" alumni web site for the class of 1961 but those of you who have chosen to participate that has made the web site the success that it is. We appreciate you sharing your memorabilia and allowing us to put it on our new web site for others to see.		      Share with us stories of how you connected with a classmate via this web site. We want to hear from you. We know many of you reading this are visiting the web site regularly but have yet to contact any of us. Please don't wait any longer. Share this web site with your family.
     We are looking for more pictures, as well. Pictures and newspaper articles if you have any. Your web'mistress will be delighted to post the pictures to the web site along with your name for contributing. The pictures and caption make the web site the success that it has become.
     Don't forget that if you change your e-mail address you should contact Mary Phillips or Bill Ronay so they can update your records to ensure you receive the most recent e-mails from your classmates.