Thorndale ISD Ex-Students News
Reported by Charlene Olbrich
Ex-Student Association Advisory Committee Member
January 29, 2012
What a great week among our ex-students. No deaths, at least, that we are aware of. And we got an email from Mary Ann Garner Hill, Class of 1953 of Canyon Lake inviting us to meet at Barron's
Hamburger Haven for burgers on Thursday. Of course, we were thrilled to see Mary and husband, Bill
and the rest of the gang that came. She and sister, Lucy Garner Ditmore, Class of 1956 of Austin and her
husband were making their annual trek to the Rockdale Cemetery where their folks are buried. Lucy and
some of her classmates and their spouses were getting together so Mary Ann just added us to the mix. It
was so much fun and everyone should get together in small groups so you can visit more. Included were
the above and others from the Class of 1956 were Al and Marlene Whitted Swihart of Temple and Elton
Ray and Barbara Northcott Barron, making a total of 10. Mary Ann and I were in the same class and my
Leroy was in the Class of 1951. If you get together, no matter how many, be sure to let us know so we
can let others know. Mary Ann also tells us that her sister in New Mexico is really enjoying the Champion
that they gave her for Christmas. Always good to hear that.
Our congratulations go out to Paxton Jordan, Class of 2011 as he made the Dean's list for the Fall 2011
semester at Herkimer County Community College in Herkimer, New York. His proud grand parents,
Jerry and Linda Caffey Biar, both Class of 1966 gave us a heads up on this great achievement and we
thank them for that. We are proud of him, too.
There was a photo in the newspaper of Fire Chief, Eric Melde, Class of 1998 accepting a check for $600
for the Thorndale Volunteer Fire Department from Luminant for helping with the fires this past summer.
Eric received the 6th Coach White Memorial Scholarship.
Ran into Arno "Chicken" and Peggy Rieger Ebner, Classes of 1949 and 1954, respectively, of Austin a
couple of weeks ago and it was so good to see them. They enjoy our articles in the Thorndale Champion.
Chicken's sister, Ella "Toots" Ebner Tiemann, Class of 1957 gave them the subscription as a gift. Nice!!!
There was a nice colored photo in the paper of our Milam County Commissioner's Court as they opened
their meeting with prayer. Always so happy to see something like that. In the photo was our
commissioner, Jeff Muegge, Class of 1984.
FYI: More Valedictorians (V) and Salutatorians (S):
1991 - V - Jamie Buzan
S - Justin Hood
1992 - V - Kendall Rieger
S - Bobby Niemtschk
1993 - V - Keith Weise
S - Billie Jo Fisher
1994 - V - Cheryl Menzel Peterson
S - Kimberly Arzola Garcia
S - Gina Wuensche Gilmore
1995 - V - Wendy Fuessel Kovar
S - Heather Kerlin Merz
1996 - V - Crystal Ballard
S - Lynette Morrison Ford
1997 - V - Kelly Fisher Kovar
S - Eric Hinistroza
1998 - V - Kirby Menzel
S - Shannon Hengst Meadors
1999 - V - Stephanie Dickens Banham
S - Shannon Oslick
2000 - V - Emilye White Eggeling
S - Shannon Hood Priest
Our Homecoming date will be set soon, when the UIL sets the realignment. Looks like we will drop back
to 1-A again and probably pick up some of our old friends and lose some of our new ones from the past 2
years. We will let you know as soon as we find out.
Please do remember us with your address and name changes. We like to stay abreast of this information
all year long. If you are not receiving a Homecoming invitation each year, it's because we don't have a
current address for you, so let us know. We will add you to the appropriate class and from now on you
will know what's going with your classmates.
We missed out on the penny increase in postage stamps this time. Just sneaked up on us. So, our postage
will increase by $25.00 this coming Homecoming. Sure hated that.
We can be found on the web at www.thorndale.txed.net or you can e-mail locojo@austin.rr.com. You can
call 512-898-2072 or write to Thorndale Ex-Students Association, P. O. Box 393, Thorndale, TX. We
love to hear from our exes.