2007 OTR Report | Goodspring

25th Old Timer's Reunion Report

May 5th and 6th 2007

Bill Hamilton brought a box of pictures and memoirs from past reunions, which included the original register of the first gathering. There were twenty-six signatures in 1983, which has grown to our more than 100 and continuing in the third decade of gathering Old Timers.

The picture will be enlarged on GOTR website of http://gotr.goodsprings.org. A copy of part of a letter to Bill from Paul Hughes is posted at the end.

The reunion started off with a bang over coffee and donuts at 8 am with many people visiting old time friends but only 96 adults signed the register. I know there were more than that plus their children. If there is someway to display the register to be more visible, please let us know for next year.

The Kemple clan arrived this year including Clifford from Texas, George from Tallahassee Florida, Jay, Jim, John and Richard from Utah and of course, their lovely wives.

Brenda in the kitchen

Anita Barnes Braff, from state of Washington along with Dynette & Lance Cripper, reunited with her family Alvin and Steve from Oregon, Charles Barnes and Kaylene Opperman from Reno, Claudia, Chris & Stevie Church from Utah, and Nancy Schlemmer, from Fresno, Dick Barnes, Marcia Whitney and Barnes, Kemple, Whitney relatives in the area. Marcia's daughter, Brenda Hanson, comes from Konawa, OK every year to cook, serve and clean.

Anita Kemple signed in but I'm not sure with which Kemple she is associated. Lisle Lowe, from Amaragosa Valley visited with his brothers, Dale and David. Of course we had Bill & Frances Hamilton and Jim Reed from Oregon back; Robert and Ann Osburn came from Snowflake, Arizona. Willy Surbrook, from southern CA, came to visit his grandfather Russ Decaro. Rosie Dempsey, prominent writer, came from Searchlight and the rest of us were local to Goodsprings, Henderson, Las Vegas and Sandy Valley.

Almost missed, because they are not on the register, were Annette Ellis Fisherman from New York City and Ed Fayle from Lakeport, CA. If we had a prize for the person who traveled the furthest, George Kemple would have won, based on the register but Annette is the winner.

After Saturday's potluck lunch, the Goodsprings Historical Society (GHS) held their Annual Meeting at 2:30 PM starting with the Pledge of Allegiance that brought back memories of being in the schoolhouse next door. Among other business, it was brought out that a new Cemetery Committee has been formed including Steve Fleming, Bobbie Poole, Patti Poole, Ruth Rawlinson as Chair, Dan Rhoades and Ed Stephens, with officers to be elected.

The school did not have funds nor a Santa Clause to provide the traditional Christmas program for the kids in 2006 and GHS has offered to help this year. Dick Barnes volunteered to be Santa. It is unfortunate that Dick is not with us to

Dick, Charles, ? and Kay with prize plate

Members who paid their dues at the reunion received a drawing ticket for an old plate from the Fayle Goodsprings Hotel. Among the winners were Beth Bacher, Charles Barnes, Claudia Church, Barbara Lowe, Ann Osburn, Willy Surbrook and Elaine Wille. George Handy won a cactus.

All paid members received new membership cards with a picture of the Goodsprings sign. If you didn't get yours, notify a GHS officer to obtain one.

When Bill Hamilton was ten years old, he found a 12½ ¢ token from the Goodsprings Schaffer & Burkhart store that he gave to GHS this year.

In acknowledgment for the Old Timers who have passed this past year, Patti Poole read the names and Michael Opperman, Ruby Kemple Schlemmer's great grandson, rang the GHS bell for Bob Bishop, Marian Decaro, Stephen Fredrickson, Dale Hamilton, Flavia Pillow Harris, Marilyn Hedrick, Beverly Hughes and Peggy Simon followed by a moment of silence.

Julie & Jane Fleming at School Display

Julie Newberry displayed the school history scrapbooks from the early 1900's to late 1990's. We all look forward to seeing her display and pictures of yesteryear, which was placed in the old Community Center after a bit of repair and cleanup was accomplished. The building still needs attention.

Souvenir cups and T-shirts with a picture of the Yellow Pine Railroad engine on them were available from GHS. Some T-shirts are still left in size small and XL.

Visitors had plenty of action to see in Goodsprings including a Bazaar at the Volunteer Fire Department and a Chili Cook-off at the revamped Pioneer Saloon. We lost track of some of the Old Timers during the interim as not everyone made it into the picture but we are sure that all had a good time.

Thanks to Steve Fleming for the photos. Please check the Goodsprings Historical Society website and open up your spam controls to allow email from goodsprings.org to receive news.

We hope to see all of you next year.. Mickey Moran

Letter from Paul Hughes:

DEAR Bill & family, just a little history for update. In about 1980 Elizabeth Fredrickson Van Gordon and I started making a list of all those we could remember from Goodsprings. It was done mostly in longhand I still have some of the lists, what finally brought this all to a reunion was the SHOWBOAT Casino on the boulder highway decided to sponsor a fifty-year Las Vegas High school reunion for the graduating classes of 1933,1934 and 1935. It was amazing how many graduated students showed up, but we all had a wonderful time. I still have photos of the classmates at the reunion, I remember mentioning to Elizabeth that all the Goodsprings old timers we knew about were somewhere in Las Vegas for the High School reunions so next morning Elizabeth started making phone calls and whoever she called was to call everyone from Goodsprings they knew was in Las Vegas and invite them to the first Goodsprings Old Timers reunion at the old Community Center in Goodsprings on SEPTEMBER 26,1983.

Again it was amazing all the old timers that came to our reunion, but we were totally unprepared for the event no one thought about registering all those who showed up but again Elizabeth saved the day she grabbed a pile of paper plates and passed them out to everyone with instructions to get everyone's name. Enclosed is a copy of my paper plate, we later all went outside for picture Sat which time Betty Kelly Ciliax arrived but it was almost impossible to get the name of everyone in the photograph but I attached my photo to the back of the paper plate, sooo that's how it all started we even had the Piehl sisters Jane and Marion from Seattle. The Got reunion in 2002 was the nineteenth reunion.

On to your newsletter. There never was a dry lake between Jean and the state line. Five miles south of Jean on the East side of old 91 was Ed Flukeys roadside business with a pile of upshot rocks about 200 yards east of his store wherein was a cave that provided good summer sleeping there was also an early FAA Beacon and an emergency landing strip, about ten miles south of Jean on the.. [wish we had the rest of it..] [Also, there is a copy of a photo on the back of the plate copy but it is only black and white figures.]