TO:  The Graduating Class of 1965, St. Louis Park High School
FROM:  Tommy Sipkins, Class President

     What made St. Louis Park High School so special, as I think back, was its diversity.  Not racial diversity, of course, since there was none.  But rich and poor were friends; and our class, like the community, was uniquely divided amongst Protestants, Catholics, and Jews.  We had a great class.
     Our class was very smart and very competitive.  Some folks, like Doug Yock (a presidential scholar), Stanley Gale (just a genius), Tom Zanna, Anna Geyer and Gail Papermaster, were off the charts.  Scary smart.  Zanna, who swam the breast stroke and broke the Cooke Hall record at the University of Minnesota where the Big 10 swim meets were held, was actually worried about getting into college.  So he applied to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Amherst, and Bowdoin, I think, and got accepted to them all.
     We also had some fantastic athletes.  Unfortunately, in those days, girls' sports didn't get past GAA.  Cheerleading and Parkettes.  Laura Carlberg, Marti Hunkins, Martha Holmberg, Kathy Thorbeck come to mind.  Linda Joseph, Rollie Troup, Kathy King and Kathy Fujino as cheerleaders.
     We had some great boys' teams.  Our football team was first in the state:  Jim Rounds, Bob Olson, Ira Rosen, Tim Long, Tuffy Weisman, Dick Barr, Stu Mogelson, Gary Youngstrand, Bruce Smith, Bill Gresko, to name a few.  And, Bob Stein has a Superbowl ring, I think, from the Kansas City Chiefs.
     Steve Burke was a great and under-rated goaltender, and Buckwheat Lindquist and Robert Holt were pretty good too, in hockey and baseball.  Nooper Dachis was also a fine baseball player, on a good team.  Zanna was the state champion swimmer.  Olson and Terry Neidlinger excelled in basketball.  Bob Wagner and Terry excelled in cross country and track.  Bob was state champion at least one year that I recall.
     Lots of beautiful women in our class.  I hesitate to list them, lest I forget some of them.  One of them, Holly Hovde, has passed away.  From the moment I saw Holly in 7th grade English class, I was totally smitten.  Was anybody not?  I always thought she was drop-dead gorgeous, but nerd that I was, I never had the nerve to ask her out.  In my yearbook at graduation she wrote that she always had a crush on me.  What was I thinking?  I think the only times I saw her after we graduated were at the 10th and 20th year reunions.  I gave her a hug and a kiss at the 20th and told her that she was "elegant" and still the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.  She smiled and kissed me again.  I am glad that I told her.  I never saw or spoke to her again.
     I had Lyle Gerard in the 10th grade.  English class I think.  He was reading a story to us written by or about a Yugoslav partisan, and underground fighter, who had fought the Nazis in World War II.  Near the end of the story, Mr. Gerard broke down and started bawling.  It was the first time I can remember seeing a grown man cry, and I still can see him in my mind's eye, 42 years later.
     The things that we remember ........
     I look forward to seeing all of you at the reunion, and hope to hear from all of you who are unable to attend.

                                                Tommy