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| Rick Albrecht 1966 |
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| Rochelle Brack Albrecht 1966 |
By
Rick Albrecht and Rochelle (Brack) Albrecht
When
Carole Tonigan called to see if we would be interested in writing a short note
about our time at the reunion, we said yes. Trust us when we say, when Carole
calls, you just have to say yes.
Plus,
she’s practically our neighbor, her living in Tucson and us in
Albuquerque. We couldn’t let her down. And thanks to Terry Rawstern,
who will be the guy to get this to you.
Our
computer is so old, the internet is rejecting most of our attempted visit
locations now because Microsoft no longer supports it. We think Moby Dick was a
minnow when we bought our computer.
Neither
of us have been around our classmates much since leaving Aberdeen, and we’ve only
attended two reunions.
Like
many of you, life happens and we just didn't have the opportunity or we had to
work to pay the bills. However, both times we were able to go — our 35th in
Scottsdale and this year at our 50th in Aberdeen— we did have fun seeing everyone who did attend.
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| Rochelle with Rick in Navy Uniform |
One
of the neatest parts about our 50th was seeing how good
everyone looked (for 50 additional years tacked on) and how many have stayed in
Aberdeen and helped it grow as a community. We especially liked our visit
to old Central and rekindling friendships, which we hope will stay with
us.
We both really appreciated how the reunion committee remembered all our
classmates no longer with us; additionally the honoring of all who served in
the U.S. Armed Forces. Rick was one of those depicted.
Overall,
the Navy was a great career and as a side note here, it reminded us many times how
small our world really is. In 1980 while serving in Great Britain, and on an
official visit to Navy Headquarters London, Rick ran into Karla Sukut. When
the elevator door opened up, there was Karla. She worked there too.
What a small world! It took until our 50th to cross paths
again. She got “Lucky” since then. Her husband, Richard "Lucky" Cook, also
happens to be an Army Veteran with lots of experiences similar to most who
served during the Vietnam years. There was also talk of Karla and Lucky
possibly moving to Tucson, so the neighborhood may be growing, Carole.
Seeing Ferrell Greene and meeting his bride, Linda, was a real special highlight
for us. Ferrell if you recall, was part of our trio during the 1966
Eaglean Follies. We really enjoyed singing all the folk songs popular
in our day.
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| Rochelle, Rick and Ferrell Greene 1966 |
It
is sad how we can lose contact with friends over the years, but reunions like
this can bridge the gap. Hopefully we will have more of these opportunities
to reconnect in the future. We're not getting any younger. Great
memories!
Another fantastic time was seeing our dear friends and classmate Kathleen
(Krueger) and her husband, Terry Brooks, again. They travel from Chamberlain,
SD, to Phoenix, AZ, area most winters, and we see them when they pass through
Albuquerque. Our Southwestern neighborhood grows larger in the winter.
We
appreciated the opportunity to spend time with them and together we visited the
Vietnam Memorial at Anderson Park. Terry is also a Vietnam Vet. If you have not
had the chance to see this superbly designed memorial, please do so at your
first opportunity. It meant a lot to Rick because of Vern Fried who is noted on
this memorial. He was one of Rick’s closer neighborhood friends and the brother
of our now deceased classmate Dennis Fried.
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| Rick at 50th CHS Reunion |
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| Rochelle at 50th CHS Reunion |
Amazingly we were only going to write a couple of paragraphs, so we’ll close by
saying we’re sorry for not being able to mention every visit. We do have a
wonderful new set of memories and hope that if you are reading this and did not
make our 50th, you will take an opportunity to attend a future class
reunion. It is well worth it.
A
special THANKS to all those who made this golden class reunion happen!
Since many CHS students have gone to some of the same Aberdeen schools growing
up, we’ve attached some of Rick’s found class photos. Known names were
added and we hope you can fill in the blanks.
If you’re ever planning on passing through Albuquerque, send us a note at ralbrecht6480@comcast.net and
let’s try to get together.
Take
care until we meet again!
As my wife Linda and I
approached Aberdeen from the west, arriving Friday afternoon just prior to our
50th reunion, I faced a flood of emotions that I didn’t really expect. Unlike
most of you, I only lived in Aberdeen a couple of years, so I don’t
have 
As we milled around and talked to each other, it’s amazing how many wonderful memories came flooding over me. I can say without equivocation, looking back, that those two years that I attended Central were the most fun years of my life. Particularly the summer between our junior and senior year and the senior year itself. Being in need of bit of finances to put gas in daddy’s car to drag main, I needed a job. My first job was cranking out cake donuts and glazed donuts at Burckhard's North Side Bakery at 117 North Main Street.
