Spring 2024 Golden Grads President’s Report

Doug Whalley ‘63

The Annual Golden Grads Luncheon

The June 12th luncheon at the Nile Country Club is our only event exclusively for Golden Grads members, and it is a great opportunity to get together with other alums. Class reunions are fun, but our luncheon connects you to both your class and friends from other years. You hear an update on the school, meet the principal and our scholarship winners, and enjoy a short performance by student singers, dancers, or musicians. We chose the Nile, now called the Nile Shriners Center, because it has easy access off I-5; parking is abundant, free, and close; and there are no stairways to climb. Roosevelt football coach Sam Adams, a former first round draft pick for the Seattle Seahawks, will be a speaker.

Our New Luncheon Chairs

Ann Reid ’68 and Heidi Liniger Olson ’72 have volunteered to be our new luncheon chairs, a position vacant since long-time chair Cindy Dack ’60 retired last year. Their qualifications are impressive. Ann worked at the Seattle Chamber of Commerce from 1998 to 2015, managing luncheons, receptions, and breakfasts; selecting venues; and choosing menus. Heidi was President of the Holland America Line Social Committee. The committee planned annual Christmas parties for 1,200 attendees. This included finding venues at major hotels and setting up catering, menus, and other activities.

Thank You to Judy Crossett Cromwell ’60

Judy is retiring as chair of the Scholarship Committee (formerly the “Merit Scholarship” Committee). She began volunteering on the committee several years ago and has been chair since 2021. The committee works hard interviewing scholarship candidates each Spring and deciding on the amounts awarded. If the new chair is not drafted – I mean “selected”—before the Grapevine is published, we will announce his or her name at the luncheon.

Keeping Up with Roosevelt News

This newsletter gives you a hint of what is happening at your school, but there are many other ways to get news of Roosevelt. Golden Grads’ Web Master, Ellen Brown Hewitt ‘53, runs our own website, rhsgoldengrads.org, featuring news of both Golden Grads and the school. If you search the web for “Roosevelt High Seattle”, you will also find sites for the Roosevelt Foundation, RARE (Roosevelt Alumni for Racial Equity), Roosevelt sports teams, the band, the orchestra, and other activities. Several Facebook pages about the school can be found by searching Facebook for “Roosevelt High Seattle”.  A few individual RHS alumni classes also have Facebook sites. Our own site on Facebook is Roosevelt Golden Grads. I host it, and welcome comments or postings by members.

If You Only Scanned That Last Paragraph

You may have missed an important item. Our website manager, Ellen Brown Hewitt, graduated in 1953. She is our only Board or committee member who graduated in the 1950’s, and she handles our most technically difficult activity with ease. Ellen recently explained to me how we were going to hire PayPal to allow us to accept dues and donations online. I did not understand the technology involved, but I checked with my son who works at Microsoft. He said it sounded great.

Seattle Schools Are Facing a Budget Crisis

Principal Tami Brewer informs us that Seattle schools will make dramatic cuts next year in staff and programs. Because of falling enrollment in Seattle and elsewhere, State support has been substantially reduced. Golden Grads has limited flexibility in our donations, since we rely on interest from our investments, but we will review where our funds go.

To see what else is happening this spring, go to one of the websites below:

• High School
• Jazz
• Drama
• Orchestra
• Bands

For More on RHS Jazz Bands click here or visit the Jazz Boosters Calendar Page. For RHS Orchestra click here. For RHS Roughriders Band information click the Riders Band site. And for Roosevelt Drama events click here.

If you are one of the Golden Grads who were not able to send your Luncheon reservations in time for the May 22 deadline, you have another chance. It seems a number of Grapevines were not delivered because of unnecessary security concerns about the number of Grapevines emailed, and the registration form happened to be in the Grapevine.  If that happened to your Grapevine, you don’t  have to miss out on seeing everyone because of it. If your reservation was delayed for whatever reason, you  have more time.

The Nile Golf and Country Club (Now called the Nile Shrine Center) has allowed us to extend the deadline for getting in the luncheon reservations until June 3 for the June 12 event!

If you need another “Grapevine”, or you would like me to sign you up using a credit card please call me!  You can also click this link to the reservation form, print it and fill it out with your lunch choice, and mail it in with your check or payment info. (Try to get it to us a couple of days early, to make sure it’s on time.)

Looking forward to seeing you at the Luncheon!

Anne Chichester Temple
la_temple@comcast.net
425-697-4216 or   Cell 425-299-5992
Membership Chairman

Start or renew Golden Grads membership today!

Print and complete the membership form (click on “membership form”) and print out and mail to RHS Golden Grads, PO Box 281, Edmonds, WA 98020-0281. You can add Credit Card instructions to the form or include your personal check in the envelope to pay your dues. 

Here’s how to see us on Facebook:
• Log in to your Facebook page.
• Type “Roosevelt Golden Grads” in the search
box at the top.
• Roosevelt Golden Grads will pop up as a choice.
• Click on us to see our page.
• Underneath the banner with our name, select
“Like” & “Follow”.
• Start reading our posts 

More News from Your Secretary

by Cathie Hogue Huffman, ’63

Hello Golden Grads!

The elves have compiled the Grapevine and sent it out by email and snail mail to Golden Grads near and far.

I hope you have all received your Spring Grapevine and are keeping up with news on the Golden Grads website (rhsgoldengrads.org).  You can also follow student activities/opinions/news in the school paper on Instagram @therhsnews! or at therooseveltnews.org.

Meanwhile the students are keeping busy!

The Jazz band competed successfully in the final 15 at Essentially Ellington in New York May 9-11, which just finished four days ago. They won several honors and distinguished themselves as usual.

Tuesday May 21, at 7 pm the Spring Musical, Mean Girls will be presented free for Golden Grads (and “their kids, grandkids, whoever” according to Drama Teacher Ben Stuart). Tickets are also available for purchase for performances May 23 through June 2.

Happy Spring to everyone!

Cathie Huffman

by Grapevine Editor Janet Whalley

The Grapevine is much more interesting when you are in it!!!!! Try to scribble down some notes about what you’ve been doing or planning and send it to your Class representative or me as soon as soon as you can do so. It’s really easy to do.  Just a few sentences are fine!

Address your email to me at janet@whalley.net or your Class Rep as listed in the Grapevine. Class reps should solicit their classmates’ reports and/or compose a report to me for the next Grapevine and send, or better, email to me. (NOTE – Reports and articles received with GG Membership forms will be sent directly to me by the Membership Registrar to put into the appropriate class report section.) I need all reports and information by the deadline in order to get the Grapevine out on time. All your efforts are greatly appreciated!

And remember, Grapevines are sent out by email (preferred) or snail mail to members who are up to date on their dues. Now is the time to catch up if you haven’t sent your dues in yet.