The Annual Golden Grads Luncheon was held on June 10, 2025, at the Seattle Yacht Club. The Co-Chairs of the luncheon, Ann Reid ’68 and Heidi Liniger Olson ’72 did an excellent job planning this year’s event at a new location. The Registration workers included Carol Koppel Hutchinson ‘63, Anne Chichester Temple ‘63, Carol Musselman Stevens ’63, Margaret Spillers ’63, and Robin Petersen Fickle ’63.

A total of 121 people attended the luncheon: 69 Golden Grads members, 17 scholarship winners, and 16 family members or friends of the students.

Click here to read more and see the pictures

A Successful 2025 Luncheon
Because of our expert coordinators Ann Reid ’68 and Heidi Liniger Olson ’72, the Golden Grads Annual Luncheon was a great success. Our new location at the Seattle Yacht Club provided good food, easy parking, and a nice view of Lake Union. The location is also very convenient for our many members that still live in NE Seattle. A highlight was Pamela Katims Steele’s introduction of the scholarship winners — their achievements were amazing. Thanks also to Rick Keating ’64 for running the show and only insulting the President five or six times, and to our Board members who handled registration. Principal Tami Brewer spoke at the luncheon, one day before she was placed on leave. (See the next article.)

The Football Scandal
In June the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) imposed penalties on Roosevelt for illegal football recruiting, including fines for Principal Tami Brewer and athletic director Danny Thompson. The Principal was placed on administrative leave by the Seattle School District. Last year the team had their best season in years, winning eight games before losing to Bellevue in the quarterfinals, but Roosevelt forfeited all games played in the last two seasons (2023, 2024). The team now has a one-year post-season ban. Any transfer student found to have provided false information to gain eligibility will be banned from athletic competition for one year.

RHS Interim Principal
Ruth Medsker has been named Roosevelt’s “Interim Principal” this fall. She had previously served as principal at West Seattle High School.

Another Gift to Golden Grads
from The Estate of Merle Stillson ’47 Roosevelt alum, Merle Stillson, passed away on September 28, 2023, at age 95. He included Golden Grads in his will among many other non-profit groups, friends, and family members. In Spring of 2024, we received $80,000 and recently received an additional $24,742 from his estate.

Golden Grads’ Web Site is Being Upgraded
We are in the process of updating our Golden Grads website (https://rhsgoldengrads.org). We plan to enable GG members to pay their dues and donations online with a credit card and to send us their membership forms. Our wonderful Web Master, Ellen Brown Hewett ‘53, has been trying to retire for two years, but fortunately has stuck with it while we look for a replacement and streamline the site. The upgrade will allow her replacement to easily monitor the site without technical expertise, so please volunteer.  Board members provide all the information to be posted.

The RHS Class of ’25
In this issue, I write about the Roosevelt graduation ceremony that Janet and I attended at Seattle High School Stadium for our oldest granddaughter, Kate Whalley. Kate’s second cousin was also in the graduating class, making them the 12th and 13th members of our family to graduate from Roosevelt, starting with the Class of 1931. I know I brag about this all the time, but that is what this bully pulpit is for. Any complaints, and you will immediately be placed on the Golden Grads Board, possibly as president.

Recruit New Members!
You likely stay in contact with many of your fellow Roosevelt graduates, so please encourage them to join Golden Grads. Our administrative expenses are very low, and most of the $20 membership fee supports college scholarships for deserving students and money for teachers’ needs that are not covered by the school district, like science equipment, special projects, books, and outings. Members also receive this spiffy newsletter. Where else could you find out that the 1956 Seafair Queen was a Roosevelt grad?

More News from Your Secretary
by Cathie Hogue Huffman, 63

Hello Golden Grads!

(Compiled.) Once again, 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.

The Jazz band was again invited to the Essential Ellington event at Lincoln Center. The Roosevelt Jazz Band is famous for Its outstanding Jazz music program.

Don’t forget Golden Grads free performance night at the Spring Musical May 20 at 7 pm. They invite Golden Grads to the final dress rehearsal as a thank you for our work. You can bring family and friends.

Happy Spring to everyone!

Cathie Huffman

Spring 2025 Golden Grads President’s Report
by Doug Whalley ‘63

Oh No, Not the Burg!

Sad news to report: the original Burgermaster restaurant near the  University Village closed February 2025 after seven decades in business. It is making way for a massive apartment complex with businesses below. CEO Alex Jensen, grandson of founder Phil Jensen, said he has known since 2022 that the Bugermaster’s tenancy could be terminated. Golden Grads remember car service before they offered sit-down eating. (You probably spilled your milkshake a couple of times.) Many of us continued to patronize the restaurant, and it sometimes seemed like a Roosevelt reunion when you spotted your classmates.

Thank You to Ellen Brown Hewitt ’53

Ellen has been a star as our Web Master for many years and has done a great job of maintaining our web site. She is retiring from that job this Spring. Her son has helped her with some technical issues (not unlike many of us), but Ellen could explain everything to the Board with expertise. We would welcome a Golden Grads volunteer with web experience to replace her. It is not a difficult job, but we cannot maintain our web site without an experienced volunteer.

Remembering Cindy Dack

Cindy, a long-serving GG Board Member as Luncheon Chair, passed away recently. Until she retired from the board two years ago, Cyndy ran the annual luncheon each year with good humor and an iron hand, making sure that everyone had a good time. (Her obituary is in this issue.)

Scholarships

The primary mission of Golden Grads is to provide college scholarships to deserving RHS graduates. Our 2024-2025 budgeted amount for our scholarships was $73,000. (This does not include special scholarship donations from members, like our Don Harney sports scholarships and Donald Strom and Jane LaFazio art scholarships.) The Scholarship Committee, now focused on the financial need of the applicants, recently requested a substantial increase in the total amount of scholarships funds to $125,000 because of the rise in tuition costs. Our Finance Committee and then the Board of Directors considered the request, and a majority voted to recommend increasing the 2024-25 budgeted amount by $10,000, for a total of $83,000. Treasurer Mike Bush stated our current budget is based on the best practices for non-profits, which is to maintain grants between 5% and 5.5% of the endowed funds. We are currently spending 5.7% of our endowed funds before any increase. (Additional donations for scholarships by GG members will help increase the scholarship funds available.)

Golden Grads Annual Luncheon is Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at the Seattle Yacht Club

The registration form and details are in this newsletter. We encourage all members to attend. It is a unique opportunity to get together with Roosevelt grads from your class and others. Our speakers from the school provide an inside look at Roosevelt today, and award-winning Roosevelt musicians present a short musical performance. The Seattle Yacht Club has a reputation for very good food, and the location should be more convenient for many. Guest parking is available.

Just in from President, Doug Whalley:

The Golden Grads Spring 2025 Luncheon will be held June 10, 2025 at the Seattle Yacht Club. See all the details and sign-up information in the Spring Grapevine newsletter.!

Fall 2024 Golden Grads President’s Report

Doug Whalley ‘63

The 2024 Luncheon Was a Big Success

I know I say that about every luncheon, but this one, organized by our new luncheon co-chairs Ann Reid ’68 and Heidi Liniger Olson ’72, was exceptionally fun and entertaining. The award-winning Roosevelt jazz quartet played for the 146 attendees which included Golden Grad members, RHS representatives, scholars and their parents. Our special guests were Principal Tami Brewer, Head counselor Carrie Richards, Head football coach (and former NFL player) Sam Adams, Assistant football coach Saul Patu, and Athletic Director Danny Thompson. Our student guests were academic scholarship winners, Don Harney sports scholarship winners, Roberge football scholarship winners, and the recipient of the 2024 Visual Arts Award donated by Don Strom ’64 and Jane LaFazio. We heard from a Golden Grad member who represented Roosevelt Alumni for Racial Equity. One parent for each scholarship winner was hosted by a generous donation from two Golden Grad members.
 

Luncheon Lost and Found: The Nile gave me several items that were left behind at the luncheon, including a nice pair of eyeglasses. If you left yours there, please give me a call.

A School to Be Proud Of, As Reported in the Roosevelt News

“The Jazz Ensemble has participated in the Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington Jazz Band Competition multiple times and has taken first place four times since 1999, most recently in Spring 2019. Our “Hands for a Bridge” program explores cultures in conflict through dialogue and the arts and travel to Northern Ireland and South Africa. Our Girls Soccer Team is the 23/24 state champion. Our Girls Ultimate Team is the 23/24 state champion. Our Boys Golf Team came 2nd in the 23/24 state championship. Our Unified Soccer Team is the 23/24 state champion. Our Girls Lacrosse team are Metro Conference Champions.” And if you don’t know what a “Unified Soccer Team” is, Unified Sports join people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team, inspired by a simple principle: training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding.

One New GG Committee Chair, and Another Chair Opening

Pamela Katims Steele ’64 has kindly volunteered to lead our Scholarship Committee, replacing the retiring Chair Judy Crossett Cromwell ’60. Judy did a wonderful job leading the Scholarship Committee and we will miss her. Jean Druby Birdsall ’64 is retiring as our Finance Chair after several years of service, and we are looking for a successor. The job entails overseeing our financial policies, our investments, and our budgets. (Treasurer Mike Bush ’64 handles the day-to-day expenses and scholarship payments.) If you have a background in banking or finance, please consider volunteering. Our Board meetings are held online, so you do not have to live in or near Seattle.

Remember Our Boys and Girls Clubs?

Roosevelt now has clubs for every conceivable purpose, among them: Animal Rights, Aquarium Club, Board Game Club, Cat Club, Climbing Club, Crossword Club, Fiber Crafts Club, Fruit Club, Future Authors Club, General Aviation Manufacturing Association, Girls Who Code, Hands For A Bridge, Heavy Metal Club, Irish Music Club, Jorts Club, K-Pop Club, Project Hugs, Poly Club, Queer Voices, RHS Kindness Collective, Investment Club, Outdoors Club, Suicide Prevention Team, Thespians, The Not Losers Club, The Paranormal Society, UNICEF Club, and the Womanism Club. (Don’t misread that last one.)

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

REMINDER! Luncheon reservations are due by May 22

Don’t miss the chance to hear all the news and see your classmates and friends!  

Send in your reservations now!

Exciting changes are coming this year with our new Luncheon Chairs, Ann Reid ’68 and Heidi Liniger Olson ’72 adding some fun with a drawing for a gift basket from “Made in Washington” (Alderwood  store) valued at $800 !  The raffle tickets are $5 each (so bring a bundle of 5’s).

There is also a special guest speaker, and an improved menu that is yummy.  Just fill out and print the form linked here, or you can use the one in your Grapevine (they’re the same!) and send them in with your payment before May 22.

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

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.