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Rolfe
High School's Last Graduation
Past RHS All-School Reunions
Perspectives on Small Town and Rural Life
Reflections
of a Des Moines Township Grad
Last
Graduation - 1990:
Past All School Reunions:
2005 Reunion
-
Mary Lou Behrendsen Shimon,
Class of 1965 (1:43)
Welcome and introduction of emcee for the program.
-
Chris Pedersen, Class of
1974, emcee (1:24)
Opening remarks and promotion of the Rolfe Alumni Web site.
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Chris Pedersen, Class of
1974, emcee (5:35)
Reflections and humor.
-
Community chorus (3:05)
Directed by John Nielsen with piano accompaniment by Marilee Kleespies.
Top of the World made popular in
the 1970s by the Carpenters. Written by John Bettis and Richard
Carpenter. (We are applying to Universal Music Publishing for
permission to post this song.)
chorus roster
-
Community chorus (7:01)
Battle Hymn of the Republic
-
Community chorus (2:48)
God Bless America
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Chris Pedersen, Class of
1974, emcee (5:35)
Remarks, reflections, humor
-
Ken Kerns, Class of 1956
(7:17)
Greets the alumni and honors members of the classes of 1934 and 1935.
-
Chris Pedersen, Class of
1974, emcee (:54)
House-keeping announcements about the next reunion committee.
-
Gus Brinkman, Class
of 1974 (2:24)
Remarks and announcement of a newly-created Rolfe alumni fund for a
scholarship to be given each year to a graduate of the Pocahontas Area
Community School District who is a resident of the Rolfe area.
-
Chris Pedersen, Class of
1974, emcee (2:26)
Remarks about the scholarship fund and more humor.
-
Mary Lou Behrendsen
Shimon, Class of 1965 (1:04)
Rallies former RHS cheerleaders to come front and center to help lead
the school song.
-
Cheerleaders, reunion band,
and crowd (1:43)
The cheerleaders who were present were all women except for Virgil
Shelgren (class of 1943). The reunion band was directed by Marilee
Kleespies with students from the PAC schools, alumni, and friends. All
except two of the band members are from Rolfe.
band roster
Rolfe Loyalty
-
Chris Pedersen, Class of
1974, emcee (2:29)
Concluding remarks about address changes, etc.
-
Reunion band (1:21)
Rolfe Loyalty
1995 Reunion
-
Kenny
Bennett
Master of Ceremonies, Class of 1964 (2:00)
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Ralph
Mortensen
Superintendent of Rolfe from 1948-1959 (9:32)
-
Men's
Quartet - vocalists: Chris
Pedersen (1974), Curt Sindergard (1977), Curt Kerns (1954), and John
Nielson (Ottosen 1955) sing gospel music, The Family of God
and He Touched Me. Availability for website use confirmed by John
Nielson. ( 5:23)
1990 Reunion
-
LeRoy
Nelson
Class of 1927 (7:09)
-
Jeff
Carlton
Class of 1979 (8:55)
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Islea
Ricklefs Graeber
Class of 1939 (5:51)
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Chris
Pedersen,
Master of Ceremonies
Class of 1974 (1:11)
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Chris
Pedersen,
Master of Ceremonies
Class of 1974 (:43)
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Stu
Webb
Class of 1949 (9:38)
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Eddie
Shelgren
Class of 1956 (5:26)
-
John
Morgan
Class of 1966 (2:50)
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Chris
Pedersen,
Master of Ceremonies
Class of 1974 (3:24)
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The
Polka Dots - vocalists: Rita Wax Kelly (1964), Phyllis
Pedersen Peterson (1964), and Linda Robinson Cordes (1963) with Heidi
Tiernan Vosika (Pocahontas 1992) on piano perform
The Muskrat
Ramble written by Edward Ory and Ray Gilbert, 1951. Website use
authorized by copyright holder George Simon Music of Santa Barbara,
California. The two other Polka Dot songs, Lollipop and
Side
by Side, are not available for website use but are cleared for
production on a limited edition compact disk (100 copies) of Rolfe
High School alumni highlights. (2:32)
-
The
Foremen - vocalists: John
Nielson (Ottosen 1955), Garland Westerman (Plover 1948), Curt
Kerns (1954), and Perry Johnson (Royal 1954) with pianist Heidi Tiernan Vosika
(Pocahontas 1992) performing barbershop song with humorous
monologue called Singing about a Small Town. Availability
for public use confirmed by John Nielson. (6:58)
-
The
1978 Swing Choir and Band
directed by Paul Tapper performs I
Return to Music composed by
Kirby Shaw with lyrics by Gayle Landess, 1976. Website use authorized
by copyright holder Kirby Shaw of Kirby Shaw Music of Ashland, Oregon.
Goodbye Love written by Ken Kraintz and edited by Michael Kysar,
1975. Website use authorized by copyright holder Michael Kysar of
DemiQ Music of Bellevue, Washington. This recording of Goodbye Love
presented in cooperation with DemiQ Music at: http://www.demiq.com.
The swing choir's third song, It’s
a Miracle, is not available for website use but is cleared for
production on a limited edition compact disk (100 copies) of Rolfe
High School alumni highlights. (5:38)
1980 Reunion
Perspectives
on Small Town and Rural Life:
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Roger DeWolf, Ames, IA - Class of
1939
Learning about Rolfe bank closure as
child in 1932 (1:48)
First year his dad grew soybeans in 1930s
(1:18)
First year his dad used hybrid corn seed in
1930s (1:40)
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Harold Dreith, Rolfe,
IA - Born circa 1916
Harold grew up in Oklahoma and farmed there for much of his life. He and
his wife Lydia eventually moved to Rolfe to be part of the same
community where their son Ron and Ron's wife at the time, Joan Cleal
Dreith, lived. Joan is a 1962 graduate of Rolfe High School.
The following material is
from a conversation with Harold that was hosted by the Rolfe Area
Christian Discussion Group on March 6, 2004, at the Gary and Kathy
Dahl home near Rolfe. A VHS videotape of most of the interview will be
available at the Rolfe Public Library. The following is a
sampling of what Harold said.
His father's move from Russia to
Oklahoma (12:26)
One room school and farming in
Oklahoma
(7:39)
Honoring his parents, courting and
marrying Lydia (4:21)
Love of civics and animals, especially
rabbits (4:10)
-
Doris White Freeman, Rolfe, IA -
Class of 1932
Life on Main Street during the
1930s - 1950s (18:43)
A story about Miss Marcum
(1:53)
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Don Grant, Colo, IA - Class of 1936
Tagging along to country school
(1:03)
Hauling oats to town with his dad
(1:00)
Moving day in the country
neighborhoods (3:56)
Shipping eggs to his uncle in
Chicago (1:44)
Playing baseball in his dad's
pasture (3:24)
Saturday nights in Rolfe (2:42)
Installing electrical wiring for
Rickard's Hardware (7:05)
Setting up a ham radio system on
his farm (6:29)
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Deane Gunderson, Rolfe, IA - Class of
1935
Radio reception on the farm
(2:14)
Refrigerator,
iceboxes, and Thompson's pond (2:45)
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Wanda Peers Hodgell, Gilmore, IA - Class of 1941
Enjoying Miss Grant's country
school (1:34)
Swinging from elm trees on the
farm (:43)
The death of her son (3:01)
Seasons and life cycles (2:22)
-
Velma and Verle Howard, Rolfe, IA - Parents of
Monte Howard - Class of 1970
The support of Monte's friends
(:55)
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LaVonne Page Howland, Rolfe, IA - Class of 1954
Chores and the garden on her
farm (3:50)
Being in charge of two draft
horses (1:18)
Women's work on threshing day
(3:17)
Enjoyment of farm life and
nature (2:38)
Saturday nights in Rolfe
(2:16)
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Russ and Mary Jane Jordan, Atlantic,
IA
He was on Rolfe School Board from 1955-1966
First impressions of Rolfe
(5:23)
Abandoned farms in his
neighborhood (:41)
Rising costs of farming (1:54)
Party lines and a winter ride to
town (3:02)
Flat land with rocks and ponds
(2:39)
Women and leadership (1:20)
-
Marjorie George Simonson, Des Moines,
IA
Class
of 1947
Eggs and cream (1:34)
The first school bus (:30)
Rubbering on the party lines
(:30)
Babysitting (2:43)
-
Lucile Taylor, Rolfe, IA - grew up
in Rutland, IA
Her
childhood days in Rutland (20:02)
The 1930s Depression
(2:22)
Teaching school and meeting her
husband (8:12)
Their oil station and the
town's first school bus (6:19)
Her role in the oil business
(8:04)
Main Street Rolfe in the 1940s
(7:27)
Demolition of tall Main
Street buildings in 2001 (1:59)
Her being at home in Rolfe
(2:14)
Microwave oven is one of her
favorite appliances (2:32)
-
Phyllis DeWolf
Thompson, Hayfield, MN -
Class
of 1947
Her childhood days on farms
south of Rolfe (19:10)
History of drainage ditch built in
the 1990s (1:34)
Allie Grant and country school
life (3:11)
Dr. Fuller-White and scarlet
fever quarantine (1:46)
Saturday nights in Rolfe and
high school memories (3:35)
Reflections
of a Des Moines Township Grad
-
Karen Truelsen Kerns, Rolfe,
IA - DMT Class of 1957
(Note, the DMT Schools merged with Rolfe in 1959.)
(Clips range in length from 40 seconds to 7 minutes.
Also, you will need the RealAudio
software to listen.)
01.) Karen's role as co-chair of
2001 DMT reunion.
02.) Rationale for an annual
reunion
03.) Details of the 2001
reunion
04.) The DMT orchestra
05.) Surprise when school
building was moved
06.) How the DMT country schools
consolidated in 1916
07.) The DMT spirit
08.) Girls could wear slacks to
school
09.) Hanging out at the
school
10.) The merger with RHS in 1959
11.) Ware and other small
school basketball courts
12.) Tomboy image
13.) Music and academics
14.) News of Kenny Lehnus killed in
Korean War
15.) People knew everybody
in past decades
16.) Social life in the 40s and
50s
17.) Her grandchildren traveling
19 miles to Poky schools
18.) Today's loss of community
- part one
19.) DMT grads insist on
another reunion
20.) The slide at the DMT
playbround
21.) The big DMT playground
22.) School lunch program at DMT
23.) Today's loss of
community - part two
24.) Young couples returning
to farm in the 1950s
25.) Telephones and party lines
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