THE CONNECTOR A Newsletter By, About, and For Graduates of William Allen High School's Class of 1983 Issue 8 - December 1999

In any case, The Connector is still alive and running. Hopefully in the future, you'll see issues published on the schedule that I set -- each June and December. Nevertheless, I have decided to make a few changes. If anyone has any problems with them, let me know and I'll see what I can do to accommodate your needs. Here they are:

1. There will be no more print issue of The Connector. Throughout the years, I had very few requests for these, thus I have decided to publish the semi-annual newsletter solely on the web site. You can still request a print copy of an issue by sending me self-addressed stamped envelope, but you'll receive a printout from the web site rather than a nicely formatted newsletter. On the positive side here, publishing solely on the web site will allow me to make the issues contain as much content as I have; in other words, no more cutting content to make a certain number of pages.

2. I'm eliminating the Around Allentown section of the newsletter. Since I don't live locally, getting Allentown news is difficult. If you live locally and would like to take on writing this section of the newsletter, let me know and we can continue it. Otherwise, you can find your Allentown news at The Morning Call web site at www.mcall.com.

That's it from me for now. Now onto the news…

    Return to the List of Issue Topics

A note about this issue: The Class of 1983 15-year reunion, held November 28, 1998, brought an influx of contributions to The Connector -- way too much to include in one issue. Because I wanted to share as much of this information with you as possible, I split the coverage of the 15-year reunion between the June and December 1999 issues. The June 1999 issue covered "what happened" at the 15-year reunion and this issue covers "what’s next?" The 15-year reunion committee held their wrap-up meeting on December 9 1998. At the meeting, the reunion was analyzed, discussed, and notes were made to aid in the planning of the 20th and 25th reunions.

View the Reunion Slide Show - Part 2

It was decided at the meeting that the 20th reunion may be held during the summer months with an eye toward switching between the summer and Thanksgiving every five years. This way, all classmates will have a fair opportunity to attend future events. Based on the recommendations of other classes who have been through these reunions already, a shift to a more formal, sit down dinner will not be made until the 25th or 30th. The proposal was made that the 20th be held at a country club and that golf or other activities for classmates and their families may be offered. All of these proposals will be considered two to three years from now when commitments must be made for the next reunion.

The program book turned out to be a very popular item. It was decided that in the future the book would dispense with the personal biographies, but would use the same basic layout as the 15th. The committee still has a few books available for purchase. For more information on purchasing one of the remaining books, see the Reunion Archives. (page removed August 2007)

The reunion night raffle netted $543 and the bill for the fire hall came in under budget. Thus, this reunion raised almost $1,500 more for the class bank account. This money is used to pay the up front costs associated with the reunions. We now have about $2,700 available for the 20-year reunion; the more money that we have, the fancier the event that can be produced.

Annette Blanar and The Connector are now our official conduit for keeping in touch with the class at large. If you want to update your contact information or have questions about reunion planning, contact her and she will see that the correct people get the information. You call also mail your contact information to Annette Blanar, 750 Harrison City Rd., Trafford, PA 15085. The reunion committee was able to obtain up-to-date mailing addresses for only 40% of the class prior to the reunion. Your assistance with locating missing classmates and keeping the list of contact information current is vital. Please keep in touch; it is the only way for the reunion committee to find you in the future.

Submitted by Jed Rapoport, 15-year reunion committee member

    Return to the List of Issue Topics

Suzanne (Murdock) Jones and Robert (Bob) Jones -- a TWO for the Price of One Autobiography.

Since graduation...Suzanne Murdock attended Penn State for one year and returned to Allentown to take classes at Moravian and Muhlenberg college. Her primary focus was to teach music composition and theory in secondary schools.

A desire to live on her own and learn about the working world, changed her plans from college to employment. She currently works for Aetna US Healthcare as an instructional designer (designing training curriculum for customer service trainers nationwide) and serves as a Christian educator at First Presbyterian Church of Allentown.

Sappy love story about her wonderful husband...Prior to living in Allentown, she lived in Germansville, PA, until 1977. During her time in Germansville, she attended Northwestern Elementary. During her fifth and sixth grade years, she had a "boyfriend" named Bob. They had that first "boyfriend / girlfriend" thing to share at an age when all of your "firsts" mean so much.

Suzanne's family moved to Allentown in 1977 and she began attending Raub Junior High. She was no longer with her wonderful friend Bob. Then, he moved to Florida and it looked like all was lost.

Fast forward to 1984 when she returned from Penn State. She was out at Bill Daniels Music Factory with friends and began a conversation with a gentleman at the bar. They decided to go out a few times and each time they would talk and talk and talk. During one of the conversions, it was almost eerie that they were talking like they knew each other already. Then, she realizes that that this guy is "her" Bob from elementary school 8 years ago ! ! !

During their revelations and catching up, she asked him what he was doing in Allentown. His reply was that his family had moved to Florida for only a few years, then moved back to PA and located in Allentown...hhhhmmmmm..."Where did you graduate from?"..."William Allen"..."What year?"..."1983."

They immediately ripped open her yearbook to look at the aerial picture that was taken in front of the school. He pointed out where he was standing (somewhere on the left) and she showed him where she was (kind of in the middle). They went to the same high school and graduated the same year and never knew it!

They married in 1986 and have 2 beautiful children , a son Corey Austin Stephen Jones (11) and a daughter Lauren Kaleigh Ann Jones (3).

Bob is a purchasing manager for ATAS International Inc. in Allentown, a USA Ice Hockey official, and a coach for their son’s ice hockey team, the Lehigh Valley Comets (Squirt level).

Their hobbies and time are spent attending hockey practices, hockey games, and growing together!

Advice to fellow graduates -- " Live, Love, and Laugh", enjoy your children and the gift of life that you have been given!

Stephen (Steve) Mould works for the City of Allentown as a police officer and has been with the City for 9 years. Right out of high school, he floated around between jobs for a while. He worked in construction, industry, white collar jobs, and had a job lined up in Maryland as a paid firefighter. He left after 4 days to come back and marry his wife.

His duties with the police department are varied. He works a special shift that they call the "power shift" --  7:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. They are responsible for being more proactive than the regular patrols and respond to what they call "hot calls" -- shootings, fights, 911 calls, etc.

Steve is also a member of the police department’s Emergency Response Team (SWAT) for over three years. This unit is responsible for High Risk Warrant Services, barricaded persons, hostage situations, and other "high risk" situations. He as been awarded five department commendations/awards. He also assists with police firearms training at the Police Academy.

In his off time, he likes to spend time with his son Kyle and wife Pam. He likes to fish, hike, and even run some. He just started hunting, but he suspects that his interest is just an excuse to get lost in the woods after a bad night at work.

On occasion, he has run into people with which he graduated or went to school. Sometimes it’s something light hearted at work. Sometimes its heavy with them as the victim; that's not the way that you want to run into old friends.

He has been married for 10 years to Pamela Mould (Costa). They have a son named Kyle who is 5 and a daughter Courtney who is 1.

John Ashbrook and his wife Mona welcomed their son Justin Kumar Ashbrook into the world on July 27, 1999, at 5:56 a.m. He was 6 lbs., 7 oz. and 19 inches.

Note: If you submitted an autobiography and it didn’t get in this issue, you’ll see it in the next issue.

    Return to the List of Issue Topics