 Editorial
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12-10-03
Year-End Blessings
December is upon us, and not only is it a time to
share the holidays with friends and family, but it's
a time for us to reflect on the year that is coming
to a close.
First of all, I want to say “Thank you”
to the members of our Armed Forces who are away from
home during this holiday season. They are overseas protecting
our freedom and way of life, not only those in Iraq
but those stationed around the world.
I especially want to remember those that have given
the ultimate sacrifice and remember their families this
time of year. Some of our website members are serving
right now and I’d like for them to give us a “shout”
on the messageboard and let us know how they are doing.
This has been an especially significant year for the
SpringerConnection. I have made lots and lots of new
friends and reconnected with old ones. One of the reasons
Dan and I built this website was because we had our
30-year reunion coming up and we wanted it to be the
best one that was ever held. I have to report that the
reunion was fantastic! Our reunion committee did a fantastic
job and I’d like to think the SpringerConnection
website helped pull people in. I’ve got a feeling
that the reunion in 2008 will be even better as the
word gets out. Some of the lessons learned are passed
on to other reunion committees and we hope the website
helps them and is a useful tool.
Our website got a write up in Reunion Magazine this
year, which is pretty cool. More publicity will come,
I am sure. We have mixed emotions about getting this
kind of widespread attention because frankly, the website
is intended only for Springers. We did get an inadvertent
joinee from Minnesota who mistook this website for a
National reunion website. It was kind of flattering
though.
I’m thankful to all of you who have purchased
shirts and or sweatshirts from the website which helps
us to cover some of our operating expenses. We had in
mind all along that we wanted this website to become
financially self-supporting, though not a source of
income for ourselves. Our future goal is to establish
some sort of SpringerConnection scholarship fund. The
important thing is that it will be a scholarship not
from Dan and me but from all of you. I think it will
be cool if and when such as scholarship becomes a reality.
Speaking of cool and fun things, several members have
decided to put together a SpringerConnection float for
next year’s Homecoming Parade. Another quiet little
project Dan and I are working on is trying to accumulate
a library of HSHS Yearbooks. We are off to a good start
but we sure could use some help. We have had a couple
of benefactors assist us in the purchase of some yearbooks.
One of them has gone way out of their way and the gesture
brought tears to my eyes for sure. If anyone sees an
old HSHS yearbook in any bookstore or has one lying
around that you might want to donate to the cause…well,
we would be extremely grateful to have it. The high
school has a few for sale and we tried to get them to
give us a price break but alas, the powers that be did
not see things exactly our way. I was successful in
showing our website to some sellers on eBay that had
yearbooks listed and they were both kind enough to end
their auction early and sell the books to us at a much
better price than we could have bought them from the
school for. Anyway, we will be looking at buying some
more from the school in the near future.
Okay, for those of you who did not attend the Blast
from the Past this year…make plans to attend the
next one, because the 2003 version was truly a blast!
Many thanks go to Vic Sorrell for putting this celebration
together each year. Also, thank you to the Barracudas,
and Nat King Kong, the bands that keep us rocking.
Our website membership has grown to more than 1,300.
Believe me, that this waaaay cool. When I first conceived
the idea of this website I never thought it would be
this successful. The exciting thing about it is it is
just beginning. Sure, we have had some growing pains,
but good things rarely come easy. One of the things
that I am guilty of is improper Messageboard etiquette.
Yes, I admit it. I have been not very sensitive to how
my posts are sometimes perceived by other members. My
New Year’s resolution is to try and be more aware
of how my posts might be perceived there. I ask all
of you to join with me in being more gentle and kind
on the messageboard. I know, I know, some you are probably
saying, “Oh but I am. It is JACK who is the major
culprit!” and you would probably be right. Just
remember, we are a family here and we must look out
for each other. You can’t always read emotions
in a post and posts that may be meant in fun can hurt
someone’s feelings. That’s where a generous
use of the emoticons helps.
I would like to offer our condolences to those SpringerConnection
members who have lost a loved one and I would like to
take a moment to reflect on those Springers who have
passed on. We have lost some teachers from HS over the
past year, and as you may have noticed, we try to honor
them on the website when we can. Some of you have been
gracious enough to notify the rest of us of someone’s
passing, and for that we are grateful.
Looking to the future, Dan is working hard on developing
the code for the new Messageboard, and making sure the
custom features developed for our current messageboard
still work as they do now, including the Graduation-Year
lookup, which is very popular and helpful. Believe you
me that this requires a lot of coding and testing. Some
of you (our former teachers, especially) will be glad
that the new board will have a spell-check function.
So, may you all have a wonderful holiday and take the
time to enjoy those around you and appreciate our blessings.
Jack
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