COUGAR TRACKS NEWSLETTER Bryan Adams High School Alumni Association February 2002 Issue URGENT MESSAGE! This
issue of COUGAR TRACKS is being sent via the internet and will be
posted on the Alumni Website. Please read carefully and then send
to any BA grad you keep in contact with via e-mail. We want as many
BA grads as possible to receive notice of the upcoming all alumni
meeting.
A FAREWELL MESSAGE FROM YOUR PRESIDENT: Dear Friends: It is with great sadness that I announce my retirement as President of the Bryan Adams Alumni Association this year. Due to a family medical emergency, I can no longer serve as an officer. I have requested that several of our class reunion chairpersons or class database managers send it to everyone on their class e-mail distribution list. Official COUGAR TRACKS newsletters will be mailed in February to all of our current association members, but those of you on class e-mail lists that are not current members are receiving a copy because we want as many of our BA grads to receive this newsletter as possible. Please feel free to send it to all BA grads currently in your address book. If you watched the movie, FIELD OF DREAMS a few years ago, you will remember the saying, "If you build it, they will come". Well, your association officers have spent nearly 10 years building this alumni organization, maintaining it and helping it grow. Since our first alumni directory was published in 1995, we have tried to maintain an up-to-date database of former students. Help has come from a few class representatives, but without the assistance of every single class, the database will never be completely accurate. Updated class lists from our alumni database and reunion planing tips have been helpful to several class reunion organizers. Alumni association officers have attended as many class reunions as their schedules would allow. We enjoyed meeting members of all the classes and gave away free COUGAR TRACKS newsletters, recruited new members and sold a few bricks and tiles for our COUGAR WALL OF MEMORIES. Scholarships from the alumni association have been awarded to deserving Seniors at our school for several years. We are struck by the fact that Bryan Adams High School continues to graduate young men and women who will be able to compete with any other high school student in the nation. Our special thanks go to those of you who continue to send donations to our scholarship fund (the association matches those funds each year) and to those who have ordered engraved bricks and tiles (a portion of the proceeds are placed in the scholarship fund each year). As Kristopher Rupert ('98) wrote in his History of Bryan Adams during the 40th Anniversary, "Yes, Bryan Adams is still in its infancy. A Native American tradition holds that children reach adulthood at fifty years. We have but 10 years to reach that elder status." You can read Kristopher's history of BA on the alumni website: www.bryanadams-hs.org The BA Alumni Association is still in its infancy, however the earliest graduates from BA are now reaching retirement age. We hope that perhaps a few may have a little extra time with reduced family commitments and will come forward this year to offer help by serving as an officer on the 2002 Alumni Association Board. The same group of people should not continue operating the alumni association indefinitely. Change is good, new ideas are always welcome and together we can keep our Bryan Adams Alumni Association active and growing. Without your help, we may have to disband the association. That would be a sad day indeed for the students and school organizations who have benefited from the monetary and physical help of the alumni association; sad for class reunion organizers who receive help from the alumni association; sad for alums who enjoy reading about former classmates and current events of the school in the newsletter, and meeting old friends at alumni sponsored activities; and definitely sad for alumni officers who have dedicated time and effort to the founding of the association. I have had fun and have thoroughly enjoyed meeting many of you at your class reunions. I have laughed and cried when reading the thousands of e-mails I have received from grads from all classes and from all over the world. When I've felt like the whole world was closing in on me, I suddenly open my e-mails and find the sweetest letters that revive me immediately. I want to thank all the class reunion chairmen that have kept me updated with new addresses on members of their class.........to name a few: Barbara Allen Conn ('61), Scott Harmon ('68), and Paul Ridenour ('78). Thank you to my BA neighbors Jennifer Hicks O'Hara ('67), Jeannie Seabolt Bledsoe ('66) and my sister Shirley Briley Lilly ('68) for helping to stuff and label newsletters a couple of times a year. Thank you Scarlette Holland Carey ('61) for serving as the Alumni Parade Chairman every year during Homecoming Week. Thank you Foy Moss ('64) for organizing our first Alumni Day at BA and for keeping me on my toes with new ideas. Thank you, Lorri Crossno Nevil ('79) for building and maintaining our Alumni Website. Lorri has done a fantastic job and we all owe her a debt of gratitude! We "BUILT IT" and now we hope "YOU WILL COME" to our annual all-alumni meeting at the school on Saturday, March 23. This meeting is being held with high hopes that some of you will step up and volunteer to take over as officers or directors of the alumni association. Please review the proposed by-law revisions (particularly the duties of officers and directors) and see where you or some other former student or friend of BA you know might make a perfect match. Then volunteer yourself or nominate a friend by calling or e-mailing a current officer. Their names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses are listed later in this newsletter. It is our desire to have a list of nominations before the March meeting. Of course, nominations will also be accepted at the meeting. If you cannot attend the meeting, feel free to post your comments and cast your votes on the Cougar On-Line Guestbook on our Alumni Website: www.bryanadams-hs.org You can help by calling or e-mailing all your friends and relatives that attended BA and invite them to attend the meeting. The future of our organization hangs by a thread. We will discuss the following options: 1) continue with new, invigorated officers; 2) continue in name only with someone to manage the database and website; 3) continue only as an alumni scholarship administration; 4) disband totally. If no new officers are forthcoming, a vote will be taken at the meeting on March 23 to decide in what manner the association will continue or, if it will continue. Please don't let us down. I am very proud to have been a charter member of our Bryan Adams Alumni Association and I am honored to have served as your President since 1995. It has been a long process to this point in the association's history. The thing to see is not the work done to date, but the work to do in the future. In closing, I want to thank all our current officers for their continued support through the years and untold others that have attended meetings and alumni events. Thank you for your hours taken from busy lives, and for many of us, taken away from our families, just to spend some time with old and new friends. There is no way to express the feelings and respect I have for those with the "Commitment" to this association. Thank you Jean Schell, Bill Mott, Karen Summers, Beverly Ridley, and Doug Hale . I could not have lasted this long without your total support. We have had a great working group of dedicated men and women doing a fantastic job but we need to make changes in this new year. Remember, an alumni association is a valuable part of our school. Our goal has always been to keep improving. We need people working in all phases of our organization. As you know, all of this is done voluntarily. We have a strong alumni association. We want to make it even stronger. We must continue to build the Bryan Adams Alumni Association. You can help make this possible by getting involved. Your continued support, both financially and physically, is very important to the success of this organization. The officers and board members are most appreciative of all that you do to contribute to that success. Serving the alumni association is one way to follow President G. W. Bush's directive to give of ourselves and get involved in our communities. In his words, "Let's roll". Charlotte Briley Wilson, Class of 1962 A MESSAGE FROM KAREN RAMOS, B.A. PRINCIPAL Dear Alumni, I would like to thank the Alumni Association on behalf of all the students and teachers for all their support and good will. Bryan Adams is a special place. It is made even better by the steadfast traditions and the thousands of hard working graduates led by your President, Charlotte Wilson. In the past several years, the Alumni Association has done so many things for our school. One year, we had a large BA cleanup. Walls were painted, bushes trimmed, the Cougar realigned and lots of fun was had by all. Another year, we celebrated our 40th anniversary with an alumni talent show and a visit by the Superintendent. Students received scholarships sponsored by the Association. The Cougar Brick Wall of Memories was started by the Association. This strong, viable group is important to Bryan Adams. Please take advantage of your March meeting to walk around the school, see the brick wall, buy an old yearbook and participate in your meeting. We are glad to open our doors to you. See you soon! Karen H. Ramos, Principal A MESSAGE FROM BILL MOTT, Alumni Treasurer and Past President Dear Friends, As you sit here reading this newsletter, stop and look around you. Ask yourself, "How am I doing? Am I happy? Comfortable? Living a typical or better American lifestyle?" If the answer to any of these questions is "yes", then you probably owe a lot of your achievements to your education and personal ambitions. You also owe it to a community that, whether you realize it or not, helped support and shape you into the person you are today. We live in the world's most affluent and generous society. What makes us different is the willingness of our people to give of themselves and get involved when they see the need. Look at the way we all responded to our nation's Attack on America. If we didn't go in person to lend a helping hand, we organized food drives, donated millions of dollars to the Red Cross relief fund or donated blood. Put a gold star by your name if you know yourself to be one of the many who still believe we have a duty as citizens to give something back to our society through these types of efforts. Like anything you do in life, what you get out of it is directly proportional to what you put into it, and the satisfaction of achievement must be earned. Our association's goals to date have been achieved but we desperately need your help in lots of little ways to keep our momentum going. Regardless of your particular gifts or talents, there is a place where you fit in, and your efforts would be appreciated by many. Feel free to call and talk with any of the officers listed below. We will be happy to visit with you about your desire to help, and can get you involved at a level that is comfortable for you. We cordially invite you to attend our General Alumni Meeting on March 23rd. Walk down a familiar old hallway again and see firsthand what we are doing to build a better future for Bryan Adams High School and its graduates. Bill Mott, Class of 1970 To our Alumni from Lorri Nevil, BryanAdams-HS.org webmaster: I started this web site for the Class of 1979 20 year high school reunion in 1997, and after the reunion was over, and having met Charlotte, decided to change the site over to accommodate all alumni. This is done as a labor of love for a school where my grandmother and my great-aunt were teachers, and where my two brothers and I graduated. It is also a daunting task. One of my clients donates hosting to us, for which we are grateful. I have had donations of programs to help automate things as well to keep the updating task less challenging, but it is still time consuming, as are all aspects of being a part of our great Alumni Association. Bryan Adams has graduated thousands of students over the years, and I have of course received comments, praise and criticism for the site (mostly praise and thanks). I have so enjoyed reconnecting with lost friends, and making new ones and being "in charge" of this site. I KNOW there are alumni out there that must be in the same "field" as I am, Web Development, Programming, Graphics Design, etc. Do not be afraid to ask me if I want some help, and what you can do to help make the site better. New people find us daily, and as with all the officers and advisory members of the Alumni Association, we donate our time and resources. You are wanted if you can help! If you would like to step up and help - programmers are especially welcome, as well as anyone experienced with HTML, databases, and a Unix server. Thank you for the past few years, and I look forward to those new people who I know are going to step up to continue this incredible Association for our beloved Alma Mater. Lorri Crossno-Nevil, Class of 1979 If you would like to be considered for a position on the NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS in 2002, or if you would like to nominate someone, PLEASE call or write us ASAP so we can begin contacting all nominees before we hold elections at our meeting on March 23. The current officers will remain on the advisory board to assist the new officers until everyone is comfortable with their new job responsibilities. BRYAN ADAMS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS:
ADVISORY BOARD:
REVISIONS TO THE BA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BY-LAWS Over the past few years, the Bryan Adams Alumni Association has made several changes and in doing so revised our By-Laws accordingly. The size of the Board of Directors has been increased to include: President, Vice-President, Recording Secretary, Correspondence Secretary, Treasurer and three Directors-at-Large, with each member responsible for designated duties. I have included the By-Laws so you can read through the many different job positions. BRYAN ADAMS HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BY-LAWS Revised 1/2002 ARTICLE I - Name and status The name of this organization shall be the Bryan Adams High School Alumni Association and it shall be structured as a non-profit organization according to the tax laws governing such organizations in the United States of America ARTICLE II - Purpose To provide: · the most comprehensive databank of current alumni information · an additional source of monetary and physical support for the school · input from the community in school centered issues · increased spirit and support to school activities and programs · scholarship programs to assist needy or gifted students · social activities that will provide multi-class interaction ARTICLE III - Membership Dues, and Contributions Membership may include any of the following: · Holders of a diploma from Bryan Adams High School · Students who pursued courses at Bryan Adams High School, but did not graduate · Any person wishing to support Bryan Adams High School and the association Dues are: · $12.00 per year · $100 Lifetime · Additional contributions can be made to the association or its scholarship program ARTICLE IV - Fiscal year The fiscal year of the association shall begin on January 1st of each calendar year ARTICLE V - Elections and Meetings · The Alumni Association shall be governed by an executive board which shall consist of at least five (5) alumni elected by the association at its annual meeting to be held during the first quarter of each year. · Each officer shall be elected for a term of two (2) years. Officers must be current members of the Association with dues paid in advance of their term in office · The annual meeting (and bi-annual election if applicable) will be held in the first quarter of each year and announced to the membership at least thirty (30) days in advance via the newsletter and a posting on the web-site bulletin board · The executive board shall meet in advance of the annual meeting for the purpose of planning and reviewing all material to be included in the agenda of the upcoming meeting · Special meetings may be called if necessary by any board member, with five (5) days notice given to the other officers, and a quorum must consist of one half (1/2) of the total number of board members plus one (1). Advisory board members are not counted as regular board members needed to reach a quorum. · Vacancies shall be filled for the remaining portion of any term other than president, by nomination of a replacement and a majority vote of the remaining board members. · Vacancy of the office of President can only be filled for the remaining portion of the term by the Vice-President · Upon completion of a full term as president, the board will bestow the honor of "Lifetime Membership" on that member. All past presidents are no longer required to pay further dues ARTICLE VI - Officers, Directors, and Advisory Board Members The officers of the association are considered the official Board of Directors and shall consist of: · PRESIDENT – Shall preside over all meetings of the executive board and general membership. Other duties will include: A) Overseeing the committees responsible for the execution of the of programs and goals of the association B) Authorized access all bank accounts · VICE PRESIDENT – Shall serve in the absence of the president and will perform such other duties as would be helpful in maintaining a strong and effective Alumni Association. Other duties include: A) Notify the officers of time and place of each executive board meeting. B) Authorized access to all bank accounts in the event the President or Treasurer are not available. · RECORDING SECRETARY – Shall record the minutes at all meetings of the executive board and general meetings of the association, and provide copies of said minutes to the officers within 30 days of any official meeting, and is responsible for maintaining a current copy of the Association by-laws · CORRESPONDING SECRETARY – Shall conduct timely mail, or email correspondence, and telephone communication through the monitoring of the Association voice mail system to and from members and non-members relating to the general work of the Association. Shall be responsible for forwarding all requests for information to the applicable Directors, Committee Chairmen, or Board Members. Shall report any communications requiring input or approval of the Board of Directors to the President. · TREASURER – Shall handle all association funds and bank accounts, and be authorized to sign on said accounts for the purposes of paying bills and invoices generated through the daily operations of the Association. Other duties include: A) Maintaining and providing a financial report at all association meetings B) Act as Controller over all expenditures of the Executive Board, Committee Chairmen, and appointed Directors Additional duties of the board include the appointment of Directors and Advisory Board members. Current board members may also serve as directors concurrent with their terms as officers. Terms will begin at the time of appointment and expire at the same time as the terms of the current association officers under which they are serving. Directors positions include, but are not limited to: MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR – shall be responsible for maintaining the Association Database, including the tracking and posting of data received from applications of new and current members as well as information received from the CORRESPONDING SECRETARY through phone calls, mail, or emails. Responsibilities include providing specific class information to reunion chairmen of individual classes for their reunion invitation purposes. It is strictly forbidden to provide data contained within our Database to any organization or individual who intends to use it for the purpose of soliciting business or political votes. COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR – shall serve as Editor-in-Chief of the COUGAR TRACKS newsletter and will be responsible for all facets of production, printing, and mailing, including the accumulation of articles of interest to the membership. A minimum of two (2) newsletters should be produced per calendar year. WEB SITE DIRECTOR – shall be responsible for the design, maintenance, and monitoring of the official Association web site. Duties will include the posting of messages and news articles, and the forwarding of requests for information to the appropriate director or board member. All changes made to the content of the web site must be approved by a quorum of the Board of Directors. ARTICLE VII – Committees Committees may be appointed at any time to assist the board in specialized areas. Any committees shall consist of a chairman and may also include as many additional committee members as needed. Committee chairmen may volunteer themselves for a position or be appointed by the President and executive board. A quorum of the executive board, including the president, are required to make an appointment. Additional committee members and sub-committees may be added as needed. All committee members must be current association members. ARTICLE VIII – Advisory Board Advisory Board members must be voted into office by a unanimous vote of the current association officers. Their past experience and dedication to the association is a valuable resource to the board. Any member wishing to be on the advisory board must have served a regular two year term as a board officer to qualify. While not allowed to vote as full board members, the input of Advisory Board members is considered valuable and will be taken into consideration on all issues pertaining to the association. Advisory Board Members have no specific terms of office, and may resign their position at anytime. ARTICLE IX – Amendment of the By-Laws The by-laws may be amended by the affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members present at any meeting providing a quorum is present. Notice of proposed amendments must be provided to members at least seven (7) days prior to the meeting at which the amendment is voted on. A MESSAGE FROM ONE OF OUR 2001 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS Dear Mr. Mott * I am honored that you selected me to receive the Alumni Association's 2001 Scholarship Award! Thank you, Mr. Mott, and all the Alumni Association members who contributed to this award! I will do my very best in college as I use this scholarship to help fund my education. I enrolled in Summer Session I at Eastfield College to take Physics and Calculus. I am also enrolled at Texas A & M University for the fall, 2001 semester where I plan to major in engineering. The education I received at Bryan Adams High School and the positive experience of being in so many different organizations has instilled in me a tremendous sense of loyalty to my school and a great pride in being a Bryan Adams Cougar. I would like to be a member of the Alumni Association and help promote Bryan Adams High School. It also means a lot to me to have a brick on the Cougar Wall of Memories. Thank you so much for providing for that also! At the end of May, I attended the first Student Conference Session at Texas A & M University. Their motto is to give back and serve the community. I have been able to do that through organizations at B.A. and through Scouting. I plan to continue living by that motto. Again, thank you so very much for the $500 Scholarship and the brick at Bryan Adams High School. Sincerely, Brandon Scott Sparkman * Bill Mott, Treasurer and presenter of alumni scholarship awards at BAHS in May 2001 COUGAR WALL OF MEMORIES AT BRYAN ADAMS Since the beginning of time, man has searched for ways to leave proof of his existence for future visitors to see. Now you can leave your own proof of existence at Bryan Adams in the form of an engraved brick or tile that will be permanently mounted on the hall walls of the school. The history and tradition of our school will be exhibited on the COUGAR WALL OF MEMORIES. It's more than experiencing the tradition. It's becoming a part of it. The second portion of the brick wall at Bryan Adams will be installed this year before summer school begins on June 5th! We will be installing during May 28 - 31, 2002. Deadline for ordering at the current price and to be included in this next installation is April 1, 2002. This will be the LAST time the Alumni Association coordinates the sale and installation of engraved bricks and tiles. The Officers have elected to turn the project over to the school for all future installations and we can tell you now, the price of the personalized engraved bricks and tiles will increase dramatically! In the three years since our first installation in March 1999, the costs for the bricks, tiles and engraving has increased three times. We have, however, continued to sell the 4" x 8" bricks for $35 and the 12" x 12" tiles for $100. Mrs. Karen Ramos, principal at BA, has agreed to handle all future sales and installations. The school will determine the new prices for bricks and tiles and the price increase will go into effect on April 2, 2002. If you want to get your order in before the April 1 deadline and take advantage of the lower prices, you can visit the alumni website and click on the BRICK WALL www.bryanadams-hs.org You can print the order forms for bricks and tiles and also view the logos that are available. Instructions for mailing will be on the forms. Thank you for your support and interest in our students and in our school! Together, we can make this and all future installations an exciting part of our school's rich on-going history. Please remember that a portion of the sales of bricks and tiles for this installation will be used for two $500 alumni scholarships which will be presented to two deserving Seniors in May 2002 during Senior Awards Day. OLD YEARBOOKS FOR SALE AT GENERAL MEETING The library will be open on March 23. They will have old yearbooks for sale for $50 each. Some are new; others have had previous owners (grads or teachers) but most all are in good shape. Yearbooks may not be available for all the years. NEW ALUMNI DIRECTORIES STILL AVAILABLE Our publisher, Bernard C. Harris, reports that many who ordered and received the Second Edition Alumni Directory last August still have not sent in their payment. This was to be a fund raiser for the Alumni Association and until every person who ordered a book actually "pays" for it, we won't be able to collect any royalty on the books at all. If you did not order a directory but want to do so now, there are still a few available. Please call Customer Service at Harris Publishing if you have questions or want to order a directory: (800) 877-6554. ALUMNI DEATHS
CLASS REUNIONS IN 2002
If any other classes are forming reunion committees for 2002 or 2003, please let us know so we can post it on the alumni website. 2002 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
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