AMES HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNIVolume 20,NEWSLETTER Issue 1 Ames, Iowa June, 2009 “The Girls from Ames” Jeffrey Zaslow, Wall Street The girls didn’t begin meeting Journal columnist and coauthor of the until kindergarten or first grade. No. 1 best selling “The Last Lecture,” Their real bonding came in high has written the book “The Girls from school and there after. Today they Ames”. It follows the 40+ years of live in 8 states, none in Ames. friendship of 11 young girls. The girls Through the years, they have all graduated from Ames High School experienced extraordinary friend- in 1981 and are Marilyn ship as well as unexpected (McCormack) Johnson, Karla tragedy, and have gone through (Derby) Blackwood, Kelly thick and thin for 40 years. Zwagerman, Jane (Gradwohl) The group of 11 became 10 Nash, Diana (Speer) Sarussi, Cathy when Sheila Walsh, died in Highland, Sally (Brown) Hamilton, Chicago when she was 22. As a Karen (Brady) Leininger, Jenny tribute to their friendship the girls (Benson) Litchman, Angela from Ames have created a scholar- (Bendorf) Jamison and Sheila ship in memory of Sheila. The Walsh. It is a moving tribute to the Sheila M. Walsh Memorial Schol- power of female friendship, and is a arship will give a female Ames testament to the enduring deep bonds High School student $1,000 of women as they experience life’s toward her higher education. The challenges and the power of friendship focus of the scholarship is on to overcome even the most daunting friendships and each applicant odds. must describe the qualities they In 2003, Zaslow wrote a column look for in a best friend and what on why women more than men hold their best friends mean to them. on tightly to old friends. Jennifer In the short 22 years of Sheila’s (Benson) Litchman responded to that life, she touched everyone she article by email, along with hundreds of others, and received met with her infectious laugh, her vivacity and her innate back a thank you from Zaslow. When Zaslow decided in sweetness. Sheila’s girlfriends hope her legacy will live on 2006 to write a book which chronicles a group of women through the young women chosen for this scholarship. through the years and their friendships, he returned to those The scholarship fund was begun with a donation from emails which he had kept in a cabinet. He contacted about a Jeffrey Zaslow. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of dozen of the letter writers and chose Jennifer, now the this book will also fund the scholarship. If you would like assistant dean of public affairs at the University of Maryland. to make a donation please contact the Ames Education Her enthusiasm told him that the girls from Ames were the Foundation (see page 8). ones he wanted to chronicle. Jennifer contacted her friends The book “The Girls from Ames” can be purchased at and they all agreed to do it. your local bookstore. Golf Outing Walker Reunion The annual AHSAA golf outing will NOT be held this The annual Walker reunion will be Sunday, August 2, year. Thank you to all who have participated in the past and 2009. Location is the east end of the City Park on the please plan to participate next year. We still need some- shores of Leech Lake in Walker, Minn. Time will be from one to volunteer to organize the popular event. Kerry 11:30 to 2:00 P.M. It will be potluck. Bring a couple Ferguson ‘74 organized it for many years and before him, dishes to share. Drinks will be provided. Craig Calhoun ‘76 lead the outing. Please consider helping. Jack Smalling ‘58 Volume 20, Issue 1, Page 2 June, 2009 AHS Alumni Baseball Game Returns Story by Ben Gouldsmith/The Tribune Pictures by Nirmalendu Majumdar/The Tribune Wearing his No. 42 throwback white baseball uniform with blue and red trim, Jack Smalling ‘58 stepped into the batter’s box. Plunk. Smalling was hit by the first pitch. A couple of pitches later, he was hit by another one. “You OK, Jack?” asked Dave Posegate ‘59 from the on-deck circle. “I can call 911.” Twenty-six former Little Cyclone players showed up at Brookside Park’s Ray Smalling Field the afternoon of Saturday, May 16 for the Ames High School alumni game, which was being played for the first time in more than 20 years. The score was irrelevant, as were balls and strikes. No umpires were needed. Smalling, the son of the former Ames coach whose name adorns the field, was the oldest to attend. He said he was part of the first Ames team that called Brookside Park home. “We didn’t have any fences; we didn’t have lights; we didn’t have a scoreboard,” Smalling said. “All we had was about 30 percent of the backstop and two benches on either side.” Fifty years younger, Kyle Tegeler ‘08, was quite familiar with the surroundings. Tegeler, a pitcher at Marshalltown Community College, said he had talked to a few of the old-timers including Smalling before the game. “There’s going to be a lot of chit-chatter and making fun of people,” Tegeler said before taking the field. “It’s just going Jack Smalling ‘58 bats at the alumni baseball game. to be a lot of fun. They’re all pretty good guys.” The list of players in attendance was a who’s-who of Ames players who have gone on to bigger things. Steve Dreyer ’87, is one of only two Ames High graduates who have played in the major leagues. Dreyer pitched for the Texas Rangers from 1990 to 1997 after earning all-conference honors at Northern Iowa. Dave Posegate ‘59, is a former Ames baseball coach and athletic director who led four of his teams to state tournaments. He was later named to the Ames High School Hall of Fame and the Iowa High School Baseball Hall of Fame. Posegate said he took batting practice with Smalling and Bob Best ’65, on Thursday to prepare for the alumni game. A couple of days and a couple of aspirin helped them recover, he joked. Best, a longtime softball coach at West Des Moines Valley before coaching the Ames softball team for three years earlier this decade, was an all-conference pick as a high school senior in 1965 after hitting .349. He donned an orange No. 5 Ames jersey for the game while playing catcher. He claims to still own the team record for stealing home base (five times). “We weren’t the greatest team Ames High ever put out, but we were pretty competitive,” Best said. “We just had good guys on the team who have all gone on and done good things with their lives.” Current Little Cyclones coach Eric Bappe ‘90, said the alumni game showcased the school’s baseball history. He even offered a little bit of his own. To illustrate how much the playing surface at Brookside Park has changed since he graduated, Bappe recounted former coach Phil Johnson instruct- ing his players at the end of every practice to pick up a handful of rocks and throw them back into the ditch. That wasn’t necessary for this game and, no, 911 was never dialed. “This kind of thing makes you realize the program is a lot bigger than any year or any one team,” Bappe said. “There’s so much put Left to Right: Danny Haugo ‘07, Grant Simpson ‘07, Ben Dobbs ‘07, into it, and this park’s got such a Eric Nau ‘03, Jeff Houk ‘07, Jamie Smith ‘01, Andy Kohler ‘00, great history to it.” Steve Dreyer ‘87, Dave Posegate ‘59, Bret Posegate ‘85, Kyle Tegeler ‘08. Volume 20, Issue 1, Page 3 June, 2009 ---Alumni Still Aiming High--- Combining Nature and Technology Ed Mezvinsky ‘55, a former two term Congress- William (Biff) Baird man from Iowa has agreed to contribute his papers ’69, practices the craft of from his days in the House of Representatives to the interpretation. That Iowa State University library. His son, Marc doesn’t mean he trans- Mezvinsky is engaged to Chelsea Clinton, daughter of lates English to Spanish. the former president and Hillary Clinton. An August The firm that Baird owns wedding on Martha’s Vineyard is planned. and operates, Exhibit Sharon Boylan Hahnlen ’63 has earned her Ed. Design Associates, D. degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Liberty designs media that University in Lynchburg, VA. She has been a profes- “interpret” natural history sor of French and English there for nearly 29 years. and cultural heritage for Steve Soesbe ‘63 has closed his popular Ames visitors to nature centers, zoos, museums and scenic byways. watering hole, Tradewinds Lounge, after 29 years in The company has thus far weathered the recent economic business. Friday, May 1, 2009 was his last day in downturn. “We’re in a niche market,” Baird said, “and the competi- business. Besides the usual fare of a bar, Soesbe tion has always been tough, but we’ve established a good reputa- was well known for the noon lunches he served tion. Our strategy of staying small, choosing projects carefully Monday through Friday. Meatloaf Friday was prob- and focusing on what we do best seems to be working.” ably his most popular meal, as were his giant tender- Baird earned a B.A. in English from the University of Kansas, loins. And Steve did all of his own cooking. There is and worked on a trail crew in Rocky Mountain National Park in the now a void in the culinary choices in downtown Ames.