Hail to the Chief!

Remember when the President of the United States made an appearance in Indy and actually directed our band? It was a big deal back then for a President to even come to Indianapolis. And to direct the Marching Red Devil Band was an honor that most band members will never forget. Oh, what sweet music it was...

RUTH ANN PARISH

Many of us who started school in the first grade at Pike vividly recall a vital member of our class, who moved away with her family during our 7th Grade year. We are honored that she will be coming back home to join us for our 40th Reunion on August 1st. Here is her story:

After leaving Indiana, I moved to Oregon , where I graduated from Beaverton High School in 1969. I graduated from Bryn Mawr College (just west of Philadelphia) in Anthropology in 1973, and Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in 1977. I finished my residency in Pediatric Medicine in 1980 and a fellowship in Pediatric Emergency Medicine in 1982. I was married to David Paplow, M.D. from 1975-1999, and have two wonderful kids, Katherine Parish Paplow Wilson (she's married to Erik Wilson) and Benjamin Parish Paplow (I never changed my name when I got married, so both kids have my name as their middle name). I am a pediatrician in Kirkland, Washington, where I have resided for the past 22 years. Prior to that, I worked for 5 yrs at Harborview Hospital in Seattle (the regional burn and trauma center for Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho), where I saw enough tragedy in that time to last a lifetime.

I keep up with music through my church (Edmonds U. Methodist) by singing in a small ensemble and playing piano, guitar, drums and/or bass (though not all at once). I compose occasionally and arrange some, and generally keep my "right brain" balanced with my left (medical) brain in that way. I wrote 2 books in the 1990s about spirituality and infant/toddler development; they got "downsized" out of print when Random House bought Shaw Publishing house. I commute the 16.4 miles each way to and from work in my little electric car named "Tinkerbell" -- Miles Electric Vehicle company out of Los Angeles makes them, and it suits my needs in a great way. I tell people it's my first bid to be an eccentric little old lady . . . it runs on 6 cents of electricity a day, goes 45 mph and has a range of 40-50 miles, and I plug it in while at work at the hospital garage across the street from my office; then, I plug in at the house at night. Looking forward to seeing you all.

Happy Birthday!

Birthday party at Bev Caesar's house, circa 1968. L to R: (on floor) unidentified; (seated) Mary Ann Mertz, Bev Caesar, Jim Metzler, Marica Callahan, unidentified, Susie Roetter; (standing) Brent Callahan, Chuck Caesar.

What Have You Been Doing?

Anita (Ganote) Siler
I have been blessed with a wonderful husband, to whom I have been married for 39 years; I have 2 children and 2 grandchildren. We have lived in Indianapolis most of our married lives, except for 6 years in Hawaii. We moved back to Indiana to be with our family. I am an administrative assistant at Dow AgroSciences, where I have worked for the past 20 years. I am looking forward to retiring in about 6 years.

1969 Band Spectacular

April 1969: The Pike Band Spectacular, with L to R: Debbie Thurston, Myra Mccammon and Susan Lear

Senior Dress-Up Day Brought Out Our Creative Side

(Standing) Susan Ely, Sandy Emeier, unknown, Dave Pucillo and unknown; Tom Richards and Sue Bullard (on ground).

Mrs. Morgan's 4th Grade Class at Central Elementary, 1960

How many of these little Pikers can you identify from this photo from 1960? Please click the comment or time hyperlinks to help us identify any of these students. PLEASE POST A COMMENT, even if you only identify yourself in this photo, which is courtesy of Myra (McCammon) Leap.