Yolanda G. Banuelos

Good evening. My brother Joe Yamashita forwarded your e-mail to me regarding Yolanda G. Banuelos.

Yolanda passed away on January 27, 2008 following a courageous battle with cancer. She is survived by her long time companion Peter Molina, her three children, daughters Christiani Camacho, Alicia Camacho and her son Carlos Camacho. Yolanda worked at the California Highway Patrol Office in Culver City from 1996 until she passed away. We miss her.

A classmate sent me a website address http://www.venicecaliforniavets.com/ . The site contains photos from Yolanda's funeral.

Tad Yamashita Class of 1979

Joyce (Takeuchi) Hirota to be remembered

Here is the obituary provided by Fukui Mortuary. Now theirs states the memorial service to be at the community center at 11 a.m. on Feb. 9th. Now I'm not sure where it is, either at the church or the community center. Wait for the Sunday obituary in the paper I guess to find out for sure. There is a viewing this Sunday, Feb. 3rd at Fukui Mortuary from 2-5 p.m.

Go to Fukui's website, www.fukuimortuary.com, and there's an obituary for Joyce.

HIROTA, JOYCE MIYE, age 49, passed away unexpectedly on Jan. 28, 2008. Beloved wife of David Hitoshi Hirota; mother of Jolyene Midori and Robert Takashi Hirota; daughter of Takashi Ben and Emi Takeuchi; daughter-in-law of Shigeko Sally Hirota; sister of Joan Etsuko Takeuchi; sister-in-law of Jan Natsuko Hirota and John Shigeto (Marinel) Hirota; she is also survived by many uncles, aunts, cousins and other relatives here and in Hawaii. *the family respectfully requests that flowers be omitted for the service. Memorial service will be held on Sat. Feb. 9, 2008, 11:00 A.M. at Venice Japanese Community Center, located at 12448 Braddock Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90066

Joyce (Takeuchi) Hirota's husband Dave, says that she died last night from a massive heart attack. If you would like to send a special message to be posted or a much more current photo, please send it to vhs.spiritof76@sbcglobal.net.

Joyce and I grew up on the same street a few doors down from each other. We were in a lot of the same classes throughout elementary school till Junior High and would see each other there after at the same schools.

Service arrangements will follow this note.

Vicki

http://www.vjcc.com/inside_05-07.htm

http://www.vjcc.com/cc_01-07.htm

Happy New Year Everybody!!!

Well the New Year is almost at the end of the 1st month. It's been a busy one. So I am a bit behind in wishing everyone a Happy New Year.

Did you set goals for the New Year? Are you living them? I have and I am. I hope to accomplish much more than weight lose though. But that is a tough one in itself. I've just finished working on the Class of '77's Memory Book. I have heard from a couple of them that they are happy. I hope to hear more are please. I was also asked to work on the one for the Class of '78. Looking forward to it.

If there are any Class of '78 folks out there that you know, help them get excited about their Reunion that is planned for sometime in October.

Also...Join the Alumni Association @ venicehighalumni.com or e-mail me and I can direct you to the correct person to get you started.

Merry Christmas

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. Ours was Blessed with a 10 lb 3 oz Grandson named Scott Henry Crabtree (aka Hank). He was born on December 18th, 2007.
If you were Blessed this Holiday Season, send your story to vhs.spiritof76@sbcglobal.net . I would be happy to post it for you.
Hans & Vicki Hass '76

We hope everyone is well and are getting ready to share their Turkey Dinner with their favorite people to be Thankful with. So Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Class of '76 ~ if you want to share your story witht he class, write it out and send it to me via e-mail. You can add a photo or two if you like. Visit the class blog: http://vhsspiritof76.blogspot.com/ Others may visit it too. Send your stories to vhs.spiritof76@sbcglobal.net.

The Alumni Association has exciting news coming out soon regarding the reimmerging Myrna Loy statue. Get your copy of the Acclaim by signing up with the Alumni Association Membership and keep up on the news. Send your requests to Laura Ferre @ laura.ferre@verizon.net.

Happy Holidays,
Vicki & Hans Hass
Class of '76

Time Capsules

Does anyone watch the Fox TV show "Bones"? It's one of my favorite. Well, we won't run into any of the problems they encountered on that show last night.

After 20 years the schools time capsule was to be opened. Well, it was tampered with and strange things were found there that should not have been. (I won't go into details...Halloween is over).

Anyway, the reason for my being so interested in this topic is that, last year before our 30Th Reunion for Class of '76, we inquired about opening the time capsule our class buried. Low and behold we (the ones involved...not me) had made it for 100 years. UGH!!! Oh well, I guess our class didn't think they would want to have a looksy later? If you were involved in that task and would like to provide a list here. You are more than welcome. I didn't know anything about it. I am more involved now than I was then.

What does your time capsule hold?

Marianne (Garde) Bordier '76

Greetings from Marianne Bordier (Garde). My husband Paul and I have been married for 22 years. We built a house in Topanga on 10 acres about 16 years ago. I have been teaching elementary school for LAUSD for 22 years. I have been teaching at Topanga Elementary for the last 14 years. My daughter Katie is in her 3rd year at UC Santa Cruz. My son Matt is 16, attends Malibu Hi, plays baseball, the guitar and surfs. I have 2 cats, 3 German Shepherds, and 2 horses. I keep fit and happy by spending a lot of time with my family, riding my horses, walking my dogs, and gardening. Sorry I missed the 30th reunion. Lots of love, health, and happiness.

One is a photo of my mom, Kate; me, and my daughter, Kate inside of my daughter's trailer on the UCSC campus. She has 2 cats. The other photo I sent is of my husband, Paul, and my son, Matthew.

Eve Hammond-Bushman '76

Hello Gondoliers!

I was the tall nerdy blond that hung out with Ellen Wegener, Jim Matsuo -- the boyfriend that stood on the curb while I waited in the gutter to be kissed, Roland Di Gacomo - we both wore denim overalls, the Perry brothers -which one did I date?, Lloyd with his famous American cheese sandwiches - 6 slices of cheese with mayo slathered in between each. And before they graduated in 1975 and left me it was Janice Levin, Maria Giuilani, Steve Mrkonic and John Guevara. (Jan, Maria, Steve, John and Ellen - we have been able to keep up via e-mail since Vicki got us re-connected! Thank you Vicki!!!!)

Never finishing college I worked retail for a time and then settled down to managing. First retail and then, somehow, dental offices. I have been working part time the last six years in Toluca Lake. I settled down with my husband of 21 years, Eddie Bushman, a guy Maria and I must have cruised past on Van Nuys Blvd. He is a Fire Chief for LA City.

I am also a writer for our local newspaper where we live in Santa Clarita. I write free for non-profits and have a Wine 101 column. You can search under my last name, Bushman, at the-signal.com if the mood strikes you to.

I wanted to write a little bio on me as it looked like this site was taking a somewhat religious detour from being about us to being about our personal religion. I happen to be a Unitarian Universalist, which you can look up yourself, again if the mood strikes you too. Spirituality is a individual choice. And I hope all Gondoliers have made good ones. Serving God? I set an example for my daughter in doing volunteer work and following what I would assume we all adhere to. Being a decent human being.

Of course, all bets are off if you remember me being a complete jerk at Venice! Oh yeah, the photos - I'm the center in the front, still blond (chemically) at a tour of Silver Oaks winery in Napa. My husband is wearing the beige sweater on your right, rear of the photo. The other photo is of my twelve year old daughter. Red hair, size ten shoe, undoubtedly will outgrow me!

Cheers!
Eve (Evan) Bushman (Hammond)

Roxanne Moraga-Adams '76

I became a Christian a few years after graduating from Venice . In my Junior and senior years in high school as well as two years after graduation….. I was sowing alot of wild oats. I had no focus, morals, or thought for the future and/or consequences for my actions. Life had become one big party… until I unexpectedly became pregnant. I considered having an abortion, but thought I’d always regret that decision…. So after much thought, I decided to keep the baby. During that time, I started thinking about God, and if he was up there, then I would try communicating with Him. I did, and believed without a shadow of a doubt that He was REAL. I ended up having a miscarriage, and became confused about my thoughts and purpose for my life. I started searching and listening to my heart. A few months later, I accepted Jesus Christ into my life, and became a new person….. literally, I became someone else. No longer did I have desires to party, and lead a purposeless life. My life’s direction changed.

I devoured the bible by studying all the time. My mind exploded with the things I was learning. I became a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church . I’ve been in many different states over the past 30 years, but I’ve always attended churches from the same denomination.

About 4 years ago, God put on my heart and the heart of some others, to start a Seventh-day Adventist church in out town of 12,000 people. The one I had been attending for 15 years was 20 miles away. A group of us decided to ‘church plant’ , as it is called. We started with 8 people and have grown to 27, with visitors coming, having up to 45 worshipping at times. About 2 years ago, I had the opportunity to join a program for those that would like to become lay pastors. Becoming a student after all these years, was definitely not my cup of tea…. But God was calling me to do this, so I followed. We kept thinking God would provide us a pastor, never realizing until recently, that He wanted me to continue leading, but in a different capacity. It has had it’s ups and downs, but the ups have made it all worth while. God has certainly blessed our efforts to share the great news of salvation and all the blessings He has in store for those that respond to His call on their hearts.

Some people that I have shared this with cannot believe how I used to be/used to do, and who/what I am today. It’s been quite the journey!

Thanks for doing this…. if you have any comments, or questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. The attached picture shows me with those new members that were baptized in June in the pool at my house.

Roxanne
Class of '76

Almost a year since our 30th Reunion

Well, I've just learned how to start a Blog. So I thought I'd create one for our class. I hope many of you Spirit of '76-er's will join me in making it good. Let's all keep in touch and send your thoughts to be posted to vhs.spiritof76@sbcglobal.net. Also if you'd like to join the Alumni Association, The Acclaim or other Venice activities, please contact me so I can direct you to the correct person to talk to.

Some links to visit:
myspace.com/venicehighalumni

The link for Venice Alumni Web site
http://www.venicehighalumni.com/

The email for the Acclaim
http://us.f807.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=venicealumni@yahoo.com