Alumni NewsAlumni Mission: We exist to unite and grow our alumni family, and

champion the dream and values of Father Flanagan through leadership.

Winter 2005 – Volume 44, Issue 4

Yes, Christmas was a red letter day for each and every one of our boys. It was a different Christmas than heretofore enjoyed by our lads. It was a more home-like Christmas in keeping with Father Flanagan’s efforts to make Boys Town a real home.

– Boys Town Times December 27, 1940

Throughout Girls and Boys Town’s history, the best memories of Christmas come from the Home that Father Flanagan built. Inside, some of our alumni from every decade share with us their best Christmas memories. Merry Christmas to all of our alumni!!

Boys Town kids in the 1940s, as in every decade, looked forward to Christmas Day.

Remembering Christmas

www.boystownalumni.org

2 ALUMNI NEWS www.boystownalumni.org

Dear Alumni,

As the Christmas sea-son approaches, I want to wish each of you a Merry Christmas! I look forward

to my first Christmas here at Girls and Boys Town. This will be my first year lighting the Christmas tree, watching the “Gift of the Magi” play, and singing Christmas carols with the kids.

For this issue, a lot of you sent us your favorite Christmas memories while at Girls and Boys Town, and we thank you for them. Our hope is to continue giving our children the warmth and memorable Christmases you all enjoyed while here. Please, keep sending us your favorite Christmas story for future issues.

Blessings also to those of you who have recently celebrated the feast of Ramadan and the Jewish High Holy Days. In October, I was invited to celebrate Rosh

Hashanah and Yom Kippur with members of the nearby Beth El Synagogue. These were wonderful celebrations of God’s forgiveness and healing. Father Flanagan insisted that every child pray because he knew the power of prayer could change our hearts and open us up to God’s plan for our lives. We pray that these special days of prayer lead you beyond yourself and invite you to serve others.

In September, Girls and Boys Town was named one of America's 100 Best Communities For Young People. The Today Show and Newsweek featured Girls and Boys Town prominent-ly in their coverage of this national announcement. This honor comes from America’s Promise, a foundation started by General Colin Powell that helps communities share ideas and learn from each other how to tackle the challenges that face young people. We have always said that Boys Town is the greatest village in the world because

every adult who lives here is dedicated to helping kids learn and heal. It’s nice to know there are lots of folks who agree with us!

Work continues on the process of canonization for Father Flanagan. Know that I support this work and pray every day that Father Flanagan will be honored for the work he did to change the way America cares for her children.

May you and your families receive God’s richest blessings this Christmas.

Sincerely,

Father Steve BoesExecutive DirectorGirls and Boys Town

From the Executive Director

Editor Bob Goodrich

Graphic Designer Mike Buckley

Contributing Writers Katina Gordon Lindsey Hoch Leah Limbach

Tom Lynch Chas Davis

Alumni Advisors John Mollison ’64 Stan Struble ’68

Edwin Novotny ’43 George Buckler ’64

Printer Girls and Boys Town Print Shop

h

The Alumni News is published by

Girls and Boys Town 14100 Crawford St.

Boys Town, NE 68010

www.boystownalumni.org

alumni@girlsandboystown.org

1-800-345-0458 (402) 498-1150

Fax: (402) 498-1159

BTNAA President

Dear Brothers and Sisters, The Christmas season

always stirs up my memories of holiday times at Boys Town, the fun we had

during the Twelfth Night, tromping across the big field in the snow and cold to attend Midnight Mass, then the celebrations of Christmas morning and opening of gifts around the tree. What grand memories that were created for us by others!

I think, as the years go by, of the people that made those memories happen for each and every one of us. I am referring to the counselors, Family-Teachers, and the staff. Their extra efforts often go unrecognized, unknown, and sometimes unappreciated.

During this joyous season of Christmas we should all say a prayer of thanks for the thousands of selfless people who gave us those memories, and if we know where they are, send a word of appreciation to them for making a difference in our lives.

On behalf of the National Board of Directors, I wish everyone Merry Christmas and a healthy Happy New Year.

Bob Nelson, '53President

DECEMBER 2005 3www.boystownalumni.org

Warner Home Video cel-ebrates the holiday season with a first-time DVD release of the 1938 Academy Award-winning movie Boys Town.

“The Boys Town movie not only shared the power-ful story of Father Flanagan’s work with needy children, it inspired a nation to take up his cause,” said Father Steve Boes, National Executive Director. “Today, Girls and Boys Town continues to unlock miracles in the hearts of children on 19 campuses across the coun-try, and this Warner classic with its message of love, hope, and care continues to be just as relevant and important to contemporary audiences as it was when it was first seen.”

“I thought the movie would be popular, but not to this magnitude,” said Hank Avilla, ’40, who played an extra in the movie with stars Mickey Rooney and Spencer Tracy. “I was amazed. The longevity. I think, indirectly, the movie had a great influence on this place because prior to that time we had difficulty getting something to eat and maintaining this place and then all of a sudden people started finding out, ‘well gee, there is a

Boys Town and they’re doing some good. As a result people started sending in a dollar here and a dollar there and that certainly con-tinued on. Now you have a beautiful place here for the kids and to carry on Father Flanagan’s dream.”

Warner Home Video Celebrates Holiday Season With Boys Town

In 2003, Mickey Rooney visited alumni who played extras in the movie. L-R, Ed Novotny, Tom McGuire, Mickey Rooney with wife Jan, Louis Martinez, John Anthony, Hank Avilla (seated), Charles Ling and Harlan Kopack.

• Bonus Movie Sequel: Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney in 1941’s Men of Boys Town

• Vintage Short "The City of Little Men"

• Archival Newsreel, “Excerpts From Good News of 1939”

• Boys Town Theatrical Trailer• Men of Boys Town Theatrical Trailer• Boys Town Organization

Promotional Featurette Rating: Not Rated B&W English: Mono Run Time: 93 Minutes

Boys Town DVD Proceeds to Benefit Hurricane Katrina Evacuees

Warner Home Video will donate proceeds from the DVDs to benefit the children and families evacuated from Girls and Boys Town of Louisiana facilities in New Orleans. Standard Retail Price is $19.97. You can order the DVD from the Girls and Boys Town Visitors Center by calling toll-free 1-888-556-5121 or by ordering your DVD online at www.helpachildtoday.org.

DVD Special Features

4 ALUMNI NEWS www.boystownalumni.org

Father Flanagan House Ready for Christmas

Visitors can step back in time this Christmas at Father Flanagan's home. The first floor of the west addition to the home is renovated and ready for Christmas. The three most recently renovated rooms – the din-ing room, his personal office, and the Chapel – received new hardwood floors and paint, both authentic to the time period during which Father Flanagan lived in the home.

Family-Teacher Mike Hughes and the boys in his Family Home donated more than 60 hours of work to remove and install the new floors. The boys are proud of their work and look forward to returning to the house during Alumni Conventions to show off their hard work, just as alumni returned to show off the desk they made as a 1939 Christmas gift to Father Flanagan.

Tom Lynch, manager of the Hall of History, said future plans call for the renovation of the upstairs to the addition. Rooms will include repre-sentations of a 1920s dormitory room and a current bedroom that youth occupy in today’s homes. Living quarters for nuns who lived in the home during the 1950s, as well as a room decorated for Christmas during that time, also will be future exhibits.

The Father Flanagan House with its Christmas decorations will be open to the public beginning the first week of December from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

(Above) Christmas was celebtrated with a dinner menu consisting of fried chicken, cake, ice cream, muffins, and pumpkin pie. Many of the entrees were a treat because they were served only at Christmas. Volunteers decorated the table and youth made homemade paper decorations. Christmas Day began with church services, with dinner and presents following. Gifts of oranges, apples, and nuts brightened every boy’s face.

(Left) Father Flanagan’s office is depicted as it looked in 1943. The cabinet is filled with artifacts from his world travels. Photographs of visitors to Boys Town, as well as former boys, adorn the walls, some in their original handmade frames. The Christmas tree is covered with paper decorations and tinsel, as it would have been in 1943.

DECEMBER 2005 5www.boystownalumni.org

(Left) The old Chapel as it looked during Christmas 1932.

(Right) George Buckler, ’64, custom built the Stations of the Cross that hang on the walls. They were made out of the original oak flooring.

(Left) The Father Flanagan Meditation Chapel at Flanagan House was renovated to portray its look in 1923. Original pews and a painting of the Virgin Mary were placed inside the chapel.

(Below) Christmas decorations for the chapel purchased by alumni.

(Upper Right) This window is from the 1930s convent where nuns stayed while serving at Boys Town. The convent was used until the 1970s. The window had been in storage until now.

(Above) Beginning in 1940, this door was originally used as the side entrance to Dowd Chapel. It was removed in 1975 when Father Flanagan’s tomb was added to the chapel. The door now leads to the Father Flanagan Meditation Chapel.

6 ALUMNI NEWS www.boystownalumni.org

The more things change the more they stay the same – especially Christmas memories. Many of our alumni’s warm-est memories of Girls and Boys Town come from Christmas. For some it was the food; for others the gifts and for many, it was the warmth of a home and friends. Hopefully, a few of these Christmas reflections from some alumni in each decade since the 1930s will jog your memories of Christmastime at the Home.

Michael (Jacobs) Morse ’70 – “When I think of Boys Town Christmases, it reminds me of the Twelve Days of Christmas and how we’d decorate and take care of the younger kids. As a foster parent, we always kept that tradition alive in my own home, giv-ing the children more privileges everyday, like a little more TV or something, just like I got at Boys Town.”

Norman J. Blackwell ’30 – “My favorite memory was Christmas dinner in 1929 with the director, Mr. Ryan, and Father Flanagan at the table in the main hall, which I don’t think is even there anymore. Back then we still ate plenty of turkey and all other sorts of good stuff. It was a nice dinner, believe me it was.”

Cecil Stoughton ’32 – “I remember Christmas as being a happy time for everyone. We didn’t have much in those times, so it was just good to have each other. That’s what was important to us. Father Flanagan really took care of us, and anything we got for Christmas was a real eye-opener and a big surprise.”

Robert Thomas ’90 – “The thing I loved about Christmas at Girls and Boys Town was something that not a lot of kids have these days – a sense of family dur-ing the holidays. We had a sense of true family, complete with Christmas gifts, dinner, and just having each other. The other kids, parents, and teachers all felt like family and I was just thankful we actually had a Christmas.”

William Anderson ’39 – “When we lined up in alphabetical order to receive gift packages after the midnight Mass, my twin brother and I would always be first in line while everyone would make fun of Zimmerman because he’d always get stuck at the end. One year, Father Flanagan overheard this and switched the order on us. So Zimmerman was first and my brother and I were stuck at the end.”

Bruce Paul ’41 – “Every Christmas, this fellow Adolf would give a gag gift to someone when we opened gifts in the recreation hall after midnight mass. In 1937 or 1938, he took an empty nail keg, cut a couple of four-by-four blocks out of it, and penciled them up like dice. When he gave them to Father Flanagan, everyone had a good laugh while he rolled them a couple of times for amusement.”

Edward Twohey ’43 – “I remember Christmas Day of 1942, how all of us, Novotny, Rohlinger and Mitchell, gave speeches for the mayoral race to be voted on that day. It was all very political, and we really got into it. The results were to be printed in the Boys Town paper the next day, but we all knew the results later on Christmas Day. I was elected mayor. As the outgoing dining hall commissioner, I told my new commissioner to keep the dining hall neat and clean and I’d stay off his back.”

Robert Quillin ’43 – “The thing I remember about Christmas was the tin of chocolates we’d always get from some company in Chicago. It never lasted very long as we never got too much chocolate in those days, but we always looked forward to it.”

Christmas at Boys Town Makes Lifetime Memories

A new train set was a huge hit to the boys in 1957.

Father Flanagan helps the boys unwrap packages in 1946.

DECEMBER 2005 7www.boystownalumni.org

Ramon “Bug” Esparza ’50 – “Christmas was a beautiful time at Boys Town. The nicest thing was the choir I sang in during midnight Mass; everything was so beautiful that night. We also always used to look for-ward to these gummy candies in little square packages; I think we used to call them slinky dinks.”

William Grill ’54 – “The one thing that reminds me of Christmas is how all of us used to look forward to getting a whole box of Baby Ruths or Butterfingers. I really enjoyed my time at Boys Town; I just have too many Christmas memories to fully sum it up."

Duane Bennett ’56 – “Having spent four years there, every Christmas was a little different but always

very memorable. Probably the thing that sticks out most was all the decorating we did.

You know, we decorated the cottages, the Christmas trees, set up manger scenes. We always got something from Father Wegner every year during the 12- day celebration.”

Dennis Alessandrini ’65 – “I remember the decorating competitions between cottages during the twelve-days of Christmas celebration. We always thought we’d win but never did. We’d also watch a

movie every night, and then spend the rest of it playing cards with the candy bars we were given.”

Robert Asa Good Jr. ’84 – “My freshman year I got a bicycle and my senior year I got a gerbil. I also remember

playing Intellivision video games with my good friend during that time.”

Steve Davis ’87 – “Being from Texas, I always remember look-ing forward to the snow. Since I was one of the biggest, I would usually get the job of shoveling when it piled up around Christmas time. Also, even though I wasn’t Catholic, I loved going to Mass dur-ing Christmas to hear the choir sing. A large group singing in the chapel always sounded very pretty.”

Paul Anderson ’93 – “Christmas at Girls and Boys Town was about the only Christmas I can remember feeling like I was a part of a family. We were just one big happy family during Christmas, and Girls and Boys Town made it that way. Through all the ups and downs since that time, Christmas hasn’t ever been the same.”

Jennifer Van Asche-Blasé ’93 – “I was lucky enough that Girls and Boys Town always flew me home for the holidays. I do remember driving around with the family teachers in the time leading up to Christmas to see the lights on homes both within Girls and Boys Town and in nearby communities.”

Jennifer (French) Miller ’95 –“I received a bunch of clothes for my first Christmas and it surprised me and I wondered how they could care for me. But it turned out to be just like Christmas at home with all the decorating, celebrating, and opening of presents on Christmas morning, seeing everyone’s excitement. Just having an extended family in day-to-day life and bringing love into that home made Christmas a special time of year.”

Janelle Anderson 2003 – “My first year at Girls and Boys Town I remember having a girl from Louisiana living with me. The first snow of the winter was a couple of weeks before Christmas. Our Family-Teachers woke us up at 2 a.m. as the snow was falling for a snowball fight. It was the first time she had ever seen snow and kept rolling around and playing in it.”

Santa Claus' visit in 1990.

Boys create Christmas decorations in 1955.

8 ALUMNI NEWS www.boystownalumni.org

Don’t Forget to WriteConnecting with our alumni is important for our children’s growth and development. Following are excerpts of letters from our children to our alums who are serving our country, and from alums in military service we share with our children.

Dear Girls and Boys Town SoldierI would like to thank you for serving our country. I know it

is a very difficult thing to do. You are risking your life for your country. You protect us and fight for our freedom. I know that it is difficult being away from your family. We will keep saying prayers for all the soldiers so that the war will end and you can all return home safely. - Alex, 13

I would like to thank you for saving our country, for risking your life so that we can have freedom in the U.S.A. I know it is hard to be away from your family because in Boys Town, you can only go home once a month. So I know how it feels. God bless you! - Eric, 12

Thank you for helping us so that we can stop this war. I would also like to thank you for risking your life to help others come back home. I am going to keep you in my prayers at all times. I know it is difficult to be away from your family. - Julia, 13

Greetings From Our SoldiersThings are going okay. Tell everyone the finest Navy is wait-

ing for them. Believe it or not, I miss my home – Boys Town. My Family-Teachers write to me all the time so they keep me updated. Boys Town was the step that changed my life. Let them know that if they plan to join the military, it would be the best choice.

- Samyasen "Sammy" Torres, ’04 A seaman recruit in the United States Navy

I have achieved the status of squad leader. I am working hard on my training. I have to thank you for all the years Boys Town dedicated to helping me become a stronger, mature and skilled young man. The discipline you instilled in me is helping me to be successful in accomplishing my goal to become a United States Marine. - Stephen Rutherford, ’04, A recruit in the United States Marine Corps

Boys Town helped me with discipline because you won’t believe how many people here get in trouble because they don’t know how to say okay or accept feedback.

Tell everybody at Boys Town not to give up. The Army is awesome. I want to thank everybody at Boys Town: the youth, the teachers, the clinical specialists and directors, the Family-Teachers, and especially the former executive director.

- Barbara Sanders, ’05 A private first class in the United States Army

Well, I made it. It has been really challenging so far. But to be honest, Boys Town really helped me out more than I thought. The skills learned at Boys Town have been a huge part of my making it this far.

Stay motivated and keep up the good work. I miss Boys Town and the environment. - Zac Suing, ‘05 An airman in the United States Air Force

A Father Gives ThanksArmy Sgt. Huey Fassbender, D ’97, died January 6, 2005,

in Iraq. He was the first Girls and Boys Town resident to die in combat since Vietnam. His father, Huey, wrote recently to say thanks for the important part the Home played in his son's life.

I thank Boys Town for making my son a very gracious and wonder-ful man. He really straightened his life up and became focused on family values and even more, world values.

He believed strongly in fighting terrorism for our country’s freedom. He was such an unselfish person that he made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

Thanks again,Huey P. Fassbender“God Bless the U.S.A”Fassbender

DECEMBER 2005 9www.boystownalumni.org

Just an Ordinary Man — Richard Joseph Puchinsky, Class of 1948Thoughts about my father, by Dawn Sadler

My father, Richard “Dick” Joseph

Puchinsky, aka "Punchy", also known as "Caveman" to some of his friends, passed away September 21, 2005, at the Olivia White Hospice Home in Flagstaff, Ariz. He was a 1948 gradu-ate of Boys Town, where he was the president of his class and an All-American athlete.

When dad came to Boys Town in 1945, he was a “homeless orphan.” Father Flanagan was the first man who hugged my father and the first man to be put into my father’s life where my dad felt safe.

After dad left Boys Town, he went on to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers organization until an injury put his sports life to an end. Dad never fully regained use of his knee after that.

Dad has three children: Richard, George, and myself. I have taken care of him for the past five years. What a joy, what a privi-lege. His grandchildren are Adam, Caleb, Joshua, Sarah, Rachel, and James. I want to tell you about this man who influenced my life and what he has taught me.

Many things dad did went unnoticed. When I was a child of 4 or 5 years old, my father and I went shopping at the local grocery store where he purchased lots and lots of food. I thought to myself, we could feed an army, and we did. We fed God’s kids that night! He took me to the worst part of town and got out of his car, knocked on strangers’ doors, and gave them food. I will never forget a little girl who was my age, looking at the food com-ing through her door, smiling. I asked my father if that is what the children were going to eat that night. My father said yes, and I started to cry. We fed about five families that night.

He would play Santa for children who didn’t have anyone. I can’t tell you how many times he would give whatever he had to children just because. If dad had any money in his pocket, he would give it away or buy goodies and then pass them out. He would show up at my house always with fruit from a roadside market and we would drive for hours eating fruit and listening to the opera.

Dad was not a saint. He had many faults and, just to be honest, didn’t know how to be a “good dad.” However, he taught me more than enough to survive in this world. He taught me always be nice to the poor; always treat others, especially those less fortunate than yourself, with dignity and kindness. He always told me that

“we don’t know what they had to struggle with before they woke up that morning.” He taught me that if you have, share; if you don’t, be courteous. He lived the Beatitudes, especially “Blessed are the poor.”

When dad got sick five years ago, we moved him to Arizona. He had worked all his life and now lived in Arizona. He lived independently until 2003 when he was diagnosed with dementia. While he was here, he collected cans for the homeless school and donated money to that school.

When dad and I would talk, he would tell me about Boys Town, about Father Flanagan. He knew where he was when Father passed away. He said the hole that Father left had never been filled. We talked about football and his love for baseball. When dad got sicker, I tried to get more memories out of him, but I couldn’t. He would limit his sharing about his life. He lived with the shame that he didn’t have parents. He thought that it was his fault. Once, I grabbed him by his face and told him how loved he was and how he has made a difference in people’s lives.

Daddy died a day after my birthday, surrounded by love. As Sister Elizabeth came to pray, I sat with daddy and thanked him for all the great things that he has taught me. I have instilled those things into my children.

Dad lived the motto, “He ain’t heavy Father, He's my brother,” except dad helped everyone. Just when I thought that he had gone overboard, there was a person telling me how much my dad helped them. What a joy to know that dad lived his last years with peace and joy surrounding him.

Now he is in the presence of our Lord and Father Flanagan. I hope that as he crossed over and held the hand of our Savior, that his mother, who he never knew, was there to greet him and just hold on to him.

After reading dad’s story, my hope is that if you need to call that special person in your life and tell them that you love them, you will do just that. If you see a homeless person on the street, give him a buck, or better yet do what dad did — talk to him. We don’t know what had happened in his life for him to be homeless. Feed the poor, cheer on the underdog — that was my dad, and I am as proud of him as he was proud to be a son of Father Flanagan and a graduate of Boys Town, his home!

If you have any stories about my dad, I would love to hear them. Please feel free to email me at rememberingpapajoe@yahoo.com

May the grace of our Lord always be with you,

Alumni office note:

During the '50s and through the '70s, Joe would write to Monsignor Wegner and ask for the names of 15 boys to whom he could send Christmas gifts. This was the measure of a man who cared for others. Perhaps some of us received a gift from Joe Puchinsky during our time at Boys Town. Let's all remember our brother Joe in our prayers.

John Mollison, ‘64Interim Alumni Director

Puchinsky

10 ALUMNI NEWS www.boystownalumni.org

Nebraska’s 100 Greatest Athletes Include Jones, ’54, and Geddes, ’64,

This fall, The Omaha World-Herald named Charles “Deacon” Jones, ’54, and Ken Geddes, ’64, two of Nebraska’s 100 Greatest Athletes.

Jones was an all-state halfback on the Cowboy football teams during the 1950s, an all-state guard on the state championship basketball team, and a right fielder on the state cham-pionship baseball team.

Jones ultimately excelled in track, winning state titles in the mile run and mile relay. He broke the national high school record for the mile with a time of 4 minutes, 17.6 seconds in 1954. He won an NCAA cross country and two-mile track title at Iowa, and qualified for the Olympics in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, plac-ing ninth in 1956 in Melbourne, Australia, and seventh in 1960 in Rome. He broke the American record for the steeplechase in 1957.

Geddes came from Jacksonville, Fla., where he made the football field, basketball court, and track his second home.

He helped his teams win two state titles in basketball and one in football. He ran on the state championship mile relay and went on to receive All-Big Eight honors in football at Nebraska. Geddes played eight years at linebacker in the NFL for the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks.

A Sister Turns 100Happy birthday to Sister Reinholda

Eder, who turned 100 years old on October 28. Sister Reinholda came to Boys Town in March 1931 and worked at the home for nine years. She spent countless hours in the laundry, providing clean clothing for more than 200 boys, and doing

Father Flanagan’s house laundry and also that of 13 workmen who lived on the grounds. She was assisted by the boys and earned their love and respect.

While working in the unbearably hot laundry room, she used to joke that it was an ongoing reminder of the wages of sin.

During her time at Boys Town, Sister Reinholda also worked in the infirmary and dental office. She says she greatly enjoyed her time in the village.

Sister Reinholda left Boys Town in 1940 to serve in other areas. Sixty-five years later, she now lives with The Sisters of St. Francis in Savannah, Missouri.

Born in Schwertling, Germany, in 1905, she joined the Sisters of St. Francis in Vöcklabruck, Austria, at age 21, and came to America when her order asked for volunteers to go overseas to help establish themselves in the United States.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

During this Christmas season we some-times get caught up or beat down in the frenzied “marketing” of this lovely and tender time of year.

Oh, how we long today for the festivi-ties of years gone by — the days of Twelfth

Night, the pizza parties, the girls’ Christmas dinner, and the Christmas services that brought us all together.

Let us separate ourselves from the material things, turn inward to our families, and share with them the values that mean so much to us — those values that we learned as young boys and girls at our home in Boys Town, Nebraska.

It made no difference whether we were Jews, Muslims, Protestants, or Catholics. We all had a common, joyous experience wrapped in the bright ribbon of hope, sharing, and giving. We all have those special memories.

In this newsletter, the story of our late brother Joe Puchinsky, ’48, is certainly one that can inspire us all. How simple it was to send something home for our “little brothers and now sisters” so they could experience what we experienced.

Please help make a special Christmas for our Girls and Boys Town children — the kind of Christmas you have tucked away so warmly in your hearts and minds. Pray for the young boys and girls, send a Christmas card, or tell your family about your memories of Boys Town at Christmas. Just like Joe, you don’t have to give much, just a little from the heart to make a young boy or girl smile on Christmas day and throughout the season.

I wish you all, my brothers and sisters, a warm and joy-ous Christmas season.

John Mollison, ’64Interim Alumni Director

Alumni Director

Charles "Deacon" Jones, '54

Ken Geddes, '64

Sister Reinholda Eder

DECEMBER 2005 11www.boystownalumni.org

Guess Who?Can you guess the names of these three alumni?

Send your guesses to the Alumni Association at the Hall of History, 14057 Flanagan Blvd., Boys Town, NE 68010. The first person submitting the correct answers will receive a surprise gift.

1) 3)2)

Alfred Connerly 1979

Wayne Tahara 1958

Donald Cherry 1947

Guess Who from the Last Issue

Dear Auxiliary Members,

First, I want to thank the past auxiliary officers for their terms of office. I appreciate their service and dedication.

My term of office came in rather unusually – my hus-band, Mike ’58, had a medical problem at the banquet so we spent most of the banquet at the hospital and missed most of the convention. Thank you all for your prayers and concerns for him. He is doing okay.

The new administration has already begun working for the auxiliary. I have had an executive meeting and will be looking into the past updates on the by-laws, etc., and will be making plans for the future.

Thanks to all auxiliary members who attended the meet-ing at the convention. Please, please remain in contact and plan to attend the next convention meeting.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I can be reached at 816-436-1236 or katsdoodles@aol.com.

Bless you all.

Carol TrevinoAuxiliary President

Auxiliary

Floyd A "Frenchie" Brouillard, '50, died Sept. 2005 in Eureka, Calif.

Kazu Ikebasu, an employee of the Welfare and Student Accounts Departments from 1957 to 1969, passed away October 5 in Omaha, Neb., at age 88.

In Loving Memory…

Visit the Gift Shop Onlineat www.helpachildtoday.com for all of your favorite Girls and Boys Town apparel and gift needs. Any money spent returns to our children.

Looking for Youth Who Departed Girls and Boys Town in 2000

The Research Department needs your help! We are looking for youth who departed the Home in 2000 to participate in a follow-up survey. Each participant will receive $25. If you have any information about a youth who departed in 2000, please call Jon Huefner at (402) 498-3033 or e-mail him at huefnerj@girlsandboystown.org.

If you have information about a youth but can’t remember when he or she left, please call or e-mail anyway!

The Original Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDBoys Town, NE PERMIT NO. 1

Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home Boys Town, NE 68010

0509

-261

www.boystownalumni.org

No matter when you graduated, Christmas at Girls and Boys Town always holds special memories. Inside, see how alumni remember Christmas.