THANK YOU ALL for making me feel so very welcome and special!
I enjoyed meeting all of you at your 50th Reunion in November 2011!
I'll continue to update this site periodically from now on, but continue to use Richard Sparks as your submitter when you want to contribute anecdotes and pictures.
And check out the other website that I am webmaster for, in honor of my GWHS Alumni Uncle Mark:
And, you can e-mail me at cloudminder@cfl.rr.com
To learn more about me, visit my Linkedin profile
Mark Jones
Sanford, Florida
About your Webmaster, Mark Jones
I have several upstream ties to GWHS ...
• my uncle Mark Blair (Class of 1954)
• my aunt Patricia Austin Sisson (Class of 1955)
• my father, Lacy Jones (Class of 1958)
• my mother, Carol Austin Bogan (Class of 1961)
Updates from Webmaster Mark
November 13, 2011
It's done! Now the work begins to capture the memories, the photos, and the new anecdotes that I am sure will grow in number after you all reunited. The reunion seemed fabulously successful, and I'm sure it has brought back many memories for you all to write about, so be sure to author those memories and send them to Richard Sparks for inclusion on this website.
August 28, 2011
It's getting VERY close! I can't wait to meet all of you and spend some time in my hometown of Alexandria Virginia!
November 11, 2010
Webmaster has begun the migration to a banner-free hosting site this morning.
October 21, 2010
Reports have it that the Reunion Committee enjoyed spending time at the GWHS Class of 1960 50th Reunion! They came back with lots of great ideas for next year's 1961 Class Reunion, and sent a bunch of new stuff to Webmaster Mark for inclusion on the site.
NEW: Check out the link above to see Anecdotes and memories written by your fellow classmates. There you will see an invitation to submit your own anecdotes for inclusion on this site.
September 6, 2010
Happy Labor Day to all of you! Today, in addition to making some roster changes, I added a few items to the Fun Stuff and Memorabilia page ... a group photo from your 40th Reunion in 2001; a link to your Commencement Program; and a link to the 1961 Spring Edition of "Little Hatchet".
Can you believe that your 50th Reunion is now only 14 months away? I'm looking forward to meeting you then!
April 13, 2010
Can't believe how long it's been since I've updated your site folks ... After almost a year of major transition, Webmaster Mark is back on the job!
March 7, 2009
Roster updates completed (thanks Richard Sparks, keep the updates coming!), and there's a new link above to Fun Stuff and Memorabilia that has a couple of cool pictures.
On a personal note, I've learned that I will be accompanying Carol Austin Bogan (my mom!) to your 50th Reunion in 2011, and I'm thrilled! I'm really looking forward to meeting all of you.
February 7, 2009
Today I have added to the yearbook pages with new sections for Faculty pages and the Clubs and Activities pages. .
January 12, 2009
Building in your school colors!
December 26, 2008
You now have a page link for your High School Newspaper, The Surveyor, the edition from June 3, 1960. Enjoy!
December 24, 2008
The Class Roster Page has now been completely updated to align with the master roster spreadsheet that Mr. Sparks provided. Also, a note at the top of that page points people to Mr. Sparks for further information and corrections/updates.
December 21, 2008
Today I have added LOTS of pages to the yearbook, and started doing the many updates to the Class Roster page. Merry Christmas to all of you!
December 15, 2008
Yesterday I finished resizing all the yearbook scans that Mr. Sparks provided - all 197 of them! They will start to appear on the website over the next week or so.
Also on my "to-do" list ... I have received a scanned copy of your school newspaper dated June 3, 1960 that needs a page built, and the Class Roster page needs to be updated with information that Mr. Sparks sent. So check back often here at your Reunion Website!
December 7, 2008
I have started adding the pages of your Senior Year yearbook. There's now a "Compass 1961 Yearbook" link on the left. The process for me involves opening each image that Mr. Sparks provided on CD in an image editing program (I'm using PhotoShop CS2), and manipulating each image to be an appropriate size for the web. Mr. Sparks did a fine job of scanning the yearbook pages at a high resolution (quality), which is important, as this makes it possible for me to do the necessary work of reducing the resolution for the web. Rule of thumb, you can only reduce a scanned image's quality, you can never increase it.
December 6, 2008
Just created a "Class Roster Page" link on the left side panel. All of that information came in parts and pieces from the GWHSAA website, including any e-mail addresses used. I have heard from Dick Sparks that he has many updates to the roster that were not reflected at the GWHSAA website, and he will be forwarding that info to me soon.
Also, I have been provided with a CD containing all the scanned pages of the 1961 Compass, your class yearbook. We'll be working on how to best incorporate those images in the weeks to come. Merry Christmas everyone!
November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving! Webmaster Mark is doing a bit of work to the site on Thanksgiving morning, because he doesn't care for the parades, and the real Thanksgiving celebration doesn't kick off until 12:30 pm in Detroit!
November 22, 2008
The GWHS Class of 1961 now has their own OFFICIAL Web Site!