The Best Day

Our very own Emily F. was wed yesterday, May 22 on a beautiful sunny day. She and Lanning celebrated with guests at her parents' home in Huntsville that night. Here are pictures from the best day.

The Party of the Century

For all of you classmates who didn't make it to the Valley Reunion last Saturday you really missed out. It was one of the best nights I've ever had. Just about all the teachers from our day were there. There was Mr. Weight , Mrs. Cookson, Mrs. Anderson (both), Mrs. Evans, Mrs. McVaugh, Mr. Toyn, and Mrs. Acord, the librarian, Mrs. Shiozawa, Mr. Hawks, Betty Wilcox and Mrs. Creamer, Mr. Warner, the principal, and none other than Mr. Ballif himself.
Talking with Mr. Ballif was probably one of the best parts of the night. He was our principal from Kindergarten until maybe fourth grade. When you're that young you look up to your teachers and principals and really trust them. Mr. Ballif was so friendly and handsome and a kid couldn't help but like him. Seeing him again brought back all those good feelings.

Every teacher I talked to was really happy to be there and they were so appreciative of any memories you shared. It was so fun to see teachers and principals greet each other. You could tell some of them hadn't seen each other in a long time.
I was disappointed in how many former students weren't there. At least from the 80's there were only a couple dozen in attendance. But it was great to see the ones that were there. I saw Connie W. who was a year older than us from Huntsville. We played soccer and softball together a lot through the years. She moved in jr. high so I hadn't see her since then. I hadn't seen Tasha M. or Cory P. since high school and they were there too. It was so fun! I left that night with a huge smile on my face. I just wish more classmates would have been there to experience it. I'm not sure there will ever be a reunion like it again.
It was indeed the Party of the Century.

Here's a few photos of the evening

Mr. Warner and Mr. Ballif together

Mrs. Cookson still stylin' with her red rimmed glasses

Old Bulldog Mascot

Mr. Ballif on stage

Here's a video I took of Mr. Ballif talking on stage. I took it on a still camera so the quality is really poor -sorry! Translation: He asks if there are any former students out there who ever wanted to mess up his hair. He also says the years he spent at Valley were some of the best years of his life.


Here is a mini slide show of some of the pictures on the Valley School DVD shown that night . If you want your very own copy of the full DVD you can purchase one from Valley School.

Just In Case You Ever Wondered...

Warning: I'm about to give you some completely useless information.

On the other hand if you're reading this you're probably killing time or wasting time so it doesn't really matter. I'll continue.

A few years ago around reunion planning time I was flooded with memories of elementary. One random memory that briefly came to me was of Valley's first vending machine. I was in 5th or 6th grade I think when they put it up by the west doors of the gym. The only thing in the machine was a citrus flavored drink that came in a box. I'd always ask my mom to buy me one if we were at the school for various activities. Being the first vending machine it kicked up a lot of excitement. To be able to buy something like that without walking over to the store was pretty cool.
Anyway, I couldn't remember the name of the drink and all attempts to find out using the internet failed. I let it go forever until yesterday. Kera F. and I are working on a slideshow of Valley School pictures of years past. I was going through the pictures and saw this one.
Look closely in the background and you'll see the drink- SUNGLO. That's the name! Do you remember it now? No? Alright, get back to work.

But just in case you ever wondered...