I still have them, but only the senior year is reachable. The others are somewhere in the stacks of stuff in the garage. I have always kept the senior yearbook handy because up until a few years ago, we had a reunion every year. I always wanted to go back and jog my memory about everybody. Then it began to taper off until maybe just those who still lived in the area would get together. My DH and I went to the reunions when we still lived in that area. Years went by; we moved away and later moved back. We went to a reunion then, and when we got to the door where it was being held, I looked in and told my DH we must be in the wrong place . . . there was noone in there except old people! There were more reunions to follow before the numbers dwindled to make it impossible, but we had some great ones, including a group cruise for the 50th "follow up." My senior yearbook is for 1942. Sue

Thanks for all of your kind thoughts and words. I think his parents both passed away some time ago. He had two older sisters who had already got married and moved by they time I first met him in the fourth grade. He got married just out of high school with a baby already on the way, while I set off for Ohio State University, relishing the opportunity to reinvent myself and be lost in the crowd after growing up in a small town with a small school. So partly it was different life trajectories and partly it was me stepping away from ties to my hometown and who I was, to make a better me. I think it is mostly the unexpected shock of his sudden death that has me rattled, that and the realization that he was such a good friend, for so long and I couldn't be bothered to make any effort to reconnect, and now he's gone. His service is planned for this Friday, in Cincinnati, nine hours drive away. Even if it were closer, I don't know whether I would attend -- would I even know anyone? What could I possibly say? Friends of the family have set up a donation form to help them cover some of the "costly expenses that a death brings" It notes that "he is survived by his two children, Jessica and Tyler; his fiancé Natasha and two sisters." A fiance -- that sound so hopeful and forward looking that this is all the more heart-wrenching. I may change my mind and drive out for the service, but in any case I'm planning on donating through the form, but I'm trying to figure out what to say.

I know I haven't posted here in a long time, but I wanted to let this group know about our upcoming garden tour. Funds raised will help with our community service projects and help fund our Helen M. Logan Allen Garden Club scholarship for Allen High School seniors who plan on majoring in a horticulture related field in college. If you live in Collin County, this is going to be a spectacular garden tour! The 7th Allen Garden Club Tour showcases a variety of landscape options The Allen Garden Club will showcase beautiful and unique landscapes at local homes during its 7th garden tour on Saturday, June 4. The tour is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will be held rain or shine. Each garden features something a little different—from shade gardening and vegetable gardening to a certified wildlife habitat with a beautiful selection of native and adapted plants, says club president Denise Webre. Also on the tour are the trial gardens at the Allen Public Library, which were created along with the Collin County Master Gardeners. “There are many environmental challenges in North Texas and trial gardens allow us to grow and evaluate a variety of plants to see how they hold up to the soil, sudden drops in temperatures, extreme heat of summer and varied rainfall.” Denise explains. Guests are invited to go at their own pace to visit the gardens, which are located in Allen and Parker. Each tour spot will feature free seeds and bottled water, as well as baskets filled with garden and gifts items that will be raffled off. Raffle tickets will be sold at each garden for $1 each or six for $5. Tour ticket booklets will be available throughout May and up until the day of the tour at Puckett's Nursery and Landscape, 811 East Main St. in Allen for a $10 donation to the garden club. A limited number of tour book tickets are available at the following Calloway's Nurseries: 2460 Hwy. 121, Plano; 1621 Custer Rd., Plano; and 4050 El Dorado Pkwy., McKinney. Funds raised from the tour will be used for community service projects and the Helen M. Logan Allen Garden Club scholarship for Allen High School seniors planning to get a degree in a horticulture-related field. The mission of the Allen Garden Club is to: educate the community about natural gardening practices and the benefits of gardening, encourage people to conserve natural resources, and participate in community service projects. The club meets at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month (except January and July) at the Allen Heritage Center Train Depot, 100 E. Main Street in downtown Allen. For more information, visit www.allengardenclub.org or contact Denise Webre, AGC President at allengardenclub@yahoo.com. https://allen.bubblelife.com/community/allen_reporter/library/35662521/key/351941682

Is this just gardening for fun, or is the school making a commitment to the garden as an ongoing project? Does it tie into curriculum, and will there be education or experimentation involved? If this is for high school students, hopefully you can get some help from local agricultural educators, the UC Extension service, and your local Master Gardeners. If seed saving would be an ongoing part of the project, there are sources that will provide both free seed, and educational materials. I have provided a link to one of the better resources, the Community Seed Resource Program. I too donate seed to support civic projects... but because fraud is so rampant on the internet, I will only mail to institutional addresses. You can reach me via PM on my member page.