An Update

I've had some missing classmates contact me recently. I'll be updating and reposting the list soon. Some have expressed interest in having another social night like we did back in October. I'm thinking about planning one somewhere around Christmas. I'll look into it and let you all know. Please comment to this post if you have any input.

Hope eveyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Until next time ...

~Celena

A Good Time Was Had By All

We had about 12 people show up to the game. We stayed for the first quarter and then everyone decided to head to Gecko's. We had about 25 - 30 of our fellow classmates show up there. Apparently we should just go ahead and have these get-togethers at a bar because that's where everyone wanted to be. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully next time we will have even more people show up. I'll be posting pictures soon.

~Celena

One more slight change...

One more change and then I promise i'm done. We are going to meet up at Gecko's after we leave the game instead of Chili's. We can reserve a couple of big tables there and people just seem to like it better. So .... see you at Gecko's after the game. I plan to take pictures to post to the blog so check back here next week.

I just finished the banner to hang at the game. I hope I can find a good way to hang it up for all to see. Here is a picture so you know what to look for:

A Slight Change in Plans

We've had a bit of difficulty with the reserved seating for the game so we've changed our plans a little bit. Gretchen and I are going to get there early and hang the Class of '94 banner somewhere in the general admission section of the stands. So when you get to the game, just buy a general admission ticket (only $5) and look for our banner in the stands. We will probably be near the top (so we have a place for the banner) and over towards the band on the home side (obviously) of the stadium.

Also, for those of you interested, let's get together at Chili's after the game. We were previously thinking of Gecko's but Chili's is much closer to the school. I don't know if there is more than one Chili's in Bradenton now but we are talking about the one across from Desoto Square Mall.

See you all in a couple of days!

~Celena

Halloween party for Make-a-Wish

Check out the flyer below from Layne O. Click on the picture to bring up a bigger, easier to read version.

From Layne O.

Thanks!

Thank you to those of you who have emailed me with info on our missing classmates. The list is slowly but surely getting shorter. I updated it to reflect the contact info i've been sent over the past few days.

Looks like we are now up to 15 people confirmed for the football game. I hope we have twice that many by friday!

Your reunion blog keeper,
Celena

Keep those RSVPs coming!

We now have 14 people coming to the game. That's nothing compared to the more than 400 of us that graduated together but it's definitely enough to have fun at the football game. I hope many more of you decide to join us. Any suggestions for where to go after the game? I was thinking about Gecko's on 64 but it's been a long, long time since i've lived in the Bradenton area. I'm up for better suggestions.

~Celena

The Game

The homecoming game is quickly approaching and I only have 12 RSVPs. Please email me as soon as possible if you are going to come or even if you think you might make it. There is no obligation to buy a ticket unless you actually come to the game. I would rather have too many seats reserved than not enough, that way we can all sit together. Email me, Celena, at celenam@intergate.com.

Thanks and hope to see many of you next week!
~Celena

Southeast High School Class of '94 Reunion

Southeast High School Class of '94 Reunion

Please don't forget to RSVP for the football game. We have 12 people signed up so far. One thing to note ... the tickets for the game are $6 each. The newsletters that were sent out say the tickets are $7 each. Make sure you ask to buy a ticket from the "Class of '94" section when you are at the ticket booth. Only four more weeks until we meet again ... hope to see you there!

Congratulations Erica!

Erica Heatwole got engaged this weekend. Congratulations Erica!

Homecoming Football Game

Postcards (for homecoming game) and newsletters are going out in the mail this week. If we have your address you will get one. Gretchen called the school and they are going to reserve seats for us for the game. We need to get a headcount for them. I know this will be difficult to do but we will also reserve a few extra for people that hear about it at the last minute. Please help us spread the word. And remember, send me (Celena) updates for this blog. Thanks.

Join Us!
Southeast Homecoming Game
Oct 20th @ 6:30pm

Why wait ‘til the reunion to see your old friends. We are planning a pre-reunion get together. The plan is to meet before the game to mingle. The deadline to reserve your tickets is Monday, Oct 16th. So dust off your tomahawks, practice your war chant, and look for the C/O ’94 Banner. Hope to see you there.

Contact us at:
sehsclassof94@hotmail.com or
www.southeasthighclassof94.blogspot.com

An update from Rodney Massengale

On 1/25/06, my wife, Jamie, gave birth to our first child. Jamie had zero complications and other than the constant morning sickness, had a routine pregnancy. Olivia Rae was born at 6:50AM at Lakewood Ranch Women's Center and weighed in at 3lbs 9oz. Yeah, even the OB was surprised. They decided to transfer Olivia to All Children's that afternoon for precautionary reasons and to see if they could figure out why she was so small. We were told that sometimes they are just small.
On 1/27/06, an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) was completed and Olivia was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Defect called Truncus> Arteriosus along with a Ventricle Septal Defect (VSD) or more commonly known as "a hole in the heart." In a nutshell, your heart has a pulmonary & aorta artery leaving the top of the heart that takes blood to the lungs (pulmonary) & the body (aorta). This artery starts as one, and then splits around 8 weeks gestation. Olivia's never split. She had 1 "trunk" artery leaving the heart and then it split into the aorta & pulmonary. This caused blood that should go to the body, to go to the lungs and vice versa. Because of her lack of size, they wanted to wait as long as possible for her to gain weight before they repaired the defect.
After the heart diagnosis, they started numerous genetics testing. A week later, Olivia was diagnosed with DiGeorge Syndrome. This is a partial deletion of the 22nd Chromosome. This answered a lot of questions, her size, the heart, she has a low immune system, and her body does not produce calcium and numerous other issues that won't show themselves until she is older, like learning disabilities and behavioral problems. There are over 180 different issues that are associated with DiGeorge and varying degrees of each issue. No two DiGeorge kids are the same, so they cannot tell us what obstacles Olivia will encounter in the future.
On 3/7/06, weighing just less than 5lbs, Olivia had her first open heart surgery. Walking Olivia from the ICU to the operation room holding area has been the longest & shortest walk in our lives. I looked down at her and she had the look of fear, even though she had no idea what was about to happen to her. It is something that no parent should ever have to do. I would not wish that on my worst enemy. Then we had to walk out of that room with the fear that she may not be here much longer. The surgery consisted of disconnecting the pulmonary artery from the "trunk" and re-routing it to the left ventricle using a vein homograft. In addition, they patched the VSD. Olivia spent the next few weeks in Cardiovascular ICU recovering from the surgery and getting bigger.
On 3/30/06, after 64 days of ICU life, we left the hospital for the first time with Olivia. She weighed just less than 6lbs. She was on 10 different medications, she had to eat every 3 hours, no matter what and she came home with a feeding tube to assist us in her eating. Because of the heart issues and somewhat because of the syndrome, she did not have the stamina, or strength to eat a full bottle (which was only 2 oz) so we use a feeding tube to give her the rest.
As I write this, Olivia is 7 months old, weighs 10lbs 12oz and is thriving at home. We have a home nurse that comes by twice a week; she regularly sees a cardiologist, immunologist, endocrinologist, pediatrician, ophthalmologist, Geneticists, in addition to occupational, speech and physical therapists. She is starting to stand if you hold her hands and even talks to you if you let her. She definitely has a personality and is proud of it. She will need additional heart surgeries, we just don't know when. It could be next year, it could be several years. Only time will tell. Each day is an adventure with new discoveries and new fears.
You can read Olivia's entire story and see pictures of her at her own website. www.oliviarae.net
Rodney Masengale

We have a date ... well maybe

We're looking at the weekend of July 4th, 2009 for our 15 year reunion. Here's a run down of our ideas so far:

Friday Night - Cocktails/Ice Breaker at a restaraunt or bar on the beach
Saturday - Tour SEHS, have band boosters sell us lunch
Saturday Night - Party ... dinner, dancing, drinks, maybe semi-formal or business casual
Sunday - BBQ/picnic at a park or the beach

We are still three years away from this so there is plenty of time to come up with better ideas. If you have some, please let us know. We are trying to plan this so it is not very expensive because we would like everyone to be able to attend. We've looked at some dinner cruises and they are expensive and don't hold all that many people. We just want to find a decent place where we can eat, drink and be merry. If you have any ideas, again, please let us know. Also, we need committee members who are willing to help. Please email us or post a comment to this post if you want to join us. The more the merrier!

We are also planning to have informal get-togethers at least twice a year leading up to the reunion. Don't forget about the homecoming game October 20th. Meet in the stands at 6:30 to mingle before the game. Maybe we'll all go out after the game. Look for the "class of '94" banner.

Thanks,
Your Reunion Committee

Pictures, News, Etc

Have any news to share? Please email it to me, Celena, at celenam@intergate.com so I can post it here. Pictures of new babies, wedding news, college graduations or whatever you would like to share. I want this blog to be a great place for us all to get back in touch with old friends and see what everyone is up to. That being said, i'll start it off ...

Some baby news for you:
I, Celena Crews (Raynor) just had my second son on June 9th. His name is Brody Forrest Crews. He was born at home (yes I planned it that way) weighing in at an even 12 pounds. Yes I know ... huge baby ... and yes, I'm just fine! No drugs, no complications to speak of. I would recommend a home birth to anyone.
My first son, Houston Lee Crews was born August 28th, 2004 weighing 9 pounds 10 ounces. Also a drug-free birth with a midwife out-of-hospital.

So there's my news, where is yours?
~Celena

Pre-reunion get-together!!!

We are meeting up at the homecoming game at Southeast this fall. The game is October 20th against Osceola. Game starts at 7:30. Let's meet in the stands at 6:30. Look for a "Class of '94" banner. Check back soon for more details!
Thanks,
Your Reunion Committee

Links

Check out the links to the right to see what some of your fellow seminoles have been up to. Want your link added to this page? Email it to Celena at celenam@intergate.com.

Thanks,
Your Reunion Committee

Reunion Newsletter

We are working on a newsletter that we plan to send out quarterly. If you have any stories or pictures you would like to share, please email them to us at sehsclassof94@hotmail.com.
Thanks,
Your Reunion Committee

Looking for Classmates

Did you graduate from Southeast High School in Bradenton, Florida in 1994? Then we are looking for you! We are planning a 15-year reunion and we need help finding all of our fellow classmates. Please email your contact information to sehsclassof94@hotmail.com.

Please check back often as we will be updating this blog regularly to keep everyone informed of reunion news. This is a way that everyone can have some input into our reunion plans. You can email us at the address above or post a comment on this blog so that everyone else can see your input. We hope this blog will help us find fellow classmates and help get old friends back in touch. Please send it along to everyone you know who went to school with us.

Thanks,
Your Reunion Committee