An annual tradition among former faculty and staff of the Perry schools, the We Don’t Have to Go Back to School brunch was held Thursday morning, the first day of school, at the Hotel Pattee.
The annual gathering is sponsored by the Dallas Country Area Retired School Personnel Association (DCARSPA). Members could catch up on their DCARSPA dues by paying Treasurer Linda Andorf at the door.
DCRSPA Secretary Sue Leslie served as mistress of ceremonies, and she honored the memory of longtime Perry teacher Marjean Gries, who reformed the DCARSPA meetings in 2010. Co-Presidents Julie Walstrom and Laura McCord and Co-Vice Presidents JoAnn Harmelink and Karen Menz were also on hand to share the occasion.
The 2018-2019 academic year’s brunch attracted 45 attendees, including two male members, Dale Schumacher and Gary Weishaar, both recent retirees and new to DCARSPA.
After half-an-hour given to renewing acquaintances, the ex-school district employees worked their way through the hotel’s brunch buffet line. Perry Community School District Superintendent of Schools Clark Wicks delivered a short program following the brunch, “Why Perry? On Relationships, Marketing and Branding,” and Leslie surveyed the group in a kind of show-and-tell exercise of post-retirement activities.
Others attending Thursday were Marsha McCaulley, Karen Einck, Kay Weishaar, Laura Painter, Marilyn Lynch, Mary Ann Graves, Donna Galligan, Jan Smith, Charlene Beeson, Judy Boorn, Margie Worrell, Julie Tibbles, Connie Sheehy, Ardy Hinds, Rose Anderson, Cathy Petersen, Dee Cole, Denise Kealhofer, Nancy Geiken, Gary Weishaar, Kaye Adair, Deb Wicks, Lori Seeley, Deb Stumbo, Lorali Fagen, Marlene Johnson, Jeanne Harbison, Sue Schwarz, Sharon Elliott, Peg Fagen, Dale Schumacher, Shirley Ehlers, Sandy Burris, Dorothy Stoltz, Nancy Gardiner, Paula Allen, Sandy Eaton, Loretta Beuter and Charlene Dorman.
