WELCOME members of the Class of '72 to our NEW and very own Class Website!
It's been a long journey since our school days at Shawnee Mission Northwest in Shawnee, Kansas! Some of us have moved away and some of us never ventured from our hometown.
We all took different career paths after leaving high school, but we all have something special that we share: We're still SMNW Cougars !
During July, 2008, we discovered that a class website was sorely needed by the Class of '72 and the Reunion Committee (set up in 1972). We made a commitment to not only create the SMNW Class of '72 website but to begin an attempt to reach every SMNW Class of '72 grad, for our NEXT Class Reunion - our 40th - in 2012, so that the necessary address updates may be made to our class list and maintained well before the Reunion date rolls around and, lastly, so EVERYONE from the SMNW Class of '72 will be given an opportunity to join the website and/or make plans for the Reunion.
This alumni website is available to connect SMNW '72 grads easily no matter where a fellow Cougar has landed. The site set-up is our gift of time and effort to the Class of '72 and to help the members of the Reunion Committee meet the needs of their classmates!
Hopefully, everyone will be as elated as we are and want to continue its existence so that our Class of '72 will finally have a source to connect and stay connected well before our 2012 event and long after. The possibilities are endless: the thought of finding an old friend from home, someone you played ball with, or shared a class with but haven't seen since our days at Northwest, or reuniting with someone you lost contact with through the years. Hmm - I wonder whatever happened to ???? You never know who will be there around the corner or who will be the next to log onto our Web page! Or, as we did---make a new SMNW Cougar friend long after graduation.
We encourage all of our Class of 1972 and our former faculty members to participate by entering your updated information on your first visit -and continue to come regularly to this site. It would be very helpful for everyone to be proactive and invite as many of our Classmates and faculty as possible--to help us contact and spread the word to as many former SMNW classmates as possible. If you are friends with another SMNW alum, please forward their name and e-mail address in a message to us on this site so we can invite them. You may also add their e-mail to the "Missing Classmate" web link to the right of this message. Just enter their e-mail address in the window that's provided; an e-mail invite will automatically be sent to them. The more members we invite to our site, the more interesting and active it will become as it grows larger to accommodate all of our classmates.
The Classmate Profile page is where you will be able to type in contact information, birth date, hobbies, photos, and information about you and your family as well. You choose the amount of information you would like to include. New site features will be added as we expand such as a Birthday Calendar, a countdown clock to our next reunion, a US/world map showing where Cougars have made their homes, and several slideshows with past and present photos. The faculty may add their information in the "Guest" area on the Profile page.
We have also added Senior pictures/class photos to your profile when we could locate them; it helps when trying to bring back a memory. If anyone does not wish their Senior photo to be published on their profile, just let us know; however, the photo may still unavoidably appear in the yearbook that is slated to be placed on SMNW72 and the slideshows of classes. If you do not have a senior picture to publish and would like to add a photo of yourself from the 70s era, please do so or ask for help if you have any difficulty.
Our large, graduating class grew up during the activism of the 60s and the apathy of the 70s - not always "joiners", yet recognizing the need to be a part of something bigger than just "1". Can we still gather and share our life stories or were we just guinea pigs in a social experiment proclaiming "you're #1" - always considering "one" over the group? We think that our class, our beginnings still have those roots that bound us together then and propelled us forward.
So, we hope you will enjoy this site while contributing to it and checking out other Classmates' postings. YOUR participation with other Class of '72 alumni will make this class site quite a success and rewarding experience for everyone. If you have any questions or need help navigating SMNW Class of '72 website, please call or e-mail directly to either one of us. We are just a short message away.
Our site was provided by /built under Class Creator and is a safe and secure site meaning your e-mail and home addresses will not be posted unless you post them yourself and requires your log in name and password each time you log on. You control the amount of information that you choose to share on this site and who your info is allowed to go to. You can feel confident that the Administrators of this site are fellow alumni who have worked hard to choose a great website environment for our class to begin reconnecting! Additionally, when a classmate or faculty member comes onto the site, there is a slight delay is showing their information while the information goes through a verification process - just a second check to insure the safety of our members and their information on www.smnw72.com .
Have fun! We look forward to hearing from you and hope you not only place this site in your "favorites" column but also begin visitingwww.SMNW72.comoften!
Dennis "Mac" McDaniel and Jan (Janet Butler) Klein
****Themusic (see player above) plays only while you are viewing the Home/Main Page. If you would like to listen to it while looking at other pages on this site, just follow these easy two-step instructions:
1. Click on the pause button (||) on the left side of the player. 2. Click on the Pop Out Player button under the player. A new window will open with another player, just click the BIG play arrow in the new window, then minimize the window. The key is to minimize the new window.
TIP: When SMNW alumni are looking for married female classmates on this site, look under the classmate's maiden name on the profile list. If we have information on a student's married name, it will follow her maiden name; however, the website will place her on our list alphabetically throughout our site by the maiden name she used as a high school student in 1972.
NOTE: Public High Schools are prevented legally from sponsoring or participating in class reunions though we are allowed to have a link on their website (which we have done with Shawnee Mission Northwest High School ) and we have provided a link to our high school for the convenience of our classmates on our class website:
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SMNW School Song
Stand up, we are the Northwest Cougars;
Kings of mountains, plain, and shore;
We are the Shawnee Mission Cougars,
May our minds and heart triumphant soar.
United we stand, arm in arm, we raise
our banners to the fore;
Remember: we are Northwest Cougars;
Cougars now and ever more!
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Want to talk about anything, share comments with everyone or starta conversation on a certain topic?The Message Forum is to the left on the home page and theSMNW Forums Tab is along the top !
And, check out the NEW Cougar Corner, listed in the directory to the left on the home page to post "happenings" - i.e., new home, marriage, births, etc.
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==========================
13 Life Rules... Sometimes we just need to remember WHAT the Rules of Life really are.... 1. Never give yourself a haircut after three margaritas.
2. You need only two tools. WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use the tape.
3. The five most essential words for a healthy, vital relationship "I apologize" and "You are right."
4. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
5. When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm.
6. Some really good advice that your mother gave you was, "Go! You might meet somebody!"
7. If he/she says that you are too good for him/her believe them.
8. Learn to pick your battles;ask yourself, 'Will this matter one year from now? How about one month? One week? One day?'
9. Never pass up an opportunity to pee.
10. If you woke up breathing,congratulations! You have another chance!
11. Living well really is the best revenge. Being miserable because of a bad or former relationship just might mean that the other person was right about you.
12. Work is good, but it's not that important.
13. And finally... Be really nice to your friends. You never know when you are going to need them to empty your bedpan.
For everything you have missed, you have gained something else.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Attitude - comes in all forms !!!!!
"What's Up with that" or as "they" say these daze..."SUP?"
If you see injustice, STAND UP
If something needs to be said, SPEAK UP
If you make an appointment, SHOW UP
If you make a mistake, FESS UP
If you’re overstepping, BACK UP
If you get behind, CATCH UP
If they knock you down, GET UP
If you’re out of line, STRAIGHTEN UP
When your boss instructs, KEEP UP
When your elders speak, LISTEN UP
When your teachers teach, SIT UP
When your preachers preach, WAKE UP
When your country calls, MAN UP
Ladies too... WOMAN UP
When the fight is over, MAKE UP
If you’re being hard, EASE UP
If your heart is closed, OPEN UP
If you want to buy something, SAVE UP--
It’s not an entitlement, so SHUT UP!
If you make a mess, CLEAN IT UP
If you drop trash, PICK IT UP
If a car is waiting for you to
walk across the street, SPEED IT UP
If you’re cold busted, GIVE IT UP
If people fall down, HELP THEM UP--
Not the government, YOU STEP UP
If idiots start fighting, BREAK IT UP
If the music is wholesome, TURN IT UP
If the message is poisonous, THROW IT UP
If your words are vulgar, CLAM IT UP
If your words encourage, KEEP IT UP
If your pants are baggy, PULL THEM UP
If the belt’s too loose, CINCH IT UP
If your fly is down, ZIP IT UP
If you’re dressed half naked, COVER IT UP
If you can’t afford stuff, PASS IT UP--
No “bailouts” folks, PONY UP
If you made a promise, you BACK IT UP
And you can take your whining and PACK IT UP
It’s called personal responsibility, so TAKE IT UP
This country was founded on it, you can LOOK IT UP
It’s the American way people, so TURN IT UP
Because when life gets boring, you SHAKE IT UP
When life is good, you SOAK IT UP
When life’s unfair, you SUCK IT UP
When life is funny, you can YUCK IT UP
When life is sad, just LOOK STRAIGHT UP
And life’s too short people, so LIVE IT UP!
Remember...
Life is always easier with a Friend...
Great Fun!!!
................................
Help us think of a "theme" or "slogan" for the 40th
Reunion.....
Example: ( ) Cougars Now and
Evermore?????....
OR,
( ) ____________ (((Your ideas))) ...........
just let us know.... e-mail your "theme" ideas above
to Jan or Mac.....
Some people come into our lives and quickly go;
Some people move our souls to dance; they awaken us to new understanding
With the passing whisper of their wisdom;
Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon.
Friends share simple, ordinary times in our lives,
Moments that become memories that stay in our hearts forever
... And we will never, ever be the same.
Friendship is a strange thing ...
It is by chance we met, by choice we became friends;
We find ourselves telling each other the deepest details of
our lives,
things we don't even share with our families who raised us.
But what is a friend? A confidant? A lover? A fellow email junkie?
A shoulder to cry on? An ear to listen? A heart to feel?
A friend is ALL of these things and more;
No matter where we met, I call you "friend":
A word so small ... yet so large in feeling ... a word filled with emotion.
Once the package of friendship has been opened,
It can never be completely closed;
It is a constant book always waiting to be read ... and enjoyed.
We may have disagreements,
We may argue, we may concern one another ...
Friendship is a unique bond that lasts through it all.
A part of me is put into my friends: some is my humor, some is my listening ear,
Some is real life experience, some is my romanticism, but with all, it is FRIENDSHIP...
Thanks for making a difference in my life!
~ Author Unknown ~
********************************************
"The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible." ~ Arthur C.Clarke
And, don't forget, like the batteries we
change in our smoke alarms on a regular basis,
UPDATE, UPDATE,UPDATE your profile ! Once
a year or once amonth, etc., you choose; post
your news (any contacts, links, info or pictures)
in your profile or Cougar Corner or the Forums
provided above, or just forward to Mac or Jan
to post for you, and,
as always come visit as often as you can ! (Also,
don't forget to allow our e-mails into your box !
We still have some of our announcements to the
class returned ! Please make a note of:
noreply@classcreator.net in your
e-mail address book so that
our e-mails are not marked SPAM!).
Please, Don't make us beg !
Thank you for any and all input !
*****************************
And, nice to think about Grandparents - since a lot of us have
reached this stage of our lives, too !
*******************************************
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG,
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ,
AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS,
ONE NATION UNDER GOD,
INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!
*****************************
Thank you to our Troops,past and present,and their families,who also serve.
Spread some Joy this Year! Remember our Troops! Send a greeting the old-fashioned way...Send a card to:
In My Life... All my life, There are places I remember,
though some have changed,
Some forever, not for better,
Some have gone and some remain,
All these places had their moments,
lovers and friends I still can recall.
Some are dead and some are living...
In my life, I've loved them all.
..."In My Life" written by John Lennonand Paul McCartney
Here's a great site that is Free and allows you to refresh any pictures you like!
REMINDER: Please - Post your pictures!
How else are we going to recognize each other at the reunion?
It's not too early to sign on and let us know you are coming in 2012 to the reunion - go up and to the left, very top of the directory, "2012 Class Reunion" and let us know your intentions if you have not already done so. This is just your "intention," our actual registering will take place later and we plan to use the computer, the Cougar home for the Class of '72, www.smnw72.com, almost exclusively for this important event in your life.
It is easy to use the tools we have here on smnw72 to post photos on your profile; however, we also have a recommendation from another h.s. site when they undid their "blur of 1972," a way to refresh "old pics" any time you like and is Free! Try it, it's so easy, even she says she could do it!
Remember during our years at SMNW and all the MUSCLE cars? And, do you remember, there really was a "Cougar" car - from Mercury (SEE also graphic above after intro letter--with a Cougar on the hood!):
1967.....
1968 Mercury Cougar '68 art rendering:
Cougars hit the track like this:
When Mercury changed the design of the
Cougar into a smaller version of its original
concept, the "new" Cougar lasted longer
in the competitive car market looking
like this:
A tribute for all of us car lovers...
remembering my Dad and brothers and cousins and their friends and some of my boyfriend and their friends - and some of us gals - all interested in cars - listening to all the stories and watching the guys tear their cars apart - only to put them together again ! And, of course, the "testing" of the machines on clear stretches of road after all the manipulations ! (some prefer their bikes; some photos on those follow)....
Just click on "Cars We Drove" below and begin your journey down memory lane with the sounds (music) and photos of some truly Classic Cars
(p.s. it would be fun to add a photo or two of your "ride" ... just e-mail to us or add to the Cougar Photo Gallery above):
1.The only good view of a thunderstorm is in your rear view mirror.
2.Four wheels move the body; two wheels move the soul.
3.I'd rather be riding my motorcycle and thinking about God, than sitting in church thinking about my bike.
4.Life may begin at 30,but it doesn't get real interesting until after95 mph.
5.Midnight bugs taste just as bad as Noon time bugs.
6.Sometimes it takes a whole tank full of gas before you can think straight.
7.A bike on the road is worth two in the shed.
8.Young riders pick a destination and go; old riders pick a direction and go.
9.When you're riding lead, don't spit.
10.Catching a yellow jacket in your shirt at 75 mph can double your vocabulary.
11.Only a rider knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window.
12.I've never seen a motorcycle parked in front of a psychiatrist's office.
My nephew, Jeff, and his proclivity for speed on the track !!!!!! -Jan Klein
========================
A couple of photos from Tom Briar's collection.
Definitely creates appreciation for these bike enthusiasts!
2005 Tom, built this one himself from the ground up from a bare frame. Still has it.
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And, another addition from another enthusiast:
Tom Ansley's sweet ride !!!! What a way to rock your retirement !
Borrowed from another high school reunion site, the video montage below is just another "test" to see what works, what everyone likes or not on smnw72 - (remember to turn off the player above before starting Billy Joel up). So, save your opinion for a future survey !
Click below for a photo/music compiliation of the last 50 years -
(HINT: Click "Fullscreen" in the upper left after you go to link)
Welcome, newest sign-ons.......
And, on our way to 2012 Reunion...
A request for continued help from all alumni of the Class of '72
Thankyou!ThankYou!ThankYouGuys! U R D Best! Only 311 left to"find" !
Welcome to our latest newcomer in January, Michael McNichols from our ol' hometown, Shawnee, Kansas!!! (that's the Happy Dance!). And, with Mike's sign-on, helped SMNW72 reach Number 221 Cougars found....!!!!
(that's a double Happy Dance!)
Since our start on 9/06/2008, we have many visitors to our site, and so many of our alumni have spread the word about www.smnw72.com !!!
Thank you! Please continue in helping us find everybody!
..........Each One of us should make it a goal to Reach One! (Or Two!) of those who have NOT signed on... Please Help! Just LOOK at MISSING CLASSMATES section of the Directory on the left of the Main Page. See if you recognize a name or know where someone is and call, write, look up and encourage them to sign onto smnw72.com or forward their info to us. Thanks in advance! Time is passing quickly and now we are only seven (7) months away from our 2012 Reunion No. 40, we need to find as many from The Class of 1972 as soon as possible so we can attend to the thousands of other details required in the planning of the 40th !
...........If everyone finds just one person, imagine the difference it would make!Those of you on FACEBOOK, please pass the word! We will be thinking of a "surprise" reward to the one who convinces the most to "register" for presentation at the reunion !C'mon you guys !!!! ...........Free resources used to find those "lost" include www.zabasearch.comand www.whitepages.com! ThankYou!ThankYou!ThankYou!
Your Reunion Committee have committed much of their spare time to volunteer for this project/website. We are planning and promoting smnw72.com and the next reunion, #40, via electronics or by phone! Please pass the word! We will need addresses and telephone numbers eventually for the mailed invitations in 2012 for everyone...If you have an address or an e-mail address, please send it to "contact us!" Let's make this seemingly impossible task possible! MIRACLES HAPPEN!! ....THANKS FOR YOUR HELP.......
This website was created to promote, celebrate and reconnect with all members of Shawnee Mission Northwest, Class of 1972. Your participation is essential for it to succeed!
Please Note: This site is for attendees, graduates, and faculty of Shawnee Mission Class of 1972 (and temporary guest members from time-to-time, including our fellow “neighboring” classes of ’70, ’71, and ’73 and family members of our classmates who have passed on). It is completely FREE to all of the above and is privacy protected. And, there will NEVER be annoying advertising on this site.
We need your photos, updates, and memories to enhance this site as well as to make certain it represents ALL of the members from the SMNW HS Class of '72. Even if you haven't attended a reunion, nor kept in touch at all since graduation, we ask that you please take the time to update your profile and maybe even submit a photo or two. We're certain your fellow classmates would love hearing from you! And, you may even reconnect with an old friend! Your submissions will make this site fun, interesting and complete. So, add your own personal touch and see what happens!
"It's funny how friends can come in and out of your life soquickly, yet leave footprints and memories in your heart forever."
NOTE:
Privacy always respected. Participation is free.
Thanks for your help in building this web site! If you find many items "missing" on these pages,click your REFRESH button,that should help!
........Thank you from Jan and Mac on behalf of all those remembered on smnw72's "In Memory" section and their families (and if you know of anyone we have missed who needs to be remembered there, please e-mail us directly with whatever information you have).
Click on the Dove for a special message
Remember, it is not how we die, but how we live that becomes our legacy.Please help us remember those who have made an untimely appearance on our Memory page.
Please add a note or remembrance of their lives. Just click on their name, either on the person's name listed at Class of '72 profile(s)or the In Memory page,click "post response" and enter your thoughts, comments or memories. click submit at bottom of page...Can also be easily edited after the fact. It's well worth your efforts.
Please keep these SMNW72 friends listed below and their families in your thoughts and prayers as we honor their memories.
Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Peggy Foley Jewell, she lost her courageous battle with cancer on June 27, 2011.
Also, a note regarding the list of classmates and teachers, Board Members, and friends of the SMNW Class of '72 who have passed. We will leave this posting up for a short time at the beginning of 2012 to honor them; this listing has its own section. Please go to the "In Memory" tab above to share your memory or kind words. It means a lot to the families to be able to see that their loved one has not been forgotten and that they meant so much in our lives. Thank you.
CLASSMATES
2011
Margaret (Peggy) Foley (Jewell)
Patricia Leonard (Nolte)
2009
Warren Keeler
David (Dave) Minden
Mike Repine
John Russell
2008
Stephen Atchley
2006
Bradley Perkins
2005
Dave DeMack
2004
Melissa Floyd (Patrick)
Gary Golubski
2003
Marc Anderson
Stan Ufford
1997
Michael Ruhlman
1996
Georgia Burkitt (Morrison)
1995
Cathy Hauser (Baska)
1994
Mary Denk (Dollard)
Frank Horner
Frank Wilkinson
1993
Terry Burrows
Kristie Wendorff
1990
Michael Wilbanks
1981
Christopher Taylor
1980
Charles Beaty II
1974
Harold Norris
1973
Randy McCollum
Scott True
DECEASED YEAR UNKNOWN
Elaine Yowell
GUESTS (Former teachers, Board Members, and friends of the SMNW Class of '72)
2011
Richard Blanton
Allen Ringer
2010
Mike Pechar
2009
Gene Amos
Ronnie Dye (Class of '73)
2008
Daisy Gregory
2007
Chalmers Land
2006
Gerald Garrett
Roy Gunter
2005
Esther Gardner
1999
Ann Gresham
Joe Solscheid
1998
Pat Carville
1994
Wendell Davidson
1993
Vincent Southerland
1992
Eugene Royal (Class of ;73)
1984
Wayne Laverty
1978
Bill Coplin
PRIVACY NOTICE :As stated above, all contact information (address, phone number, e-mail address) entered into this website will be kept confidential. It will not be shared or distributed. Your contact information is private: your street address, e-mail address, and phone number cannot be seen by the classmates unless you grant permission on your Profile. When someone clicks on your name, the only contact information they will see is your city and state and whatever information about yourself you choose to put on your Profile. Unless you explicitly grant your permission, your email address is not visible, although an email can be sent to you using the contact box at the bottom of your Profile page. Note, however, if you send a message to someone through their Profile page, the Classmate will see your email address so that they can respond.
Email notifications from this web site:For those of you with spam blocking or email filtering capabilities, please add postmaster@classcreator.netto your email account as a safe sender in order to receive email communication from this web site. We are getting some "bounce back" emails from several of you and don't want you to miss receiving emails from other classmates!
CLASS CREATOR: We have added a homepage reference to Class Creator whose web design we chose for smnw72. In case we refer another Class to use their services and they sign up through smnw72, a contribution will be made for our Reunion Committee's use for the event in 2012. Though this may not generate much, if any, income for our upcoming reunion, we have been asked many times who we went to for our start-up and definitely do not mind letting everyone know how pleased we are with all the help provided to us for the creation of the Class of '72's online home.
Some background on our school mascot
which our class (along with '70 and '71 alumni)
selected overwhelmingly to be
our school's symbol for then and
future SMNW classes
(the other choice: Northwest Mounties):
Animal Fact Guide: Cougar (s)
Cougar
Puma concolor
The cougar, which is also commonly referred to as a puma, mountain lion or panther, is the second largest cat in North America. Unlike other big cats, however, the cougar cannot roar. Instead, the large feline purrs like a house cat.
Cougars also have similar body types to house cats, only on a larger scale. They have slender bodies and round heads with pointed ears. They vary between 1.5-2.7 m (5-9 ft.) from head to tail. While males can weigh up to 68 kg (150 lb.), females weigh less, topping out at nearly 45 kg (100 lb.).
The coat of the cougar is a grayish tan to reddish color with lighter parts on the underside. The tail has a black spot on the end.
Inhabiting various ecosystems from mountains to deserts to sea-level, the cougar's range includes western North America, a small region in Florida, and most of South America. Cougars make their home anywhere that there is shelter and prey.
Generally they prey on deer but also feed on smaller animals if necessary, including domestic animals and livestock. Cougars have even been known to eat insects. Skilled and cunning hunters, cougars stay hidden from their prey until they can pounce with claws out-stretched. Cougars can also climb with ease and leap over 6 m (20 ft.). After killing a large animal, a cougar hides the carcass and eats in the coming days.
For the most part, the cougar has no natural enemies and sits atop the food chain. However, cougars occasionally compete with other predators such as bears and wolves for food.
Puma concolor
The cougar, which is also commonly referred to as a puma, mountain lion or panther, is the second largest cat in North America. Unlike other big cats, however, the cougar cannot roar. Instead, the large feline purrs like a house cat.
Cougars also have similar body types to house cats, only on a larger scale. They have slender bodies and round heads with pointed ears. They vary between 1.5-2.7 m (5-9 ft.) from head to tail. While males can weigh up to 68 kg (150 lb.), females weigh less, topping out at nearly 45 kg (100 lb.).
The coat of the cougar is a grayish tan to reddish color with lighter parts on the underside. The tail has a black spot on the end.
Inhabiting various ecosystems from mountains to deserts to sea-level, the cougar's range includes western North America, a small region in Florida, and most of South America. Cougars make their home anywhere that there is shelter and prey.
Generally they prey on deer but also feed on smaller animals if necessary, including domestic animals and livestock. Cougars have even been known to eat insects. Skilled and cunning hunters, cougars stay hidden from their prey until they can pounce with claws out-stretched. Cougars can also climb with ease and leap over 6 m (20 ft.). After killing a large animal, a cougar hides the carcass and eats in the coming days.
For the most part, the cougar has no natural enemies and sits atop the food chain. However, cougars occasionally compete with other predators such as bears and wolves for food.
During most of their lives, cougars are solitary creatures. They interact only to mate, which can happen at any time of year. Females can breed as early as 2-3 years old, and they give birth to 2-3 kittens at a time. The female cougars raise the young while the males return to their solitary lifestyles. Female cougars fiercely defend their offspring from any threatening creature.
At around two years old, cougar offspring will leave their mother to start their own life. Some travel far to establish their own territory as cougars need a lot of room to roam.
A healthy cougar in the wild can live to around 10 years of age. In captivity, cougars can live as long as 20 years.
Conservation Status
Cougars have been long been killed by both sport hunters and farmers protecting their livestock. Other threats to cougar populations include habitat loss and fragmentation and automobile accidents. As a result, the cougar population has significantly decreased.
Although they once ranged throughout North and South America, they are no longer found in the eastern portion of the United States and Canada, the exception being a small population in Florida. The subspecies known as the Florida panther is considered to be critically endangered, and agencies are working to maintain the current population. There are still, however, several thousand cougars in the wild, and as a result, they listed as being of 'least concern' on theIUCN Red List.
What You Can Do To Help
It is difficult to stop habitat loss or reverse its effects, but there are some ways you can help. You can help persuade your congressperson to designate the cougar as a protected animal. This legally prevents the taking or injuring of cougars, unless they pose a threat. This law has been in effect in the state of California since the approval of Proposition 117 in 1990.
You can also appeal to your congresspeople advocating the preservation of open land in order to maintain a livable habitat for cougars. In addition, you can donate directly to the Mountain Lion Foundation.
Cougar Distribution
Inhabiting various ecosystems from mountains to deserts to sea-level, the cougar's range includes western North America, a small region in Florida, and most of South America.
P.A. Smith holds an MS in Education. He is also a contributing editor ofMy House Rabbit.
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...Life......I'll be happy when......
Some people try to turn back their odometers. Don't bother, tell them you look this way because you've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.
We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, when we are able to go on a nice vacation or when we retire. The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges.
It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. Happiness is the way,so,treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with..and remember that time waits for no one!
There is no better time than right now to be happy!
So, stop waiting...
Until your car or home is paid off...
Until you get a new car or home.....
Until your kids leave the house....
Until you go back to school... Until you finish school...
Until you lose 10 lbs....
Until you gain 10 lbs...
Until you get married...
Until you get a divorce....
Until you have kids...
Until you retire....
Until summer...
Until spring...
Until winter...
Until fall....
(see above - daily - to right on home page, near the top of the page)
....and welcome to our
"oldie but goodie" section
and
thoughts regarding
"how to feel good about the next reunion"
...
GROWING "OLD" WITH YOUR SPOUSE
An elderly gent was invited to his old friends' home for dinner one evening. He was impressed by the way his buddy preceded every request to his wife with endearing terms -- calling her Honey, My Love, Darling, Sweetheart, Pumpkin, etc.. The couple had been married almost 70 years, and they were still very clearly in love.
While the wife was off in the kitchen, the man leaned over and said to his buddy, "I think it's wonderful that after all the years you've been married, you still call your wife those loving pet names."
The old man hung his head. "I have to tell you the truth," he said, "I forgot her name about ten years ago."
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REUNION POEM An announcement arrives in the mail,
A reunion is planned; it'll be really grand;
Make plans to attend without fail.
I'll never forget the first time we met;
We tried so hard to impress.
We drove fancy cars, smoked big cigars,
And wore our most elegant dress.
It was quite an affair; the whole class was there.
It was held at a fancy hotel.
We wined, and we dined, and we acted refined,
And everyone thought it was swell.
The men all conversed about who had been first
To achieve great fortune and fame.
Meanwhile, their spouses described their fine houses
And how beautiful their children became.
The homecoming queen, who once had been lean,
Now weighed in at one-ninety-six.
The jocks who were there had all lost their hair,
And the cheerleaders could no longer do kicks.
No one had heard about the class nerd
Who'd guided a spacecraft to the moon;
Or poor little Jane, who's always been plain;
She married a shipping tycoon.
The boy we'd decreed "most apt to succeed"
Was serving ten years in the pen,
While the one voted "least" now was a priest;
Just shows you can be wrong now and then.
They awarded a prize to one of the guys
Who seemed to have aged the least.
Another was given to the grad who had driven
The farthest to attend the feast.
They took a class picture, a curious mixture
Of beehives, crew cuts and wide ties.
Tall, short, or skinny, the style was the mini;
You never saw so many thighs.
At our next get-together, no one cared whether
They impressed their classmates or not.
The mood was informal, a whole lot more normal;
By this time we'd all gone to pot.
It was held out-of-doors, at the lake shores;
We ate hamburgers, coleslaw, and beans.
Then most of us lay around in the shade,
In our comfortable T-shirts and jeans.
By the thirtieth year,it was abundantly clear,
We were definitely over the hill.
Those who weren't dead had to crawl out of bed,
And be home in time for their pill.
And now I can't wait; they've set the date;
Our thirty-fifth is coming, I'm told.
It should be a ball, they've rented a hall
At the Shady Rest Home for the old.
Repairs have been made on my hearing aid;
My pacemaker's been turned up on high.
My wheelchair is oiled, and my teeth have been boiled;
And I've bought a new wig and glass eye.
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We encourage all of our Class of 1972 and our former faculty members to participate by entering your updated information on your first visit -and continue to come regularly to this site. It would be very helpful for everyone to be proactive and invite as many of our Classmates and faculty as possible--to help us contact and spread the word to as many former SMNW classmates as possible. If you are friends with another SMNW alum, please forward their name and e-mail address in a message to us on this site so we can invite them. You may also add their e-mail to the "Missing Classmate" web link to the right of this message. Just enter their e-mail address in the window that's provided; an e-mail invite will automatically be sent to them. The more members we invite to our site, the more interesting and active it will become as it grows larger to accommodate all of our classmates. 
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..a special note.....
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Margaret (Peggy) Foley (Jewell)
Stephen Atchley
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