School days nostalgia is fun to recall. Spending 13 years in the public schools is bound to yield a great number of memories spanning from early childhood to the onslaught of adulthood. I hold all of the memories from these years in very high regard, but it seems that the older the memory, the fonder it is. My Ankeney years came at the beginning of the latter half of my school years – from the Fall of 1984 to the Spring of 1987. It was a new era of leaving behind the safety of Fairbrook Elementary where I was an upper-classman, and become a lowly pre-pubescent, chubby, gawky, early teenaged seventh grader. But, boy, these were fond memories too.
The three people highlighted in this posting represent the first three individuals in a series of four posting showcasing my reunion at the 
Beavercreek High School 20th reunion on Saturday, July 17, 2010, with former Ankeney Chargers. These are kids who didn’t go to the same elementary school as I did but who I obviously met before my high school days.
The most interesting of these is Sherry Goff (seen in her senior picture at the top of the posting and her seventh grade picture at right). Sherry and I shared a few classes at Ankeney and there was one thing that we learned about each other right off the bat. It was a fact that lingered with us through junior high, then on through high school, and lasted all the way up until we saw each other the reunion. The fact was that they were born on the exact same day: October 2, 1971. It was not in the same place though. She was born at Miami Valley Hospital and I at St. Elizabeth. You can see our mutual birth announcement in the Dayton Daily News here.
Sherry and I never associated outside of school, but we always were very friendly in the classroom, always being sure to mention our mutual special day. She is married with kids and lives in Bellbrook these days – and I’d have to say that she looks absolutely amazing.
Sherrie Goff today, looking quite swell
Shelly Newell was a pretty tough gal – both in junior high and high school. She had a cool, hard-knock attitude, but behind 
that was a sweet girl with a great sense of humor. I can recall only one encounter with her outside of school. Jeremy Shumway and I were visiting Kings Island around 1986 along with – of all things – our sisters’ girl scout troupe. Shelly just happened to be there with one of her friends and Jeremy and I hung out with them for most of the day.
Oddly enough, I hadn’t seen Shelly (pictured at left during her eighth grade year) since high school, but we had been friends on Facebook and I soon learned that she knew my aunt Bev and my Mom from working at Dorothy Lane Market. In another twist, she is now married to Rich Eberle, who graduated a year before us, and for a while worked with my Dad at Miami Valley Engravers earlier in the decade.
If there is a hard-edge left in Shelly, it is thoroughly masked by her fun-loving great sense of humor. The gals that might have been scared of her during high school certainly had no reason to be now, and I for one really enjoyed seeing her both at the reunion and the night before at a gathering at Milano’s.
Shelly Newell’s senior picture
Having a blast with Shelly at the reunion
Brian Aleslagle was somewhat of an enigma since I first encountered him in Junior High. He, along with friend Harry Knight, were sort-of arch-nemeses with my friend Jeff Flinn and me, picking on each other 
now and then, but ultimately having many moments where we all got along just fine. He could be a nice guy, a quiet guy, or at times even an aggressive guy that wouldn’t take the ribbing from Jeff and me.
Brian (seen at right in his eighth grade year) didn’t go through graduation with us in 1990 – and I really have no idea what he ended up doing to finish high school. What I do know that now he is making good, going to school, and seems to have transformed himself completely since his high school days. Quite outgoing and friendly, he now considers that his life didn’t really begin until after high school. In any case, it was fun to see him at the reunion and I enjoyed his jovial personality.
Kicking back with Brian at the reunion
The Ankeney Charges will continue…
Return to the BHS 20 year reunion here…
I think it’s cool that you know Shelley. I really liked working with her at DLM. She is a wonderful lady, very talented in cake decorating, and a fun and super mom.
Bev
August 21st, 2010