History, Acknowledgements & Volunteers
History
This website would not be possible without the help of Alumni volunteers from Vocational High in Minneapolis. Many have contributed their time and resources to an evolving all-alumni Vocational picnic project. What started as a website built for the Class of 1964 evolved to include all Minneapolis Vocational High School alums. This was due to the database technology I deployed and the ease of scaling the website’s data records to include all class years. Vocational classes ran from 1914 through 1976.
During the 25th reunion of the Class of 1964, with the encouragement of my then-wife Jacqueline Lee Bowers, I volunteered to help with alum database issues. Our class was struggling with managing an alum list. I have noticed this same issue with many other class year alum committees. Managing a list of alums is difficult unless you understand databases and/or spreadsheets. I do, and I have worked with databases most of my life. At the time, I already possessed sophisticated database software and approaches. Jackie died of cancer in 2003. This all-alumni website project began on the 50th Reunion of the Class of 1964 in 2014. 1964 coincidentally happens to be the 50th Anniversary Year of Vocational High School in Minneapolis.
The website and database project was quickly expanded to include all Vocational Alumni after it was decided by the 1964 Committee to host an all-alumni picnic starting in 2015. The first all-alumni picnic in 2015 was met with great success. The picnic continued into 2019, where an attendance record of 198 was reached.
The sixth annual all-alumni picnic scheduled for August 6, 2020, was canceled due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. This resulted in the dissolution of the existing picnic committee and their plans for a 2020 transition to new leadership.
A poll of Vocational’s Alumni was conducted in early 2020 to determine if the all-alumni picnic should be resumed in 2021. Over 93% of alums voted to continue the picnic in 2021 on August 5. A new picnic committee was formed to take charge of the 2021 picnic. The new committee members for 2021 also served in 2022.
As we head toward the 2023 picnic, additional alums from the 70s are joining the picnic committee. The objective for 2023 is for the 70s alum to shadow existing team members and eventually take control of the various annual picnic tasks.
Dedication
This all-alumni website is dedicated to the memory of Jacqueline Lee Bowers from the Vocational Class of 1964.
Domain Registration Costs
Jennifer Persons-Dennis paid the first domain registration costs for the web domain of mplsvocational1964.com. Our initial website domain was used to begin this online database project and eventually build this all-alumni website.
Candice (Candy) Bowers-Link paid the registration costs of the mplsvocational.com domain obtained on 2/15/2018. This second site is now focused on all Vocational class years and should be easier for alumni to remember. While both website domains will remain active until 2024, the earlier mplsvocational1964.com domain redirects to the mplsvocational.com domain. Everything now all takes place on the newer all-alumni domain name. Ed
2023 Picnic Team (Name/Class Year)
Ed Palmer/64 (Co-Leader)
Joe Rath/74 (Co-Leader)
Marie Trepanier/65
Bonnie Tangness/65
Beverly Williams/65
Muriel Spellmon-St Urbain/65
Chuck Kobow/66
Bonnie Kobow/66
Wayne Lindstrom/66
Holly Lindstrom/66
Candy Link/67
Marge Remarck/67
Geary Keppel/68
Terry Dombrock/71
Jeanne Friday/72
Daniel Nechkash/72
Greg Peterson/74
Dan Ordahl/74
Reggie Crawford/74
John Rath/76
Carrie Orr/76
Kathy Schwichenberg/76
2021-2022 Picnic Team (Name/Class Year)
Ed Palmer/64 (Chairman)
Marie Trepanier/65
Bonnie Tangness/65
Beverly Williams/65
Chuck Kobow/66
Bonnie Kobow/66
Wayne Lindstrom/66
Holly Lindstrom/66
Candy Link/67
Marge Remarck/67
Geary Keppel/68
Terry Dombrock/71
Jeanne Friday/72
Daniel Nechkash/72
Kathy Schwichenberg/76
2018-2019 Picnic Team (Name/Class Year)
Dave Bross/64
Geri Bross/64
Jeanne Gould/64
Jim Gould/64
Carol Hoffman/64
Marie Lorbiecki/64
Jan Nepsund/64
Curt Nepsund/64
Ed Palmer/64
Russ Peterson/64
Herb Vitullo/64
Ann Peterson/65
Bonnie Tangness/65
Beverly Williams/65
Chuck Kobow/66
Holly Lindstrom/66
Wayne Lindstrom/66
Sharron Kujawa/66
Candy Link/67
Geary Keppel/68
Devonna Haskett/73
2015-2017 Picnic Team (Name/Class Year)
Dave Bross/64
Geri Bross/64
Jeanne Gould/64
Jim Gould/64
Carol Hoffman/64
Marie Lorbiecki/64
Jan Nepsund/64
Curt Nepsund/64
Ed Palmer/64
Jennifer Person-Dennis/64
Russ Peterson/64
Ann Peterson/65
Herb Vitullo/64
Data Entry Project - Completed
Betty Thomas/64 - Data Entry Lead
Debra Uhrich/70 - Data Entry
As of August 2019, all alum data from available or extant yearbooks has now been entered. A special thanks to Betty Thomas, who worked hard to complete the final data entries before the 2019 All-Alumni Picnic.
Some alum names in the database may be Vocational Trade students vs. Vocational High School/Trade students. There is no way of knowing the difference at this point in time, and for purposes of our all-alumni database doesn’t really mean anything. This site represents all those who are known to have attended Minneapolis Vocational. This means that a reasonably accurate class year list for all Vocational class years is now available for display. You can now search on last name and see if your family had multiple generations, siblings, or other relatives like cousins that attended Minneapolis Vocational.
Yearbook PDF Project - Completed
Caryl Ann Kivisto-Exner/65 — The first volunteer to successfully compile available library jpeg images from specific class years into a class PDF yearbook. Thank you, Caryl Ann, for getting this project off the ground and volunteering to assist. You helped break new ground from an image compilation perspective for this project.
Ruth Ellis/75 — Initially assisted Carly Ann with different class years. Ruth was then able to create high-resolution files. Which, after OCR-ing, became searchable pdf files that were easier to view online than the initial files we created.
Ed Palmer/64 — Created the website archive for the Class Yearbook PDFs. Added other yearbooks by scanning and OCR-ing those yearbooks and other alum documents. In 2019, the 1959 yearbook, the 1959 class' 50th Memory book, and the 1935 yearbook from Beverly Cotie (Bowers), the mother of Jacqueline Lee Bowers, were all added to the website.
Alumni Document Search Request
We request that alums search family records and attics for early Vocational documents. From 1914 to the early 1940s, Vocational records are non-existent for the most part. If you find early records, please notify Ed Palmer. These early records can be easily scanned, and the originals returned to the family.
Website
Ed Palmer/64
Picnic Alumni Photos
Dale Olson/63
I want to thank all Vocational alums who have expended their time and resources to help build this all-alumni website for Minneapolis Vocational's Alumni. That includes those who have taken the time to update their own alum record or the alum record of one or more of their high school friends or family members.
Suppose your class year wants an easier way to manage and maintain its class alum records. In that case, it can do so on this website using our database technology. The site operates from a secure database. I will provide your class with free alum management tools if you have classmates that want to manage your class contact information. Contact me for further details. Ed Palmer