Gregory Caruth:
CLASS OF 1966
Wheeling High SchoolClass of 1966
Wheeling, WV
West Liberty State CollegeClass of 1970
West liberty, WV
Madison Elementary SchoolClass of 1962
Wheeling, WV
Gregory's Story
Life
NOTE-------I am NO LONGER Gold with Classmates, so I cannot talk to you here. I am part of the Madison Elementary, WLSC, Wheeling High groups, also DAU, DSMC, NDU. I am social networking on FB and we can talk there. Also a member of Wheeling Island Rats and Memories of Wheeling on FB. Also sponsor a Preserved Bonsai site on Yahoo Groups. Just recently became a high-level reviewer on TravelAdvisor.com.
UPDATE--SEPT '14 Just back from a month in England--mostly London--and France--Paris and Versailles. Working one day a week at the local Fredericksburg VA museum and having fun. I am interested in connecting with anyone but use my FB site or email me. Life is great. Celebrating with Rita soon for our 34th anniversary at the Inn at Little Washington--now an annual event. Lots of trip pics on my FB page.
Posted Nov 21, 2013
In April 2012 and June, we went back to St. Martin 2 times, via NYC where we saw the musical Motown and Met Museum of Art. In Sept 2013 we were in London where we saw the musical Top Hat, and Mid Summer's Night Dream at the Globe Theater, and visited Highclere, where Downton Abbey is filmed. Also toured Buckingham Palace. Now in the Medicare program. Contact me if I can give you any advice on that. We are still in VA and no longer plan to move to FL. Life is good in VA.
Posted April 29, 2012
Went back to St. Martin and went on a Viking Cruise this summer that starts in Amsterdam and ends in Budapest. PS Cannot recommend Viking. Loved the itineraries. Ask me about Viking problems.
Posted 7 Sept 2011------------
Just back from a whirlwind trip to London where we saw the Royal Wedding dress, carriage, cars, other memorabilia. Rita is a Royals and Brit history fan. Also saw all the major attractions--Buckingham Palace, Sandringham, Windsor, Kensington Palace, Tower of London and jewels, Clarence House, Westminster Cathedral, Victoria and Albert and the British Museum, Wallace Collection, Portrait Gallery, and Old Tate Museum. Visited a lot of pubs, shopped on Portobello Road, at Harrod's. Tea at the Ritz. Met with our Brit friends the Bennetts for dinner in Piccadilly Square. Summer in VA has been hot or rainy. Survived the earthquake with only minor damage to some souvenirs, but a major lightnihg strike before that toppled a tree and caused electrical havoc in the house. Nothing expensive though. So we are fortunate and enjoying retirement. Will celebrate our 31st year meeting anniversary at the Inn at Little Washington--world renowned gourmet restaurant--best place we've ever eaten.
Fully recuperated from retina surgery in Feb 2011. We took a Panama Canal Cruise in Dec/Jan on Regent Seven Seas Voyager. Thoroughly enjoyed the canal passage and swimming with stingrays in the Grand Caymans but will not return to Mexico. Caribbean is SO much better.
Rita and I took a long-anticipated 15- day cruise on the Oceania Nautica to Asia in Spring 2010,. It has been 25 years since we visited China. We started with a few days extra in Beijing, then Seoul, Korea; Shanghai, China; Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Okinawa, Japan; Taipei, Taiwan; and several extra days in Hong Kong. I have about 70 pics on my FB site. Saw amazing gardens, temples, and shrines. Not an easy trip but worth all the effort. Anyone with questions, contact me here or on FB.
Rita and I also celebrated our 30th year of marriage 1 Jan 2011. We are celebrating our meeting anniversary in Sept 2010 at the Inn at Little Washington, VA. How time flies when you're having fun. And we are.. Spent 3 weeks in St. Martin in Dec--1 extra week due to the blizzard.
We returned to Saint Martin in June and will return again this winter and Spring. .
I retired from the Defense Acquisition University at Fort Belvoir, VA, as Director of the Visual Arts and Press Department 6 years ago. I managed and edited a magazine, journal, annuals, and catalogs, and prepared advertising. My favorite job was designing posters and exhibits for trade shows. Some of the posters were added to the government poster collection at the Library of Congress. I also had the opportunity to create bronze busts and portrait plaques--one life-sized bust was of David Packard of Hewlitt Packard fame. With the help of some really talented and helpful staff, we gave quick, ...Expand for more
efficient service on projects too numerous to mention, so a big thanks to those who supported me and helped me succeed--many of whom I worked with for years.
After retirement, until May 2006, I worked at 2 local high-end furniture stores, doing sales and interior design work. Loved retail and design but found the business world poorly run compared to the gov't! Who would have guessed! The last store went downhill with the economy and the housing slump--it is now bankrupt--the nicest furniture store in metro DC down the tubes. I learned all I wanted about interior design and furniture, so it was a great experience. More highs and lows than the Gov't job, working on commission, teaching myself what I needed to know--very little training provided. Still have some good friends from both stores though.
Then I became a happy house husband for a year and loved it, cooking, housekeeping, painting the house. Rita loved it too.
Now Rita and I are both fully retired. Rita retired as an elementary school library media specialist. We still live in Fredericksburg, VA, in a brick colonial home we designed 20 years ago--looks old, but lives new. Called a 4-over-4 colonial with a long center hall.
We do NOT have a problem entertaining ourselves and have lots of plans. We love travel. Favorite city is Venice, Italy. We have been to many places in Asia including Japan, China, Thailand, Hong Kong. Also Australia, Egypt, much of Europe--France, Italy, Turkey, Spain, Germany--and also Bali and Tahiti.
Other recent trips include Alaska, Tampa, London, and St. Martin (3 times a year)--the best place in the world. We cruised the smaller Caribbean islands in Dec 2006 but nothing beats St. Martin. We love beach walks, dancing, French food, and the Island flavor.
We are avid visitors of museums and art galleries. We are also shoppers so our house is filled with items from all over.
London--another favorite--was our 4th visit over the years but the dollar value to the pound was a real shock this last trip.
After years of hard work I have decided working is really over-rated.
The long hours and long commute were very wearing and I don't know now how I did it so long. Retirement is great, with sleeping in, no long commutes, and no harrowing deadlines.
My latest hobby is helping people on YahooAnswers. I usually help in the history, visual arts, home decorating, mythology, travel, and social issues areas. I am having a lot of fun with that.
My other hobbies are ancient history, collecting Chinese porcelain and scrolls, making my own preserved bonsai (I have a preserved bonsai group on Yahoo groups), sculpting, interior design, travel, and reading. I collect a lot of rocks in St. Martin for my bonsai.
I read several books a week, now that I have the time. Favorite recent authors are James Lee Burke, Lee Child, John Dunning, Michael Connelly, Tim Dorsey, Robert B. Parker, George Pelecanos, Robert Crais, Martin Cruz Smith, Dean Koontz, Donald James, Randy Wayne White, Lisa See, William Lashner--mostly mysteries and crime novels--try them.
I also read a lot of crazy stuff on UFOs, ancient technology, Atlantis, reincarnation, ghosts, crop circles--although I am a little embarrassed to admit it.
After all these years, I still have dreams about forgetting homework, losing my class schedule or locker combination, getting to class late, and other school and college-related traumas. You'd think I'd be over that, wouldn't you?
I still have a beard but now have a flat top. The bio pic was in Istanbul when I had longer hair. A favorite recent event was mushing a dogsled at 6K feet on a glacier in Alaska. We love the ocean and we swam with dolphins, black tip sharks and stingrays--still hope to swim with manatees in FL.
We saw the Eagles in concert in early 2010 and we try to see Casper--a local band-- frequently that does Earth Wind & Fire, Kool and the Gang, KC, and similar dance music. I'm a big fan of Luther Vandross, Bobby Caldwell, and Average White Band. Also Sheryl Crow, Isley Brothers, Robert Palmer, Corine Bailey Ray.
My motto--enjoy life, time is short and it can change in an instant. We are having the time of our lives.
Well, contact me if you are interested in remembering Wheeling or whatever...or if you come to DC,
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