The Alumni Board has been discussing updating the Shullsburg Alumni History Book for a few years now.  We decided this is the year to check it off our “To Do List”.  The decision was made to include alumni up to the current 2015 graduates, add teachers, list graduates by year and cross-reference alumni with married names too.  A lot of work but we believe it will be worth it in the end.

So of course with my love of history and genealogy I jumped all over this.   Have been learning a lot about the history of our graduates.  Some of it is pure trivia!  For instance, I wonder why my Dad never mentioned one of my best friend’s mother was a classmate of his?  Or did he mention it, and at the time I didn’t care.

When the last booklet was done I was out of the area and not involved.  My Aunt and several cousins did not have pictures included.  I hadn’t noticed until now.  So their pictures were some of the first I have scanned.

This time we will include some color pictures.  We have looked into several options for bindings.  We want to be able to keep it at a minimal cost and yet want to know it will be a great keepsake that is used often.  Yes, and to stay with today’s technology, I have also looked into making it an e-book for those preferring to look at it on their computer, ipad, kindle, book-reader, etc.  I have had so many people say to me, “You have no idea how many times we pull out the Alumni Handbook to settle an argument or to figure out someone’s age”.   This is why cross referencing married names will be helpful.  We know elders as someone’s Mom or Mrs. SoandSo, but wouldn’t know their maiden name to look them up.  Therefore, we need to make sure our database is current with last names.

If you have the last book done in 1997, please check it out and let me know if you have a relative missing or a class picture that should be included.  We wish to include all we can, and desire to get as much into this book as available by printing time.  Maybe you just want to make sure we have the married names of your family members or yours.  Please feel free to contact me through shullsburgalumni@live.com or call (608)732-7025.  A good way to stay in touch and keep up with what is happening is by going to our website at shullsburgalumni.com and complete the information to keep you updated.  This will assist us in making sure our database is updated and information for the book.

I plan to keep blogging about this project and reaching out to people to ask questions, look for information, etc.  So keep checking on Facebook, email and looking at our website to see if you can help us make this book a success!