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Jon
Westcot
Spouse's Name: Eileen, Married, 9/18/1988
Spouse's Occupation: Artisan, craftsperson, newsletter
publisher, dog rescuer
Children and ages: None yet; we are in the early stages
of applying to adopt an infant girl from China
Address:
10020 N. Fox Creek
Drive
Brimfield, IL 61517-9325
Phone with area code:
(309) 446-9892 (home)
(309) 446-3692 (FAX)
E-mail: jon@westcot.net
E-mail: jon@westcot.net
Employer:
RLISYS Practice Solutions, Inc. (formerly a division of Maui
Jim, Inc.)
One Aloha Lane
Peoria, IL 61615
Occupation: Software Engineer (i.e., professional
geek)
Education and Degrees:
Millikin University,
1983; B.A., English
Hobbies and Interests:
Programming, all things
Hallowe'en (special makeup effects, animatronic prop design and
construction, sound effects, yard decorating, etc.), purebred
dog rescue, video editing, audio production
Great Achievements:
I don't know if I'd
classify any or all of these as "great" achievements,
but they are accomplishments of which I am proud.
* Purebred dog rescue:
My wife, Eileen, and I are actively involved with the rescuing
of dogs that are abused, abandoned, placed in shelters, dumped
by puppy mills, or surrendered by owners who either no longer
want them or who, due to circumstances beyond their control,
can no longer keep them. We work primarily with one breed, the
Keeshond, but we've assisted with the transport and foster care
of many other breeds as well. I don't have the space here to
go into all that we've accomplished with this work; if you're
interested in learning more, write me or check out our website
at http://www.westcot.net/rescuekees for more information.
* Chilli cookoffs: I
have been a member of the International Chili Society for several
years. In 1995, I won the Parkway Pointe District cookoff in
Springfield, IL, which qualified me to cook at the World Semi-Finals
in Reno, Nevada. (And no, the two different spellings above --
"chilli" and "chili" -- are not typos, they're
intentional. I started with the ICS in Springfield, IL, and,
as anyone from there can tell you, Springfield is the chilli
capitol of the world. I just got used to the spelling.)
Words of Wisdom:
"When you know you know, you know, you know?" -- Maddie
Carius.
"Treat others with consideration and respect."
"When you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them
with bullshit." (hence the English degree; note, both methods
work, but the former method is the preferred one)
Favorite memory from
your days at You High:
This should be a short list.
Memories:
* Sneaking my way past the gestapo-like ticket seller at the
University Cinemas to see "Dawn of the Dead" - one
of the ten best movies ever made - along with Dave Sutherland,
Clay Hankins, and Steve Horner; was Jeff Grant there, too?
* Climbing the walls in the Claironette office - literally -
with Jackson Harding's expert guidance. Also, learning to sail,
also as taught by Jackson.
* Taking any class taught by Pete Parmantie.
* Applying for disability payments due to acquiring "White
Lung Disease" following a Mr. Eckert math class (sadly,
my application was turned down <g>).
* Concocting, with Dave, the "Tales From the Office"
strips for the Claironette.
* Marching band, concert band, orchestra, pep band, and jazz
band.
* "Teaching," with Brad Hauskin's able assistance,
the "Randolph Circuit" to a very confused and frequently
absent Mike McGowan for a test in our "Electricity"
class the next day. (Mike, of course, believed us, and studied
that drawing for 3 or 4 hours that night, memorizing the mish-mash
of resistors that we made up for him. He even asked the teacher,
the appropriately named Mr. Buss, why the circuit wasn't on the
test! BUSTED!)
* Helping to convince erstwhile substitute teacher Mrs. Clarke
that Clay had actually written and published a book... wasn't
your book, Clay, about comparing football players to Roman gladiators,
the very subject we just happened to be discussing in the class?
* Affixing the slogan "Big Brother Is Watching You"
to a photograph of Principal Norris, then finding copies of the
photograph appearing all over the school.
Hmmmm. Wasn't nearly
as short a list as I suspected it would be.
Songs:
* "Hot and Bloody." No, wait, that wasn't the title.
But it was what we called it. Ah, who cares? I hated the song;
it was the title that was great.
* "2112" by Rush.
* "Star Wars" soundtrack by John Williams.
* "Free Ride" by The Edgar Winter Group.
* "Soul Man" and "Rubber Biscuit" by The
Blues Brothers.
Shorter list here. Oh
well, I'm not surprised; the 70's pretty much represent a dearth
of listenable and memorable popular music.
How many miles will
you travel to this reunion?
Well, let's see - it would be about 60 miles or so, but, since
the Flux Capacitor in my DeLorean is on the fritz, and since
I found out about the reunion in February 2001 and it was held
in July 2000, I guess that the appropriate answer is, "I'll
not be attending." (Somehow, the powers that be decided
that I'd not spent three years at U-High, nor had I received
my diploma, since, according to our esteemed WebMaster, my name
is not on the list of the member of the class of 1980. Well,
I've got the diploma - somewhere - and I remember clearly the
feeling of pride I had when the secretaries in the office stood
and clapped as that piece of paper in its pseudo-leather binder
was placed in my hands. Much better than having to parade around
in an owl suit with a black board affixed to my head!)
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