About Us

About Us?

I've been told that when you read through the site, it sounds like there are a bunch folks at work, putting it together. And that is sort of true - there are a lot of folks who have helped with various parts of the site, especially the photos for the class pages. Please take a look at our Web Team page to see all the folks I need to thank for helping out. But the vast majority of the site is just little old me, Rob Fish, Class of 1971.

I first thought about a WYHS site sometime around 1997 or 1998 - even discovered that WYHS.COM was available. But I let the idea drop. And then the idea popped into my head again during the summer of 2000.

So I checked on the availability of the wyhs.com domain name in July of 2000. And discovered that someone else had taken it. What a bummer, eh? But WYHS.ORG was available, so I tossed caution to the wind, pulled a chunk of plastic from my wallet, and here we are - a web site about and for Whitehall-Yearling alumni. Because I'm not a non-profit organization (and probably never will be), I've got a few other domain names that will get you to the site - just in case the folks running the Internet ever object to me using the ".org" extension. Some of the names that will bring you to the starting page of this site are www.wyhsRams.com and www.RamsAlumni.com

About Us

Neither my wife, Paula, nor I are Whitehall "natives." We are, however, awfully close. My family moved to Whitehall the summer before I started 4th grade. We lived on Ural Avenue, and my sister, Carol, and I attended Beechwood Elementary, Rosemore, and Whitehall-Yearling I graduated in '71, Carol graduated in '72. At about the same time my family moved to Whitehall from New Jersey, Paula's family moved to Whitehall from Toledo. Paula lived on Mound Street, went to E. Main St. elementary, and graduated from Whitehall in '71. Her maiden name is Replogle. After a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis, Paula died on February 18, 2003. There's more info about that at www.PaulaFish.com

The next section is for those who are thinking, "boy, Rob's name is familiar, where did I run into him" or are wondering what Paula and I have done since high school. If you aren't interested in any of that, please feel free to scroll on down to the bottom of the page (unless you're my mom - she has a parental obligation to read all this stuff at least once).

My parents were very active in Cub Scouts when I was in elementary school, and when I got to high school they became very involved in WIMBA (the music booster's association). I played baseball in the WBBA (boys baseball assn), was in Boy Scout Troop 373, played in the band, and when I got to high school was involved with a handful of activities - all the bands, orchestra, tennis team, cross country, track, chess club, conductor's club and computer club. Come to think of it, I was also an alternate on the "In the Know" team. My dad was president of WIMBA for a while, and my mom worked the front gate at Aquamarine Cabana Club for a lot of summers.

Paula was in the band from elementary school through high school. She has two older brothers, a younger brother, and a sister. After high school, Paula headed down to Marshall University in Huntington, WV, while I became a music education major at OSU. Paula and I started dating again our sophomore year in college, and she moved back up here, transferred to the Riverside School of X-ray Technology, and becoming a Certified X-ray Technician.

Paula and I got married in 1974. My "pay my way through college" part-time job became a full time job, and I managed a Jay's Beer Drive-In while Paula worked at Riverside Hospital. In 1978, I switched from one form of fluid power to another, and got a job selling industrial fluid power products (hydraulic pumps, motors and other neat stuff) just after our first child was born.

We have three kids, Chris, Brian and Sarah, born in 1977, 1978 and 1980. Shortly after Sarah was born, Paula began having some health problems, and was finally diagnosed with multiple sclerosis sometime around 1982.

When Paula's condition reached the point where she couldn't transfer in and out of her wheelchair without someone picking her up and moving her, we had to make a decision about caring for her. In 1998 we decided to make a go of a small business so I could work from the house and take care of Paula. Our business, Customized Creations, does a bunch of things, including magnetic-backed dry-erase boards, buttons, custom refrigerator magnets, web design, and Basic Hydraulics training courses. If you get a few minutes, please check out our business web site at http://www.ccreations.com. While you're there, make sure you find my squirrel stories and I'll be real disappointed if you leave the site without checking out my lint collection.

My mom and dad moved to North Carolina about six years before Paula was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. They've retired, and now live near Roanoak, Virginia. My sister, Carol, moved up near Cleveland, is married, and has two wonderful kids. Carol has her own consulting company, Midwest Consulting Group, which is on the web at http://www.midwestconsult.com If you want to contact Carol, her E-mail address is mcg@midwestconsult.com

Paula's parents retired before Paula's MS was diagnosed, and moved to Lakeland, Florida about six years after the diagnosis. Paula's oldest brother, John, lives near Johnstown, Ohio. David Replogle lives in San Francisco. Paula's sister, Amy lives in Westerville, and Paula's younger brother, Jim, lives in Ostrander, about 20 minutes northwest of Columbus.

And us? Well, we live in Columbus, our kids went to Worthington Schools, we have a Powell mailing address, and we walk over to a Dublin elementary school to vote. I'd say it isn't any wonder that I don't know whether I'm coming or going, but I was like that long before we moved here.

There was an article about us on the front page of the June 27, 2001 edition of the "Whitehall News." I've got two versions of the article online. One is a scan of the article, which is 120k and may take a wee bit of time to download. The other is an HTML version of the article, which is only 10k and will download quickly.

Welp, that's about it - all about us. More than anyone (even my mom) would care to know, actually. But that's what an "About Us" page is for, right?

I hope you have as much fun wandering through the site as I've had putting it together - it's a fun hobby. If you've got any comments or suggestions, or just want to touch base, please send me an E-mail or give us a call.

Have a GREAT day!

e-mail: robfish@wyhs.org