Ronna Jones Snyder - Class of '69

It all boils down to people. Love most all of 'em---in ways I never dreamed of in high school. At the very top of my list of loves is God, followed by my ever-growing family. And then there's absolutely nothing better than savoring an espresso or new martini recipe with a girlfriend! I adore hospitality and sharing it with others. I still love a gutsy engine between my legs, whether it's encased in a purple Harley, or a jetski or a snowmobile. I'm enchanted with lake life in the summer, RV-ing in the winter (towing those Harleys behind us). I'm a voracious reader. And I enjoy most anything that includes "movement"--from hiking and biking to working out and even a little running (I'm working on getting better at it--I am totally "running-challenged" and I hate to sweat). I also love fu-fu-ing up my home and yard and capturing ALL of life in my camera's lense. (My kids call me the "Momma-ratzi because I'm always chasing after them with camera in tow.)

Went to WSU then got sidetracked by a terrific job offer from KING Broadcasting and quickly climbed the corporate ladder as first a KREM radio copywriter; then the station's promotions manager. Married at 19 to a great guy who I was too immature to appreciate. Discovered the error of my ways after a divorce and loosing everything to a housefire. Did a major overhaul on myself from the inside out and changed my ways--AND my values and perspectives in 1976. In short, I became a Christian. Married Bill Snyder who'd done his own life-changing that same year. And our first child was born a year later. We owned an advertising company for a number of years while getting Lifetime Pools off the ground as it became a thriving Spokane pool and spa store. Raised and homeschooled four kids while I juggled several personal "parttime" careers, which included my favorite--selling and marketing high dollar show horses as an equine broker. Once the kids were mostly grown I freelanced for a number of national magazines and the Spokesman Review. (I was both writer AND photo-journalist.) Am now a hormonally-challenged, Harley-riding, retired writer/author (my book, Hot Flashes from Heaven released last February) and wife of 33 years who looks forward to reuniting with former classmates from the Mead High School Class of 1969. Just promise you won't tell my husband any stories about what a brat I used to be! I promise I've changed! :) At least I HOPE so!

7/12/10--Am still spending winters with the hubby in Arizona. Recently added another daughter-in-law to our brood two weeks ago in a lovely wedding celebration party of over 300 out here at our ranch. Our latest interest is our '56 T-Bird with 45k original miles that we bought last winter. Looks like my Harley days are numbered.

Like all of you, I remember so many funny things---like the country song says, "before momma was Momma." They include: doing the gator in a mini-skirt; that pink Cougar car that I, what, wrecked, what three times before I graduated? Sneaking into the Y drive-in in the trunk of a car. Flagging down the basketball team in the school bus coming home from the Pullman game by sticking my thumb out on the Pullman/Moscow highway, hoping to "hitch" a ride. (Okay, so the coach didn't think that was too funny.) Swallowing that live goldfish at the senior follies carnival. (Has any Mead senior girl swallowed a live goldfish since?) Riding in the debate coach's Corvette on the way home from a debate with my bare legs up on the dash so I could work on my "tan." (So much for airbags and seatbelts.)

I still see Janet Spencer (Dill). I remember the first day I met her. I was on the school bus, feeling quite alone and she, a BRAND new student at the school, said, "Hey, sit here with me." I still remember her smile, her graciousness...something not often seen in teenage girls. And I still am friends with Janet today. She hasn't changed much. She's still gracious, so much so I think she's one of the top salespeople for Chicos. And Sue Renner (Booth) was our sidekick. Every so often the three of us still get together. Harley-Davidson's magazine, Hog Tales, even featured an article I wrote on the three of us---about how we were (then) celebrating our 50th birthdays together on Harleys. The article's photo had the three of us perched on top of my Road King....not all that differently than the three of us cruising in my pink Cougar back in 1969!

While I adored anyone who encouraged me in a journalistic sense (English teachers, debate, etc.), it was crusty ol' Ruth Slind, the typing teacher, who actually helped me out the most. Typing was an essential means of getting a job back then for a "girl". While I could always come up with a few coherent sentences, it was my fast typing that helped me land my first job in the media--as a copywriter for KREM. Which, of course, led to my next position, and then my next, until I was one of the first women department heads for KING Broadcasting. That introduced me to my husband and we later opened an advertising agency, which led to our delightfully successful retail store, Lifetime Pools on Francis and Division in Spokane. My husband continued on with that, and a follow-up contracting business as I reared our children and had a couple "hobby-jobs" in the interim, then got back into really appreciating those typing skills when I began magazine and newspaper freelance work once the kids were grown. Five years ago, we segued into retirement, wintering in the south, where I finished up my first book which released last year. Mrs Slind, if you're still alive, every single word in that book was typed as a result of the skill YOU taught me!

Ahhhhh, the ol' "bucket list", huh? I've gotta admit there's not a single thing that I've "always wanted to do" that I haven't done. God's given me a far better life than I ever deserved.

That I belly-dance in the secrecy of my home-gym. Sheeez! Now the secret's out!