Ray - Now that you mentioned how changing file names could be a problem, I realized that my checkboxes were validating with a different FORM NAME than the rest of them. The code that I used from Web Assist uses 'contact' for the form name, not register2 (or register3). I fixed it and the checkboxes are sticky just as they should be.
Thanks for the time on this. Maybe now my Spry validation for all of the checkboxes on the page will work too.