Going Home for a High School Reunion

Unfortunately for the Class of ’71, our original 50th reunion plans were canceled due to COVID-19. Our overall theme for the reunion is Celebrating Us…Remembering Them. Our evening celebration is Peace, Love and Friendship. Classmates attending were encouraged to dress in 60’s and 70’s attire.

We had a great turnout for this reunion. Many classmates will be attending one of our reunions for the first time. A busy weekend is planned – Dinner celebration on Friday night, visit and tour of the old stomping grounds aka school on Saturday and a casual get-together at a country bar that has hosted our class get-togethers during previous reunions on Thursday night. I have not attended many of our reunions. It’s always interesting to see how much we’ve grown up and changed over the years. Many classmates have been married for 45+ years, have children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.

For over a year, I have been working on a 50th reunion yearbook using Shutterfly. We started out by asking classmates 10 simple questions online and then they submitted their answers. It’s been interesting reading about the many successes of my classmates. It’s also been a bit sad reading about the deaths of spouses and children. A page in the yearbook has been dedicated to classmates who have passed on over the years. I’ve also dedicated a page spread to those classmates that served our United States militaries during a very troubling time – the Vietnam War. This book was a labor of love and I’m proud of the published result, even if it was a bit difficult to get 120 clean copies in the end.

What is a guilty pleasure? A guilty pleasure is something that “one enjoys despite feeling that it is not generally held in high regard.” Many classmates chose chocolate. Many chose bourbon, scotch, wine. Some classmates chose not to reveal their guilty pleasures or said they did not feel guilty about anything! Gardening, food, sports, spending time with family and friendships were answers to what they like to do in their free time. Hobbies varied from sewing to painting to “making stuff” to cooking or in general, just enjoying life.

My classmates are all over the world. I find it interesting that many have stayed close to home but a few have wandered a bit further. Bermuda, UK and Australia come to mind. Most, however reside somewhere in the continental United States, many in the greater Rochester area.

The over 100 classmates that responded to the survey represent many areas of our school culture – sports, music, theater and other school clubs such as DECA, honor society, cheerleaders, library, pep squad, chess and too many more to mention. These have been listed as their fond memories of high school. Also several teachers were mentioned; many had the same remembrance. Probably the two most common mentions were a female Physical Education teacher and a Music teacher. Other teachers were fondly mentioned as being guiding lights for future careers and personal development.

As time drew nearer to the reunion, a few classmates had to cancel for various reasons. Such a shame to miss such a momentous occasion! But, once again COVID rears it’s ugly head to put a damper on many events so why should our 50th reunion be any different? Even after all the stress, planning, worrying, re-planning, this 3-day weekend was great. We had a selfie booth, a couple of photographers, a DJ, a beautiful venue, games and lots of surprises, not to mention the 50-page yearbook full of memories for the class of ’71.

Not only will this 4-day trip include reunion plans, but also I have a luncheon planned with my sisters-in-law and significant others and a lunch with my nephew and his family. Karen has plans to see an ‘old’ friend who lives in the area. Busy! Busy! It’s going to be an exhausting 4 days in Rochester!

AFTER THE REUNION UPDATE:

I think we all need a t-shirt that says, “I survived my 50th high school reunion!” Such a great event took place that took 2-1/2 years to plan, many stresses (venue, wine glasses and yearbooks come to mind), connecting with our original graduating class to make sure they all knew the plans so they could attend. It was a momumental job taken on largely by one person, using the internet, email and Facebook.

Except for some inclement weather, the weekend was a huge success. Below are my event recaps as posted on Facebook.

Thursday Night – Nashville’s
It was a night of friendships lost and friendships found at our casual gathering of the class of ‘71 at Nashville’s, Thursday evening. Lively conversations were everywhere. Reminiscing and catching up. It was good to see so many familiar faces and to put names with those not readily recognized. I truly wish more classmates would participate in our reunions. I know that I’m guilty of being absent from many of the more recent ones. I had a nice conversation with Carl Hansen. Gave Edna Ash a hug. Received a bear hug from Jesse Ingram. Chatted with Kathy Doherty, Jane June, Quentin Gordon, Gloria VanGelder, Mary Ellen Toomey, Sam DeCicco and too many more to mention. I had my picture taken with Janet Magraw, Marcie Greer, her daughter Dawn and my daughter Karen Rosington. Chatted with a few more on my way to or from the little Cowgirls room. Stopped and talked to a couple of the guys – Rich Ferguson and Alan Lowe. Talked with Amy Camardo. And the list goes on. Queen Janet was the perfect hostess. She never sat down. She graciously accepted her due from the appreciative classmates. And enjoyed many glasses of Merlot. Looking forward to tonight at the Wilder Room. I’m sure more fun and connections will be made. Addresses, emails and phone numbers will be exchanged. Food, wine, and Carol Messina’s games enjoyed. Tons of selfie pictures created. And the 50th Reunion yearbook pages well turned. Until tonight…

Friday Night – Wilder Room
The ‘big’ event night at the Wilder Room was a great success thanks largely to Janet Magraw’s ongoing efforts on behalf of our class. Mention must also go out to Carol Messina, Paula Summit, DJ Bobby Rocker, Amy Camardo, the staff of the Wilder Room and of course the classmates who attended, and danced the night away. Of special note is the 50th wedding vow renewal for a classmate who was married before graduation, before her husband went to boot camp. Our photographer for the night, Karen Rosington, captured the evening’s moments which will be shared at a later date. I must also mention the inclement weather, for historical purposes. I hope you enjoyed the yearbook. I had so much fun putting it together for all of you! Next stop: back to school!

Saturday Noon – RH Central School, James E. Sperry Building
Back to School with the class of ’71 walking the halls of the James E Sperry building. It was a big school our sophomore year and even bigger in our ‘senior’ years!! Too much walking for this graduate. The breezeways are now enclosed. The library has tons of books but lacks the ambiance of the old library. The new gym is at the back of the building as a newer addition. The auditorium has new seats. The cafeteria looked the same. Comments on honey buns and peanut butter cookies were in the air. To these tired eyes, the dedicated colors of the halls and lockers were different. Luckily for a few late comers, the principal’s office was closed and no tardy slips were given. And our 50th reunion is now complete. Connections that were lost may have been found. Peace, love and friendship to all.

Family Time
Friday, Karen and I treated my 3 sisters-in-law and their significant others to lunch at a local Spencerport restaurant. It was good to see them, get hugs and update each other on what’s been happening. Saturday, it was my intention to treat my nephew and his family to lunch at another local favorite spot near the lake, but his long arm beat out my short arm when it came time to pay the bill! Afterwards, we drove along Edgemere Drive, contemplated stopping at Abbott’s, stopped at the Rochester Genesee Lighthouse for some updated pictures and headed back to our temporary base in Henrietta.

All too soon, it was time to return the rental car and get on a regional jet in the fog to head to our new home in Virginia. During the time I worked on the yearbook, I had surgeries, injuries, hospital stays, computer issues and moved a few times. But I met my deadline to finish the yearbook before our (cancelled) July reunion plans. The next problem involved getting a clean, published copy as Shutterfly had issues printing the books. Almost 400 were shipped to get the original order of 120 clean copies! Each book was unwrapped and looked through carefully to check for “blue measles” that appeared on several pictures. Finally, we had enough yearbooks, which I believe were enjoyed by all.

Now I have almost 900 pictures that Karen took throughout the weekend to look through and choose the best ones to share with everyone!

Peace, Love and Friendship to All!