Our 57th reunion!
June 20th Through June 22nd, 2014
Please click on thumbnails below, for much larger sized photos:
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What a wonderful reunion!
FRIDAY, JUNE 20TH
Our Class of '57's 57th reunion, officially began on June 20th, at 5:00 PM. However, much went on before the actual reunion - such as all the planning of the events, food, special class shirts, among just some of the things which had to be sorted out in advance. Classmate Denny Salisbury played his guitar, for some pretty music, during the "Social Hour". Also Denny Randall played his harmonica for our group, I think that was after dinnertime - not sure. Our president/chef Denny Randall, prepared most of the food, which included: Macaroni & Cheese, Eggplant Parmesan, Lasagna, Meatballs, Green salad, Italian bread w/ dipping oil, Fruit Salad, Bruschetta, Marinated artichokes, Marinated Roasted Red Peppers, Olives, and Sweet Gardiniera. There were at least 2 different kinds of cakes, and also cupcakes. There were compliments galore, for our great and generous chef - well deserved. I arrived at about 6:00 PM (later then I would have preferred, however that was the best airline schedule I could get when making reservations). And WHAT a complete surprise I had, when I came through the door, at the "American Legion"! The class was clapping, and hollering my name - certainly totally unexpected and quite the surprise. Denny pulled me up to the front of the room and made a very nice (and flattering) speech, concerning the work I have done ou our class website. I was then presented with some very beautiful gifts, along with some fun ones. All sentimental to me - one was a sterling silver necklace, which is studded with many crystals, soooooo pretty, in the shape of a Dachshund dog, which is the breed of my dog, "Rascal". Another gift from the class, is a beautiful sterling silver bracelet, with a charm on it - the letter "J", (for Joan), on the front, and on the back, the engraving reads:"Class of 57 Webmaster" - very elegant. (See photos below.)
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Here are the words to the poem which was written by Phyllis Drabel Abrams,
in case some computers are not able to see the words well, when clicking on the framed poem enlargement:
1957 WEB Site Spending long and many hours, of her retirement days Keeping our class informed, is quite a challenge for sure Bringing our class together, through a unique connecting way Pictures, news, stories and such, she adds with great perfection There are several categories, within, this wonderful site From a Directory, to a Birthday Page and also a Bulletin Board Posting all the information, that classmates send to her In younger years, for information, we asked teachers, dad or mom Our many thanks go out to her, for the great knowledge she has What a wonderful job she has done, and who could be any faster Written by: **********Phyllis A. (Drabel) Abrams
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THE GIFTS
Our Class of '57's 57th reunion, officially began on June 20th, at 5:00 PM. The gifts were presented to me by Denny and Connie, and also, the poem, which was written and assembled by Phyllis Abrams, was also read to the class and myself, by Phyllis. I also received some personalized gifts, more on the "fun" side, of a box of Cracker Jacks, with personalized traits on it, some crayon drawings from the class, and a page which was completely signed by each class member who attended that night. Sue made the individualized "Cracker Jacks" boxes, for each class member there, which were individually worded on the outsides of the boxes, pertaining to each classmates' "traits", sort of like what they are noted for. Cute idea. Bill Babcock brought his wonderful, especially made for us WCS shirts - green material, with white words on them, imprinted on the front, with "WEEDSPORT '57, JOHNNY GREEN", and on the back with "'57, THE CLASS OF A LIFETIME". I also had "Our 57th Reunion" buttons made, for each class member to pin on their shirts, if they desired to do so. |
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Photos of button and "Cracker Jack Fun" packs made by Sue.
Sue put little "comments" on each package, to indicate the individual's particular traits. Cute~ :~)
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SATURDAY, JUNE 21ST
WHAT A GREAT WAY TO START THE DAY! On the morning of Saturday, the 21st, someone had left a vase of flowers at the doorstep of the American Legion. There was a mystery as to whom they were from - until classmates saw a note put inside with them. A very sentimental note, and it was from Mary Jane (Shepherd) De Nike. She suddenly thought of the idea, and felt like going to Science Hill, and picking some flowers from there, to bring to our class of '57's special reunion. Some class members, who had shown up early that AM, to start their work in the kitchen, put them on the table, and they looked really lovely. (See the first photo in the group of photos above.) Our "gang" headed to the American Legion, again for a wonderful brunch which was prepared by classmates: Sat Brunch by Connie, Stell and Lorna - --Breakfast Casserole, Sausage, assorted sweet Breads, OJ/Coffee, Fruit salad, Danish, and probably some other things which I don't rememeber right now, but can add later. It sure was delicious. After the wonderful brunch, we split up, and classmates "did their thing", for the free time we had, between brunch and dinner at night, at the banquet at the school. Janie and Lee were outside the Legion, with their truck, and dog, "Buck" - he is a nice dog who loves to play - and some classmates who were there, did. Then our group of 4 ladies, Joni Jones, Sue Guszcza, Sister Phyllis, and myself, Joan Higham, took a walk around town. It was a perfect day for that with wonderful, sunny weather. We mostly went up and down Brutus St., as well as a few other streets, and we all stopped in at the library, which is really, really very nice. Some classmates joined Denny R. to go through the Weedsport Museum. Pete O'Hara, John Bankert, and Ron Berry. Later that night, most of us went to the Alumni Banquet, at the Weedsport School, and we were served a wonderful meal - nice and hot - there were cheese, crackers, veggies and dip, punch, lemonade, among other things, before the dinner was sereved. Then you had your choice of salad, ham and/or turkey, potatoes, corn, gravy, hot chocolate, coffee and other things, which I can't remember right now. We had cake, or cupcakes for dessert. They did a great job. We were the class with the most number of (Past Alumni) classmates to show up at the banquet. (Possibly 56). Some interesting statistics, brought to our attention, by Denny R.:
As you can see in the photos, we all wore the special "Class of '57" shirts - and several classmates also wore the buttons, which read In our group of photos above, in the 3rd row from the top, and the 3rd photo across, you can see a photo of *John Bankert, who is sitting next to a billboard, with photographs of classmates who have passed away. Of the photos which are shown in this picture, In addition to the above names, are: Wilma Benedict, Joseph Compton, Bill Fillingham, Chuck Goodsell, Bob Hirons, Barbara Learo, Joyce Stevens, and Harold Surdam. After the Alumni Banquet, most of us went back to the lodge, and chatted, laughed - and snacked some more. It was a wonderful day - The next morning, most of the class went to the brunch, at the "Old Erie Restaurant".
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*John Bankert has outstanding talent, in making items such as bottle stoppers, pens, and more -
you can see some of them (Photo #2), which he put on the table for us to view,
and we were welcome to choose any of them to keep, if desired.
Here is a note from John:
I had the bottle stoppers and pens with me, I have 3 lathes of different sizes. On my mornings, I find trees, John B.
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NOTE FROM JANIE:
Sat morning - I always take Buck (our dog) for an early morning walk -- so I ended up at the high school -- saw Science Hill and decided to climb up -- of course not a steep climb since they "trimmed" it -- on the hill were all these varieties of wild flowers - instantly a God inspired thought arrived in my thoughts -- why not pick a bouquet for our brunch table -- fortunately I had water and the 'fancy plastic vazze' in my car. So on my way back up to Auburn and our motel, I stopped at the Legion Hall about 7:30 am, wrote the note and left the bouquet by the door --
The note reads: Dear Members of the Class of a Lifetime '57,
--a centerpiece bouquet gathered this morning from a very 'sacred' place in the heart of each of us --
May its beauty remind each of us of our love for each other.
May He bless each of us with good health by His grace -- Janie (of course when I saw the teasel on Science Hill, I immediately thought of Sue's book and the adventures the Jackson St. gang had on the Hill --in some of her illustrations the teasel is prominent. So the nostalgia 'juices ' were just flowing that morning ---- Janie |
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SUNDAY, JUNE 21ST
UP IN THE MORNIN', OFF TO -------BRUNCH! At the "Old Erie Restaurant". Sunday Brunch-Old Erie Restaurant: Roast Beef au jus, Omelet Station, Muffins, OJ/Coffee, Cheese Souffle, Chicken Scaloppini, Scrambled Eggs, Sausage, Bacon, Fresh Fruit, Green salad, Assorted Sweetbreads. The Old Erie Restaurant was very pleased that we decided to keep it local this year. We had a private room and the buffet and omelet station were set up in our room for us, unlike the stampede at Springside in the past. Everyone was very pleased with the brunch, there.
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The photos below, were submitted by Ron Berry -
Thank you Ron!
(Click on the thumbnails below, for larger views.)
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Photo # 2 shows Denny R. with Richard Kenyon.
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Well, the party's over, but we are still getting "Thank You" notes coming in.
Below is a note from Joni Jones, which she sent to Denny,
but she is also thanking all of the class.
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I hope to add more information,
as it comes in to us -
Please send your photos to me,
if you wish to share them,
And I will do my best
to add them to our class pages.
Thank you!
Many, many thanks to ALL of our classmates who contributed so MUCH effort to make our special
"57th Reunion", as special as it really DID turn out to be!
GREAT job you all did!!
TEAMWORK!! TEAMWORK!! TEAMWORK!!
Back to our 'BULLETIN BOARD'
