| So
here we are... the 50th anniversary reunion of our high school graduation
is now rapidly sliding back into history! We must be in a time warp. How
did we get here so quickly? Somebody please fire the retrorockets! WOW!
As quickly as the
event came upon us and as quickly as it all happened, the entire reunion
weekend was still just alot of fun. In planning the reunion, our leadership
team (Barbara Dinardo, Fred Marcantonio, Paul Maskery, Verna Daigle Gregory
and Ruth Szczepanic Perrotti) decided to keep the same format that we used
for the 45th. And so it was; Friday, our 'Warm-Up' at Confetti's
and Saturday, our Dinner/Dance at Nuchie's. Our special event on Sunday,
was a very special exhibit of Andy Coppola's work at his studio that was
arranged by Ginny Hill, Ralph Theriault and Gary Coppola, Andy's younger
brother. Over the weekend, we saw a few faces that we had missed seeing
for many years and there were a few others that we did not see unfortunately.
In all, there were 50 of us who attended with our spouses making a fun
crowd of more than 100 people. There were more of us this time than any
previous reunion including the 45th. The consensus seemed to be that the
weekend was a blast for all and the class is eager to do it again but this
time, we want to do it sooner, in three years!
(If
you find certain details are missing or incorrect, please let us know by
clicking here.)
On Friday night,
the Warm-Up... those that could, met at Confetti's for the first
round of merriment and catching up with each other. Gradually the gang
showed up:
Peter
Antonioli,
Carole
Appruzzeze,
Fred
and Joan Beyer,
Bob
Bocwinski,
Ed
"Butch" Bradley,
Bruce
Bradshaw,
Marie
(Shea) Cassidy,
Frank
Castiola,
Paul
and Sheila Cellecz,
Barbara
(DiNardo) Dahlgren,
Joe
& Mary Jean Dellaquila,
Ron
'Butch' and Rita Distin,
John
and Shandra Folcik,
Pat
Ford,
Pat
(Pasniewski) Haddock,
Nonie
(Getchell) & Don Hogwood,
Ginny
Hill,
Dave
and Dianne Hiltpold,
Linda
(Kysor) and Gordy Fore,
Roland
'Punch' Lasher,
Fred
Marcantonio,
Paul
Maskery,
Joel
and Sandy Moss,
Ron
& Missy Pavano,
Ralph
Theriault,
Ed
Wishart, and
Bob
Zdunczyk.
It was great to see
Linda (Kysor) and her husband, Gordy Fore, Pat (Pasniewski) Haddock, Ed
"Butch" Bradley and Carole Appruzzeze who we had not seen in a very long
time. (If we missed any classmate or spouse who was at ths
event, please let us know by clicking here.)
Saturday night,
the Main Event... our class started to gather around 6PM at Nuchie's
in Forestville. Instead of hiring a DJ, we decided this time to rent some
equipment which Ginny organized. Ralph Theriault prepared some CDs of music
from 1954 through 1958 for dinner and dancing. As it was before, the gathering
was just a chaotic crush with handshakes, hugs, and kisses and the most
frequently asked question "How have you been?". As she had done for the
45th, Barb made name tags for the 50 classmates that attended. So, everyone
was easily identified by their high school photos.
Once again, our reunion
brought classmates from all points in the 'lower 48' and points beyond.
Those that came included:
Allan
and Brenda Anderson,
Peter
Antonioli,
Fred
and Joan Beyer,
Bob
and Mary Lee Bocwinski,
Edward
"Butch" Bradley
Bruce
and Carol Bradshaw,
Caryle
Brotherton,
Marie
(Shea) Cassidy,
Frank
Castiola,
Paul
and Shiela Cellecz,
Juliette
(Theriault) and Fern Cyr,
Barbara
(DiNardo) and Ron Dahlgren,
Joe
and Mary Jean "MJ" Dellaquila,
John
Dieli,
Ron
and Rita Distin,
Annette
Dulac,
John
and Shandra Folcik,
Pat
Ford,
Linda
(Kysor) and Gordy Fore,
Judy
(Nesser) and Jim Gallagher,
Austin
Gardner and Ruth Shumbo,
Susan
(Avery) and Tom Gilmartin,
Verna
(Daigle) and Bill Gregory,
John
"Jack" Haddock and spouse, Nora,
Pat
(Pasniewski) Haddock,
David
and Donna Hiltpold,
Anona
(Getchell) and Don Hogwood,
Roland
“Punch” Lasher,
Fred
Marcantonio,
Paul
& Bonnie Maskery,
Harriet
(Borajkiewicz) and Mel Morris,
Joel
and Sandy Moss,
Angela
(Lepore) Nichols and spouse,
Ginny
Hill Noel,
Ann
Vachon
and Ralph Noel,
Charlotte
(Rogers) Oakes,
Kathleen
(Gagnon) Onofrio,
Ron
and Missy Pavano,
Lee
Perrotti, Mike Perrotti's widow,
Ruth
(Szczepanik) Perrotti,
Barbara
(Janik) and Gordon Richmond,
Pat
'Dulac' Roy and spouse,
Joe
Segal,
Louise
(Henne) and Paul Stokosa,
Ralph
and Rosemary Theriault,
Carole
(Appruzzeze) and James Van Hoof
Chuck
Venturi,
Charles
"Tom" and Joann Wickstrom,
Ed
and Lola Wishart, and
Bob
and Abby Zdunczyk.
Gary Coppola and his
lovely spouse, Paule from Québec joined us as our guests.
Charles "Tom" Wickstrom
lead the class with a prayer of Thanksgiving before dinner. Later, our
guest, Gary Coppola addressed the class to update everyone on his family
and to invite everyone to the first ever special exhibition of Andy's work
on Sunday afternoon, the next day. After dinner, Barbara welcomed the class
and wondered out loud what might have happened to Bruce Atwood, who was
billed as the Master of Ceremonies for the Reunion Dinner. Paul Maskery
lead us in a moment of silence for our deceased classmates who include:
Hugh
Conlin
Alan
Couch
Benjamin
Lopez
Sandra
(Pavano) Dulac
Carol
Jean (Vicinus) Kallenbach
George
Nicholas
Andrew
Coppola
James
Kenure
Georgia
Hart
Ralph
Minella, Sr.
Michael
Perotti, Sr.
Afterward, Barbara
read a letter from Jack Sadlowski's family letting us know that Sid's health
is in a serious decline and that he would not be able to attend the reunion.
Barbara also announced
that the class had received a gift from the family of our Class Advisor,
Mr. Gaudette. On a table in the dining room were 50 gift boxes. Each was
personally addressed to a classmate who attended the reunion dinner. Each
gift was accompanied with a short note from George T. Gaudette, Jr., son
of Mr. Gaudette. The note read as follows:
| Dear Class
of '58:
My Dad was
your Class Advisor. His years at PHS were the best of his distinguished
career. I was three years old when you all graduated; but I can still remember
my Dad reminiscing about PHS. I'm absolutely certain that he would be proud
of you.
I congratulate
you for sticking together for all these years; the mere fact that 50 classmates
will enthusiastically get together 50 years after graduation speaks volumes.
JRT's website is a remarkable testimonial to your class, and you're fortunate
to have it.
Please accept
this small gift as a token of my Dad's gratitude for knowing and working
with you all. My sincere hope is that you all have many more years of happy,
healthy good times, and enjoy many more reunions.
The PHS Class
of '58 deserves it.
Warm regards,
George T.
Gaudette Jr. |
Well, as Barbara
noted,receiving this touching message and generous gift from Mr. Gaudette's
family was a most tender moment of our reunion. The class was fortunate
in having had Mr. Gaudette as its Class Advisor especially those of us
who had him as our Home Room teacher. A great man indeed.
Consistent with this
thought, Alan Anderson reminded us very eloquently of our great fortune
to have been raised and educated in the 50's. Truer words were never spoken,
Alan. Pat Ford also rose to comment on being so very proud to have been
associated with the Class of '58, a class that she and others have known
for its welcoming and inclusive nature. And on a less than high note, Ralph
Theriault reminded the class to keep in touch with each other using the
Internet. He urged those who are not yet 'connected' on the Internet to
do so as a way of keeping in touch when our mobility will surely begin
to wane in the years ahead.
To make sure that
she would be able to use those great name tags for the next reunion, Barbara
organized a drawing that required everyone to put their nametags in a hat.
The drawing was for a 10-CD boxed set of music from the 50's that Ralph
Theriault especially produced for the reunion. Rosemary Theriault drew
Chuck Venturi's name tag out of the hat as the winner.
The dinner fare was
fabulous although most classmates seemed more engaged with conversation
than they were on enjoying their dinners. After dinner and with all announcements
made, everyone was roused to the dance floor to the sound of Fats Domino's
"I Found My Thrill on Blueberry Hill". Everyone sang along as we rekindled
those precious memories from years ago. We 'cavorted and carried on' for
the rest of the evening in the good tradition of our class and of our generation.
(If
we left out names of classmates or spouses who were at this event on Saturday,
please let us know by clicking here.)
Then Sunday afternoon
many of us gathered at Andy Coppola's studio at the invitation of Gary
and Paule Coppola including the following:
The
Beyers,
The
Bocwinskis,
The
Dahlgrens,
The
Dell'Aquilas, and
The
Theriaults, as well as
Peter
Antonioli,
Frank
Castiola,
Ginny
Hill,
Fred
Marcantonio and
Chuck
Venturi.
The exhibit was awesome.
It was beautiful. It was inspiring. Many commented that they could feel
Andy's presence after spending time with his works and especially feel
the sculptures which he crafted so beautifully with his hands. We learned
that Andy was a figurative sculptor whose art focuses on the human figure.
It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and Gary had brought some of Andy's
sculptures outside. Everyone enjoyed the exhibit as we toasted our good
friend, Andy with champagne and enjoyed those tasty hors d'oeuvres prepared
by Gary's lovely spouse, Paule. We also had the great pleasure of meeting
Andy's close friend, Judy Mazaka who served as his model for many years.
A hearty thank you to Gary and Paule for preparing this most memorable
event. For those who were not able to join us for the exhibit, a special
presentation has been produced for our website which tries to capture the
special exhibit. Check it out in 'Our Photo Album' section in the 'Andrew
J. Coppola Collection'. (If we left out names of classmates
or spouses who were at this event on Sunday, please let us know by clicking
here.)
Many of us took photos
and many generously shared their photos with the class web site. John Dieli
was kind enough to be our class photographer once again. His photos are
also featured on our website of course. Thank you, John!
To wrap up, it is
true that time continues to sift through our fingers. But it is also true
that the friendship, sense of humor and that great ability to have fun
is an attribute of our class that will not sift through our fingers. We
still have it, guys!
So we'll see you
in three years. In the meantime, we would like those classmates who were
not able to join us to redouble their effort to come to our next reunion
in 2011. As much fun as our reunion was, can you imagine the party that
we could have had if we had been joined by those who we missed who are
listed here (asterisk identifies those for who we have no contact information).
Bruce
Atwood,
Millicent
Cambo,
Joyce
Carlson,
Bonnie
Coffin,
Linda
Comas,
Pat
Ellis,
Jim
Grant,
Dorothy
Entwistle,
Jan
Fanciullo,
Lana
Fox,
Catherine
Gabes,
Janice
Green,
Anna
Grimaldi,
Nancy
Grizzel*,
Jane
Hodlin,
Barbara
Hurd*,
Jane
Irving,
Nancy
Johnson,
Geraldine
Kordek*,
Joe
Kratka,
Carolyn
Lamprecht*,
Valerie
Lofgren*,
Carol
Mangan,
Frances
Meehan,
Jane
Monsam*,
Mary
Monteleone*,
Fred
Mooers*,
Bob
Osgood,
Dick
Passmore,
Joan
Perfetto,
Boyde
Ripley,
Jim
Rudolph*,
Alicia
Schmidt*,
Keith
Schonrock,
June
Smith,
Marion
Suess,
Judy
Trijonis,
John
Varrone*,
Kenlyn
Westergren,
Bob
Whelan,
Joan
White*,
Irmagard
Witzke
Barbara
Wysocki,
Irene
Zyla.
Final thought:
a hearty thanks to Barbara and Ginny for caring enough to organize our
reunions and get everything going. We know that for them, this is a labor
of love but it is still work that must be done. Hats off to those two ladies!
Keep on rockin'...
JRT |
