It was, to sum
it up, June 19 and 20, 2004 was an absolutely
wonderful weekend! As the leading edge of the Baby Boom generation, the
Hamp High Class of 1964 has met every five years since graduation to
revitalize friendships, reminisce, and have a really good time. And
this 40th Reunion was one of the best!
You came from Hawaii, California, Washington, Ohio, Alabama, Georgia,
Florida, Maryland, and all over the Northeast to our incredible
get-together. And what a great time it was! We had a full schedule of
events, a large turnout, and lots of fun.
Our Reunion Weekend began with the Class of ‘64’s 40th Reunion on
Saturday, June 19 at the home of Bill and Terry Maginnis. We enjoyed a
beautiful day by the pool with Bill manning the grill to make sure
everyone was well-fed and happy. There was lots to talk about and catch
up on and classmates mingled and chatted about their families, careers
(or lack thereof since so many are now retired), interests and
activities, and memories of NHS and Northampton.
Nearly 100 classmates and spouses/friends/guests/children were present
during the afternoon and the talk ranged from descriptions of John
DeRose’s latest property acquisitions to Steve Wolfe’s unending supply
of stories and jokes to Marianne Wojcik’s description of her horse and
dressage to Wayne Wilkinson’s svelte new look to Don Parsisson’s new
career as a sculptor to Peggy Lucey’s upcoming trip to Guatemala to
volunteer her mid-wife services to the poor to Bill Barrett’s
description of his wife’s job working for The Clintons.
And there was lots, lots more!!!
Though there were fireworks in Northampton Saturday night as part of
the city’s 350th celebration, we understand a hearty few remained at
Bill’s to reminisce well into the night and put a significant dent in
his supply of beverages. Most incredibly, these hearty souls were all
present at Sunday’s events in relatively good shape, though Bill and
Terry did admit to needing a nap on Sunday morning.
As our way of thanking Bill and Terry for their ongoing hospitality,
the Class of 64 presented them with a gift of spending money that we
anticipate will be appropriately utilized on their next visit to
Foxwoods Casino.
Many classmates attended the evening fireworks at the Northampton
Airport and others took the opportunity to rediscover downtown
Northampton and its unique shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues.
On Sunday morning, we were the guests of Marilyn Golas Janes and her
husband Rick ’63, who hosted an incredible brunch for the Classes of
’63 and ’64. When Marilyn first proposed the brunch to our class
reunion committee last year, she said she’d like to have coffee and
danish. Well, our very own Martha Stewart clone prepared a brunch fit
for kings and queens, with platters of fruit, a variety of quiches, and
ham, among other delicacies. Since their house is beautifully situated
on a hill, a golf cart was utilized to chauffeur attendees to and from
the house.
We also learned that Bob Ruchames, who brought his 16-year-old son Nate
to the weekend, had just completed a multi-mile run with Nate on the
same route Bob used for track practice in high school. But, even
though it was Father’s Day, we’re sad to announce, Nate had no mercy
and did the run in better time than dad!!!
And just to show just how intergenerational this whole affair was,
Eydie Allen Zive brought her father Pat, 88 and an NHS alumnus, to the
brunch on this Father’s Day. Many of the reuners who had been involved
in sports remembered Pat from his days as sportswriter at the Gazette
and lots of interesting stories were told!
After the brunch, some classmates took advantage of an opportunity to
tour the expanded and renovated Northampton High School and marveled at
the size and facilities offered at the school today.
And then, more than 50 classmates and spouses/friends/guests attended
an incredible event in the history of Northampton: an all-city
high school reunion open to all graduates of Northampton High School,
Smith Vocational High School, and the former St. Michael’s High School.
This event, also part of the city’s 350th celebration, allowed class
members to renew friendships with those who graduated in other years
and with old neighbors and friends from the neighborhoods of our
youth. More than 1,500 people were present at the Fairgrounds
Arena for the reunion, which also featured an Elvis Presley clone doing
The King’s well-known tunes. Our own Susan Royea, who now undisputably
carries the title “The Reunion Queen,” was the chair of this
massive
event, which was three years in the planning. Old townies from nearly
every state and several foreign countries attended the bash, which was
thoroughly enjoyed by all.
For those who couldn’t make the Reunion Weekend, we had several
roving photographers taking pix of the group. Kathy Kyle LaCroix has
photos of the reunion to share on a QuickTime movie CD. Please contact
her for more information. (See e-mail address listed below).
This class website has played a tremendous role in generating the large
attendance we had for the weekend, and we are indebted to Ellen
Nigrosh, the parent of two NHS graduates (including one who received
his diploma just two weeks before the Reunion) for assistance in
getting the website up and making numerous updates to keep things
current. Kathy Kyle LaCroix will be taking over as webmaster to keep
our address list current and post class news as warranted. If you have
a change of address or other information you wish to post on the
website, please send the information along to Kathy
at:
mariner3@charter.net
Classmates should also know we continued the Class of ’64 tradition of
making a class gift at this Reunion. You were generous in your response
to the reunion committee’s request for donations, and your
contributions allowed us to donate $500 to the Northampton Education
Foundation to assist its work in promoting creative and innovating
programs in the Northampton Public Schools; $200 has been added to
the principal of the Ronald J. Darby Class
of 1964 Scholarship that we established at our 25th Reunion for a
graduating senior each year; and $300 will go to the Joseph (Cy) Conner
Scholarship that will also be awarded to a graduating senior each year.
We’ve also decided to initiate a class newsletter that we’ll be sending
out online. We will be preparing issues twice a year, and we’ll be
including news
about classmates and the things they are doing in their lives. You can
send info to me at
gbudgar@rcn.com
We’re interested in hearing about
your careers (or retirements), hobbies and interests, children and
grandchildren, travels, news about other classmates with whom you’re in
contact, and the like. We’re aiming for the first issue to be published
in the fall.