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WELL,
IT WAS |
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Yes, our 40-year reunion was surely nothing short
of spectacular
― for those
of us who went, it was truly the party weekend of our lifetimes. It was
made of the magic that melts away years and decades and brings us back to our
time of youth. This phenomenon occurs just from being reunited so briefly
with dear old friends and others who shared that wonderful experience with us so
long ago ¾ at that very special time of our lives
that is celebrated in this website ― and in
our reunions.
This reunion was filled with special, new
surprises. After a number of us met "unofficially" at 
for lunch Friday, in both
tears and laughter, we toured our old school. It has changed a
lot, but is not without its recognizable remains. (Click
here
for an emotional account by one of us of a typical response to touring
our school after 40 years.) As we left OHS, a blue and white,
8-foot banner welcoming us back and proclaiming that our class was
"Still
Cool"
and that it
"Still Rules"
was unrolled for the class for the first
time.
After the tour, we
caravanned in our cars around town a little bit, stopping to reminisce
some more at some familiar spots ― changed,
of course, but still recognizable, for example, the Great Lincoln
Shopping Center. We were greeted on arrival by
― and surprised
― at the little red store (a
precursor to the modern convenience store) at Waukena Avenue and
Oceanside Road, a childhood favorite for many of us, with a marquee
welcoming our class back home (thanks to Mel Krimko, who arranged it).
Friday night, after some of us
met for dinner at the Pantry Diner, we met at a popular Oceanside watering hole
(operated by the same family for 70 years), Johnny Russell's Oceanside Grill,
where we were greeted once again by another marquee welcoming our class back
home,
and inside by the big blue and
white welcoming banner, as we gathered for drinks and and spent a wonderful
evening in noisy, nostalgic conversation.
Saturday night, of course, was the big
event. As we entered the
Long Island
at "Re-Uniondale," NY, we were greeted
outside the ballroom door by a classic '55 Chevy,
displaying a sign in its
windshield once again saying,
Welcome Back, Class of 1960,
Still Cool, Still
Rules.
Once inside, we saw the big blue
banner again.
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And did we PARTY!! |
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Our evening was spiced with memories,
some of them inspired, perhaps, by the classic car that greeted us at
the door, a sentimental slide show, or sound clips featuring the
voice of Alan Freed 
doing dedications
in 1955 and
― heard
for the first time in 40 years
― the
voices of our own classmates, recorded live, on stage in the OHS
auditorium in November 1959 ― our
senior play,
Teahouse of the August Moon. But
mostly our memories were inspired by conversation
― lots of it!
Here are some typical reactions received from our
classmates:
-
Jeany
Bomberg wrote, "What a
time we had!! How fortunate we all are."
-
Bill
Liebman: "I can't imagine any other class
having something so rich ..."
-
PeeWee Weitzman:
"I
was so glad to see everyone ... the years melted away, and I loved it!"
-
Karin Nover: "I
had a great time and am really happy I came."
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Sue
Schlesinger: "Whattaparty ... it was
wonderful ... had a spectacular time. I keep thinking about it and loved
every minute."
-
Jeff Menton: "What a great time ... it all
came together wonderfully."
-
BJ Diamant: "...
proves we were and still are a very unique group of people and very fine and
good, too
... a huge reinforcement that I
grew up with wonderful people ... ."
-
And Lloyd Becker wrote, "My
wife ..., who is an Oceanside grad of '66, LOVED our reunion and the class
members whom she met. She has said several times how she feels more
connected in spirit to our class with its friendliness and enthusiasm than
she ever did with hers."
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As he did in 1990, Howie welcomed the class to its 40-year millennium
reunion. This time, he focused on the differences between our collective
high school experience and that of our children and grandchildren. |
Introduced by our one and
only Doreen (Silverstein), Howie approached the microphone to the tune
of our website theme song, "Sea Cruise." Appropriate ambience was
afforded Howie's address by a nostalgic slide show of familiar images
from the '50s,
as he reminded us, once again, that our
time in high school
"was when we formed many of the
values we now hold dear and many of the most intimate, precious and
lasting friendships of our lives."
"Reunions
are all about remembering."
Howie said,
"And
what spectacular memories we, as a class, have to share."
Among other things, he also
pointed out that
"the older we get, the easier it
becomes ― just by spending a little time together sharing such
sentiments ― to turn old acquaintances into dear old friends and dear
old friends into treasures. And in just a few magical moments ―
just like before ― it's yesterday once more."
(Click here to hear
Howie's
welcoming address in its entirety.)
And of course, we did
the Stroll once more.
There was lots of hugging,
laughing, smiling (almost enough to break our faces), and lots of
dancing to our very own, old time rock 'n' roll. (People who
attended a class of 1980 reunion of another school in the next
ballroom conceded after both events had ended,
"Your music was better than
ours.")
And when the DJ played "Shout," well,
It
WAS 1959 again. (You'll
just have to see the rest of the pictures. Click
on the Brownie at the bottom of this page.)
Oh,
what a feeling, what a night!
On Sunday, many of us continued
our party weekend of the century at the beach,
where our big blue welcoming banner was again
displayed. Some of us were dressed in our "official" 40-year
reunion t-shirts that declared "We
Rocked Around the Clock"
as we continued to catch up with each other and
share our feelings about the magical weekend that was then coming to a close.
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