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We did it! The reunion was a huge success! From the response I've heard, everyone had a wonderful time. To extend the fun, we are updating this site so that everyone can share reunion stories and photos. Perhaps along the way, we'll get reacquainted with our "old" friends. Whether or not you were able to attend the reunion, we hope you'll submit your photos to our online album -- ones you've collected during elementary and high school, ones you took at the reunion, and current photos of you and your family today. Introduce yourself in our forum, catch us up on what's been going on in your life over the last 20 years, and, of course, entertain us with stories of your reunion adventures.
Volunteers began stepping forward and offering to serve on various planning committees. Our first goal was to secure the locations for the reunion. We had hoped to have them reserved a year before the event but, like so many classes before us, the task proved to be one of the most difficult to complete. Many local establishments had gone out of business, were working through bankruptcy, were booked every weekend during the summer months, or simply did not want our business. Unfortunately, we were not successful in meeting this goal until a few weeks before the date our reunion was held. As a result, there was a furious scramble to notify people about the reunion. Another obstacle -- we'd spent a year and a half securing classmate contact information only to find that many people's information had changed or was incomplete. Luckily, as the word began to spread, more and more people offered to help make phone calls. And make phone calls, we did! Having logged over 3600 minutes on my phone in the last two weeks, not including calls made to committee members for progress reports, I can only imagine how many hours everyone else spent "on the horn". And considering that at least one third of our class lives out of state, I'd hate to see all those long distance bills. OUCH! My greatest appreciation goes out to all those "callers".
Sixty-four classmates and guests met first on Friday night at Via Venuto restaurant for an Italian dinner (heard it was delicious) and a lot of socializing (of course, the open bar might have made everyone a bit more, er, social). Joanie Callihan-Oliverio welcomed the group and then opened the floor for alumni introductions (one alumus jokingly greeted everyone by stating "Hello, my name is ----- and I'm an alcoholic" -- can anyone say "AA meeting"?). In a solemn moment, Class Vice President Richard Gaines led the group in a prayer of remembrance to honor April Benear, Tim Jenkins and Tina Jenkins. Tickets to Idewild Park in Pennsylvania were the contest prizes offered in three categories: "Traveled the Farthest" -- Richard and Deidre Baker Gaines (from Florida), "Changed the Least" -- Debra Starkey, "Changed the Most" -- tied Pat and Paul McCloud. After what was, I'm sure, a very late night, many of the party-goers met up with other classmates at the family picnic on Saturday. Bringing covered-dishes and coolers filled with ice and (some questionable) beverages, the group of over 100 adults and children filled the park with their shouts of laughter and surprise. A strong rainstorm forced a halt to the activities a bit early in the afternoon, but the party did not stop... Everyone was invited to bring a lawn chair and meet at Joanie's house that evening for (what Joanie calls) a Backyard Brawl. Over 50 people converged on her lawn. This may have been the most exciting event of the weekend perhaps, in part, because people had become more relaxed and more open. No topic was taboo and everyone was fair game for harassment. For instance, consider the twins -- Pat and Paul McCloud. Always good-humored gents, they apparently dressed alike. In school, most people could tell them apart only by the direction they parted their hair. Pat tells me they have lost a good bit of that hair (and they apparently shaved that off), which means, of course, that no-one can tell them apart now. And just when people were certain they had figured out who was who....the guys switched name tags! It seems that everyone had a good time. And I'm certain everyone has a story or two to tell. Hopefully the attendees will share a few of them in our forum (see The Gossip). Read a few. Post a few. Get the "real story". One final note -- please keep in touch with me so that I may contact you about future Class of '83 alumni events. Although I've moved around a lot over the years (I'm currently in Florida), I have kept the same e-mail address (urlovingit@aol.com) for the past nine years, and can also be reached on my alumni e-mail addy (SHHSHawkZone@aol.com). Of course I plan on maintaining the Hawk Zone website indefinitely, so you should always be able to reach me there. If all else fails, my mother still lives in the same house in Good Hope where I grew up. Give her a shout. Remember, we can't notify you if we can't find you. Hope to see you at our next reunion. Sincerely, Bobbi Spiker-Conley
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We began planning the reunion almost two years ago with the
creation of the Class of '83 Reunion Website. Initially this site
contained an ever-growing Class List of names, reunion planning tips, opinion
polls, an idea-exchange forum, printable public awareness posters and
"business cards", committee progress notices, and much more.
Site visitors were encouraged to submit contact information to help us locate
"missing" classmates.
All
the effort proved worthwhile. Here's a recap of our Class of 1983 - 20th
Reunion. (For more details, visit our forum where I'm certain people
will begin sharing the "real stories" about the events.)