Moments to Remember

Why are Class Reunions Important, Anyway?

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"...The laughter we were glad to share
Will echo through the years ….
When other nights and other days
May find us gone our separate ways
We will have these moments to remember"

The Four Lads

Whenever the invitation arrives for the next high school class reunion one's mind may begin to list all the reasons for avoiding such an occasion:

  • I won't know anybody, it's been fifty years!
  • Who cares, I've new friends now.
  • It will be expensive
  • I don't look like I am thirty anymore
  • There's no room in my schedule

We could probably list a dozen more reasons to turn down an offer from your former classmates to celebrate the anniversary of your graduation.  Behind every one of the negative thoughts is the fact that we are not thirty anymore.  As we put on a few years, things don't seem as exciting.  It's just more complicated to travel and meet people than when we were young.  "Been there, done that" is becoming our mantra.

The library is full of books about aging and isolation!  We've done it all by now and we keep finding it easier to just avoid the things we once enjoyed. Computers and television have made "couch potatoes" out of many of us.  Our once large family and group of friends are shrinking.  Withdrawal is easy!

This article is intended to re-ignite the fire in you.  We want you to join us in what will be one of our best celebrations since June of 1961.  This is the ONE you don't want to miss!  Think of this as a return to your roots and the people with whom you spent a great deal of your youth.

Yes, it has been a long time for some of us.  Maybe you've missed the last several reunions or maybe all of them.  It will take a bit of reacquainting to get comfortable with your old classmates.  To assist with this renewal of friendships, we have established a website on which each classmate has his or her own page(s).  Many of us have posted extensive biographical information, as well as photos.  Spend some time on the website and see what your old friends have been doing for the last fifty years.  Just think of all that you'll have to talk about when you finally greet them in August.  To get things going you can even "live Chat" with them on the website.

As we've gone through college, taken jobs and established families, we have also made new friends at each stop.  New friends and acquaintances are wonderful and an important part of the life process.  But old friends, like your first bicycle, are usually the ones that provide the real, enduring memories.  What better time than at the end of our sixth decade of life is there to spend a few days with those old friends and memories?

Only you can determine the worth of a trip to Rochester and several days of reminiscing.  Your class reunion committee is very aware of the different range of family budgets among our two hundred plus classmates.  For that reason, we have designed four days of events, each with a specific cost so that you can decide what fits your financial needs.  We even have a few classmates who have made contributions to a fund so that we can anonymously assist some who want to be with us, but just don't have the means.

Robert Louis Stevenson once said "Vanity dies hard; in some obstinate cases it outlives the man."  Well I can tell you for sure that we don't have any "obstinate cases" in the class reunion committee.  We have had several meetings now and we all checked our vanity at the door.  The August events will not include a Miss America or Mr. Universe contest.  Just come as you are, we are all different than we were in 1961, there is no fooling anyone.  Each classmate knows your age because it's also his or hers!  This will be an event to laugh, reminisce and have fun; not to judge others.

This may be the only event besides your wedding that is important enough to change your schedule to attend.  If you have other things planned on the second weekend of August, maybe you should consider moving them to a different weekend.  There will be a lot of classmates looking for you.  Don't disappoint them or the large committee planning this event.  We really want to see you and know about your life since high school.

In researching fifty year class reunions, the committee has talked to lots of people involved with planning and staging such events.  One such person, a videographer, told us that our class can be divided into three equal groups:  the classmates who are eager to attend a reunion, those who have absolutely no desire to attend and a group who has interest but haven't quite made up their minds to attend the event.   We completely understand if you are in the first or second group.  However, if you are undecided about attending we hope you'll give the ideas presented in this article lots of thought.  Spend some time on our website, clear out your calendar, shine up your shoes and join us for a weekend of fun and fellowship - the Class of '61 way! 

We hope to see you in August.

Your Class Reunion Committee

Here is our website:

http://www.rochesterhs61.com


 

 

 



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