Binghamton Central High School 50th Reunion! Aug 11-13

Barbara attended her 50th high school reunion. Who ever thought that those words would ever come out of the mouth.....unbelievable to think that 50 years has passed. We went to the 20th reunion and didn't have much fun, so it was tempting to skip this. But, Bob Feldman made personal calls which convinced a lot of reluctant people to make the effort.

Cindy stayed with Barbara at the Doubletree hotel where the reunion was held.

The day that I arrived, I took a nostalgic walk around the old neighborhood and over to Recreation Park, a place that was important to my childhood. It was happy/sad. It was sad that Mom and Dad's house is still boarded up from a fire, but a neighbor told me that she was hopeful that it was being resolved as it has started to be shown by realtors.

The Merry Go Round - forever free of charge

Bandstand

The fountain that used to be for children. We were forbidden to go in during the polio scare

Recreation Park swimming pool on the site where we used to ice skate

The Woods - site of many happy memories

Statue to George Johnson who made the park possible and forever free of charge

The first night was a "mixer" - sort of a cocktail party. It was very enjoyable. First of all, we had a big class (450+). And, we had a January and a June graduation and the classes did not mix much. So, there were lots of people that I either did not know, or had forgotten. The nice thing about being 67 or 68 is that age is a great equalizer - no bragging, no cliques, no posturing. So, it was a lovely evening and memories were jogged and lots and lots of wonderful stories were told.

The next day, I met cousin Len and Carol for breakfast at Jody's on Upper Court Street where we often ate with Mom and Bob.

In the middle of the day, I went over to Kathy's and together with Judy Coleman, we went to Johnson City for Tom's 70th birthday party. Wow - what a production - a band, even. We only stayed a little while as we were going to the dinner for the reunion and the party would probably just be getting revved up by then. But, it was nice to see his house and to meet his partner, Jennifer, who is a nurse and a potter. (I got a few pieces from her.)

Laurie and Tom on his 70th

Tom, Laurie, Jennifer

Kathy, Laurie, Tom, Jennifer in Tom's backyard

Judy and Tom

Band tent

Kathy, Linda Reckow, Cindy, me

Girl Scout Troop 10

Kathy, Cindy, me

Then Cindy and I went down, met Kathy, and attended the dinner party for the reunion. The almost-40 people who have died, had photos on a screen which was sobering and sad. There were some nice speeches, including one by our favorite teacher, Mr. Lorden who is well into his 90s, but still very sharp. (He reminded me of Cal, Mark's dad.) He was the last principal of BCHS as it is now merged with North High School. Cindy, Kathy and I told Mr. Lorden how much he meant to us, especially Kathy and Cindy who said that their chemistry courses in college were easy because they had been so well prepared.

Cindy, Kathy and Judy Coleman at dinner

Mr. Lorden, former chemistry teacher extraordinarire and later the last principal of BCHS

Again, it was a lovely gathering - stories, stories, stories.

Then, on Sunday, I drove back to White River Junction and, amazingly, Mark and I converged at the Toyota rental within 4 minutes of each other.

The amazing gas mileage I got - $22 worth of gas for the whole trip!