ReunionReport

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ReunionReport

Version 21, changed by admin. 04/27/2008. Show version history

2005 Reunion Report

Every reunion claims to have been a great success. This one actually was. Some highlights:

• Postcard-perfect weather.

• Exceptional hospitality by Joan and George: accommodations for many of our classmates (in Joan's terms, a "senior slumber party"), dinner Thursday evening, breakfast all three mornings, and a delicious farewell brunch on Sunday.

• A warm reception by Bill Morris (Head of School) and his wife Sue, Alex Edwards-Bourdrez (Assistant Development Director for Alumni Relations), Carl Pozzi (Director of Development), Deborah Schoman (Upper School Principal), and Judith James (Library Director).

• The Friday kickoff luncheon at the Marion Jackson House. John Galbraith and George Cadwell shared master-of-ceremonies duties. Particularly touching were George’s two original poems, one a nostalgic view of family and radio as they were in his childhood and the other a moving tribute to Bruce Whiteley. Both are reproduced here, both in writing and in George's own voice. Naomi and Owen presented a tribute to Jack Dempsey, and Alex Edwards-Bourdrez presented a 72-slide PowerPoint show on the school, including many vintage photos

Note: The Marion Jackson House is a historic home built in Jericho about four generations ago by an early Quaker family, and moved to campus a few years ago. According to one source (http://208.39.186.24/qt/archive/files/TOURJericho.htm), it is a “ … handsome old Italianate house …. Note-worthy are the molded window heads, the two-over-two sash, the decorative sawn spandrels of the front porch, the handsome original clapboards, and the paired brackets at roof edge, on porches and on one-story bay window. This was the home of the late Miss Marion Jackson, a well-known authority on Jericho history. The house was built by Miss Jackson's great grandfather for his son at the time of his marriage. Her great-great-grandmother was Sarah R. Hicks, the daughter of Elias Hicks.” You will see interior and exterior photos of this house in the photo albums below.

• Graduation-portrait T-shirts for all. Thank you, Joan and George.

• A tour of FA’s impressive (to those of us who had not been back in some years) physical plant after Friday lunch, followed by an exhibition of 1950s photos and memorabilia mounted by FA Archivist Mary Ann Reardon in the Kumar Wang Library.

• Cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and dinner at Owen and Bernadette’s exquisite home in Roslyn Harbor.

• The surprisingly elaborate Fall Fair on Saturday.

• The dinner dance at Brookville Country Club on Saturday night.

Note: Here we began serious discussion about our Class Gift, and got off to a good start when several contributions were made or pledged on the spot. At this writing, we have gifts and pledges totaling $7,500 from 10 people and no one has yet declined to contribute. A proper canvas of the class will commence shortly, with the goal of 100% participation even if at a token level.

• A memory-evoking worship at Meeting House, followed by refreshments available from a bake/beverage sale mounted by young students and their parents.

Not everything was perfect. Jean Claude came all the way from France, only to suffer a back spasm that took him out of circulation Friday night and Saturday, at least one of us suffered a lost room reservation, and local roads proved baffling on occasion, but the wonder is that there were not more problems.

The social interactions were easy, instant, and warm, probably thanks to our having all been friends half a century ago. There was a lot of reminiscing and bringing one another up to date, of course, but also a lot of talk about mutual interests and the future. It was an honor to welcome Bruce’s widow Walda and daughter Karin, who brought the manuscripts of two more books that Bruce wrote on his sea-faring adventures after Tina; we hope to make them available to all in some form. And it was an honor to have Tom Bentien ’56 with us – ebullient as ever – and also Pete's son Peter Jr., now an independent marketing consultant in Salt Lake City.

Here is a complete list of those who attended, followed by Web albums of more than 400 photos from the memory chips of several digital cameras. If Art didn’t download your camera’s chip, please contact him about providing full-resolution digital copies of your pictures.

Classmate (click on name for senior page image)	Reunion Picture (click on thumbnail for larger picture)
Abramson, Sandy	Could not attend
Atwater, Doris	Could not attend
Aubourg, Jean-Claude His souvenir album from 1953-54 (scanned during reunion weekend). We appreciate his bringing it with him on this trip.
Bentien, Tom (class of '56)
Boeing, Janet
Bryson, Connie	Could not attend
Buck, Emilie and Ted Turano
Cadwell, George
Cares, Herb	Could not attend
Conklin, Sandy	Could not attend
De Contades, Anne	Could not attend
Eadie, Connie	Could not attend
Egan, Peggy	Could not attend
Foster, Peg	Could not attend
Foster. Mary	Could not attend
Galbraith, John
Geoffrion, Art
Giardino, Steffie and Maurice Dobrinin	See Steffie in next picture.
Glenn, Woody
Graff, Fil	Could not attend
Graham, Jim and Gael
Hellman, Mike	Could not attend
Hickok, Sallie	Could not attend
Hogg, Hazel	Could not attend
Jackson, T.J. and Angie
Johnson, Naomi
Klinge, Pete and Sandy, with their son Peter Klinge, Jr.
Konvalinka, Joan and George Hawkins
Larson, Keve
Miller, Joanna	Could not attend
Milham, Hazel	Could not attend
Munro, Allan
Munson, Quin
Randall, Rick	Could not attend
Schneider, Beegie
Smith, Owen and Bernadette
Steiner, Ivan	Could not attend
Volow, Mike	Could not attend
West, Julie	Could not attend
Whiteley, Walda and Karin Bruce's senior page
Wilkinson, Diane	Could not attend
Wood, Phyllis	Could not attend

Reunion Photo Albums

Click on the links below for all the photos that Art has been able to obtain to date. All online photo albums on this website work in exactly the same way. If you took photos, please contact Art so that your albums can be added as well.

George Cadwell's Pictures (108)
John Galbraith's Pictures (47)
Art Geoffrion's Pictures (45)
Jim Graham's Pictures (102)
Peter Klinge's Pictures (15)
Peter Klinge Jr.'s Pictures (10)
Quin Munson's Pictures(35, including 9 new earlier pictures added 10/14)
Emmie and Ted Turano's Pictures (41)
Walda and Karin Whiteley's Pictures (63)

Jean Claude's souvenir album from 1953-54 (30 scans), which he kindly brought with him on this trip. There are shots of Art, Emmie, Jean Claude, Owen, Pete, the Galbraith family, and others.
Jean Claude also sent these 4 pictures after he returned home from reunion. New 11/17/05