Introduction

You can teach an old dog new tricks. I'm Paul Phillip and I'm learning all about blogging which I never thought I would need or want to do. No offense to anyone, but throughout these posts, I'll be using the women's maiden names. It's hard enough to remember 40 years ago without the added burden of married names that I may never have heard of.

The first planning meeting of the reunion committee was held on January 21. Thanks to Daryl Colwell for getting us started. Also attending were Deb Hatch, Lori Nagaki, Tammy Jantz, Shirley Johnson, Steve Benzel and Paul Phillip. Our first task is to be sure we have contact information for everyone. To that end, please send your email address to Paul Phillip. And encourage anyone you are in contact with to do the same. We'll be gathering more information for a reunion book to be created later. 

The golf course has been reserved for Saturday, September 10. Also discussed were a Friday night social, a tour of the high school, t-shirts, and a scavenger hunt. If you have any ideas, feel free to send them to anyone on the committee or show up at the next meeting (February 11 at 7:00 in the Administration Building).

If you would like to follow this blog, you can select the "Follow by email" link on the left side of the page or there is a link to get RSS feeds at the bottom of each page. If you would like to post something or you have ideas you would like to see incorporated in this blog, send it/them to me.  I do have some information from commencement and some pictures that I'll be posting soon.

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Is there a good excuse?
If you are not coming to the reunion, you need a good excuse and a note from your Mom. The following reasons have been tried and are unacceptable:

Excuse #1: I'm overweight.
Rebuttal: You're not alone. Note t-shirt sizes being offered.

Excuse #2: I'm a different person than I was in high school
Rebuttal: Lucky for you, we ALL are. Let's face it: we could only have improved.

Excuse #3 I don't look as good as I'd like. I am (choose one or more) bald, have wrinkles, saddlebags, grey hair and no one will recognize me.
Rebuttal: Guess what! You won't recognize anyone else, either. Using the reunion committee as a representative sample, our whole class looks like a "before" photo in a plastic surgery ad. n.b. is it just me, or have the women aged much better than the men?

Excuse #4: I'm not successful. I'm not (choose one or more) a lawyer, a doctor or rich.
Rebuttal: You'll be pleasantly surprised to find how much everyone has matured. We may be plump and wrinkled (see Excuse #3, above) but we're not stupid. Money is not success.

Excuse #5: I was not in a popular clique in school
Rebuttal: Now that we're old and smart, those cliques have dissolved just like the superficialities they were based on. The only cliques you'll notice at the reunion will be the sound of your joints as you walk around.

By Mary Fobian, former Reunions magazine editor

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Regardless of whom I meet or what I do or what I have become,
it is the friends I grew up with that I feel closest to and 
that I have the most in common with.
Though we don't see each other often,
when we do, it is as though we were always together ~
so comfortable, so natural, so honest.
I guess old friends who know where we come from,
who know our backgrounds, who know our families
have an understanding of us that no new friend can ever have.

 Susan Polis Schultz

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In past years, reunions may have been about "show and tell," 
but this time around, it's all about "show up and share!" 
All differences aside…

Whether you were rich or poor, athlete or artist, an introvert or extrovert;
Whether you were maintaining a 4.0 or just sliding by;
Hanging with the "in-crowd" or living at the library…
IT DOESN'T MATTER!

Whether you're running a Fortune 500 company or just punching the clock, retired or collecting unemployment; 
Whether you're living large in luxury, getting by okay or just flat out broke…
IT DOESN'T MATTER!

Whether you're still hot stuff, weathering well, or aging beyond recognition;
Whether your shape is slight or ample, firm or fluffy;
Whether your hair is in abundance or a bit in absence…
IT DOESN'T MATTER!

Whether you're happily married (for the first, second, or third time), or divorced;
Whether you're living single or with a significant other;
Whether you come with a date, or come alone…
YOU KNOW, IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER!

Is our message clear yet?

There really is no excuse good enough to keep you from attending your 40th class reunion.
We have been through so much together and possess a shared history from the most sensitive time in our lives. 
Through this we are linked for life.
Who could better understand where you are coming from?

 author unknown

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Even if there is no one you are dying to see at the reunion, someone may want to see you. I know I've traveled 1100 miles to come to each of the last three reunions and was quite disappointed not to see some people -- a lot of whom live right there in Alliance or nearby. Let's make this reunion one for the books and have as many people as possible show up! 

Paul