CCHS Classes of 1965 and 1966 Reunion Anecdotes


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Class of 1965-1966 Reunion Attendee Comments
Post Reunon Laurels The commentary is zipping around the internet and greatly appreciated by the many people who worked so hard on the July 29-30, 2005 event. "Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who worked on the reunion. The weekend was perfect. The schedule was loose enough that people could feel comfortable doing whatever -- no lockstep stuff. The food was good and plentiful. The cost (including everything being strictly casual) was great for the many of us whose presence included travel/rental car/hotel costs. The bag is great, and certainly far more useful than a t-shirt! Thanks to all who brought that about. Our weekend there was just about 48 hours, from arriving at the Buffalo airport to returning there; but because of the relaxed structure of the reunion, we enjoyed both events, a lunch with some old friends, visit with another friend in Buffalo, some touring, and time with family, without ever feeling that we had to hurry to be somewhere else. Please pass this appreciation along to everyone else who worked so hard and so long for this." Anna (Kihlberg) '65 and Bill Large "64 Dave, I thought about all of you all weekend, while I was home. I even heard a 60-70's CD advertised on TV and thought of the Friday night dances in the cafeteria after the basketball games. I hope you all had fun and I look forward to hearing more about the entire event. Take care, Margie Lee Fick A Note From a Faculty Member Dear Susan, My wife & I were very happy to be part of the reunion. I'm glad I was able to add a little bit to the entertainment. It was fun seeing the enthusiasm the teams had naming the tunes. You must be pretty well drained of energy at this point. You did a great job organizing everything. It takes a lot of dedication to put a reunion together. You deserve a good rest at this point. Enjoy some well deserved rest and relaxation. Tony Sorrento Renewed Friendships Several alumni have remarked how the reunion and the process leading up to it have helped exorcise some lingering high school demons or re-established cherished friendships. Here's a note from Marcia Child O'Connor to Barbara Knapp which I hope they don't mind sharing: Barb, We sure had a great time at that reunion. Living where we do and not having contact with anyone for so long has taken its toll. I could definitely see a closeness between the committee members who live near each other which I may never attain. But we were able to renew friendships and really enjoy each other's company and that is fantastic. The whole concept, the memorial, the barbershop singing, the two days of get-togethers, the fabulous food, the red bag, the wooden plaques, all that is sooooooooooooo much more than any other reunion I've heard about. Even the thoughtful touches, like the nametags with our yearbook photos, the roses and lilies of the valley, the drawings, and Tony's music---all made for a memorable time. My son's 10-year was just a night of bar-hopping and hardly anyone attended because they didn't bother to carefully research the current location of the grads to invite them, including my son. Other reunions I spoke with friends about were just one evening at a pricey restuarant. We can be very proud to be a part of the memories of the 39th/40th reunion. Please keep in touch, and if you ever have an inclination to travel to WV, white-water raft, or if I hear of that symphony/bagpipes concert, we would be honored to have you as our guest. Marcia	The Driving Force Several alums have commented that this 40th-39th reunion will be long-remembered and long-talked about. Just in case our memories fade faster than we expect, I want to state something for the record while the reunion is still fresh in mind: without Susan Long Jarrett, it never would have happened. Through the internet and the ease of instant email communication, we were able to reach out to a huge number of people. I'm sure we set an all-time attendance record for a Clarence reunion. Heck, each class alone -- '65 and '66 -- probably set a record, let alone the combined total. Speaking personally, I had a big role in the initial search for people and maintaining the flow of information about the reunion, and have received numerous well-appreciated compliments on a job well done. But I did very little in terms of actual organization of the reunion. We had a hard-working local committee led by Susan, who put in a mind-numbing number of hours. Most of her '66 classmates know Susan was the driving force behind her class' three previous reunions as well. I hope the members of the Class of '65 now too recognize what a dynamo she is. This reunion went incredibly smoothly, running with an ambience and timetable so well-coordinated as to be virtually invisible. When that sort of thing occurs, you know a lot of hours have gone into the planning. That was Susan, leaving her profound -- and profoundly subtle -- mark of excellence. Did you see the reunion-theme icing on the cake? Appreciate the class colors and class flower table displays? Larry Knoll's CCHS logos? The amazing variety of great food? Dave Wopperer '74's awesome devil heads? The red and black tote bags? Roy Scheider's autographed DVDs? All the door prizes? Susan was the initiator and/or main coordinator of it all. There are many, many others who worked tirelessly: Joe Thoman, Marcia Child O'Connor, Scott Campbell, Barbara Knapp, Sheila Fruehauf, Nancy Smith Thoman, Gale Marquart Campbell, Linda Roneker Lucas; many who worked behind the scenes, including Jerry Vogel, Peter Lech, Linda Zillig Dorr, Dave Errick, Cass Ryan, and Barbara Schiller Dehn-Wittke; several members of other CCHS classes (listed on the reunion program) who contributed significantly; and finally, numerous alums from both classes who pitched in spontaneously and helped during the reunion itself. We should be grateful to them all. But I'll bet they'd agree that good workers need a strong leader and Susan was the one. I do not know how she will feel about me writing all this; but, on behalf of all of us, and in addition to other praise she receives, I want to express deep gratitude to Susan Long Jarrett for manifesting all our hopes and dreams for the reunion. Dave Stewart

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Class of 1965-1966 Reunion Attendee Comments

Post Reunon Laurels

The commentary is zipping around the internet and greatly appreciated by the many people who worked so hard on the July 29-30, 2005 event. "Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who worked on the reunion. The weekend was perfect. The schedule was loose enough that people could feel comfortable doing whatever -- no lockstep stuff. The food was good and plentiful. The cost (including everything being strictly casual) was great for the many of us whose presence included travel/rental car/hotel costs. The bag is great, and certainly far more useful than a t-shirt! Thanks to all who brought that about. Our weekend there was just about 48 hours, from arriving at the Buffalo airport to returning there; but because of the relaxed structure of the reunion, we enjoyed both events, a lunch with some old friends, visit with another friend in Buffalo, some touring, and time with family, without ever feeling that we had to hurry to be somewhere else. Please pass this appreciation along to everyone else who worked so hard and so long for this."

Anna (Kihlberg) '65 and Bill Large "64

Dave,

I thought about all of you all weekend, while I was home. I even heard a 60-70's CD advertised on TV and thought of the Friday night dances in the cafeteria after the basketball games.

I hope you all had fun and I look forward to hearing more about the entire event.

Take care,
Margie Lee Fick

A Note From a Faculty Member

Dear Susan,

My wife & I were very happy to be part of the reunion. I'm glad I was able to add a little bit to the entertainment. It was fun seeing the enthusiasm the teams had naming the tunes. You must be pretty well drained of energy at this point. You did a great job organizing everything. It takes a lot of dedication to put a reunion together. You deserve a good rest at this point. Enjoy some well deserved rest and relaxation.

Tony Sorrento

Renewed Friendships

Several alumni have remarked how the reunion and the process leading up to it have helped exorcise some lingering high school demons or re-established cherished friendships. Here's a note from Marcia Child O'Connor to Barbara Knapp which I hope they don't mind sharing:

Barb,

We sure had a great time at that reunion. Living where we do and not having contact with anyone for so long has taken its toll. I could definitely see a closeness between the committee members who live near each other which I may never attain. But we were able to renew friendships and really enjoy each other's company and that is fantastic. The whole concept, the memorial, the barbershop singing, the two days of get-togethers, the fabulous food, the red bag, the wooden plaques, all that is sooooooooooooo much more than any other reunion I've heard about. Even the thoughtful touches, like the nametags with our yearbook photos, the roses and lilies of the valley, the drawings, and Tony's music---all made for a memorable time. My son's 10-year was just a night of bar-hopping and hardly anyone attended because they didn't bother to carefully research the current location of the grads to invite them, including my son. Other reunions I spoke with friends about were just one evening at a pricey restuarant. We can be very proud to be a part of the memories of the 39th/40th reunion. Please keep in touch, and if you ever have an inclination to travel to WV, white-water raft, or if I hear of that symphony/bagpipes concert, we would be honored to have you as our guest.

Marcia

The Driving Force

Several alums have commented that this 40th-39th reunion will be long-remembered and long-talked about.

Just in case our memories fade faster than we expect, I want to state something for the record while the reunion is still fresh in mind: without Susan Long Jarrett, it never would have happened.

Through the internet and the ease of instant email communication, we were able to reach out to a huge number of people. I'm sure we set an all-time attendance record for a Clarence reunion. Heck, each class alone -- '65 and '66 -- probably set a record, let alone the combined total.

Speaking personally, I had a big role in the initial search for people and maintaining the flow of information about the reunion, and have received numerous well-appreciated compliments on a job well done. But I did very little in terms of actual organization of the reunion.

We had a hard-working local committee led by Susan, who put in a mind-numbing number of hours. Most of her '66 classmates know Susan was the driving force behind her class' three previous reunions as well. I hope the members of the Class of '65 now too recognize what a dynamo she is.

This reunion went incredibly smoothly, running with an ambience and timetable so well-coordinated as to be virtually invisible. When that sort of thing occurs, you know a lot of hours have gone into the planning. That was Susan, leaving her profound -- and profoundly subtle -- mark of excellence.

Did you see the reunion-theme icing on the cake? Appreciate the class colors and class flower table displays? Larry Knoll's CCHS logos? The amazing variety of great food? Dave Wopperer '74's awesome devil heads? The red and black tote bags? Roy Scheider's autographed DVDs? All the door prizes?

Susan was the initiator and/or main coordinator of it all.

There are many, many others who worked tirelessly: Joe Thoman, Marcia Child O'Connor, Scott Campbell, Barbara Knapp, Sheila Fruehauf, Nancy Smith Thoman, Gale Marquart Campbell, Linda Roneker Lucas; many who worked behind the scenes, including Jerry Vogel, Peter Lech, Linda Zillig Dorr, Dave Errick, Cass Ryan, and Barbara Schiller Dehn-Wittke; several members of other CCHS classes (listed on the reunion program) who contributed significantly; and finally, numerous alums from both classes who pitched in spontaneously and helped during the reunion itself.

We should be grateful to them all. But I'll bet they'd agree that good workers need a strong leader and Susan was the one. I do not know how she will feel about me writing all this; but, on behalf of all of us, and in addition to other praise she receives, I want to express deep gratitude to Susan Long Jarrett for manifesting all our hopes and dreams for the reunion.

Dave Stewart