Dear Fellow Grunions
(Graduation Reunion people)
1958. That was then and then was a pretty good time. Girls wore their cardigan sweaters buttoned up the back and guys wore buckles on the backside of their pants. The Los Angeles Dodgers played baseball on a football field and L.A. even had a pro football team. We were a bit turned around and it's no wonder. DJ's would play Johnny Mathis right after the Purple People Eaters. We made stars out of both the Temptations and Pat Boone. Go figure. We were the first generation of Americans to define teenagers as a consumer market category. To adults, we were a cultural anomoly. We were the beginnings of Rock & Roll and dancing by yourself. Who remembers the girl who did the Hully Gully in the Quad? At lunch Lime. In front of everybody. Remember that? We should have a contest. A Manual Arts, 1955 - 1958 trivia contest. Who remembers the nylon stocking drive we had at school to help the poor and struggling economy of post-war Japan? What was the record-breaking time set by the Manual Arts eight-man mile relay team for a new, high school national record? Who were the eight guys on the relay team? I remember sitting in Mrs. Olsen's English class having to write an essay on what I thought I'd be doing in the year 2000.1 don't remember what I wrote, but, guess what? We are there and I'm sure I'm not even close. Some flinny things have happened on the way to retirement. Well, what goes around, comes around. So dust off your (lancing shoes because the time is getting close. The Event is coming. The Biggest Event of our young lives. The Manual Arts High School, Class of 1958, 40 Year Class Reunion. You'll be seeing friends you last saw in another lifetime. I will guarantee that no conversation you have that night will be less than a half-hour long. You'll see how long it takes to tell someone what you've been doing for the last forty years. Think of this as a Very Senior Prom. Add the sounds of 'SOs and you'll see a banquet room foIl of golden oldies go karaoke on some unsuspecting caterers. You'll remember words to songs you haven't heard since your first child was born. In bet~een all the dancin' and laffin' and singin' and cryin', there will be a full sit down dinner complete with candles and tablecloths. We're planning some other surprises to make the night even more memorable. And my memory needs all the help it can get. |