Melinda's words to classmates, Friday November 24:

Welcome, fellow Upper Dublin graduates of the Class of 1971, our guests, friends, and former teachers. Allow me to point out the teachers who are here tonight. Mr. Rose, whose teaching career in UD started our 5^th grade year and to whom our yearbook was dedicated. It’s been a love affair ever since. Mr. and Mrs. Pavlick, both of whom were UD teachers. Mr. Pavlick is best known, of course, for his tenure as football coach at UD, and was recently inducted into the UD Hall of Fame! Mrs. Detweiler, former Home Ed teacher extraordinaire. Thanks to her, many of you can sew your own hems, fix a ripped seam, and cook a Baked Alaska! Mr. Franklin, our ever popular art teacher, over whom many a female student swooned. Mr. Franklin went on to be principal for how many years at Jarrettown Elementary School. Mr. and Mrs. Sweeney. Mr. Sweeney – great math teacher and also, our class sponsor.

 

 I will not take up much of our limited time together with my talking, but I would be terribly remiss if I did not publicly thank you all not just for attending this function but more importantly, for your wonderful words of appreciation and support during the last 18-months of our planning. The program highlights specifically those of you who have contributed your time and resources; they deserve a hearty round of applause, or shall we serenade our Alma Mater for them???  

 

A special thank you to Rick Kircher, Donna Mallozzi’s husband, for DJing this event, at no charge. Donna, we are counting on you to give Rick his just reward that he so earned and deserved?

 

It is now the Reunion Committee that I would like us to turn our attention to. First a short background on the planning of this Reunion. Bobby “Soles” Kaithern approached me about 2 years ago about organizing this reunion, something he’s done to me prior to every Reunion since graduation…! Rather than outsource this one to a Reunion Organizing company, I decided to keep the entire job “in-house,” so to speak. So just how did the others of the committee get involved? 

 

Donna (Webmaster) Senopoulos had written me a very nice thank-you note after the 20^th Reunion in 1971, in which she also off-handedly offered her assistance in any future reunions. Poor Donna.   Little did she know that sweet note would come back to haunt her, in that I asked her for her help. Donna would patiently execute every trivial suggestion or task I would throw her way. This woman is amazing … do you like the CD? That’s Donna’s work of art. Do you like the website? Thank Webmaster Donna. You can’t even imagine the long, long hours she put in staring at and typing on the computer.   So, Donna, here are eye drops to relieve your eye strain and a wrist brace to help you deal with your impending carpal tunnel affliction. 

 

Unbeknownest to most of you, Donna also has a way with words, so long as it is 4-words or less. No matter what the topic or question, she was quick with her clever and witty responses, all of which she amazingly kept to 4 words or less. Better known to many of you, Donna apparently dated any guy named ‘Michael” from our class, and any guy who also dated Chris Casanave. I should warn you … that Donna has kept any love letters you may have written her. But not to worry, she has refused to share the contents of those missives with any of us. So, I thought it was fitting to give her this “love” box to store away all those memories. 

 

Cindi Muhlrad (LOL) Fabricant: was one of the first persons to respond to my first communication about a Reunion. Consequently, she also was “volunteered” to be on the Committee. She has “touched” us all in a variety of ways. How many of you have received one of Cindi’s signature emails? You know the one … print is bright magenta, lots of exclamation points, 17 “LOLs” in 36 point font, threats of bodily harm if you do not post your Bio on the website!! I understand that many of you tried to get a restraining order against Cindi’s emails, didn’t you???  Cindi could nag and beg and cajole and plead without a trace of compunction, with amazing results, evidence at the Raffle table and in the Then and Now secton of our website. So, Cindi – to help you in future badgering endeavors, here’s a smiley face bat and a UD pom pom. 

 

Bob (Jacko) Kaithern: our class president, who every 5 years comes to me to get the Reunion planning going. His unique contribution is his fantastic recall! The rest of us, with our fading, 53 year old memories, would turn to Bob to ask about a fellow classmate, and he would remember details that long ago left our brains. But we had a slight problem with Bob. You see, he, lives in the farm country of NJ where apparently Internet access does not exist as it does in the rest of the country, or at least off other exits of NJ. The Committee and its band of helpers, which communicated massively daily via the net, would often go weeks without hearing from Bob. We got concerned so we conducted a search of his house and discovered his method of communication: he was trying to use morse code.   This explains a lot. So, Bob, please accept our gift to bring you closer to the 20^th century: your very own UD Reunion Hotline! 

 

Finally, Perry (HoundDog) Ritter: Perry graduated from UD in 1970 so don’t worry that you are losing your mind if you don’t remember him. Bob suggested I got in touch with Perry when we were trying to locate a particular member of our class (who happened to be his former wife) who was on our original missing list. That little suggestion turned out to be Bob’s biggest contribution to our effort, because Perry almost single-handedly found every dog-gone last one of our missing! His search techniques included the computer (along with Webmaster Donna), a phone book from 1971 (yes, Perry still has one, plus anything else that existed in 1971!), and personal visits of anyone remotely associated with the missing person. My favorite is his finding Rob Hogg, whom we thought deceased for over 20 years! Perry was relentless in his search. He wanted no one remaining on the missing list and by golly, he achieved that goal! Along the way, he entertained us with his tales of sleuthing and he’s become a beloved member of OUR class now. We’re giving him the Sherlock Holmes Kit, so he can now look the part of detective that he plays so well: hat, pipe, and magnifying glass!

 

I know I speak for the committee and its helpers when I say that our new-found camaraderie that resulted from our planning has made every moment we’ve spent on this effort so worth it. Thank you, fellow organizers, and thank you all for being with us tonight.