Finally — the movie

Below is a movie combining video shot at our reunion last October and still images from the photo book produced from the event. The video is from both the Saturday night event and Sunday morning brunch.

You may want to use the pause button occasionally if you want to look closely at a particular scene. I’ve put in freeze frames to assist, but it still can run by before you know it. You can also view it on YouTube.

(The “then and now” pictures of Josie are the default choice of YouTube, and I’m okay with that. Also, please let me know if I have missed or misidentified anyone. I did not identify spouses or guests, as I thought identifying classmates was complicated enough and so many names would clutter the video.)

A caveat: In a lesson I should have learned in high school and so many times since, I was punished for my lethargy in compiling this video. Whilst puttering about and procrastinating, I suffered a hard drive failure that eliminated the video’s raw material. Fortunately, I had sent out a preview to elicit identifications and feedback. I was able to bring that back into iMovie, but the process left me unable to edit the original “supers,” the text superimposed over the video.

You will see, therefore, that some of the identifications are rendered in a clunky manner. The most clunky is a cross-out with Xs of a misspelling of Susan Hartley’s married name. There are others, of less obvious nature. For those so inclined, I suggest finding the “corrections” serve as a drinking game.

Kudos and thanks to Courtney Phaneuf Eisenhaure and her husband, Brad, for the still images taken at the reunion and for the “then and now” comparisons with photos from our PantherPix.

Enjoy. Remember.

A grand event

It was a grand event. We all talked . . . and remembered . . . and talked . . . and were reminded . . . and talked. I just got back from 12 days in New England and hope soon to be able to post many photos from the events. If you have some you would like to share, please send them via email.

More than 100 members of the Class (list below) registered for the reunion.

(This is a list of class members. Many attended with guests.)

Geraldine Achin Sarnelli
Josie Albano Pelligrini
Ben Aleks
Pamela Alifano Basile
Elaine Ambrose Atkins
Kristine Anderstrom
Rita Arsenault Spencer
Jacqui Artiano Ruest
Pat Bagge Harmon
Michael Baker
Sara Batista Iwaniec
Anne Belleville Rosso
Janet Boyer Hourihan
Ray Brassard
Jane Buckley Peterson
Eloyce Bujnicki Pierog
Charlotte Chartier Lawrence
John Collins
Judy Cross Donahue
Ed Crowley
Judy Curto Hourihan
Maureen Davis Heasley
Caroline Demers Tougas
Bill Devlin
Dianne Dillon
Holly Donahue Scortino
Paul Donahue
Linda Duchesne Ferrero
Paul Dufresne
Joe Fallon
Carol Ferraro McKay
Joe DeCaro Fitzgerald
Mary Fitzpatrick Brassard
Bill Fleming
Mary Foy Holmes
Marlene Galiarducci Christy
Doris Gaudette Leduc
Diane Girouard Theriault
Richard Grout
Joan Hamel Sagendorph
Tom Hamre
Susan Hartley Mantoni
Bill Hartung
Peggy Hogan Szych
Tim Holt
Kevin Hourihan
Mary Hurley
Marion Jones Johnson
Patricia Kane Gittes
Roger Kasmer
Patricia Kelley Conz
Mona Klicka Daponde
Susan Knox Monaghan
Roger Krass
Lynn Lacavita Duffy
Ed Lambert
Karen Lariviere Audette
Mary Lattinville McCormick
Janet LaVallee Holden
Ellen LeClair Zuk
Bill Liquori
Bill Lyons
Rosemary Lyons
Maureen Lyons
Bob McCann
Nancy McCarthy Gagne
Bill McDonald
Patricia Matthews Vey
Jim Montanari
Peter Mulvagh
Anne Murphy Kellner
Fr. Tim Murphy
John Murtaugh
Martha Noonan Murtaugh
Nancy Norris Gates
Marilyn O’Day McClellan
Mick Ogulewicz
Kevin O’Malley
Reid Oslin
Barbara Pantuosco
John Patterson
Carol Phillips McCarthy
Maureen Pollard Hershel
Bob Pouliot
Elizabeth Poirier Thompson
Roberta Quiriy Phaneuf
Pat Raimondi Liquori
Helen Reid Stewart
Carole Riendeau Lanza
Peter Robillard
Tom Robinson
Kathryn Stevens Patterson
Patricia Sheehan Rugowski
Donna Roy Nodurf
Gene Ryzewicz
Sandra Saletnik Dukette
Mike Semanie
George Shannon
Barbara Shean Lippert
Tom Sheedy
Ray Siwinski
Linda Smith Szenkum
Ron Somers
Maureen Spring Fontaine
Nancy Thompson
Luke Turgeon
Francie Veale Cornwell
Paul Vey
Bill Wagner
Edmund Wallace
Bob Winship
Terry Yesu

BIG week

“Class Day” for the Class of 1964 took place on this date our senior year. (It was a Monday that year.) At an assembly at which members of the Junior Class were “guests,” our class will, ballot, history, and prophecy were announced.

Anyone remember the details of those?  Nothing of a will, ballot, etc., is known now to exist.

Later in the week, after Class Day, Honors Night (May 12), Class Banquet (May 13) and the Senior Opera (May 14) came the Senior Prom on May 15. The cafeteria was transformed into a “Colonial Cotillion,” with music from Dar Horr and his orchestra. After dancing, the class enjoyed a smorgasbord supper in the gym. And after that . . . !

Heading off to the Senior Prom, May 15, 1964, front left: Tom Guberski, Jacqui Artiano, Elizabeth Malcolm, and Betsy's date from Chicopee High.

Heading off to the Senior Prom, May 15, 1964, front left: Tom Guberski, Jacqui Artiano, Elisabeth Malcolm, and Betsy’s date from Chicopee High.

Jacqui and close friend Brian Long. Check out those decorations.

Jacqui and good friend Brian Long, at the prom. Check out those decorations.

Any mementoes of that week? Programs? Prom pictures? There were tons of pictures taken, usually at the girl’s house, if I recall correctly. Jacqui Artiano Ruest shares two from her prom night.

Send yours in! Send scans, or if that’s not convenient, contact the blog and we’ll talk about how to share your pictures.

Our reunion committee

Members of the CHS Class of 1964 reunion committee met in early January to advance plans for the October 11 event.

PP64_reunion_committeeSeated are Robbie Quirly Phaneuf (email), left, and Jacqui Artiano Ruest (email). Standing, from left: Anne Murphy Kellner (email), Tom Murphy (email), Karen LaRiviere Audette (email), Tom Sheedy, Nancy Thompson, Joan Hamel Sagendorph, Donna Roy Nodurf (chair) (email), Maureen Spring Fontaine, Susan Hartley Mantoni (email), Bill Devlin, Geri Achin Sarnelli, and Francie Veale Cornwell (email). Other members of the committee, unable to attend this meeting, include Tom Hamre (email), Sally Batista Iwaniec (email), Linda Duchesne Ferrero, and Ben Aleks (email).

Say hello to committee members and let Donna and any other member of the committee know if you have ideas for the event. Next meeting is Tuesday, February 4, first floor, Holy Name Social Center. All classmates interested in helping out are welcome!

HolyNameSocialCenterYes, the Holy Name Social Center, site of those infamous Friday night dances . . . and seemingly little changed, as current photo attests. Somehow, when those dances are mentioned, the Isley Brothers just come to mind. Shout!

Music for the reunion event is to be provided by Max Salvador aka “Music to the Max.” Shout! better be on his list. Though . . . will medical services be available, just in case?

Hangin’ out

Where did you hang out on weekend nights? You know, those places where you expected to find kids you knew, either from school or the neighborhood.

Think of the hours we spent nursing sodas, munching pizza or burgers, talking, laughing, having spats. The hangouts were crucibles for sometimes intense interaction . . . and they were places where many hours were spent on pretty much nothing.

In the South End, one place was Ray’s Grinder’s on Longhill Street. Here’s a picture of the place now, from Google Street View. It’s called Antonio’s.

Current view of what was Ray's Grinders in 1963-64.

Current view of what was Ray’s Grinders in 1963-64.

One expects and certainly hopes the place has been renovated in the last 50 years, but it remains very true to its early-Sixties self. The parking lot in front, the “patio dining area” at left. The food there today is rated quite good on Yelp, but food was probably not the criterion in our day.

On Hungry Hill, it was the Van Horn Spa, affectionately called “Leo’s” after its owner. It was on the corner of Carew and Armory streets, across from Our Lady of Hope church. Sadly, it has succumbed to “progress” and is no longer there.

Kids today have many more options for entertainment, but our lack of same may, at least, have encouraged us to get out and about and connect with others. Sure . . . it also led sometimes to trouble. Is it better now to be safe and in front of a video box?