The Beauty Around Us

This past Saturday Bob and I attended my 40th high school reunion. The reunion was held in Ford City PA at the Latin American Club, located along 3rd Avenue between 12th and 13th Streets. Bob and I arrived in Ford City around 3:15 pm. We parked in front of the Latin American Club and walked the short distance to Ford City High School. The high school is bordered by 4th and 5th Avenues and 11th Street.

Ford City High School

Our high school cannon

The cannon is painted gold and purple, our high school colors.  Sometimes the cannon would receive a fresh coat of paint, red and white, courtesy of students from a rival high school.  I wonder how many coats of paint sit on the cannon.

It had been 40 years since I last walked through the halls of my alma mater. I did so Saturday at 4:00 pm, along with a few other classmates.   Beth, one of my classmates, works at the school and arranged for the tour.  We entered the school from the 11th Street entrance. When I attended high school, I rode a school bus from my hometown of Cadogan, which was located 3 miles from Ford City. The school bus discharged and picked us up along 11th Street.   I thought I would have a sense of déjà vu walking through the school hallways, but I didn’t.  I did enjoy the recollections of my classmates as they reminisced about such things as classes, teachers, location of lockers, the girls high school gymnasium, and the acoustics in the auditorium.

High School Tour Group

The planning committee did a fabulous job setting up and following through with our high school reunion.  Festivities at the Latin American Club began at 5:00 pm with a Meet & Greet, followed at 6:00 pm by a buffet dinner. The Latin American Club was decorated festively, with purple and gold balloons and streamers.  The dinner plates and napkins were purple or gold.  The food was plentiful and delicious.  Hors d’oeuvres that included veggies and dip, crackers and cheese and meat spreads, pretzels, pistachios, and trail mix were provided at the Meet & Greet. The buffet dinner included Salad, Italian Bread, Pasta, Parslied Potatoes, Green Beans, Oven Roasted Chicken and Beef.

There was cake for dessert.
(Photo obtained from the FCHS 1974 40th Reunion Facebook group page)

Other reunion activities included prizes for the classmate who traveled the farthest distance to attend reunion, the classmate with most children and the classmate with most grandchildren; a raffle to win a purple and gold afghan; music by DJ and dancing.

Dancing classmates

In a quiet corner of the Latin American Club was a small TV on which a video played all night long.  Contained on the video were yearbook photographs of members of the class of 1974 who have passed away.  I counted 231 classmates in our yearbook.  I didn’t count the number of classmates who have passed away, although I did hear someone say 24 classmates have passed away.  The video was a touching tribute to classmates who we remember in our hearts and prayers.  Thank you, Kathy, for creating this video.

The Class of 1974 got together around 8:00 pm for a group photo.

My husband took this photograph of my classmates and me.  I am sitting in the second row, second from the end.

I enjoyed seeing and talking with everyone and sharing lots of laughs, as we got reacquainted with each other.

There were some classmates whom I had seen 30 years ago at our 10 year high school reunion.

FCHS Class of 1974 (May 1984)
I am standing in the second row, second from the left.

Other classmates I hadn’t seen since we graduated 40 years ago, including childhood friends from my hometown.

Childhood friends, reunited

Bob and I began to say our goodbyes soon after the group picture was taken. We left for home around 8:50 pm and made it home around 11:00 pm.  Bob and I both had a great time at my high school reunion. We felt welcomed and very much enjoyed the evening.