Bill Ferraro’s 40th Reunion Thank You Notes…
There
are only a few ways you get to address the class – by being Class President, Valedictorian, Salutatorian, or work on
the Reunion.
Welcome
and congrats to Mr. Buhtanic
40
years is a long time
We
are twice as old now as Mr. B was when he was teaching us in Sr. year
And
I have gained an avg. of 2 lbs a year since wrestling season ended and weigh more now than Mike did as a heavyweight –
He carried it a little better.
You
get used to calling someone by the name you 1st knew them by.
My
mom looked at the 6th grade pics from Sylvan School and said –
Kardashinetz,
Maschio, and Kalb – Does he still like to eat? [sandwich]
So I am thinking about what I am going to thank Mr. B and I go back to an e-mail
I got – “My address is, according to Recommended
Postal Abbreviations:”
And
I thought back to Senior English class – Term Paper and all the footnotes and abbrev. And it was the Attention to detail
that I learned which has helped me tremendously throughout my working career.
Too
bad Lynn was not in the class ….. She wrote the intro
to the directory and it was ½ page long – no capital letters, commas or periods or any other punctuation.
Fun
class - learned a lot. Informal. We sat in a horseshoe. Gebhardt, Suzie, Bev, Lentz, Louise, Kedersha, Kight, Scaramelli,
Meury.
The
other class I learned a lot in was 7th grade English w/ ??
Kalb
– give me the sandwich back.
And
now for some thank yous –
To
Frank Arena for planning on coming and standing in for his son-in-law who has missed all 3 reunions.
To
the folks from Rutherford – the hardest to get to respond who took the time to drive
all the way here tonite.
To
those who drive in just for the nite
To
those who drove in from out of state – as far away as FL, but it was Worth It.
To
she who took the train in
To
those who flew in
To
she who left Thanksgiving dinner, her family, and a sink full of dishes to fly in on the red eye –
Your
family said to empty the dishwasher when you get home Sunday nite
To
those who answered the post card
To
Susan for answering Lentz’s e-mail
To
Lentz for teaching Brinksma and I how to drive
To
Mrs. Gruber who had us sit alphabetically
To
those who didn’t ask how we found them
To
those of you who said “Of course I am coming”
To
those of you who changed your mind and decided to come
To
those of you who Lynn changed your mind
To
Mark Kuras who didn’t respond to 2 postcards, 3 e-mails and 4 phone calls
To
Janie C for calling my office and asking for Billy
When
I left work Wed. they said – Have a good time Billy and say Hi to Janie
To
my Sylvan School
classmates who are here in force
To
those of you who are here for the 1st time
To
those of you who have made all 3 reunions
To
some of the “guys” that I hung out with who are 3 time No Shows –
Matanin,
Scaramelli, Meury, and Nead
Willie
& Mary Pat - glad you are not on the list!
A
couple of people who really wanted to be here but could not make and asked to give their best to everyone – Frank O,
Louise and Janey F
To
Bev and Suzie who worked on the 19th which made putting this one together easier
To
the “Rutherford Gang” who put together the 30th
Diane,
Muriel, Patty, Nadine, Terry & Maureen
To
the folks who helped pull this one together –
Dominick
for helping arrange the Hotel – Great story how you met Patty
Patty
T for the centerpieces
To
David and Barry for calling Danny
To
Janet C for helping with the calls
For
Bernie in getting the T Shirts
To
the Mr. B Committee – Larry, Leslie, Kim, June, Diane and Buddy
To
the Program Committee for planning the Friday evening’s Program
Larry,
Leslie, Pat. K, Janie, Tom B, Diane, Bernie, Frani, Susan, and Betsy
To
June for chairing the Committee and being our MC tonite
To
FairWing Records – B. Howard Ross Productions and the Donzi Recording Studio for this evening’s music –
Fran R – Pres and COO and Bernard Rosman, C of B
To
Larry, who once again spent countless hours putting together the directory, questionnaire, editing, advisor etc.
Special
thanks to Jeff Pettengill for Printing the Directory
To
the Sat. events Group –
Diane
– Sound system and High School Tour
Tom
B – Banner and Rutt’s
Buddy
– Park Tavern
Jim
G – who 1st asked if we could do a tour of the high school and that he couldn’t wait to get a few Rippers
and ORings from Rutt’s
Besty
– who suggested the Bus Tour of Rutherford and arranged
Did
I miss anyone?
10
years ago today was our 30th reunion. The next day at breakfast Buddy sez – “We have to talk”.
He writes me and asks – so what were you talking to Lynn Davis about. I told him I talked to her more that night than
I did in 6 years in school, plus the 4 years that we were in college. He replied – I know. That is why I want to know
WHAT you talked about.
Jump
ahead 10 years -
So
I am sitting at my desk in May and I see a call on my phone from AL David. Not recognizing the name, I hesitated to pick up
the phone – but took the call and said “Hi Al.” It was Lynn
and she said we “met” at the last reunion – do you remember me? What’s going on with the 40th
reunion?
I
don’t hear from her again for another month and she said nothing is happening and we had to get something started.
After
2 weeks, Lynn said – “You are probably going to
kill me when this is over.”
I
replied – “What makes you think it’s going to take that long.”
A
month later she told me a story that she had an opportunity to introduce the Clinton’s
at a fund raiser but she is shy and doesn’t like to get up in front of groups. I told her I would not hold that against
her. She said good – so you can make the speech. – I told her I was referring to the part about the Clinton’s.
So
now it time to send out the invitations and Lynn comes up
with the idea of using the EVite. I asked her if we should have the checks made out to RHS REUNION and she replied, “No,
just make them out to me.”
I
asked if that would be Arlene Davis, Lynn Davis, Arlene David or Lynn David.
2
months ago I was on the 3rd call of day from Lynn. My ear
hurt so I had her on the speakerphone.
2
weeks ago she told me that there were only weeks left and said I didn’t have to talk to her after that. I asked her
if that was a promise.
Wed
at work, Lynn on speaker again.
Lynn, you did a great
job, and without you, this would have never happened.
Bill
Ferraro Nov. 2007
