The best is yet to be.
Robert Browning
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GET READY!!!
The Class of 1978
Walter Panas High School
35th Reunion is
Coming Your Way!
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| Tommy Scordato and Mike Perrelle: The Bonfire |
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| Miriam Popp's T-Bird: Miriam, Linda Ekizian, Karen Russo |
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Hola Mi Amigos,
Yeah, I'm still here. Trust me, I haven't forgotten about you. Not even close...
Just a short note to let you know that we are approximately halfway between our 30th and 35th Class of '78 Reunions (I think we are, anyway. I tried to figure it out exactly but got lost in the strange arithmetic of the Gregorian calendar. No wonder I was stuck in Mr. Roby's remedial math class for three years of high school...). Regardless, we have some very nice memories to look back on from the 30th, and, no doubt, some very nice things to look forward to at our 35th.
Much has occurred since our 30th reunion up in Fishkill waaaaay back in November 2008.
Most of us have hit the 50-year old milestone, the proverbial “big 5-0.” No big-deal, I say. Some things seem exactly the same as when I was 17, some things don’t. As the songs go, it’s the “same as it ever was…” [Led Zep] and "I'm the same boy I used to be..." [Genesis]...for the most part, anyway. I do notice that physically things have changed somewhat faster than mentally. For example, I most certainly can’t run as fast as I used to, but I still like to think I can. I often dream that I'm tearing around the bases (yup, still dreaming). In the main I have most of the same dislikes and likes as I did at 17. Dislikes: any form of liver (chicken liver, beef liver, chopped liver, yeeccchhh!) and mathematics (see above) ; Likes: a good read, the canine species, the beach, a sunshiney day  . Yup, still the same, haven't changed at all.
Some very good friends, some very good people, have moved on to greener pastures since our 30th reunion. We’ll have the opportunity to raise a glass to them, and recount some good memories when we next get together. In the meantime, let’s keep on keeping on, and before we know it we’ll be partying like it’s 1999 (or, more likely, 1978).
By the way, and this is reiterated throughout this website, other WPHS classes are more than welcome here, and are encouraged both to participate in the continual building of this site, and to come to our reunion parties.
If time and opportunity permits, please send us anything you can think of to spruce up this site: old photos are always most welcome, as are anecdotes and stories (past or present)—which stories may be posted directly to the “Message” button on the Message Board page. We do offer our apologies for not changing things up here more often, but to borrow a phrase, “the multiplicity of business” does have a way of occupying more and more of one’s time these days...
Perhaps that’s something that has truly changed since we were younger: didn’t summertime used to last for months and months, instead of one week, and didn't Christmastime and/or Halloween last for about one week, instead of months and months?
Well, that's all for now. Looking forward to seeing your smiles in the not too distant future.
js 6-14-11
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| Senior Prom 1978: John Gaccione and Mary Chauvin; Kenny Dahl and Mary Ann Pfeiffer; Chris MacGinnis and Barbara Rome; George Vaselekos and Patti Lee |
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| Lunch Room Cool: Bob Elsasser, Billy Haviland, Shawn Mackey |
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| Michie Stadium Spring 1978 (l-r): Richie Mellone, Kenny Dahl, Tony Maresco, Richie Bobik, Ralph Fasano, Jimmy Fleitz |
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| Doug Percesepe |
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| John LaPeter, Wayne Verrell, and Mike Mueller |
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 35th Reunion Celebration Announced
(That's Right: 35th)
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Hello (Again),
In an unprecedented move, we've decided to start planning our 35th High School Reunion now. That's right, five years before-hand.
Please allow me to explain:
You see, we had our 30th Reunion just a couple of months ago and, well, frankly it blew us away. It was simply too much fun.
Our plan was simple. We'd keep it to the basics; nothing fancy. We threw up a website, kinda haphazardly. Made some calls to those contacts each of us still had. We figured we'd get together the night before the reunion at a local pub. And then perhaps an informal after-party the night of the gig. Simple.
And then the thing took off! The website grew organically, and put all sorts of friends back in touch with each other. The Friday night Pre-Party, the Reunion, the After-Party, well, they're already the stuff of legend. I mean, you just had to be there...it really was spectacular.
So here we go again. Except this time, we cannot wait ten years. Just can't do it. There's gonna be a 35th Reunion for The Walter Panas High Class of 1978. We're spreading the word now.
Here's what we're going to do: the website will remain live. We've added a couple of interactive elements to keep it all as current as possible. Have fun with it. Check out the "Missing Classmates" page: let's try and track down those friends we couldn't locate this time around, make the Party even bigger and better. (J.W., where are you?)
We do need your input on one very important issue: what time of year would you all like to have this Party? We've traditionally done it on Thanksgiving Weekend. Now, with our own kids entering college and coming home for the big weekend, plus the holiday-weekend-travel-headaches, plus possibly having to host Thanksgiving ourselves, we realize it may not be the best time to do it anymore. Then again, it may be...
We have the time to figure it out, so let's do it. Give us your preference via the Message Board: (1)Thanksgiving Weekend; (2) Summertime; or (3) a non-holiday weekend in the Fall.
It's your call.
js 12-31-08
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| Clockwise from lower left: Ray Scalone, Anthony Graci, Mark Galgani, Miriam Popp, Linda Ekezian, Glenn O'Neill, Donna Duchene, Debi McCormack, Kenny DaRos, Pam Hitt |
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True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.
Kurt Vonnegut, quoted in TheBookReporter.com
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| The Aqueduct (L-R): Tommy Scordato, Jimmy Keegan, John Gaccione, Bill Haviland, John Hintze, Kevin Flood, Casey Stengle, Bill Foley, Shawn Mackey |
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Let Wall Street have a nightmare and the whole country has to help them back in bed again.
Will Rodgers
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Last updated Friday May 18, 2012
©Copyright 2012, Class of 1978 Walter Panas High School
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