Well, we pulled it off! All of the Class of 1965 members and their significant others who attended our 50th class reunion the weekend of October 2-4, 2015, enjoyed quite a magnificent celebration! The three-day reunion weekend gave us lots of time to really renew our old friendships (although, when it was over, it didn't seem like nearly time enough). But it was a great weekend from start to finish!

(Click on the thumbnails below for a
larger view, and then on the left and right
sides of the images to navigate)

 

Friday Evening Informal Gathering

On Friday evening, October 2nd, we convened for a casual get-reacquainted get-together. Nothing fancy — just a laid-back, convivial reuniting of long-time friends. More classmates showed up than we expected, and we sort of bounced around in the hotel lobby, but everyone had a great time — 'twas a perfect start to our reunion weekend.


 

Tour of ESPN

On Saturday morning, Sue and Ruth had made arrangements for us to get a tour of the ESPN studios in Bristol, near our hotel. Those who went got their gym socks knocked off! It's a stunning operation from every perspective, and right in our old back yard.


 

The Magical History Tour

On Saturday afternoon, we hired a Terryville school bus to take us on a historical ride around town. We all met up in the parking lot at Lake Winfield. For those who weren't at the Friday gathering, this was the first reunion of the gang in many years (in some cases, 50)! After much hugging and hobnobbing, we boarded the bus (decorated with a Class of '65 reunion banner) and started making stops at all of the schools we attended while growing up. We passed through many of our old neighborhoods and saw how much they'd changed (or hadn't). We took slow cruises around Fall Mountain Lake and Lake Plymouth. We paused at some of our favorite parking spots, including the Old Marsh and Blueberry Hill. This was all accompanied by background music from the '60s, and laced with a bunch of great trivia questions prepared by Lee Nietupski and Bill Taylor. There was lots of opportunity to reminisce and tell stories about the places we went past. Finally, we arrived back at Lake Winfield, where we broke up and went off to prepare for the evening gala. Thanks go to Becky Mattoon, Lee, and Bill for making all of the Magical History Tour arrangements!


 

Saturday Night Gala

Well, what can you say? This was the main event! We had a room to ourselves at the reunion hotel on Saturday night for our big reunion banquet. We gathered around 6PM for cocktails and delectable hors d'oeuvres served by the wait staff. More of our classmates who hadn't attended the earlier events showed up, and more getting reacquainted transpired. It's amazing how we could almost pick up right where we left off, even though 50 years had passed by! At at around 7PM, an elegant buffet dinner was provided and served by the hotel staff. There was OUR music playing for us, and some of us improvised a dance floor. But the main attraction, of course, was that we were able to reunite with our cherished classmates with whom we graduated from Terryville High School 50 years before!

Group Portrait Classmate Names
First row (seated):
Gail Bevins Baer, Cathy Vega Howell, Steve Robertson, Cheryl Jacquemin Gianesini, Roger Plumb, Joe Sarofin, Bill Taylor, Becky Mattoon, Coach Frank Doolan
Second row: Dave Pratt, Cheryl Ludgewait Wells, Vivian Russell Pratt, Charlotte Crockett, Linda Kamens Logan, Carol Matyka Armitage-Gage, Lois Sarnowski Brower, Lee Nietupski, Bob Klepps, Patty Scopino Nimchek, Jean Chelchowski Delpha, Sue Conopask Korzeniecky
Back row: Donna Wunsch Sears, Paul Biscoe, Florence Hein Krueger, Francine Beaulieu Smith, Gary Delpha, Dan Cyr, Bob Rice, Ricki Riggs Schwanka, Ruth Wagner DeLeo, Steve Decker, Paul Nimchek, Peter Murawski

(Click here to view or download the group portrait photo in its original highest resolution.)
 

The Sunday Brunch

After a good night's sleep, we regrouped on Sunday morning for a leisurely Reunion Brunch. This gave us a chance to talk about all the things we forgot to discuss the night before! Once again, we had an entire room in the reunion hotel to ourselves, and the staff had set up an excellent buffet for our enjoyment. Once we wound down, we said our farewells and started looking forward to the next reunion — our combined 70th birthday party in 2017!


 

THS65 Caption Contest!

The photo below was clipped from one of the "outtakes" for the Group Portrait photo above, taken as we were arranging ourselves for the big shot. Seriously begs for a caption, don't you think? Send in your entry and we'll share it below. The winner (as judged by the Reunion Committee) gets a free THS65 reunion coffee mug! Entry deadline: April 1st, of course.

Lee sheepishly withdraws his hand as Lois scolds. Some things never change.
        — Dave P