Hi Classmates of Penncrest 1977,

Our 30th Reunion was another smashing success! Turnout was even better than our 25th; we had 130 attendees, even though only 42 people responded by the deadline (giving me a bit more stress than I expect from this endeavor.) The gala event took place on November 23, 2007 at the Concordville Inn.

First thing I'd like to do is to thank all the volunteers. The reunions have been somewhat on autopilot and everything gets done on time but it wouldn't happen if it weren't for a few helpful hands. My personal thanks go out to Janet Lloyd Murphy for her ongoing pursuit to publicize our event in the newspaper as well as cable TV. Also, she spent an extreme amount of time putting together the nametags by photographing each classmate's photo from the yearbook and creating the nametags. This will be very helpful for all future reunions. (Yes, I got the message more than once that the names on the nametags need to be larger for those whose eyes have gone. We will make adjustments for the next reunion.) Secondly, I like to thank Lynn Brady Goodale for her ongoing efforts to find classmates and taking on the task of investigating different venues and pricing for our reunion. (Also, for locating a projector screen which we didn't need after all.) Another classmate, Ellen Fenstermacher, took care of putting together our booklet we gave out, which was a huge task that I love giving up. Thank You Ellen! This had the class list as well as info on those that sent their response back to us. There was (at least) one error in the class list. Donna Jackson Galvin is NOT deceased. She is alive and well and remarried (Donna Jackson McFall) and living in Aston. Sorry Donna. After it got put together our team of proofreaders (Janet Lloyd Murphy) and our printer (Dave Morton) whipped it into shape and it came out just perfect. (I guess except for those who need glasses and couldn't read the fine print. Oh well, another thing we will address for the next reunion.) I guess I can't forget one of our most tame and reserved classmates, Barb Shenkel Darkow, for greeting everyone at the door. Thanks Barb, I wasn't sure you'd be able to liven up our crowd or not. A GREAT JOB DONE BY ALL. All volunteers are welcome. The pay is poor, but we have fun.

Here's a summary of the events surrounding the reunion.

We had 130 attendees, 5 no shows and 8 party crashers. We are still missing (or have bad addresses for) 112 classmates. That's up from 77 from our last reunion. I could always use help finding these people. (hint, hint) The overall cost to put the reunion together was $6,651, up $1,988 from our 25th. We collected $6,550 from attendees and I kicked in the extra buck to round things out. (Nothing like making it close, huh?)

The night went very well. We had a DJ who kept things going from cocktail hour through the wee hours of the night. I especially enjoyed when he said "Now all the women of the class and Scott get out there and dance." I never had so many "dates" at once. From that point forward the dance floor kept moving all night.

There was a continuous slide show of photos from the good old high school days all the way through the 25th reunion. The slide show will be expanded once again with all the photos from this event so if you get me your photos, I'll add them to the show for our next reunion. Some of the photos were very flattering and then there were others that I'm sure some of you wished I never had found.

Disposable cameras were left at the tables for everyone to snap away. Those will also become a part of our next slide show.

The cocktail hour and hors d'oeuvres seem to go over well. In fact a whole dish of duck sauce went over very well, right into my wife's shoe. That was probably the only oops all night. (Not bad, Concordville Inn.) The buffet dinner got many compliments as well. It included Sweet and Sour Chicken, Roast Sirloin of Beef and Stuffed Flounder, with a tossed salad, fruit medley, rice pilaf, fresh vegetables, dinner rolls and to top it off, Snicker Chocolate Truffle Cake.

A few door prizes were handed out. The winning categories this year were: Who came the furthest -Diane Aucott Ward came from Hawaii. (John Beck came from Sweden and Wendy Strahm came from Switzerland but Hawaii is actually further.) Most Pets - Ruth Scott Bregande has 14 but Janet Berry-Enos has 72. (She works at a zoo.) The classmate coming to their first reunion - Garry Nutt (on a tie breaker as there were 6 others attending their first reunion) Hopefully, they'll come to another one. Who Lives Closest to the reunion location - Karl and Margie Stern - 2 miles.

After the reunion ended, a large contingency went to the Concordville Inn Bar. There was live music, which encouraged a few wild dancers. Tom Pike was seen tearing up the dance floor late into the evening with his fancy footwork. After closing the bar down, there were still a few late night owls drifting around until the sun came up. There are no confirmed reports of what went on but the stories I heard sounded pretty fun.

For those that spent the night at the hotel (about 15-20 of us), breakfast was another opportunity to gather and compare reunion stories. We spent over 2 hours at breakfast. The breakfast was good but the company was great.

The reunion festivities were not over at that point. Not the Class of 1977. No, we had a couple more events to head off to. First was the morning tour of Penncrest High School led by Janet Lloyd Murphy's efforts to organize the tour. The school is nothing like what it was 30 years ago. If you haven't had the opportunity, it's well worth it if you're in town.

Next on the agenda was Happy Hour in Media at Quotations, a newer establishment on State Street across from Apollo's Pizza. Roughly 20 classmates came and enjoyed a beer or two as well as looking at the photos that were taken the night before. You'll get to see them on this website. The stories really began to flow at that point.

And you thought that was it? Not a chance. After Happy Hour, a large group joined Billie Kirkpatrick at his home for a hometown bonfire and fixin's fit for a King. There was smoked pheasant, venison stew, venison chili, brisket, tuna steaks, striped bass kabobs, s'mores and a few more beers. Some of those attendees even went on from there to a bar to see Jane Dobbins Boate's husband play in a band. A perfect ending to a great weekend.

Sunday was finally upon us and not a moment too soon. From what I saw, I think that our class could give any class in Penncrest a run for their money when it comes to having fun.

Please make an effort to get together with some of your classmates between now and the next reunion. I guarantee it will be fun. I've already had a dozen emails about what we can do next and the ideas sound great. We will try to post these events on this website.

The updated class list is also being posted on the website. This will be updated from time to time, thanks to our Web Guy, Terrill Frantz. If you have any updates of your contact info or anyone else in our class, please get them to me. Finding people is always the hardest task. The classmates that are in BOLD print are either missing or have incorrect addresses. Also, if you have any photos that you'd like to share, please email them to me so we can add them to the web site and the slide show at the 35th reunion.

I think that's about all for now. It's been a lot of fun and I really do enjoy putting these reunions together. (with a little help from my friends).

Take Care and Call a Classmate TODAY! You'll make their day.

Thanks,

Scott Darling
The Reunion Guy
darling@realtor.com
(December 12, 2007