MEET ME AT THE FLAGPOLE!

The Look Who’s Turning 60 birthday bash weekend started off with a tour of Berner.  Seven of us met at the flagpole ready to wander through the building, reminisce, find our familiar places and notice the changes that the years had brought to our old school.  We even walked to the bridge.  The most amazing thing about starting the weekend off this way was that a bunch of 60 year olds walked into the school, but when we walked out, we were 17 again!

The weekend was a whirlwind of activity!  Friday night at Big Daddy’s was a Mardi Gras atmosphere with food and drinks provided by our very generous hosts, Paul Hart, Garrett King and Dennis Flanagan.  About 45 classmates attended this party; some of the attendees knew that they couldn’t make the beach party but stopped in at Big Daddy’s to say hello.  We drank, talked, flirted, laughed, ate and caught up with each other across the years.

On Saturday afternoon, the Tanner Park Beach party was just perfect!  The weather was sunny and warm with a light breeze.  The food was very good, the drinks flowed and The Moondogs really rocked it!  We had a great turnout—82 classmates attended and we spent the afternoon dancing, talking, eating, drinking and re-connecting with each other.  When the party was ending at about 8:30, more than a third of us headed over to Giacomo Jack’s in Amityville, down by the water.  There we drank and danced to a great little two piece band and continued the laughter and fun into the wee hours.

 

We are very proud of the way this party took shape and the turnout was amazing.  Our 40^th reunion was run by Reunions of America and they were only able to attract about 150 classmates from BOTH Berner and MHS Class of 1972.  They had the funds to mail letters, email blast and make phone calls.  Using only social media (Facebook) we were able to attract 82 classmates without having the cost of mass mailings to all our classmates.  We plan to hold a 45^th reunion using Facebook and our class blog to contact everyone.  So spread the word to classmates to join our Facebook page:  Berner HS Class of 1972.

It would be very hard to put into words just how much fun our birthday blast weekend was.  The feeling of being 17 again was truly a magical feeling.  It persisted for days afterward…and then it was gone.  I will never forget how much fun we had.  An important thing that I learned that weekend was that age is the great leveler.  It doesn’t matter who you were in high school or how popular you were or weren’t.  At the sensational age of 60 it is easy to connect with each other simply because we grew up together, that basic bond is enough.  We are all looking forward to the 45^th reunion in 2017!