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Class of 1982 |
Email: gcreunion@yahoo.com.
Kolein (Koroly) Carlson, Senior Class Vice President, 1982 and Reunion Committee Chairperson, 2002
Info about latest reunion...............Friday evening, July 19, 2002
| GC's
class of 1982 just celebrated their 20 year reunion..... The reunion committee members were asked to supply a run down on what they did that weekend..... Here are some of the highlights from what sounds to have been a fun filled weekend for everyone..... The reunion weekend began on Friday evening, July 19, 2002, with a gathering of old friends at Rick's Prime Rib House on Buffalo Road. Expecting a small crowd of friends we booked a room, planned a menu of appetizer favorites and figured that any extra people would be able to gather at the bar inside the restaurant. The starting time was 7pm. Folks were so excited about seeing each other they started gathering at Rick's before 7pm. Before the night was over we had nearly three times the amount of people expected.. Rick's had to move us upstairs to the large room in order to comfortably accommodate this growing crowd of friends. The feeling that night was one of joy and excitement. The majority of classmates had not seen each other since graduation or shortly after that time. Classmates traveled from overseas, VA, NC, SC, TX, NV and CA to spend time with the people who influenced their lives in such a special way some twenty years ago. Personally, I loved watching and guessing who was who. I know others enjoyed that as well. People were hugging each other, talking about what life had to offer them over the past twenty years and reminisced about when they roamed the halls of our alma mater. The energy was electric! The evening, scheduled to end at 10pm, was extended until after midnight! On Saturday, July 20, 2002, at 2pm began our family style picnic at Mendon Ponds Park. At the check in table we handed out programs of the day's events, gave everyone a name tag including the children and directed folks to the beverage table and bathrooms. That day we ended up collecting more ticket money because folks who enjoyed the evening before decided to come at the last minute. Others had emailed us through our yahoo account the week before with schedule changes and decided to come to the reunion - we collected their ticket money then as well. We were situated at Stewart Lodge, which has the capacity of about 90. With the rented tent set up next to the lodge and the most picturesque day there was plenty of space for everyone to have a seat if desired-either at a picnic table or on the lawn. There were over two hundred people at the reunion. Since the park is a carry-in, carry-out park we asked that people BYOB and take the containers with them when they leave. It worked out perfectly. As people arrived with coolers and lawn chairs, a hired DJ played music from outside the far end of the lodge. Later we found out that our classmates were making special song requests from the 80's! Inside the lodge were many activities - some for the kids and some for the adults. As you walked in the front door of the lodge, Murray Mann, a caricature artist was set up to draw pictures of anyone who wanted one. They were free and placed in large envelope for safe transport home in the car. The kids and their parents lined up and signed their names to the sign up sheet and waited to be called in for their "sitting". Murray worked diligently for four hours straight, never once getting up from his seat, never taking a break! At the end of the day there were a number of people who he could not get to so he told them to send him a picture and he would draw the caricature and mail it back to them. Kids, especially were so excited! The next two tables in the lodge were kids crafts. Children sat, with their moms and dads and used their creative abilities to create works of art. The energy in this space was awesome! Kids were running out showing their families what they had made at the crafts table. For our classmates, we made a large foam core board and attached everyone's senior class picture to it. Prizes were given out for the five folks who guessed the most names correctly. Everyone who was at the reunion was on the board. Gift cards were donated by Wegmans as prizes. We also purchased New York State wine to give as prizes. The DJ made the announcements of the winners! It worked out so nicely because folks who traveled from other parts of the country ended up winning the wine and classmates who remained in the Rochester area were given the gift cards! Kodak donated 50 single use cameras for the event. It was noted in the program to use the cameras and take them home as a memory of the day's events. We also asked that folks email us any photos of the reunion to our account at yahoo! -so that we have them to display at the next reunion. The food was catered by Sarkis Caterers. The grill master drew some attention as he fired up the grill and did all of the cooking of the meat and veggie burgers. Inside the lodge was a beautiful spread of gourmet picnic style food. Outside the lodge the beverages were set up alongside the gourmet brownies, cookies and ice cream stand! The food was awesome! The staff was professional and courteous! Both the food & the caterers got rave reviews! Activities for the kids continued as the reunion staff directed the three games of pinatas for different age groups. Whiffle ball games were taking place all around the grounds nearby....kids were picking from the large basket of different kinds of bubbles as well as playing frisbee.....football.....bocci......badminton.....alongside the adults! The lodge is situated next to a large swing set and near the big pond in the park. Families were taking advantage of these activities and sites. Maps of the parks hiking trails were located at the check in table if anyone desired to go for a walk. One father brought his backpack and slipped his toddler in and off they went on a nature hike observing wild flowers, trees and park animals. After a full day everyone pitched in to clean up. This was amazing to observe. One family filled their pick up truck with all of the filled 50 gallon garbage bags while another family drove them to a large garbage facility. Whoever was lingering afterwards helped in the clean up. It took all of about 1/2 hour to leave the park exactly as we found it. We had organized a cleaning staff before the reunion. If it was just the six of us it would have taken triple that time.....and we were all prepared to take a few of those garbage bags to our home recepticles....but with the help of dozens of families, including the kids, the work was actually fun and fast! The weekend was spectacular. We have begun to receive emails from classmates telling us what a great time they had! Thanks for asking about it, Chari. Chari |