50 years -- ½ century!

Welcome to our 50th High School Reunion!

 We’ve all gotten older after 50 years (You think?)

 We are here to share life’s happenings with one another and renew old friendships, laugh about old adventures and share both triumphs and tragedies.

Let’s give ourselves a round of applause for making it this far!

Twenty-two months ago a group of classmates thought it was time to start planning our 50th high school reunion.

A wonderful committee was formed and since then we have had a number of meetings, working towards this weekend. I would like to acknowledge the committee. 

Please stand as I say your name

Angel Glickman Crandall

Dick Ambrose

Curt Selander, who created and kept our fantastic website up-to-date, which was not an easy feat!

Sue Lilja Brassington

Peg King  Overturf

Rick Rosen

Jacque Rehder Olson

Beanie Zidel Fisher

Mike Tenney

Carol Ehrlich Dobrin

Phyllis Perlman Ettinger

Suzie Singer

And me- Barb Frishberg Frank

There were many people who were not officially on the committee, but put forth effort to help. Kathe Faragher Deach, we thank you for the great “party favors.” Please take one as a remembrance of our days at Central. We appreciate all of the classmates who contributed memorabilia. The invitation was designed by my husband, Neal, and we thank him for a job well done! Speaking of the invitation: The first person other than our committee who actually registered and sent a check deserves to be recognized. Please stand up, Marty Frizond. Once we had that first reservation, we figured we had a chance to pull this off!

Our 1st task was to find a date, find the venue, and most importantly find our classmates! Out of our class of 586, we found 402 classmates! We were saddened to find that 90 of them were deceased. Forty- seven men were in the many branches of the Armed Forces. Tom Shannon and John Wilson Jr. lost their lives in Vietnam. “May they rest in peace.” I would like to take this opportunity to ask our Vets to stand up so we can extend our gratitude and thank them properly.

We are thrilled and honored that six of our teachers are here tonight. All of you in one way or another helped us pave the way to our futures. Mr.  Ausemus, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Lund, Mr. Mallinger, Mr. Robideaux, and Mrs. Schmit, we offer you a big thank you and will you please stand so we can welcome you and give you a round of applause!

Thank goodness for e-mail. We found that that was the easiest way to communicate. Here is some of our latest correspondence:

Curt wrote: “I have received a few inquiries wondering what is the dress code? I plan on dress/casual like Khakis and an open collar shirt My wife is trying to decide on a dress or a pants outfit. Am I on the right track?”

Beanie responded: “You’re close Curt. You should be wearing a dress and tell your wife that she is fine wearing a pants outfit, a dress or even Khakis.”

Curt’s reply: “Beanie, I do have a favorite dress that I could wear, but I just hate the nicks and cuts when I shave my legs.”

I said “I plan to wear my Prom dress-if it fits!”

Dick replied: “Hey Barb, I’ll rent a tux with a white dinner jacket or since I’ve retired, the only long pants I own are Jeans!”

Sue’s retort: “I have my 1961 Prom Dress, but it does not fit! I will be wearing a pants outfit, since I gave up dresses years ago.”

Mike suggested: “I think everyone should wear what they wore on graduation night or because we have quite a few lawyers coming they should be encouraged to wear their “law suits!” Given the advanced age of the group, I doubt that any woman will be wearing a maternity outfit and remember, it’s Barb’s birthday so she should wear her birthday suit!

I replied: Mike, the entire room would run out screaming if I came in my birthday suit!

We’ve had a lot of laughs through our correspondence these past 22 months and I believe that we’ll all miss the e-mails going back and forth.

We ALL have come a long way in the last ½ century but hey, looking back--Wasn’t This Us?

A little house with three bedrooms, one bathroom and one car on the street.

In the kitchen on the wall we only had one phone

And no need for recording things, someone was always home.

We only had a living room where we would congregate, unless it was at mealtime in the kitchen we ate.

We had no need for family rooms or extra rooms to dine, when meeting as a family those two rooms would work out fine.

We only had one TV set and channels maybe two, but always there was one of them with something worth the view.

For snacks we had potato chips that tasted like a chip and if you wanted flavor there was always Lipton’s dip.

Store-bought snacks were rare because my mother liked to cook and nothing could compare to snacks in Betty Crocker’s book.

Weekends were for family trips or staying home to play, we all did things together- even go to church to pray.

When we did our weekend trips depending on the weather, no one stayed at home because we liked to be together.

Then there were the movies with your favorite movie star, and nothing can compare to watching movies in your car.

Then there were the picnics at the peak of summer season, pack a lunch and find some trees and never need a reason.

Get a baseball game together with all the friends you know, have real action playing ball and no game video.

Remember when the doctor used to be the family friend, and didn’t need insurance or a lawyer to defend.

Remember going to the store and shopping casually, and when you went to pay for it you used your own money.

Nothing that you had to swipe or punch in some amount and remember when the cashier person had to really count?

The milkman used to go from door to door, and it was just a few cents more than going to the store.

There was a time when mailed letters came right to the door,

Without a lot of junk mail ads sent out by every store.

The mailman knew each house by name and knew where it was sent; there were not loads of mail addressed to “present occupant.”

There was a time when just one glance was all it would take, and you would know the kind of car and model and the make.

They didn’t look like turtles trying to squeeze out every mile; they were streamlined; white walls, fins and really had some style.

One time the music that you played whenever you would jive, was from a vinyl, big holed record called a forty-five.

The record player had a post to keep them all in line and when the records would drop down and play one at a time.

Oh sure, we had our problems then, just like we do today and always we were striving trying for a better way.

Oh, the simple life we lived still seems like so much fun, how can you explain a game, just kick the can and run?

And why would boys put baseball cards between their bicycle spokes and for a nickel,  had little bottled cokes?

This life seemed so much easier and slower in some ways, I love the new technology, but I sure do miss those days.

So time moves on and so do we and nothing stays the same, but I sure love to reminisce and walk down memory lane. With all today’s technology we grant that it’s a plus!

But it’s fun to look way back and say,

“Hey Look Guys, that was us!”

50 years later -- THIS IS US!

Perks of being over 60 and heading toward 70 and beyond

At the root of every grey hair, there is a dead brain cell!

Kidnappers are not very interested in you.

In a hostage situation, you are likely to be released first!

No one expects you to run—anywhere!

People call at 9 PM or 9 AM and ask, “Did I wake you?”

People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.

There is nothing left to learn the hard way.

Things you buy now, won’t wear out!

You can eat dinner at 4:30 and take advantage of the “early bird specials!”

You can live without sex,   but not your glasses.

You can get into heated arguments about Pension Plans.

You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.

You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room.

You sing along with elevator music.

Your eyes won’t get much worse! 

Your investment in Health Insurance is finally beginning to pay off.

Your joints are more accurate than the National Weather Service.

Your secrets are safe with your friends, because they can’t remember them either.

Your supply of brain cells is finally down to a manageable size!

Now on to our 55^th St Paul Central Reunion. We welcome anyone who would like to be on the committee, please sign up at the registration table. If you have an address change or any other pertinent information before our 55^th, please send it to one of the committee members, so we can keep our lists up-to-date. Have a great weekend and safe travels as you make your way home both near and far.

Now let us all get up and if Suzie Singer,  Judy Grohs Harvey, Carol Ehrlich Dobrin, Karen Seiffert Lane, and Janie Ditonno Dahl  (our fantastic cheerleaders) would lead us, let us all sing   the Central Rouser! If you’ve forgotten the words, please refer to the Memory Book. You will find the song on the last page.

Thank you.