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(click to view or hide pictures)
Fifty Years Celebrated at Three Venues
(Vancouver Lawn Tennis, Tanelot, Hollyburn)
Is it just me, or can it be that the older we get the more enjoyable our
reunions become? Perhaps it has something to do with distance and time -
and a different perspective as we mature (is that the right word?), but this
reunion was without a doubt the most enjoyable I've been involved with.
Here are some numbers. Our actual grad class had 252 members. (Remember
252 or $2.52? - the price of a crate of suds in our day.) We identified 16
more who had dropped off or moved, for a gross class list of 268. Of those,
46 are known to be deceased and 14 can't be found. Of the remaining 208, 15
do not have email addresses, and an amazing 193 do.
We had 128 grads (plus several spouses) in total involved at this reunion.
Of those, 51 were from outside the Lower Mainland. We had 29 from other
parts of B.C., 4 from Alberta, and 7 from east of Alberta. There were 9
from the U.S. And one each from St. Bart's and Australia. To each of you, a
hearty thank you for making the special effort to be with old classmates and
friends.
Total attendance was 282 people at the 3 events. Considering that we had
capped the Whistler event at 50 (or so we thought - it ended up at 58) these
numbers were pretty spectacular. And, equally incredibly, the weather
cooperated throughout the entire three events (thanks in no small part to
Lloyd's membership in a higher order, plus his polished negotiating skills).
Aside from a defunct sound system at the Vancouver Lawn Tennis Club, the
first event on Thursday evening went smoothly. There were 122 grads in
attendance. My practiced eye detected nobody unengaged, and the noise level
was near-ballistic. The bar enjoyed considerable traffic (so I'm told) and
the food was beyond description. Stan Webber's '61 Healey graced the
entrance - top down - and attracted considerable attention. When I
slithered home about 10:30 the party apparently continued unabated. Hats
off to Davie for ensuring that this was a resounding success!
Friday afternoon, 36 fortunate souls joined Don and Heather Moore on a
luxury touring bus for the journey to Lord Tanton's lair near Whistler.
(Another 20 arrived by private vehicles.) Immediately upon departure from
Park Royal South, they were accosted by Messrs. Moore and Northcott, and
"invited" to purchase Magee '59 baseball hats and beer, and the bus was soon
awash in cheesies and chips. The scenery was spectacular and the company
highly amusing. We disembarked at Pinecrest Estates at precisely 4:00 p.m.
And Lord Tanton was well prepared. Tray after tray of hors d'oeuvres were
passed and after all glasses were charged, guests moved outdoors to the
garden by the lake where the feast was revealed. A "beef and bun " - my
butt! The Louisiana pulled pork with magic dust was complemented by wild
mushroom meatballs, rib eye roast with glazed onion sauce, BBQ chicken,
marinated snapper, sauteed prawns Provencal, BBQ'd steelhead, and caesar,
potato and yam, and tomato and bean salads. Desserts were a choice of
homemade strawberry and apple pie or a fruit and cheese platter. Music from
our era provided a background throughout the house and garden, and upstairs
a video of an enchanted 1989 voyage around the British Virgin Islands by
several classmates provided a unique entertainment option. When the bus
pulled away at 8:15, no-one had room for more. With groaning guts we headed
back to prepare for the final event.
The Saturday brunch attracted 102 people. Pat and Laurie had provided
beautiful centrepieces at each table, and the brunch buffet was exceptional.
Although the omelette stations slowed things down a tad, nearly 100 were
served in under an hour. The Class Chronicles (a Powerpoint slide
presentation of 378 images with iPod accompaniment and my narrative)
provided the finale for what was a somewhat spectacular weekend.
My heartfelt thanks and gold medals to all those who were involved on our committee. They
are:
Local phones - Judy Greenberg, Bob Koo, Sarge Berner, Brooke Campbell, Don
Moore, Laurie Morrison Andrews, Cynthia Cowan Hou and Bill Harvey
Vancouver Island north phones - Harry Holland
Vancouver Island south phones - Dave Tierney
B.C. Interior phones - Bill Stephens
Alberta phones - Lloyd Northcott
Central & Eastern Canada phones - Ed Inouye
Washington and Oregon phones - Jill Kirwen
California phones - Marilyn Smith Brock
Vancouver Lawn Tennis Club host - Davie Rae
Vehicle - Stan Webber
Whistler Tanelot host - John Tanton
Whistler transportation - Don Moore
Hollyburn host - Brooke Campbell
Hollyburn Club liaisons and coordinators - Pat Howie Clark and Laurie
Morrison Andrews
Name tags - Dayle McPherson Farenholtz
Photography and scans - Bob Koo
Reunion Treasurer - Brooke Campbell
Database - Brooke Campbell and Bill Harvey
Overall coordination and video production - Bill Harvey
So you can see that it took a lot of people (21) to organize and execute
this reunion. And it took the special efforts of all who attended to make
it a success. Thank you all.
Reported by: Bill Harvey
Bill Harvey's Quiz Results
If you could not hear the results of Bill's quiz, here they are again:
1. Which two female classmates were originally known as "Alice"?
(click to view or hide answer)
Livsey and Arnold
2. Which two female classmates took up musical instruments in their 40¹s,
and are now regularly playing with professionals?
(click to view or hide answer)
Donna Ferguson Packer and
Dayle MacPherson Farenholtz
3. Which two male classmates spent most of their working lives flying
commercially in Quebec?
(click to view or hide answer)
Mike King and Bob Arnett
4. Which two former classmates renewed their high school romance 45 years
later?
(click to view or hide answer)
Brian Whitelaw and Joanne Ballentine
5. Who was the last person in our class to father a child?
(click to view or hide answer)
Colin Craig - less than 4 years ago
6. Which of our classmates was a former Miss Vancouver?
(click to view or hide answer)
Mary Harford Clement
7. Which member of our class chaired the Vancouver Public Library board when
the present library was being constructed?
(click to view or hide answer)
Kyle Mitchell
8. Which two classmates drove Jaguars during high school?
(click to view or hide answer)
Bill Stephens and Pat O¹Kelly
9. Which classmate represented Canada in the 1962 British Empire Games in
Perth (silver medal), the 1963 Pan American Games in Sao Paulo (gold medal),
and the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and is in the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame?
And what was the sport?
(click to view or hide answer)
Tom Dinsley (diving)
10. What was the name of the counselor who was with our class at Maple
Grove, Point Grey and Magee?
(click to view or hide answer)
Earl Heisler
11. Which two female members of our class enjoyed careers as university
deans?
(click to view or hide answer)
Ruth Berry and Marilyn Smith Brock
12. Which three guys from our class married classmates? (and they¹re still
all married!)
(click to view or hide answer)
John Clement and Mary Harford; Bob Loptson and Linda Johnston; Davie Rae and Pat Crompton; Also married Bob Brodie and Lynda Kirkham (who is now deceased)
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