More Greetings from Cherry Grove....

Every time I think I'm done.....something new happens. Today, it was an email from Sherry Hurewitz. She certainly hadn't fallen off our radar; Fran spoke to her early on in the planning stages, but I'd sent several emails and not gotten any replies. In our email exchange today, Sherry filled me in briefly on her life (married, 2 sons - 25 and 20, Urgent Care Nurse) and let me know that she'd like to attend the reunion, but that she won't be able to make a commitment until early September. I'll make the appropriate changes to the roster and keep you updated!

Greetings from Cherry Grove...

I didn't expect to be blogging this week. I'm on vacation. I'm not getting mail. I truly didn't anticipate any reunion activity. But I called home today for messages and had a very pleasant surprise!

I've tried to reach John Ficula on several occasions. I'd originally gotten a mailing address for him from Howard Jaffe, and then later, a phone number for him from Bill Boub. I'd about given up hope of hearing from him, and had planned to move him to the "not attending" category, where, by the way, I believe Howard Jaffe is going. But Saturday, he left a message on my home phone, apologizing for not getting back to me sooner, and also, asking that I move him to the "hopes to attend but can't make a commitment yet" category. John explained that he travels extensively for his job, and doesn't know yet where he'll be then.

I can't remember anything else that John said...I was at dinner with my family and our friends (Kathy and Tommy, and their daughter Jesse, who, like David is adopted from Korea. We met when we were waiting for our babies to travel home, and have been friends since), and since John's message was like 16 on the machine, it'll have to wait til I get home to replay it. Check the roster, though....I'm moving John. I'm going to hold off on Howard until I hear from him directly that he's not coming.

Once again, I have to thank my husband for his indulgence. As I said, we were at dinner while I was checking messages and thinking about reunion stuff, and I was distracted by my bb. I ordered in haste, and made the absolutely wrong decision. Mike noticed that I wasn't happy with my dinner, and halfway through he changed plates with me.

Now that's what I call a happy ending!

And the prize for distance travelled goes to....

Larry Zarra...coming from Texas! I had an email from Larry earlier this week! It seems that the 4oth anniversary celebration of the moon landing stirred other folks' memories, as well as my own. While Larry is a bit fuzzy on the details, Fran remembers sharing the event with Larry and his family during the summer of '69. Apparently, something Fran, or I, or Michael said struck a nerve with Larry, because he's decided that "The more I think about the reunion, the more I realized that I just have to be there." That seems to be the prevailing feeling among the people I talk to.

I haven't given up totally yet on some of our other out-of-towners. Joey (Texas)still doesn't have his schedule for October, Shelley Rosenbloom (Minnesota) isn't a flat out no, I keep hoping Tad Boub (Southern California...sure winner if he comes!) responds to an email, and we haven't heard from Sherry Hurewitz (Georgia?) in a while. So Larry...enjoy your current status, but be prepared to step aside!

Other news for the week: I made another sneaky roster change earlier this week. Two actually. After receiving an email from Paul Goldenberg, I moved him into the "plans to attend" group, and I'd moved Larry yesterday, as soon as I got the aforementioned email. I anticipate receiving both checks this week, but my feet will be buried in Myrtle Beach sand, so I won't be able to confirm them until next weekend! ;=)

...One Giant Leap For Mankind

July 20th

Celebrating the 40th
anniversary of Neil Armstrong's moon walk

among other things....;=)

And that's the way it [was]

Friday, July 17, 2009

I wasn't going to blog tonight....

I actually have some big plans, and blogging wasn't among them, but....sometimes, the blog owns me, and not the other way around. Tonight is one of those nights.

Remember I said earlier this week that my sources told me Chris Strohmenger was a "yes". I can confirm that tonight. His check arrived in the mail today, with the cutest note....

Those same sources tell me he's staying at OP. Not certain if it's just Saturday, but I must say, this is shaping up to be one hella party! ;-)

Check the Roster

I quietly snuck in some updates.

Yesses for Jack Ribeiro and Eliot Fried. And sadly, no for Ira Lager. It's his 25th anniversary. I suggested that Mrs. Lager would LOVE to celebrate it at the Jersey shore, but so far he's not biting on that.

So, if you're keeping score, that's one Ira down....one to go.

I'm hearing from multiple sources that it's a yes for Chris Strohmenger, but until the check reaches me......

And still in mad pursuit of Steven Kornfeld.

Union Avenue 30 Year Reunion

Back Row: Jeff Komrower, Ellen Aronoff, Marty Tarabar, Gloria Birn, Al DiBiase, Ira Lager, Paul Goldenberg, Steve Shultz, George Seltzer, Matt Wolf, Lonnie Horwitz

Front Row: Fran Cowan, Michael Austin, Ruth Lorber, Leslee Scheckman, Fern Ehrlich, Meryl Miller

Kneeling: Michael Ringler


Above: Ira Lager and Matt Wolf, I think. Leslee Scheckman, Fran Cowan, Gloria Birn, Meryl Miller, Ruth Lorber, Fern Ehrlich

The Girls: Back Row: Meryl, Fran, Gloria and what the heck is Jeff doing in this photo?

Front Row: Leslee, me, Fern

The Boys: Marty, Jeff, Steve, Al, Michael R, Paul G, Michael A, George, Ira L (no...Ira W wasn't at the 30 but I'm bound and determined to find him for the 40th), Lonnie and Matthew.

Missing from photos,and I'm almost positive they were there: Eliot Fried, Paul Pomerantz

4th of July, continued

If you were to look up "Perfect 4th of July Weekend" in the dictionary, I'm quite certain you'd have found mine.

The highlights: Fran...the weather (well, except for Friday afternoon when we had to run off the beach like a bunch of bennies in the pouring rain)....the beach...Michael Maenza....some bottles of white, some bottles of red...fireworks...the boardwalk. A typical Jersey shore holiday weekend!

I'm continually amazed at all this reconnecting. I haven't seen Michael in 40 years, but Saturday night, it was like it was just yesterday. He's still incredibly attractive, still has that twinkle in his eye, can definitely melt hearts, just like in the old days. We had such a good time! We played a bit of Jewish Geography as my Mike and Mike M started comparing notes and found that they had several friends in common. As a matter of fact, as I'm typing this, I'm texting phone numbers to Mike M. Mike J happened to mention to yet another friend (Mindy) about meeting Mike M and the friend they had in common (Tommy), and in that magical way that seems to be surrounding this reunion, that friend (Mindy) ran into the other friend (Tommy) today, and of course Tommy wants to hear from Mike M, so passed his phone number through Mike J. Did you get that? If you didn't get the whole thing, remember this one word: Magic.

Speaking of magic, from the moment Fran re-entered my life, there has been magic brewing between her and David. I guess just like most of the boys in the UAS class of '69, David has been totally smitten with Fran. In his lucky case, the feeling is most definitely mutual. David will do ANYTHING Fran asks him to do, and even does stuff she doesn't ask him to do. Thursday night, with Fran arriving the next day, David was already asking me if he could make up her room. If only I could bottle it for use when she's not here! Fran has already claimed a candle on David's Bar Mitzvah Cake, and he has eagerly acquiesed.

Oh, one of the other bits of magic that occurred during Fran's visit; Last time she was here, Michael found my pictures from the 30th reunion. Since then, they became misplaced. I do believe I might even have accused Michael of doing the misplacing. (Michael is a chronic neat freak. My house is spotless. You can eat off of any surface. If I outlive Michael, I'll sleep with the vacuum cleaner for company. However....don't dare open a cabinet. He's a shover!) In any case, Fran and I tore my office apart and we found the photos and they were right where I left them! Later this week, I'll get a few up.

Check the roster below. I'm making a few more changes. Michael Maenza and Bill Boub are both moving to the definite list. And Bill may have a lead on Doris Jones and Peggy Davis, so keep watching for updates on that!

Independence Day, 2009

Hope you're having a safe and happy holiday weekend! Fran is here visiting. We've been reminiscing about old memories, and making new ones.

Much more to follow about the weekend later this week.

And the hits just keep coming....

The Fourth of July weekend started early for me...(thank you, WS)....and I was able to avoid a good deal of the Benny traffic. Mike was at the beach when I got home and David was still at camp, so I got the mail. I LOVE mail. I think it's an amazing thing that you can put 44 cents on an envelope and send it anywhere in the United States, and have it get there! I, for one, am not in support of the Post Office cutting back on delivery days. As electronically connected as I am, I still love snail mail. Please...do not invite me for Thanksgiving Dinner on an evite! YUCK!

But I digress.

To date, I haven't really had that many real surprises as regards this reunion. Well, no, I take it back. The Peter Biedermann thing was a surprise from start to finish, and there's actually more to the Peter Biedermann story. And I suppose the reaction from most everyone to the very thought of a 40 year reunion was surprising. And reconnecting with old friends and connecting with people I missed the first time around has been surprising and a whole lot of fun! So, okay...there've been lots of surprises surrounding this event. But today, when I got my mail, I was totally and completely blind-sided!

Waiting was an envelope from Fern Ehrlich Vitale! I am so very happy to say that Fern and her husband Lou are coming to the reunion, and they have already made their reservations at Ocean Place for both Friday and Saturday nights. The total surprise was that neither Fran, nor Michael, nor I had been able to connect with Fern, so none of us knew that she was coming. I had a mailing address (as I said...bless the US Mail!) but I wasn't certain that the mailings were getting to her. The phone number I have isn't correct, so Fern, if you're reading this, please please call me! I'd love to chat!

Also waiting in the mail was a check from Peter, so he will officially be moved to the Definite column! (I will also correct the spelling of his name everywhere I have it wrong!) Peter will be staying Friday and Saturday nights, so although the voting indicated that the majority of you don't want a planned event for Friday night, there are enough of us who do that I've started working on it. More on that as we get closer to the event. Peter also sent Fran and I copies of his CD! That was the other big surprise. I'll certainly thank him privately, but hey, Peter...thanks so much!

On another note, the bank of rooms that we had on reserve at Ocean Place are officially booked. I confirmed with the hotel that they will still honor the quoted rate, but please remember, that is based totally on hotel occupancy. If they get to that magic number, they will no longer honor the rate. I really encourage you to book a room if you're even thinking that you might want to stay. You can always cancel it!