Memories...Like the Corners of My Mind

Summer is just about gone and we hope you all had a wonderful season. It's almost October--only one year until our 35th reunion! We're excited to see all our old pals and are hoping that you are too. I was rather disappointed by the response (or lack thereof) to our request for high school memories--I know there are some great stories out there just waiting to be told. I thought I might help encourage things along by sharing some of my own Ridgefield story....

Though I knew the town of Ridgefield almost my entire life--my family's best friends lived there and we visited often--I didn't actually move there until I was entering the tenth grade. Coming into a new high school in sophomore year can be a tough transition for any kid, but I was so happy to finally be a part of the town I loved that I didn't mind the adjustment pains. In general, I found everyone to be friendly and made a few close friends here and there, until I had amassed a nice posse by the end of junior year. 

Still, it was a bit of a culture shock for me coming from an uber-intense school district in upstate New York where everyone was involved in many clubs and multiple after-school activities. Aside from sports, activities at RHS were not as diverse, but I was able to find some interesting things to do with my time. I was a DJ on the school radio station, WRHS, thanks to the encouragement of my journalism teacher, Mr. Cox. That was me, Pennie (aka Alison Steele), spinning Steely Dan, Supertramp, and Fleetwood Mac over the loud speakers in the cafeteria for your listening pleasure. I never did score a leading role, but I loved being involved in the school plays, like Pajama Game--so much so, that I went on to study theatre in college.

And there were a lot of fun times. Afternoons hanging at the infamous "Smoking Lounge," while Tim McKee and Tom Gilroy, along with other members of the Midnight Riders Association stood on the hill singing and cavorting; bowling at the lanes in town after school for gym credit with Neil Flanagan ('77), Carolyn Grieco, and Steven Grasso; our infamous Senior trip to London with Miss Lydia Manpel's theatre class; performing as a Conehead with my fellow "Patty Hearst Radicals" in the Senior Play just before Christmas... We Are The Champions!

It was a sweet and special time in our lives and I look back on it fondly. I'm proud to say that I still keep in touch with many of my friends from Ridgefield (before and after Facebook) and can't wait to reconnect with more of you. Please, please share your stories and/or pictures with us--you can send them to me at rhs78blog@gmail.com. And please check out the reunion website at rhs78.com for all the event details and information on how to purchase your tickets.

We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you next year!

Be There or Be Square

Can you believe it? Have you heard? It's been 35 years since we graduated from Ridgefield High and we're having a reunion to celebrate! The date is set: Saturday, October 19, 2013--details are on the reunion website. Of course, in true RHS tradition, there'll be a party after the party, so the revelry and reminiscing can continue well into the night.     Oh, and what reminiscing there'll be... so many great memories from     the halls (and outdoor lounges) of our vaunted alma mater.

Until that date next year, we thought it'd be fun to remember some     of those crazy times that helped shape many of our lives. We'll recall and recant stories from the days of our youth--you'll cry, you'll laugh... you'll probably cry some more.

As befitting this occasion, I thought we'd begin our blog of memories with a story from none other than Mr. Tim McKee, as he remembers how his experience at high school began:

"I remember the first day of freshman year. I woke up late and had to rush to meet Tom Larkin and Alesia Williams because we were going to walk to High School because we lived a mile away. As we entered the west entrance by the gym, we felt so cool and grown up. Then... WHAM it hit us, we were the young punks again, bottom of     the totem pole, measly little froshes. We got our schedules and homerooms along with a map. A, B, & C sections three floors as well. To this dyslexic 14 year old boy it might as well have been Mars. It took me until Christmas to find my locker without going to every section. One time, I was frantically trying to get to class and I remember asking a group of upper classmen (seniors) where room C312 was. I was on the right floor. They said, 'Hold on, it's easier if we take you there ourselves!' (Nice, I thought.) Two of them lifted me up by the arms and ran me down to the cafeteria and said; 'Ask the lunch ladies, they know everything!' and laughed and walked away. I kinda laughed and cried at the same time!"

We'd love to hear your own recollections of those olden days--remember your favorite teachers, antics in the "smoking lounge," building floats, the senior play, graduation, and everything in between.
Please send in your stories--and pictures! lots and lots of pictures!--to: rhs78blog@gmail.com. We hope, in the process to inspire many of you to make a plan, take the chance, make the trip and join us on this auspicious occasion. Be There or Be Square... Aloha!