The other day, “06880” reported on the Staples Class of 1960. Planning their 50th high school reunion, they used modern technology (the web) and old standbys (yearbooks) to hunt down nearly all of their 280 members.
Sorry, guys, but you’re rookies compared to Staples’ Class of 1950.
Those men and women — pushing 80 years old, they make the 1960 class look like babies — are hard at work organizing their 60th reunion (Oct. 7).
They’ve tracked down every one of their 130-plus class.
How’d they do it?
They used the internet too.
But also, a class member said, “calls to realtors, ex-wives — and funeral homes.”
Remember this 1950 Hudson? The Staples class of 1950 does. It must have been the coolest car in the high school parking lot.
Okay, once again your have teased my curiousity. How many of the 130+ students of the class of 1950 are still with us?? They would be 78 years of age or so this year.
As a member of the class of 1960, we don’t mind being compared to the class of 1950 at all, Dan! If we could find 95% of our class (53 have died from our class of 295) and if the reunion was such fun that people have volunteered to lead a 55th reunion, we have a goal to find the remaining 19 classmates in the next five years! (By the way, in one day our classmates came up with the cash to keep our http://www.staples1960.myevent.com website live for the next FIVE years!)
And a huge thanks to our own Dan Woog (class of `71, a youngster) for leading a tour of the new Staples for 80+ of our classmates last Saturday morning for two hours. I heard only raves about the tour with all the stories, the humor, the incredible facts about what makes Staples so special. And all the teachers and parents in the group sighed with admiration when you described Principal John Dodig’s leadership style: he gives each teacher or staff person the leeway to use their expertise without the administration micromanaging him or her (saying “Just give me a heads up so I don’t get surprised by something”). Our group ages 67 or 68 is wise enough by now to applaud that kind of leadership!
One last thing, Dan, you didn’t have to exaggerate and say that the class of 1950 is “pushing 80”. 77 and 78 are fine ages, thank you! You’re not pushing 60 yet, right?
Dan – Re: The 1960 Hudson. In my H.S. graduation year (1947) the coolest car in the paking lot was the Nash Ambassador. It’s front seat folded back to make a full sized bed. It was also the most popular car in the parking lot.
Gary: Made me laugh as our frat in college owned a Nash Rambler that never left the parking lot. We called it the “make-out machine” as both twin front seats folded down to a complete horizontal level. We actually made reservations for its use.
A Nash Rambler! Yes, Dude, you are correct about its best use. The engine may have been deficient but the twin fold-down front seats were excellent. My parents owned a red Rambler station wagon during the mid-60s and its seats were put to good use on weekends. Those seats weren’t indestructible, however. On one occcasion I had difficulty replacing the driver’s seat in its proper upright position when I arrived home from a date, so I propped it up as best I could with folded shirt cardboard and walked away. The next morning – Sunday — my mother was late for Mass at Assumption. When she put the Rambler in reverse her seat collapsed and she backed into the center post of the garage. From then on my dates and I were consigned to my battered Morris Minor.
TA: Great story. As I am reminded, your Morris Minor only had one seat: the driver’s. Your dates were confined to the floor board. One young lass from Weston still complains about it. The Good Times!