35th Reunion

To all of you young people out there....35 years fly by fast.  Hold on tight.

I graduated in 1976.  Back then it was modern.  Now it's vintage.

My father took a job with the EPA the summer before my 9th grade year.  While he worked in Mississippi, my mother stayed behind with us in Bryan to sell the house and give us one more semester with our friends. It was a bittersweet time because I knew that I was moving away during the Christmas break. 

I call Bryan, Texas, my hometown.  I have no family there, but it is the town I grew up in.  It's where my childhood was spent.  So while I actually graduated from Bay Senior Highschool in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, my parents moved to Houston,Texas,  my senior year and I moved the day after I graduated. I'm setting the flag down in Bryan and calling it home.

The girls of my childhood have been very gracious in including me in their reunions and weddings and gatherings.  One girl in particular, Stephanie, pretty much threw this whole thing together via the internet and facebook because she lives in Maryland. ( She's the childhood friend that I met at Silver Bella.....and the one that signed me up for 8 swaps because she kept clicking the button and it didn't seem to be "taking it".....so she would click on another swap....and then another....and another. ha.  And it was taking them all.)  She did a fabulous job of planning this and getting the word out. 


Stephanie has a blog and it was this blog that started me blogging.  What a great world she introduced me to.  Come to think of it....this might have been about the time I stopped cooking. wink wink 

Thank you, thank you, thank you Stephanie George.....

you pulled together a wonderful event.

The reunion was held in downtown Bryan at The Village Cafe....in and around the place....up and down the street and next door at the opening between 2 old buildings where The Sweetbriar Band played.  It was hot and humid and fun.  While it was a reunion for the Class of '76, it was held in a public place and open to everyone. Lots of people showed up from other classes. 

I took a lot of very, very bad pictures.  At one point the camera had been turned to "delayed picture".....so I have a lot of sidewalks and blurred people.  I take pictures like I live....full force ahead without much thought.

For at least 2 hours, there was an attempt to gather all of the '76 ers for a group shot.  So at least 2 hours later, here is the attempt to corral the cats.

I'm on the back row...and thankful I wasn't squatting on the front row for 10 minutes. 

 You go girls in the front row!

Rhonda Rice....we ruled in 5th grade.

And doesn't that look like Jack Black on the keyboards?

There's the event planner, Stephanie next to Chuck. 

 Listening and dancing to ZZ Top, The Doobie Brothers, The Eagles
.....ahh...music of the 70's.

Sherry, Cathy and me.

Betty, me, Becky, Pat, Cathy and Sherry. 

Cathy, Lindsey, Lisa and Cindy.

Doesn't Lindsey look great for being 53?

She's not...she's Cathy's cute daughter. 

The Sweetbriar Band. 

I love the set up between two very old buildings.  A perfect outdoor venue.

Greg Phelps...at the mike, found my camera and returned it to me the next morning. 

I realized I had lost it and was sick about it.  I posted on fb and within minutes, I was put in touch with Greg to pick it up. 

I kept saying I didn't care about the camera but
there were some great pictures on that memory chip. 

ha.

And more poses.

And more candid shots.

That's Stephanie on the left.

Pat and Cathy....the best.

We love them.

Best sidewalk shot of the night.

We did a little club hopping then ate breakfast at IHOP and then talked until almost 5:00 a.m.

It has taken me 2 days to catch up on that sleep.

I love those people. 

By the way, downtown Bryan is a great place.  They have done a wonderful job with revamping it and the restaurants, clubs and stores are all so cute.  We stayed at The LaSalle Hotel...a wonderful "new" old hotel.  We plan on going back just to revisit more of the place and stay there again.