Page Updated on 1/19/2008 LS
Editor's note: Anything you see that is underlined and blue, is a link... either to a person's email address or to a page of pictures. Just click on the appropriate link. Lee Shake
Reunion Picture Collection
Lee's Collection
Pat Nisi Monahan's party on Friday Evening
Tour of the 'Old' Tottenville High School Campus on Saturday morning.
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Ed Mazurek's Collection
Reunion Dinner on Saturday Evening
Dinner Cruise on Sunday Evening
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Bob Lund's Collection
Pat Nisi Monahan's party on Friday Evening
Reunion Dinner on Saturday Evening
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This Post Reunion Summary was written by Lee Shake, '57. Pictures and links to albums of pictures will be added to this page as they are submitted and prepared for publication.
Summary of the THS. 1957 50th Anniversary Reunion.
In the late afternoon of Friday, October 5th, a large number of classmates congregated at Pat Nisi's home for a wonderful Welcome Party. This was the first time that many of us had seen each other since we graduated from Tottenville in June of 1957. Joanne and Pat passed out name tags with our names and Graduation Pictures on them, and those tags got a lot of close scrutiny.
Pat had prayed for and worried about the weather, but it was a perfect evening, warmer than expected for that time of year, and we made full use of the wooden deck behind Pat's lovely home, which Pat and her husband had festooned with candles and party lights. There was enough food and drink for a group twice our size, and everybody had a wonderful time.
The next morning, (Saturday October 6th) some of us gathered at the old Tottenville High School Campus in Tottenville, and Bert Springstead, having gotten a permit for us to visit the school, ushered us in. We had a great time looking at all the old rooms we attended classes in, and taking pictures.
We were equally surprised by the fact that so much has not changed, while there have also been many changes. For instance, the old fashioned wooden phone booth still sits in it's remembered place in the front hall on the 1st floor. The two-panel door on that booth still opens and closes. At the same time, the location of the Principal's Office and School Office, are no longer located where they used to be. We had the run of the school, except that we could not go down to the basement floor.
Bert did a great job of acting as guide and bringing us up-to-date on the history of that school building. That building and campus became a Middle-School when the new Tottenville H.S. building was established in Huguenot. The "new" Tottenville High School is now older than the "old" Tottenville High School was, when we graduated. THAT'S a sobering thought!
Not only that, but while Tottenville High School in the 1950s was one of the smaller High Schools in N.Y.C; Today, the present Tottenville High School is one of the largest. I drove around the campus of the new school and couldn't believe how BIG it is! It would be pretty difficult to think of the present THS as being "The Country Club" of New York City High Schools.
That evening, we all gathered at the Historic Old Bermuda Inn for our Reunion Dinner. Even more long-lost friends arrived and after a few announcements, the Dinner got off to a rousing start.
The food was great, the bar was open, and people were busy table-hopping and visiting old friends. The Picture Boards and memorabilia were oooh(ed) and aaah(ed) over.
A Professional Photographer hired by Joanne and the committee, took pictures of all the '57ers individually, and cameras were flashing all around the ball room, all evening long. Every '57er in attendance at the dinner that night got a Souvenir Booklet to take home with them.
One common concern before a Reunion is that wives and husbands of the celebrants might feel left out and alone. I didn't see any sign of that or hear any complaints about it. Everybody that I witnessed, had a wonderful time at our Reunion Dinner. We also entertained a special guest. George Kochman who graduated with a number of us from P.S. #8 in 1953, spent the evening with us, visiting with the P.S. #8ers. George went to another H.S. and not Tottenville, but he was a sight for sore eyes, and he had a great time. We were a pretty great bunch in 1957 and we're still a GREAT bunch. I really think that the past 50 years has improved us.
Having just said that though, I'll make a confession. I am truly glad that Miss Lisanti, (my English Teacher at THS) will never get the opportunity to see how little my writing skills have improved, over the years.
The next day was Sunday the 7th. It was a gorgeous warm day, and that evening a large number of us showed up at the dock in Perth Amboy, NJ, for the last event of our Reunion, a Dinner Cruise around Staten Island, with a close-up visit of the Statue Of Liberty. The Cruise boat got closer to Liberty Island and the statue, than the Staten Island Ferry can. That statue is really a tremendous sight at night when it is all lit up, from up close.
There was a good band on board, and everybody had great fun dancing, or watching the more agile folks dance. Again, many of us ate too much.
The weather threatened stronger winds and a rougher sea on the East side of Staten Island, so the cruise boat went back to Perth Amboy via the Kill Van Kull the same way we had come up. That was the only disappointment of the evening for some folks. But everybody agreed that we were having too much fun to really care, and nobody was really in the mood for a rough passage back to the dock.