Sunday, June 30, 2002

Thinking of how much you would have done differently, think about how different the world is now compared to 1977. Just recently my friend's son, age 10-12 found an old 33 1/3 record and asked his mom how do you work this, she really felt old then, but think about it, a lot has changed, we never imagined a 9/11, we never even had 911, no atm, no playstation, I can remember being small and stores were closed on Sundays, and banks were closed on Saturdays, we also had no cell phone, computer, palm pilots, CD's, DVD's or VCR's, if we missed an old movie, you couldn't just go out and rent it at a later date, if you missed a sitcom, you may get lucky and maybe catch a rerun, no taping a show in High School, we also on a good note did have Ghost Town In The Glen, we also had silent home movies, no camcorders, no digital cameras either, when we sat to explain that to my friend's son, he just sat there in amazement, like how did you ever survive, times were definitely different, think about it. Did I miss anything, let me know so I can relay this to my friend's son.

Ahhh Lee, thank you again. "Studying" was done at many places...the dikes, the tressel, the tracks, Kirby Park, the tubs, Mary Corgan's house across from the Kingston police station. Yes, many a night was spent studying. What would our families think of us all being so studious???? *laughter* I am not condoning all the "studying" that we all did, but we did it and at the time it was fun.
At 42 I think back as to how much I would have done differently in HS...but then I wouldn't be who I am today.

Saturday, June 29, 2002

I was somewhat self conscious about posting what John Nardone had written on the back of his high school photo. There was a reference to underage drinking, which, of course I wouldn't want anyone to read about, so I did a little bit of my own revisionist history here. We went to the dikes to study, not to drink. With the advent of digital editing tools, it's amazing what one can do to alter the appearance of reality. Here's a flash demo about a phenomena that swept through the Internet about a year ago. It seemed that a bad translation of a Japanese video game to Engrish resulted in the phrase 'All your base are belong to us'. I'm going to delete this from the blog eventually, since I need to cover my tracks, but I'll leave it here over the weekend for your amusement.

Friday, June 28, 2002

I sliced up all the senior pages into individual pictures so it will be easier to change the people headlining the page and to find other uses for them. I put Kate and Rob up there yesterday and since I have a possible combination of 80+ unique sets, I will be changing them much more frequently. I'll be going to PA next week and I'll get a chance to meet with the reunion planning committee for the first time.

There are 7 new pages from the yearbook of the teachers we had in high school. Prior to that I had just had a few pages of teachers I got from Terri's 1978 yearbook. I understand that a few of our teachers will be at the reunion, but I'm not sure which ones yet.

You'd be surprised how many hits the 'biograhphies' page is getting. People have a genuine curiosity about your life and so far only 7 intrepid graduates have posted their bios. If you haven't, let's give our classmates something more to read about! Don't worry, if you make a mistake or want to change it, I can edit it for you.

Tuesday, June 25, 2002

I can see you've been busy again Lee. It's been great paging through the pics. I don't have my yearbook down hear with me and I was able to show my husband, family, and friends the pics. Thanks so much. You're really doing a great job along with the rest of the committee! Karen I was a bit skeptical about showing some family and friends my own pic! What a laugh we all had here. I had a lot of explaining to do about why I was getting on a donkey. *laughter*
The last time I had Grotto and VP pizza was in '98. With all the miles I've travelled there's still nothing like a piece of VP or Grotto pizza...or a DQ blizzard. Is the Dairy Queen still there? Remember Carol's? What a dive but the place to meet after a game or dance before going home.

I've been adding more to the website recently. I won't post this link publicly until I get Karen's permission since one of the conditions of her sending me her Queen '77 yearbook was that I refrain from posting her picture on the site. If you follow the link, you'll find all 170+ senior photos. I think Karen may have been more concerned about putting her photo on the main page up at the top like I've been doing to some other lucky classmates. I figured it would be OK to post the link here in the blogger section where only a few good friends congregate. I've also updated the obituary page which now contains photos and dates.

I was noticing recently that the new HBO show Six Feet Under has a few characters with a passing resemblance to some of our old classmates. Speaking of resemlances, I recall that John Nardone and Joe Jarski, much to their chagrin, would sometimes be confused with each other. Do you see a resemblance?

Friday, June 21, 2002

Hello fellow alumni, I'm glad that Lee Devlin is doing a fantastic but scary job with our new and improved website. I'm really afraid of those pictures I keep seeing. I hold my breath each and every day. Anyway, what I'm looking for is some ideas, new ideas, maybe something that our committee hasn't thought of yet. If you have any, please post them or e-mail me at doolfan@sunlink.net and I'll try to include them. As far as I'm concerned with that Rob/Bob thing goes, "What About Bob" anyway??? I still call him Bob or Doc which I'm sure most of us will call him that too, it could be worse, he could have changed his name to Arnold. As far as getting old is concerned, I'm not planning on getting old, I'm really enjoying life to much to think about it, who wants to get old, all those aches and pains, sounds dull and boring, count me out, I'm bypassing getting old. I once heard George Carlin say that life is backwards, you should start out old and end up being a twinkle in someone's eye, I don't often agree with what he says but this time he's right, think about it you start off old and as you get younger you get a gold watch and somewhere down the line you work at McDonald's or Burger King and then go to School at O'Reilly. Oh well, til next time.

Since I can't seem to get off the topic of the Buoys, at lunch yesterday I brought up the topic of the song 'Timothy' with one of my co-workers who grew up in Terre Haute, Indiana in the 1970s. He not only knew the song, but he was able to sing it. He knew the lyrics, melody, and even the 'cover' story that Timothy was a mule! I should mention that he is a music geek and has over 1300 albums/CDs in his collection.

Sorry Rob - or "Doc" - but I do believe that Patti Nowicki-Shovlin and I referred to you as "Bob" in German Class with Ms. Chulvick???
Anyway from now on its Rob. Have a good weekend all!

I believe the drummer's name was Chris Hanlon. I'm not really that good at names, but in one of my previous postings, I had a link to a Wilkes-Barre Times Leader Article on the Buoys which had the following line it in: "In 1967, Chris Hanlon replaced Staschak and Steve Furmanski was added as a guitarist. " It may not be obvious to everyone, but when you see big orange letters in the posting, it's a hyperlink to something. If you put your mouse over it, you'll see you can click on it. Anyone can add hyperlinks, it just requires you to highlight some text and then use the globe with the chain link icon in the upper right hand corner of the composing window. That way, when you refer to Grotto Pizza, you can include a hyperlink to Grotto Pizza and everyone can see what a beautiful slice of Grotto Pizza looks like. Speaking of pizza, I'll be eating Victory Pig Pizza on Friday, August 30 with some of you. You'll find that VP hasn't changed very much since this picture was taken in 1969. I think they still have the same furniture.

As for Doc, I'm going to have to call you 'Doc' since you always corrected me in high school if I called you anything else. To some people I was Bill, but to most who knew me I was Lee (my middle name) and I can tell immediately if someone knows me or not by how they address me. I noticed that Kati also changed her name to Kate, and it is going to be difficult for me to help myself from calling her Kati. I sure hope she doesn't mind. John 'Goose' Usefara tried to get me to call him John after he went into the military, but after so many years of thinking of him as 'Goose', that's not going to happen.

I may be stating the obvious - but you do know that the Buoys drummer gradutaed from Central Catholic - don't remember his first name - last name is Hanlon (had a brother 2 years ahead of us - Rich "Fred" Hanlon). And by the way, Helen - it is Rob not Bob (although for the reunion, I might have to go way back and go by Doc)

Thursday, June 20, 2002

More trivia - Bill Kelley - one of the Buoys can often be seen sitting at the bar at "Grotto Pizza" at Harveys Lake. I don't think I would classify myself as astonishing but - as we all know this is a really small valley. Music people often seem to know who's playing with whom (that doesn't sound good) and what they really do for a living. I did make music somewhat a career if you consider being the music director for a church at Harveys Lake a career. I also double as the Administrative Assistant. Jay, I was wondering if anyone from our class would be a grandparent. Congratulations! Even though my son will be 22 this summer - I'm not ready for that aspect of life yet. I also have a daughter who just finished high school at Bishop Hoban. Unfortunately, Bob (Dougherty) I don't think my kids will be up for playing at Kirby Park on Saturday. Well, enough trivia for now....

Wednesday, June 19, 2002

I am amazed at the level of detail that some of you can recall about our favorite high school bands. But Helen is truly astonishing...remind me never to challenge her to a trivia match! Jay asks the question about where did Timothy go... and the answer is he was eaten by his two friends who were trapped in the coal mine with him. Here's a recent Times Leader article on the subject that includes the history of the band and the lyrics to the song. I used to have an album somewhere in my collection from the group that spun off the Buoys known as the Jerry-Kelley Band. And I also have one from their later incarnation, Dakota...

Congrats from here Jay - I am not sure how it makes me feel to hear of you being a grandfather - my wife and i still have very young ones (our baby is 4) - we all should have quite a mix of ages when the families get together

Abeline and the Bouys. Two more great bands that played. Congrats Jay! What wonderful news. You must be over the moon. I can't wait to be a grandmother. Helen and Jay the class of '77 will never be old! Can't happen. It's not in our genes to get old. And Jay, I'm happy to hear that you can still get up on the floor under your own power. I'd be getting a little worried if you couldn't! *laughter*

The best Buoys song was "Give up your guns".........awesome song...which was actually written by a then struggling Ruppert Holmes...

Tuesday, June 18, 2002

I remember a lot of Bingo's Diesel dances. The best was when Abeline or the Buoys played though. Where on earth did "Timothy" go after dinner, anyway? By the way, I bacame a grandparent on May 24th to an 8lb 8oz boy named Aidan. Just goes to show that 43 ain't that old. I can get down on the floor to play and get back up under my own power.

Monday, June 17, 2002

Eddie Day - or Eddie Pashinski - is a teacher at Nanticoke -and is now a grandfather but still young at heart. Barry Rogers is a teacher at Valley West from(Bingo's Diesel) - these's guys aren't much older than we are - does that make us old???

Thank you Rob for the names of the band. They were on the tip of my tounge. Good lord, those guys must be really old now! *laughter* John defending himself with postings will depend on how good a lawyer he turned out to be. So John where are you?

Nardone is a lawyer- he should be able to defend himself if he gets out of hand with postings! The two bands I remember are Ediie Day and TNT or Bingo's Diesel

Sunday, June 16, 2002

John is one of the few who have joined the blogger, so he just might post something at any time. In fact, when I told him not to post something I might have to delete, he gave a diabolical laugh and told me I would not have a moment's sleep until the reunion, worrying about what he might write .

I wish I could remember the name of the band that we all liked that Ann Marie mentioned in her post. It was an awesome cover band and I can't for the life of me think of the name of it, but when she tells us, and I hope she does, it will hit me like a load of bricks.

Okay Lee, since when has John become so shy that he uses computer skills as an excuse not to particpate? Please! That's not the John Nardone I remember. Only 7 out of 27 participating. That's disappointing. This is a great way to reminisce and get to know each other again.

You know what I loved best about my years ar O'Reilly? Weekends. Dances...games...glee club practice...parties. Do you all remember how great the dances were? Can anyone remember the name of the band that was always requested?

I got a call from my good friend John Nardone on Saturday morning just in time to wish Terri and me a happy 17th wedding anniversary. John had asked me to post something on the web site that I can't repeat in public, but it was pretty funny. I asked him to join in the blog and do what comes naturally to him by engaging in some witty repartee, but he demurred at the suggestion, making some excuse about his computer skills. Of the 27 people I've invited only 7 of us have elected to participate, but that's probably a ratio to be expected. People are often shy about posting things in public even if they might be quite talkative in person.

Friday, June 14, 2002

The custom CD is a great idea. I find it's a more personal party favor. Something one can pull out when the mood hits. Just give a yell if you need any help organizing the poll.

I wanted to make a few comments about the blogger application because I have been finding unpublished posts in the queue. When you're done composing, you can hit the 'post' button to see what your text will look like in the blog. It appears in the screen below the editing screen. You can select [edit] to make a change to what you've written. After you are satisfied, hit the 'publish' which is an orange button over on the right to move it over to the website. You'll still be able to go back at any time and re-edit an old posting. Also, as the blogger file accumulates more postings, you'll notice it only displays the last 20 comments, but there's a way of looking at all the postings by selecting the 'Archives' link near the bottom. You can even read the old stuff when I was only writing to myself .

Another thing I wanted to mention was that the song list I posted the other day which made Ann Marie cringe had much the same effect on me! It was just a 'cut and paste' from a Billboard chart. There was a lot of good music in the years we attended O'Reilly as the list that Ann Marie put together demonstrates. I'd like to make up a custom CD for the reunion attendees with about 20 songs from our high school years. But who will decide what to put on it? I started a poll to collect the votes from anyone who visits the website and I will use the information to select the top 20, put them on a CD, and then give them away like party favors at the reunion. I have a way to make sure no ballot stuffing occurs and everyone can participate in the creation of a custom CD.

Thursday, June 13, 2002

Anyone from the valley why don't we get together at a bar or somewhere NOW..why wait till August?

You know Lee I was cringing as I read your list of music. Here's some more food for thought on music from '77

Dreams--Fleetwood Mac
Rumours--Fleetwood Mac went platunium in March of '77 (What a classic album)
Tonight's the Night--Rod Stewart
Nobody Does it Better--Carly Simon
Hotel California--Eagles (Another classic. My children listen to this and Rumours, and Steve Miller Band. Timeless music.)
Fly Like an Eagle--Steve Miller Band
Feels Like the First Time--Foreigner
Easy--Commodores

'77 was a good year after all for music.

I saw on some other correspondence that Kate is wondering who would be interested in having the kids play at Kirby Park on Saturday morning - sign the Dougherty tribe up - we have four - Kearsie (9), Calene (8), Kevin (6) and Chip (4) (in case your wondering - only year we missed was 1995 - we joke that we got a TV that year!)- they love to go to Kirby Park whenever they come back to the Valley to visit Grandma

Wednesday, June 12, 2002

If you are a little worried about the reunion, consider asking Sister Heloise for advice like I did (anonymously, of course). There's a form there so you can do the same, provided you can handle her 'tough love' approach.

We'd like to make this reunion fun for everyone and I think that we should try to get as many of our classmates to attend as possible. If you're on the fence about coming to the reunion, please make the effort and make sure to recruit some old friends while you're at it. I'm sure the people who attended in 1988 had some reservations but everyone had a wonderful time and this reunion can be even better.

Hi to all. Hope this is set up correctly.
Ok - believe it or not Sr. Inez in now Sister Donna Marie, a guidance counselor at Bishop Hoban H.S., W.B. She's been there for the past 8 years. Doesn't teach anymore - and you probably wouldn't recognize her if you saw her. Both my children had her for a guidance counselor. Mr Lynch, Margaret Chulvick, Linda Rauchaskas, and several others are still at O'Reilly.
Still here in the valley with a lot of other people from our class - and yes I make the kids tell a joke or sing at Halloween! The tradition
still lives in Dallas, Pa.

Tuesday, June 11, 2002

Ditto for singing or performing anything as a reward for treats here in SoCal. It certainly must be a Wyoming Valley thing. Maybe we should revive the tradition with our children. Imagine, teaching them to work for what they want instead of expecting handouts. On a lighter note. Has anyone kept in touch with any of our former teachers? I'd like to know what became of some of the science teachers. No I don't mean Mr. Stone. I was thinking of Mrs. Morrissey and Sister Inez. Being a chemist they were two of my most influential teachers. With all the resources available on the internet I've yet to locate a "Nun-Web"
I noticed that Kate Wood Gardner is in San Jose which is a good distance from me here in Southern California (I'm about 45 miles south of LA). Are there any other classmates in California? More to come. Keep up the good work Lee. This is a great way to keep in touch.

In order to get everyone in a 1977 mood, I'm including a list of hit songs from that year. We were in the middle of a dance craze back then judging by the large number of dance songs ;-).

Boogie Nights - Heatwave
Undercover Angel - Alan O'Day
Rich Girl - Daryl Hall & John Oates
I'm In You - Peter Frampton
Don't Leave Me This Way - Thelma Houston
You Make Me Feel Like Dancing - Leo Sayer
I'm Your Boogie Man - KC & The Sunshine Band
Got To Give It Up–Pt. 1 - Marvin Gaye
Couldn't Get It Right - Climax Blues Band
Car Wash - Rose Royce

Monday, June 10, 2002

*laughter* Yes Lee, I think singing or telling a joke was a Luzerne/Swoyersville/Kingston/Edwardsville, Plymouth...etc...a Wyoming Valley tradition. When my children and I spent our first Halloween in England, the neighbors kids got annoyed with me because I requested them to sing or no treat. That went over like a lead balloon. My kids loved it that they didn't need to do anything before an audience! The tradition died quickly. Now they want me to remeber the songs they used to sing. *laughter*
Chuck and Rob it's good to see you two are alive and well. Chuck you need to make some noise to Arlene and Karen. I didn't know you were on the committe. Anyone else on the committe?

I mention to my kids that they have to sing (or tell a joke at Halloween) adn they look at me as if I am crazy (so does my wife- who grew up in Pittsburgh - guess what Lee mentions below is a Valley thing) Rob Dougherty

Sunday, June 09, 2002

OK, so maybe singing at Halloween was only a Swoyersville thing (and maybe Luzerne and West Wyoming) and I'm getting the same response from you as I get from my midwestern friends here (i.e. a blank stare)... Maybe that skeleton should remain in the closet
.

Friday, June 07, 2002

I almost fell over when I looked at the blog tonight. Joe got it started by asking for an invitation and while I was at it, I invited a few more. And you guys posted! I was so encouraged that I invited everyone who sent me an email address to join so I hope to see more participation next week. Speaking of being from the 'Valley', my mother-in-law got me a book about the valley that was pretty funny. You can get a taste of it here. The valley has a rich and delightful culture all its own.

When I relate the following tradition to my friends who grew up elsewhere, they look at me like I'm from another planet. I recall growing up in the valley that we had to sing songs in order to get our Halloween treat. I've noticed that out here, it's just a mad dash with no entertainment value for the people doling out the candy when the trick or treaters visit. I feel so used at Halloween now that I'm on the giving end and not getting at least a little song for the candy. I was at the inlaws a few years back during Halloween and sure enough, the kids were singing songs and earning their candy. Has anyone else noticed that this wonderful tradition is only carried on in the 'valley'?.

Here's a fun fact about Wyoming Valley: I live close to Wyoming (the state) and I never waste an opportunity to remind my friends from Wyoming that I am from the 'Wyoming Valley' in PA for which their state is named. Really, I'm not making this up. 'Wyoming' is a Delaware Indian word that means 'valleys and mountains alternating' or 'wide open plains', depending on the translation.

Excuse me..I'm still in the valley too! LOL..and by the way..a committee member as well

Ahh...finally made it it. Hi Kate, Joe and Lee. *warm smile* Yes, Kate, 25 years is a long time. For me, it feels like 1977 was yesterday. Hats off to Arlene and Karen for all the great work they've done on contacting people. Lee, great work on the web site and this blog. It's exciting to be able to catch up with everyone. Joe, I see you're in CA, Kate where have you relocated to? Are John Nardone, Rose, Arlene and Karen the only ones that stayed in the Valley???

Hi all. And Thanks Lee for starting this blog.

Well I can't wait to see everyone at the reunion. I have not kept up with hardly anyone. Given how much I am looking forward our get together, of course I am asking myself why I didn't keep up better. I know I have been busy, but for 25 years. I still can't believe that this is true. Arlene are you sure you have the dates right? :)

Lee, Just a short note for now. I've signed up and now should be able to post. It's quite simple as you indicated. Hopefully others will find it a valuable tool to communicate with our former classmates.

One of the benefits of the website and weblog is that it may allow some others who are unable to attend the reunion to have some interaction with other class members who will be attending the reunion. I know how hard it can be to get away, especially if you have family commitments and live far away from Wyoming Valley. With that in mind, I'd hope that some of you who are waiting to join in the discussion might be tempted to jump in here and share some experiences, thoughts, and ideas with the rest of us. Joe Ziller has offered to join in and I think that if a few more follow his lead, it will make for an interesting discussion...at least more interesting than watching me do all the blogging.

Saturday, June 01, 2002

I just sent out my first message to the entire Classmates list as a reminder of the reunion website. I am trying to help Arlene by being the Classmates contact to share a little of the reunion planning. I had tried to contact people about the new website with individual emails in Classmates but there's a limit to the number of people you can mail to per day (I think it's around 20) to prevent people from abusing it.