By Michelle Gillett, Member, Bronxville High School Class of 1965

Sep. 30, 2015:  When I answered the phone a year ago and heard the voice on the other end say, "Hello, Michelle, this is Debby Jones; do you remember me?" there was no lapse in my memory. Debby's voice channeled me back forty-nine years to my time at Bronxville High School.

Debby and Harry Gregory, our senior class president, thought it would be a good idea for our class to have a fiftieth reunion and had started contacting class members to determine interest. The class of 1965 had been pretty negligent in the reunion arena--there had been only one other long ago. But fifty is a milestone--a now-or-never opportunity.

A group of us participated in conference calls and emails trying to locate classmates. It was, as Duffy Dyer Watson noted, "a little like herding cats." But it all came together beautifully, thanks to Debby Jones Lash, Harry Gregory, and Penny Pearl Schumacher.

On the weekend of September 11-13, twenty-eight of us classmates and significant others came to the Hyatt Place at Cross County Shopping Center in Yonkers (remember Wanamaker's?), where we had booked a block of rooms. On Friday evening, we gathered to pick up our nametags with yearbook photos attached, the details of weekend activities, and a booklet of bios and to have drinks and greet and get reacquainted.

On Saturday morning, we met at the elementary school for coffee and a meeting with Superintendent David Quattrone, who spoke to us about the changes and programs at the school and showed a film about "The Bronxville Promise." He answered questions about testing and curriculum, technology and diversity, and about how a school in a small privileged community reaches out to others. Then Bronxville School Foundation board member Helena McSherry and her eighth-grade daughter, Gracie, led us on a tour through the building.

We lost our orientation now and then as we walked through new and reconfigured spaces. We felt nostalgic in the familiar and unchanged rooms like the library. We spent time in one of the new "innovative" classrooms designed to promote collaborative learning instead of traditional lecture-style learning. Whiteboards covered the walls (remember blackboards?). There were laptops for reading and writing (remember typewriters?), a television for Skyping, tables instead of desks. We remembered Miss Boice and Miss Pelton, Miss Guinee, Miss Landis, Dr. Misner, and others who had taught and guided us through those years.

In the courtyard, we ate a delicious lunch and then took the afternoon off before cocktails and dinner at The Bronxville Women's Club. More classmates arrived and more memories filled our conversation. Those formative years in high school bond us in undeniable ways whether we enjoyed them or not, whether we struggled or achieved. We were in it together, and the bond was evident on Saturday night. We rounded off the weekend with a brunch on Sunday at Debby and Jim Lash's beautiful home in Greenwich.

A number of classmates who could not attend our 50th had emailed biographical information to include in the reunion booklet, so we got to reconnect with them by reading their updates. When I picked up the copies of the collected bios from the local print shop, the owner said to me, "What an interesting group of people!"

We were and are still interesting. Some of us have retired, some have no plans to retire, some of us travel, garden, enjoy grandchildren, paint, write, teach. Some of us have survived illness and loss. All of us have had challenges and blessings, all of us are grateful for opportunities and friendships.

As Harry said in a follow-up email, "I had no idea that the weekend would engender such warm and strong feelings in me. I did not talk much with classmates, with one or two exceptions. Mostly just making sure things were running OK. But that was enough, just being in the presence of all of us."

To see photos of the reunion, click on the link (password: Bronxville):
http://s989.photobucket.com/user/email104/library/65BHS50.

Pictured here:  Bronxville Class of 1965 celebrating its reunion with cocktails and dinner at The Bronxville Women's Club.

Photo above and photos in link courtesy Richard H. Gregory III