*** Now in FORUM: Class News – News, announcements, happenings (added 5/21/08) ***

We all had such a great time at the 40^th reunion, it seemed that our class should have a web site. To start, we have pictures and comments from the reunion, a FORUM where we can talk, MEMBER INFO to look up classmates, and lots of memories.. Thanks to Ginger (Joslin) VeDepo for making the reunion happen, along with everyone who helped. Thanks to Ed Reeves who took and made available most of the pictures you’ll see here, and to Skip Monro who has been contacting classmates to bring their information up to date. For the privacy of our classmates, the MEMBER INFO area and the ability to post in FORUM can only be accessed after sending a username and password to FEEDBACK, and having it acknowledged (usually < 24 hrs.)

Welcome Class of '67 Tonight as we get together for our 40th high school reunion, let's think again about four special years at H.M.H.S. and the preparation it gave us. Thanks for coming and sharing your time with the people who will marvel at you and swear tonight you look "exactly the same" as you did way back when. Take time to think about the brick and mortar buildings which sit regally on Kings Highway, surrounded with lots of mature trees as a backdrop. The school's floor plan is comforting, so graceful in design. Its high ceilings and smooth, old woodwork add much character as did the porcelain water fountains, French doors to a courtyard--and yes, that stiff high backed bench in the school office, where you could wait to see Mr. Lewis. Can you remember where your locker was? Did you ever wonder about the mysterious telephone booth in the high school lobby? ( So off-limits you never even tried to open its door let alone use it!) Just how did the theater crew get real water to pump into the bucket on stage during the production of “The Miracle Worker”? Things worth pondering, I guess. H.M.H.S. did offer a great learning atmosphere but it was also a fun place to go! Remember "Slob Day"? It was that day you could show up to school wearing totally mismatched clothes! We were a pretty tailored bunch every other day. Let's hear it for pastel sweaters and skirts, guys wearing oxford blue button down shirts and desert boots, maroon and navy blue "conservative" dancing attire, pierced earrings (for girls) and, of course, the ubiquitous circle pin for a girl's collar. Guys, don't forget about your V-necked sweaters either! You could study fashions to maximum benefit during study hall. Here was a place to "chill", finish homework, read (Catcher in the Rye), laugh, snicker or mindlessly stare at the back of another student’s head. Come to think of it, the auditorium was hugely influential in other ways. We gathered there for assemblies (yeah!), talent shows, pep rallies, morning announcements and, of course, graduation night itself! Speaking of announcements, the biggest announcement which still resonates for me, took place on Nov. 22, 1963. Only a freshman, sitting in the cafeteria, at about 2:45p.m., I heard Mr. Troutman intone "The President is dead, people". Did time stop for you too? Where were you when you received this news? Probably, an H.M.H.S. faculty member let you know as only he or she could do. A very solemn series of days followed, with all of us watching a state funeral for President Kennedy on black and white T.V. sets. The Kings Highway appliance store with the TV on in its window was the place a lot of us caught our first glimpse of happenings while walking home on the somber day JFK was killed.

It was a powerful four years.  We knew about the world, sort of.  Remember Mr. Castle passing out Time Magazines to us in class?  That was a neat way to keep us informed, I think.  We soon figured out there was a big world out there and we had to get ready for it.  One step was the taking of the PSAT in our gym.  Who can forget filing in on that auspicious day.  As I recall, we came equipped with three #2 pencils, had no calculators and worked our brains like mad for three hours, barely coming up for air.  Still some of us went to Legion the night before!  The saying went like this:  "You can't study for it!"  Legion dances were a place to relax and have fun. I think Legion dances were maybe the coolest thing about social lives at H.M.H.S. Every Friday night, we had a very definite place to go. We could listen to all the records playing and sometimes a cover band of brave H.M.H.S. students would rock the night with renditions of Rolling Stones hits. Of course, music was really "fab" in those days. Here are some gems: '64, "I Want To Hold Your Hand"-Beatles; '65 "In My Room"-Beach Boys; '66 "Sunny"-Bobby Hebb; '67- "Everlasting Love"-Robert Knight. I'm sure you have your favorites, too. Once you start going back to your sweetest memories of high school, it really is hard to leave them forever. We had the lasting joy of our families, our interesting array of teachers, our homes, our balanced lunches (no soda, no candy) our trips, our achievements, our college acceptance letters, our heady feelings of acquiring driving privileges and wearing really formal wear at proms. Back then who needed $300 handbags or limos to arrive at the prom held in our gym? The decorating committees came up with unusual themes and we thought things looked really awesome. Still, we did have our status symbols too: charm bracelets from Yampell’s Jewelry, H.M.H.S. jackets or “Y” jackets, motor bikes, a Mustang and, of course, class rings. They were made of gold! We were golden on the day those arrived, turning rings on our classmates’ fingers for good measure. I think now that 40 years having passed doesn’t seem so long ago. When you greet your classmates tonight, I hope you smile, chuckle or kid around like you once did because your signature grins don't ever change! You become in a flash that one of a kind friend from the past! It's hard to note that dear classmates from the Class of ’67 have passed away, some many years ago and some recently. We are thankful we knew them. Sometime in the future when we look back, we will seem young when we remember tonight so dance, have fun and socialize. Our 40^th reunion only comes once in a lifetime. Thanks for sharing these memories. May the Class of ’67 stay cool and bright! Sincerely, JoAnne Salvatore West