Interview with Kathy Miller Senna and Janice Hansen Lake

So how did you get the job spearheading the reunion for our class?

Kathy was the secretary of the class and always thought she needed to be involved in reunions. Kathy called Janice because she was local and Kathy and Janice have been organizing the reunions together ever since.

Have you done it for all reunions?

Yes.

Have you attended all the class reunions? Which one(s) was most memorable….and why?

Yes. The 20th reunion, held at Wurlitizer’s in Piscataway, was probably the most memorable because the actual location was so unique. The 15th reunion, held at the VFW in North Plainfield, was also very memorable because Kathy was due with her third baby in three weeks and “she felt big as a house."

Do you work with the high school in organizing the reunion? I mean…is there somebody there who advises you or guides you in any way? Is there a book you can read like “Class Reunions for Dummies.”

No. Kathy and Janice have figured out what to do by trial and error and, luckily, no one has ever complained. They have tried to keep the reunions affordable and fun over the years. As for finding people, they actually start gathering data as much as a year in advance of each reunion. For the earlier reunions, Kathy and Janice only had the phonebook and word-of-mouth to track down people. In later years, they have used the alumni directory, mailings and the Internet.

Does going to the class reunion make you nervous or anxious in any way. (In other words….are you just like us?)

Kathy and Janice want everything to go well at the reunion and want everyone to have a good time. Other than that, they’re just like everyone else, glad to re-unite with old friends.

Will our class be having a 45th class reunion? If so, any idea where it will be?

Yes, they currently intend to plan a 45th reunion. Kathy and Janice have been happy with the current location but they are always open to suggestions. If anyone would like to join the 45th reunion committee, please let them know.

Was there any thought to having a dual class reunion with the class of 1970 (no offense class of 1968)?

Actually, Kathy approached the NPHS class of ’70 and the NPHS class of ’68 ten years ago. The class of ’68 agreed for the 35th reunion and now this reunion. The class of ’70 was not interested when they were first approached.

Who's Visiting Blog from NJ?

So who's visiting this blog? By far, the biggest numbers of users come from New Jersey. No surprise there. Here are the cities that I've been able to track where users are coming from: New Providence (by far the most), Rocky Hill, Bound Brook, Rockaway, Toms River (Hey Joe!), Newark, Egg Harbor, East Orange, Kearny, Lavallette (who lives there....lucky dog), Lakehurst, Absecon, Waldwick, Cliftwood, Garwood, Phillipsburg, Millington, Flemington, Piscataway, Parlin, Iselin, New Brunswick, Somerville, Annadale, Egg Harbor Township and Pleasantville. I'm sure I probably mispelled some town names, but it's almost midnight and it's really time to crash.

Remember This?

Harrison School. Remember? Like Junior High School but with training wheels. I don't quite remember the exact function of Harrison, except to serve the 6th grade class. But it was a good way for Stony Brookers (me) to meet West Enders who seemed at first like exotic foreigners from a distant, unpronounceable country. I have no idea who uses it now, but my 6th grade experience was good.

Generic Picture of North Plainfield High School

Here's a standard shot of NPHS taken in November 2008. Timeless, right. Unchanged. Could have been snapped in 1968 or 1969.

March 8 NPHS Class of 1969 Reunion Update

Here's the latest update. We have 35 graduates coming from the NPHS Class of 1 969. Seventeen guests (spouses, partners....etc.) will be joining them. Our class has purchased 10 ads. Our attendees represent the following states: Arizona (1), California (3), Colorado (2), Delaware (1), Florida (3), Maryland (1), Massachusetts (1), Missouri (1), New York (4), New Jersey (15), Pennsylvania (2), and Virginia (1).

Classmates who are attending as follows: Colleen Bersch Brown, David Billman, Dennis Cecchini, Jan Cooper Leah Lamb, Jolaine Dow Peace, Suzanne Dumont Millan, Nancy Eddy Hanna, Alan Feigenbaum, Gary Garwacke, Beverly Gaston Kochard, Barbara Green Elbeze, Marilyn Gross Stillman, Janice Hansen Lake, John Hieb, Karen Hultburg Pirozzi, Leo Kopsaftis, Karen Kretschmer Kochanski, Michael Maresca, Janet Medinets Doctofsky, Kathy Miller Senna, Carol Mingione Greene, Janet Morris Smith, Jack Muldowney, Robert Munzer, Wendy Perslin Trimarche, Emily Polskin Zylber, Howard Polskin, Joseph Ricci, Robin Roselle Oratio, Richard Senna, Beat Steiner, Andrew Thomson, Joyce Triol Blanding, Frank Vastano, Robyn Waldron Massey.

Janice Hansen Lake informs me that time is running out to get information and/or payments to her for the reunion! We'd like to hear from classmates who are not able to attend so we can ensure their information is current for the directory. Time is running out to send your ads to Janice. Ads are a great way to let classmates know what you are doing.

About the Visitors to this Site

Some ramblings about visitors to this site. This is what I've learned. The vast majority of visits are from the USA (natch). But we have visitors from Canada (Harry Lewis?), England, Ireland, Romania (yep...that's right....Romania) and South Africa (I have friends there but they do not know about the blog)....There's a rumor that NPHS class of 1968 grad Jeff Grand has read this blog....My cousin Bob Polskin (NPHS class of 1968), who lives in Dallas, TX, has heard of this blog, but has not read it....My close friend and former college roommate David Noonan of Morristown, NJ, has shown this blog to his wife because she has her own blog....I know that this blog is getting traffic from the following states: Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota (lots of traffic there....who's out there?), Louisiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Ohio, Iowa, Penn., New York (loads), Mass., Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and...ta dah....New Jersey with the most. No surprise....What does this mean? Probably that NPHS grads are scattered among those states....I have been able to determine that visitors to this site drill deeper than other visitors. More than 70% drill beyond the first page. Conversely, only 10% of visitors from Ohio drill deeper than the first page of the blog....Conclusion: that's why they found oil in Texas.

A Couple of Words About Couples

There are several couples for the NPHS classes of 1968 and 1969 who met in high school, married and are still together. There is Kathy Miller Senna and Richard Senna (pictured above in the center of the 2004 reunion photo with Beat Steiner and Karen Von Tish). Also from the class of 1969: John Mehltretter and Judith Stanislao Mehltretter. From the class of 1968: Judy Nagel Abbruzzese and Steve Abbruzzese; Laura Blauvelt Evans and David Evans; ; Irene Dec Sheredos and Bob Sheredos; Kathy Weiss Greco and John Greco; Lindsay Hopeful McHugh and Bob McHugh; and Carol Molinski Meaney and Jerry Meaney.

And then there's Kathy Dame Hardgrove and David Schmedes. They are getting married this September.

The Loneliest Place in North Plainfield (Part II)

Correction: I mistakenly wrote that Linda Shebey lived across the street from the library. Wrong! It was Gerry Garatino. And she really leveraged her proximity to the library. She worked at the library (35 cents an hour....bigshot!) shelving books. Her title: Library Page (kinda clever).

NPHS Class of 1968; March 3 Update

This just in: 52 people are signed up from the class of 1968. The entire list is below and new sign-ups are in boldface.

Ed Adams, Lorrie Allen Jairdullo, Jim Antonisse, Bill Bennett, Jon Brown, John Burke, Lou Carlucci, Joe Cioce, Ricky Colemen, Kathy Dame Hardgrove, Angela DellaVentura, Bob Dietrick, Maggie Gabler King, Gerry Garatino Burns, Gail Gilbert Spinner, John Greco, Susan Henry Martin, Tom Hughes, Adrienne Jacobs Graubard, Bob Kelley, Barbara Kuhne Harwell, Karl Krawitz, Roberta Meiser Specht, Bradley Musson, Jim Nazemetz, Judy Nazemetz, David Schmedes, Linda Shebey Leugers, Mike Silveri, Bill Thompson, David Thompson, Nick Thul, Jeff Tuorto, Nancy Waller, Mike Watson, Kathy Weiss Greco and Doug Williams.

Romania and Canada -- Who's Out There?

I've been checking traffic reports for this blog. This weekend, I noticed visitors from Kitchener, Canada (seems to be around Toronto), and Aiud, Romania (seems to be near....I really couldn't tell you). So who's visiting the site from those two countries? Could be Harry Lewis, NPHS Class of 1968, in Toronto. I'm stumped about Romania (see map above). We have multiple visits from London but I know the source of those hits.