Please Excuse My Absence From School Yesterday - as Told by Nick Lagos!

Nick Lagos has been getting pretty cranked up about the Class of 1973 reunion - stories are coming out of the woodwork and Nick wanted to share this one in the hope that it may entice all of you fence sitters to be sure and make the 40th reunion the one event you can't miss this year!

As told by Nick Lagos:

Please Excuse My Absence from School Yesterday!

So – I am sitting in the Home Economics classroom in RHS waiting for Doctor Lee’s business law class to begin on a Thursday in February of 1973…..the bell rings, and class begins – However, Doc Lee was not yet ready to begin class and instead - he addresses Chris Bowe;

·         Doc Lee:          Mr. Bowe… why were you not in class this past Friday?!!

·         Chris Bowe:     I stayed home from school, I had a sore throat…

·         Doc Lee:          You need a note stating such from your guardian, don’t you?!

Uh Ohh Chris!, now you’re busted …. but at this point, to the amazement of most of us in the classroom, a very funny and interesting thing happened next;

Chris got a piece of notebook paper and wrote the following note:

Please excuse my absence from school yesterday, I had a sore throat.

Sincerely,        Chris Bowe

Chris brought the note up to Doc Lee’s desk and laid it down in front of him.  Doc Lee looked at the note – looked at Chris, shook his head a few times in disgust, and quietly told Chris to back to his seat and sit down.

Chris walked back to his seat (which was right next to me) and we laughed about Chris’ newly-discovered freedom and the great potential that this freedom/power might afford Chris until the end of the school year in June.

See --- Chris was born in  1954 --- you might remember that the age of majority in New Jersey was switched to 18 years old starting on January 1, 1973 --- so Chris was the legal responsible party and able to write his own excuse for not being in school the previous day.  We also had what was called an “Open Campus” policy at that time, which also significantly contributed to an interesting and fun spring of 1973 leading up to our graduation in June.

I am looking forward to talking and laughing about stories like this one and many others with all you guys about some of the fun we had back at Ridgewood high, and I will celebrating Doc Lee’s Business Law Class among many other events during our time in high school.

Nick Lagos

 

40th Reunion weekend October 18-20, 2013

Dinner and Basketball at Dave Burdick's House!

During the football season the guys ate a lot of pasta! These photos were taken by Dave Burdick's father at Dave's house for a meal and a little basketball during the season. Photos courtesy of Dave Burdick! Enjoy!

Above, Chris Cassidy, John Wescott and Paul Vinroot at Dave Burdick's house.

Above, Paul Vinroot and the perils of sitting next to Rusty Wescott!

Above, Dave Burdick eating at.................Dave Burdick's house!

Above, Chris Cassidy.

Above, Paul Vinroot.

Above, um, the perils of sitting next to Rusty!

Above, Brian Tobin and Chris Cassidy.

Above, Jeff Lockhart and Brian Tobin.

Above, Paul Vinroot, John Wescott and Jeff Lockhart at Dave Burdick's house.

Above, Chris Cassidy, Jeff Lockhart, Paul Vinroot, Brian Tobin and John Wescott.

Above, Brian Tobin, Chris Cassidy, Jeff Lockhart and Paul Vinroot.

The Class of 1973 40th Reunion - Who's Coming So Far?

This is far from the complete list but we wanted to publish a teaser list of who's coming so far! We spoke to Sal Furnari on the phone last week while we were at Frank Petrucci's new shop in Ramsey New Jersey and Sal sounds great - he can't wait to come and is looking forward to seeing everyone!

Above, Brian Fawkes and Sal Furnari the night of our graduation - taken by me! Sal's coming this October!

When in Ramsey NJ check out Frank's great shop on Main Street "Ultimate Cycle and Snow Sports". You can also check Frank out on the store's website at http://www.ultimatecycleandsnowsports.com.

Come on - add your name to the list!!! The reunion is the weekend of October 18-20! For more info please contact Terri, Rick, Frank or John at rhs73reunion@verizon.net.


Attending:

Brian Alcock
Patty Baker
Margaret Bayer
Chris Bowe
Jane Bowman Maxwell
Dan Bradley
Andy Cancelmo
Kevin Corley
Patti Vanlenten
Denise Costigan
Glen Campbell
Amy Ellis Corley
Elaine Erickson Bradley
Margaret Finucane Boos
Miriam Frey Brown
Sal Furnari
Scott Gutting
Bob Haworth
Errol Haznedar
Woody Hood
Craig Hopewell
Leigh Hubler Terrafranca  (Coming from England btw!!)
Rick Kinne
Bob Klatte
Katie Knight Maiuri
Nick Lagos
Bill Lauerman
Sue Leahey
Cindy Leather Kennedy
James Lizza
Jeff Lockhart
Terri Dimodugno
Frank Petrucci
Rick Flannery
John Wescott
Fred Strype
Elise Morrison Strype
Patty Murray Hurley
Gretchen Nienaber
Theresa Oggero
John Oshin
John Pierce
Leslie Pope Forney
Agnes Rymer
Paul Rypkema
Nancy Sullivan Skinner
Paul Attella
Tad Shepperd
Luann Speechley Sackrider

John Oshin's Photo's of Graduation Day - June 20, 1973!

John Oshin recently sent us some great photos of our Graduation Day June 20, 1973! Thanks so much John! Hey if you have photos of anything - of you when you were little, hanging out at a party, school stuff, sports - anything - please send them along - there have been 1,000's of visits to this blog recently - everyone is excited about this reunion! Remember - we are not using a reunion service company - so this is going to be good! We want to try and use these photos in memory book for everyone!

Nick Lagos is putting together a great list of music that we all listened to - songs, albums you name it! Hey he's guys so psyched about it even Diestel went to the basement and put a list together of his favorites! We will be adding an MP3 player to this blog that will rotate and include the music we all loved! Its all about the fun we had - please contact Nick Lagos at  Nick.Lagos@lamresearch.com to add your favorite music and he will notify me and we'll rotate the songs in.

Enjoy!!

Above, the girls of 1973 making their way to the field roses in hand. Of those that I can spot for sure are Marianne Sullivan, Chickie Lynch, Betsy Lerner and Gayle Allard. Who do you see? Please let us know - contact Rick at cmadbase@yahoo.com .

Above, we're ready! Class of 1973 awaits their diplomas!

Above, the girls make their way to the podium to collect their diplomas from Principal William Leach. Notice the palms in the background!

Above, John Oshin and others receive their diplomas from Principal William Leach. The bus garage can be seen in the background - Nepola's mark was left! Everytime I think of the bus garage I'm reminded of the ill-fated Paramus rumble and Andy Rodman's unintentional painting of a Ridgewood police officer!

Above, the ceremony continues while the band looks bored!

Above, gathering to load the buses for the trip to "The Fountainhead" in New Rochelle NY for the first part of our long night of celebration! I don't think we could have celebrated this special night any better than we did! In the photo are Pete Appert, J. Todd Ellison (I think!), Ruth Reilly, John Oshin and Barbara McCutcheon.

Thanks again John - these are great!!