Posted by JenAudley - Wed, Aug 12, 2009, 10:23 P

Class of ‘69 Plans 40th Reunion Bash to be Remembered

from the August 6, 2009 issue of the Montague Reporter:

Class of ‘69 Plans 40th Reunion Bash to be Remembered
By Nancy Currie Holmes

Turners Falls – On June 12th, 1969, one hundred and eighty students graduated from Turners Falls High School. As with most classes, we married, joined the military, or went to work at mills and offices. Many attended college near and far. We tried to stay in touch.

The class of ‘69 had a five-year reunion at the Millers Falls Road & Gun Club, a 10th at the French King, 15th at Thomas’s, and our 20th and 25th at Brickers – and then they stopped. It seemed we all were busy with jobs and families, and no one had the time or energy to take on the task of organizing reunions.

But a small group of girlfriends from the class have a get together every so often, and last August we got to reminiscing one night, after a few glasses of wine, and realized how we all have aged, and how quickly time is passing, and how we miss the good old days. So it was decided – it was time to have another reunion.

Oh, the good old days! Our class was the typical class: the scholars, the athletes, the cliques; many of us could reasonably claim to be in all three categories. There was the class play, Lock, Stock and Lipstick. The prom held in the gym – “Moon over Keijo” was our theme – followed most of the rules. But the times they were a-changing, and we were ready to jump right in. The music was different: songs like Aquarius and Crimson and Clover; from bands like the Beatles, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, and the Doors. President Richard Nixon took office; millions of Americans participated in a Vietnam Moratorium. A man landed on the moon!

Our class dedicated our yearbook to Robert Kennedy, and quoted his words to inspire. We worked diligently to create Snoopy and his dog house as our class float for the Booster Day parade, and we dared to portray Jesus as a black child for the Christmas mural, in the hallway of the school. We held ‘sit-ins’ to show our dissatisfaction with bagged lunches when the cafeteria was under repair, the firing of our principal, Mr. Franklin, and the necessity of taking gym, especially in blue gym suits! We smoked in the bathrooms, skipped out of class and hid in our cars till we could pull safely away to the Pig Pen, the Boondocks, the Patch woods or whichever favorite get-away spot made us feel we were in control.

So on the weekend of August 14th and 15th, 95 people and approximately 55 classmates will gather once again. This will be a time to renew old friendships, reminisce on days gone by and share life experiences, old and new.

Friday night, the TFHS class of ‘69 will be having a Pub Crawl starting at 4:00 p.m. at Ristorante DiPaolo, 166 Avenue A, for a wine and cheese gathering, then heading down the Avenue to Jake’s for some great burgers or seafood, then on to BTU (Between the Uprights, formerly 2nd Street, formerly the Bridge Café) to catch the results of the game on any one of seven TV’s. Then, for good measure, a stop by the Rendezvous on 3rd Street, known to locals as “the Voo”.

On Saturday, the party will continue at one of the favorite local spots, the Schuetzen Verein Club in Gill. There, the reunion resumes at 4:00 p.m. for social hour, with memorabilia and photos to peruse. We’ll have a quiz about the school and classmates, music by locals Ken and Mike Little and John Currie; Bub’s BBQ will be serving at 6:00 p.m., followed by dancing to the music of Ruby’s Complaint, a band led by Valley Idol Alana Martineau.

TFHS alumni from 1964 through 1974 are welcome to join us after 7:00 p.m.
The committee had a great time planning this event, and it is sure to be a great weekend!

Contact: 863-2213 for more info, or search for TFHS Class of 1969 on Facebook.