50 Years and Counting

Before traveling to Baltimore for my 50th high school reunion, I wrote about the years that my classmates and I spent at McDonogh School, the changes in the school since our graduation, and a few of the reunions that we celebrated over the past 45 years.

The schedule of activities for the weekend was extensive and the school provided us with a customized schedule for our class in advance. Friday morning, I missed a celebration recognizing retiring faculty and staff members, but managed to attend the Alumni Memorial Service in the Tagart Memorial Chapel. The service recognized alumni, faculty and staff, and trustees who died during the past year. The service also recognized deceased members of the class of 1972 who passed away since our graduation.

I noted that the 55 alumni who died during the past year were men. That wasn’t surprising given that girls did not attend McDonogh until 1975. Of the eight members of the class of 1972 who have died since our graduation, one of them passed away this past year. Members of the class of 1972 read passages in the service and the McDonogh Concert Choir sung several songs. The service was a solemn recognition of our deceased alumni.

At the Memorial Service, I connected with approximately a dozen of my classmates who attended. Upon our arrival, we were given badges to wear for the weekend that incorporated our yearbook photo as well as our name and the notation “McDonogh Class of 1972.” From the chapel (where more than a few alumni have been married), we walked to the State of the School Luncheon on the Rosenberg Green.

At the luncheon, Head of School David Farace provided an excellent overview of McDonogh today as well as some of the plans for changes in the future. Some changes are welcomed, and others may questioned by some alums, and Mr. Farace handled those questions with poise and grace. After the luncheon ended, I asked another alum to take a picture of me with three of my classmates (L to R – Bremen Trail, me, Scott Spier, Steve Mallis), one of many pictures taken throughout the weekend.

McDonogh Reunion participants

In the afternoon, I decided to attend the Cavalry and Riding Reunion and skipped the campus tours. I was not a member of the cavalry when I attended McDonogh, but my twin daughters were equestrians at McDonogh before leaving for college and competing for their Division I equestrian teams. I knew that McDonogh’s equestrian program and facilities had changed dramatically since our era when the cavalry riders were more interested in cross country eventing (Note: Bruce Davidson, an Olympic gold medalist and world eventing champion, graduated from McDonogh in 1968 and several other alums have earned national and international recognition). Listening to my classmates and other older alums describing the facilities, riding program, and favorite horses during their years at McDonogh was fun.

McDonogh reunion statue

Streett Moore, McDonogh’s director of equestrian programs, was able to bridge the gap between the equestrian program that my classmates were familiar with and today’s. Watching the current students exercise their ponies and horses reminded me of when I  watched my daughters do the same. Walking through the barn and checking out the horses brought back more memories.

McDonogh stables

I skipped the late afternoon baseball and lacrosse games as well as the dance performance. I attended the Young Alumni and Distinguished Service Awards Ceremony where one of my classmates, Frederick C. Maisel III, was recognized for more than 40 years of volunteer work with McDonogh’s school archives. After the award ceremony, more classmates attended the alumni cocktail party where we shared stories as well as greeted a few friends from other reunion classes.

Even though McDonogh does an excellent job of building in many activities spanning two days, Saturday is the peak day for attendance. One of our classmates, Jon Aaron, has taught English at McDonogh for more than 40 years. On Saturday morning, Jon provided a two-hour tour of campus exclusively for our class. I skipped that event and two others and showed up for the crab feast and family picnic at noon.

Crab feasts are a Maryland tradition. The nature of cracking and picking steamed hard-shell crabs provides many opportunities for conversations with your table mates regardless of whether you’re washing the crab down with beer or soda. My class commandeered three tables and during the two-and-a-half-hour event caught up with each other while working through the platters of steamed crabs on our table.

Saturday evening was reserved for individual reunion class events. Our class’ reunion steering committee selected the Roots Farm on campus as the location for our party. The alumni office team at McDonogh created posters with pictures from our class over the years as well as pictures from some of our reunions. These were displayed inside the Roots classroom area where there was plenty of seating and room to stand and talk.

Reunions are an opportunity for private schools and colleges and universities to fundraise, and ours was no exception. McDonogh’s Head of School, Dave Farace, welcomed our attendees, congratulated our class for our attendance and thanked us for our philanthropy, noting a few individuals for their gifts in the past and this year. Our class gift was designated to benefit the school’s archives, a particular passion for one of our classmates.

Throughout the evening, I tried to catch up with each of my classmates (and a few of their wives) who attended. It was great to see them and speak with them, but the four to five hours that we had was not enough time for some of us. During the evening, we spoke via a Facetime call with our class advisor, Chip Giardina, who is retired and living in Florida. “Mr. G.”, as we called him, remembered some of the funnier stories about our class and enjoyed the few memories that we added as well.

As I reflect on my reunion, I admit that I share the feeling with others that many of our classmates are like brothers to us. We lived together (literally, for boarders), went to class together, played on the same teams together, participated together in the band, orchestra, theater, yearbook, school newspaper, cavalry, etc. Depending on what grade we entered McDonogh, those experiences could range from two to thirteen years. Other than those living in the Baltimore area, most of us don’t live close to each other now (our classmates attending live in Baltimore, Maine, Connecticut, New York, Delaware, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Arizona, South Carolina, and Florida). Maryland is not usually a state that many people chose for retirement so it’s possible that some of our current Baltimore area alums will move out of state after they retire. Several of my classmates including me agreed that five years is a long time to wait to get together so we exchanged phone numbers and emails. Most of my classmates attending the reunion have not yet retired, although several were contemplating it. Those not retiring are choosing to do so because they enjoy the engagement and intellectual stimulation of what they do and are not ready to give that up.

Five years is a long time between reunions, and I know now why “older” McDonogh alums created a monthly lunch meeting for retired alums in the Baltimore area to get together. I haven’t attended any of those luncheons and may never attend one since I live in Texas. In Austin, I have had the pleasure to rekindle friendships with several McDonogh alums as well as initiate new friendships with McDonogh grads living in Austin who are younger than me. I meet regularly for lunch with George Ramsey, a McDonogh alum, friend and retired attorney, who served on the McDonogh Board of Trustees with me twenty years ago.

I remarked to a friend of mine after the reunion that it was amazing how memories of events and people that occurred more than 50 years ago could be retrieved from “storage” after hearing classmates mention that event and person in a conversation. Hopefully, we will be able to keep some of these conversations and memories alive over the next few months and years, and not have to wait for five more years to rekindle them. Cheers to the memories and cheers to our long-lived friendships!

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