Fitchburg High School Class of 1954

Class of 1954

Fitchburg High School
... classmates staying in contact

Fitchburg, Massachusetts

55th Reunion Recap

Fitchburg High School - Class of 1954 - 55th Class Reunion - June 6, 2009

  On one of the few nice days we have had in June, 53 people met at Westminster Country Club to recognize the 55th anniversary of our graduation from Fitchburg High School. Those arriving were met at the door by a welcoming committee: Barbara Palomaki, Betty Mellitt Kaake, Betty Arslanian LaFosse, and Aila Roiko Crawford. Name tags were humorous cartoons poking a little fun at people our age. There were also new directories put together by Marcia Dexter Hastbacka for those attending.

  Later on Roger Carbone and Al Lashua sat at the desk waiting for a few late comers. The bar was open, cheese, crackers, and spreads were on the appetizer table. Tom Conry and Marcia Hastbacka were roving photographers taking impromptu pictures as classmates chatted and greeted one another. The pictures were then transferred to a computer and shown on a large screen set up for a later video presentation.

  At 7PM everyone was seated. Tom Conry, Master of Ceremonies, welcomed all and Donald Bent offered grace. Donald stepped in for Barbara Barton Badstubner who was unable to attend because of unexpected surgery. We all then dined on either chicken or salmon, fresh fruit cup, Caesar salad, potatoes, green beans and strawberry cheese cake.

  After dinner, Tom read notes received from Sally Ames Fuller, Marcia Oksanen Hotaling, Nancy Cummings Brideau, Jack Martin, Augie Sardinha, Dick Lakutis, Janice Wheeler Gay, Barbara Gingras Graham, Anne Henreckson DeVries, Bill Drury, Sally Ordway Baker and Barbara Smith Forster; all sending best wishes to their classmates.

  Pat Lundberg Mogensen reported that everyone attending was also at the 50th, except for James Sparks at his first reunion ever and Richard Keoseian his first in 15 years. They stood and were welcomed. She offered that the theme of the 55th Reunion was different from others. Although there were a few displays of our high school days and other touches of the 1950’s, this was more about going from being seniors in high school to being seniors citizens in the 21st Century.

  The computer played a very large part in the months leading up to this reunion and during this evening too. As informed as we thought we were in planning, we realized certain expertise was missing and for that we called upon the second generation to help. The first mentioned was Mark, Betty and Roger’s son, who created a wonderful web site with Jack Christiansen’s help.

  For the night’s video presentation, we called upon Pat’s son, Andrew Mogensen, who creatively put together the material we had been gathering for months. And Peter Olsen, Pat’s son-in-law, who provided the projector, some technical expertise, and took pictures.

  Pat also gave a Treasurer’s Report. The remaining money will be used to pay for reunion expenses, start up money for any future reunions, and a $1500 donation to the Crocker Field Restoration Fund. This fund was written about extensively elsewhere on this web site. Tom then introduced the video which began with a tribute to our deceased classmates. Pictures and names were shown on the screen with a narrative by Al Lashua. After a moment of silence “The Saturday Night Live” segment began. This was 25 minutes of funny e-mails, humor found on the internet, and nostalgic remembrances. The video was well received and everyone could find light hearted humor aimed mostly at ourselves. Some classmates were singled out during the video.

  After the video, champagne was poured and Tom toasted our class wishing us well in the years ahead and hoping to meet again at the next reunion. We assembled for an informal class picture taken by Andrew, Peter and spouses of classmates. The music, on an IPod was revved up and songs from the 50’s rang out. The crowd began thinning out with some people having to drive long distances home that night. The lunch group, inviting classmates to join them, met the following Wednesday at Townsend Ridge Country Club. with two new attendees-Mary Godley Walsh and Muriel Ward Gulliver.

  Reunion pictures will be posted on the web site in the next couple of weeks. There is already some talk of a mini reunion; 5 years being too long to wait. We will let you know. We still look forward to hearing from those of you unable to attend the reunion. Please use the GMail address on our web site.