Reunion Photo's

Hey all you ROCKS out there,
The photo's that are being posted are great!
Hope more people will post their's!
After veiwing the photo's on here. I have seen a couple people
I didn't get a chance to speak too!
I want a do-over...everyone get back to Charleston! I WISH!
Well, hope all will try to stay in touch over the years....
Thanks everyone for being a part of such an amazing reunion!
Always,
Dottie O'D. Wear

REUNION COMMENTS

Sheril Bennett Turner
Monday, August 18, 2008
Thanks to Linda, Dena, Carla, Raul, Dottie, Bert, Eddy and everyone who helped plan and perfectly execute the reunion. I can't tell you how much fun it was to see everyone again and compare war stories!!! A special thanks, also, to all the spouses, mine included, who were there for moral support - it was a pleasure to meet them all. And, as for all the girls and guys I pulled onto the dance floor. . .my husband with his two blown football knees sends his condolences for having to dance with his crazy wife (: Hopefully we can all get back together for the cruise (YES, FROM CHARLESTON WOULD BE GREAT) after I've done two years-worth of stomach crunches. Until then, please stay in touch. My e-mail is sherilturner@aol.com.


Sheril (Bennett) Turner

P.S. I've just posted some pictures to the blog page and there are some really good ones of everyone.

Debora Hardesty (Godbee)
Friday, August 15, 2008
Is anyone out there missing their group reunion picture. I have an extra one that is not mine. If this one is yours, please email me.
blanchemanor@yahoo.com
And I will mail it right out to you.

Debora


Dottie Wear (O'Driscoll)
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Hey classmates,
WOW! What an amazing Reunion! Meeting and greeting all of you was very heartwarming. I hope to keep in touch with many of you. Many are posting there pictures on the Blog page! Check them out! It's cool seeing everyone from a defferent point of view. Bless you all!

Dottie


Terry Scott Schucany
Monday, August 11, 2008
My husband, Greg, and I had such a great time at the reunion. It exceeded our expectations in every way. I had so much fun catching up with old friends! Greg commented on the fact that everyone was incredibly nice and genuine. Thank you to the committee for putting together such a special event. The work that went into it must have been overwhelming at times but, you made a whole lot of people really happy and provided us with lifetime memories. I hope you all know how grateful I am to have been a part of such a neat highschool with so many special people.


David Fabian
Monday, August 11, 2008
There wont be enough room here for me to share my thoughts, so I will do it in a seperate letter to all of you. But for now, thank you for inviting me into your lives, into your hearts and into your reunion. It is by far the best I have ever attended.

Thank you!


Dena Lambrakos
Monday, August 11, 2008
Now wasn't that a Fantastic Blast from the Past! And People make the party...and we Did have a Party! It is Wonderful to celebrate Life! And my Reunion team was so wonderful! Linda, Raul, Bert, Carla, Eddie, Dottie, Doreen....You're the best business team a girl could ask for!....BY far our Most Beautiful Reunion Yet!...........Two years will go by fast....on to the Cruise!


Jerry Hayes
Sunday, August 10, 2008
WOW! - The entire weekend far exceeded my expectations. As Ed Pettus said at Sundays Farewell Service - I really had no interest in the 10 or 20 year reunion - Why? - I guess maybe I wasn't ready to "face it", but something about the 30 year was different. And now that it's over - I truly wouldn't trade it for just about anything. As the time got closer, I found myself getting more and more excited - but still "somewhat uncertain" - From the time I walked into the Marriot and walked right into Linda Shaw - it started to immediately be like old times. Friday night was very special because I saw so many people I haven't seen in 30 years - (well just about everyone) - and there were so many people that were not in the class of '78, but still it was so neat - The Golf outing on Saturday was more fun than I've personally had in a long time. As Bert said it seems after about the first 10 or 15 minutes of initial catching up it was like we were right back together joking and laughing like 30 years ago. What a great time - Saturday night was really special because my wife Mary was able to be there (unlike Friday) and I truly wanted her to meet everyone and wanted ya'll to meet her. Thank you all for making her feel welcome. For those of you who didn't attend Sunday morning, in my opinon you missed another "special time". I can say I always knew Ed, but not well. After this weekend I feel in the short time, I have more in common with Ed and Barbara than I ever would have thought (from one Presbyterian to another) - Thank you Ed.

I know I'm rambling, but hopefully this expresses my feelings of gratitude to everyone involved (to whatever extent) in planning and organizing such a great weekend. Linda, Raul, Bert, Ed, Carla, and Dena - Thank you so much - It was a Special Time - Jerry Hayes


Debora Hardesty (Godbee)
Sunday, August 10, 2008
What a BLAST!! BIG THANKS to all of the commitee members...Y'all did a FANTASIC JOB! Talked with so many people and missed talking with a few..so if I missed talking with you a BIG HELLO!
Friday and Saturday night was wonderful.

Love to all,
Debora


Ed Pettus
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Great time at the reunion! So many memories and fun stories to share. Thanks to all who put things together.


Dena Lambrakos
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Bert, you did have to talk me into it...but I'm so glad you did! I'm probably like many others...just thought I didn't want to go....but I could not be Happier that I did! Linda....it has been a Great ride...one that I will never forget! We all have these memories... of the same place...it's a wonderful since of nostalgia! Don't forget to Live in the moment tomorrow and Saturday....it will all go by so quickly....Don't forget to enjoy!!

Reunion

Reunion Photos.
Check out the photos on the slide shows to your left.
You can doubleclick on them to make them larger.

If you have photos you would like to share, do one of two things, email them to me @ lindacshaw@earthlink.net. It will take a week or longer now b/c I am taking some R& R.

or go to Picasso and create your own account and then link them in.
If you see a photo you would like removed, just ask.

It was great fun. Great memories. Hope to see you on the cruise in 2010. Linda

Hey this came to me from the class of 64... a class story about one of our own.. Ed Jones. doing his job.. like so many of us do day in and day out. But this time it came home and helped a fellow alumni.. Great story. Great officer. He deserves a spirit award from his classmates, from his alma mater. L
Linda -

Looks like you are down to about 12 days..............'what adrenalin'???!

You all are going to have a great time!

A little follow up on the Ed Jones Class Ring Thing....................

Betty Barger Disher was in touch with me last week and told me that she was out of town for a while about the time Ed discovered her SAPHS 64 Class Ring in the 'evidence room' at his police station. She wanted to fill me in on what happened next.

Well, back track to 1992 and one of Ed's co-workers had the ring "come in" (didn't say from what source - burglary? robbery? mugging? ) and he had somehow found out whose ring it was............ (Betty's three initials were engraved on the inside the band and someone must have checked the Pelican and she is the only Senior of '64 with those initials)........... and he had called Betty's Mother. Betty said that in '92 her Mother was very ill for a long time and never passed the message re the ring on to her. So fast forward 16 years to 2008 and evidently Ed saw it in the evidence room and found our '64 website and called one of our reunion committee members - Billy Hurtes. Billy called Betty who in turn finally got in touch with Ed and her ring has come home! Quite a nice ending - for a change.

I won't keep you - you must have gobs to do. Have a great 30th!

Steve Sopko
Class of '64

An open letter to my classmates...

Dear Class of ’78,

I truly regret missing our 30th reunion, but locking up the award for traveling the greatest distance can’t justify the 17,388-mile round trip between Hong Kong and Charleston, especially just two months before I return to the Holy City for good. But I figured if I can’t join ‘em, beat ‘em silly with an extra credit, what-I-did-last-summer composition. So here’s what I’ve been up to since most of you last saw me, whether it was at the 20th reunion, the 10th, or waaaaay back at graduation that night on the St. Andrew’s football field.

For those of you still plagued with short attention spans (raise your hand if you ever slept through Mrs. Wilson’s English class), I’ve posted an illustrated version of some of my recent adventures at http://picasaweb.google.com/DCorvette/RamblinMan. For those of you with too much time – or curiosity – on your hands, more photo highlights of my life as an expatriate Rock are at http://picasaweb.google.com/DCorvette.

OK, here are the basics: I’ve been married 17 years and counting, with no kids, just two spoiled cats who don’t realize how tenuous life can be for their kind in China. So far I’m not gray, bald or fat, but with Bessinger’s BBQ still in business on Savannah Highway, I warned my wife Gail that she may be settling for two out of three after I return home this October. Officially, I’m no longer working, but I’m still writing, and I’d like to take the opportunity to announce that any resemblance between any of you and the characters of any books I write is purely coincidental. Except Slade. You can’t make that stuff up.

After St. Andrews I went to USC journalism school, which led to 11 years of writing for the Atlanta paper, which led to meeting Gail. We married in 1991 and stayed in Atlanta a couple of years before her job took us to Washington, D.C., where I worked on Capitol Hill for the late, great Sen. Paul Wellstone. In 1996, we moved to New York City, where I spent 10 years working variously as a freelance writer, a press officer for the state Attorney General, and eventually as a marketing manager for a big PR firm.

After a career writing about other people’s tragedies, I experienced a few first-hand. I buried my oldest brother after his shooting death in 1997, and I witnessed the collapse of the World Trade Center, unfiltered by time or television. My PR job evaporated in the post-dotcom bust, post-9/11 tsuris that gripped the nation by the throat and New York City by the…well, not the throat. So two years ago, Gail and I started making serious noises about “chucking it all” for Chuck Town, a city she has always loved despite her Ohio roots.

Then her company called again with the most tantalizing offer yet: a two-year assignment to Hong Kong.

We had visited Hong Kong once and liked it. Plus, we’d lived in New York for 10 years, and like the song says, if you can make it there… Also, we figured Hong Kong could be a base for traveling to places in Asia that seemed inaccessible from the Western Hemisphere. All of that has proved true. After New York, the crowds and the closet-sized accommodations of Hong Kong don’t bother us, and we’ve been able to explore every country over here except Myanmar. But let me tell you, despite America’s current and ongoing troubles, after all this time away from her, she’s looking like the prettiest girl at the prom.

Over here, everything is different. Besides obvious things like language, food and money, you have to decipher things like time (military style and half a day ahead of the U.S. East Coast), distance, weight and volume (all metric), electricity (240 volts), traffic (driving on the left), paper sizes (A4 instead of good ol’ 8 ½ x 11), temperature (Celsius), weather (typhoon warnings skip from Signal 1 to 3 to 8, inexplicably), superstitions (13 is no big whoop, but 4 means death, and 8 is lucky. Go figure), clothing sizes (everything’s at least one size too small), holidays (New Year’s Day in February, anyone? Dragon Boat Festival?), business hours (nothing opens before 11 a.m. or closes before 10 p.m.), phone numbers (eight digits), British-legacy spellings (apologise), and even ice cream flavors (durian? mung bean?). And don’t even get me started on the Olympics. I thought Atlanta went crazy when it got the Games, but here the Honkers rioted when the government issued an Olympics commemorative $10 bill.

I came over with grand hopes of learning the language of the world’s ascendant economy. Talk about naïve! I’ve learned more Japanese in two weekend visits than I’ve learned Chinese in nearly two years of living here. It doesn’t help that Honkers speak Cantonese, while mainlanders speak Putonghua (Mandarin). My entire Chinese lexicon amounts to about a dozen phrases – mostly “taxi talk” like “turn left,” “turn right,” “stop here” or the always helpful “look out!” Oddly enough, I also know how to say “funnel” and “very tight” in Cantonese. And forget about reading Chinese. Even with romanized letters, spelling is random: “hello” is either nei ho, lei ho or – on the phone – simply wei. I wouldn’t even know I was eating corn flakes if it weren’t for the picture of the rooster on the box.

Despite the challenges, Hong Kong can be captivating. On a clear night, the view from the Peak – over the twinkling towers of Central, across Victoria Harbour to the newer spires of Kowloon – is simply enchanting. In many ways, Hong Kong is more Chinese than China; British rule protected it from the societal spasms of the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward. Cemeteries still line hillsides facing the water in keeping with feng shui dictates. Gamblers shun jinx-inducing behaviors as they pile into hydrofoils and race to the casinos of Macau. Families burn “hell money” during the Hungry Ghost Festival in late summer so dead relatives can afford the Afterlife. “Face” is paramount, and when it’s in question, the Chinese giggle can diffuse misunderstandings as well as the Indian head wag.

Still, when I watch the sun sink into the South China Sea from my 37th floor terrace and find myself thinking of Walter Solomon’s valedictory speech (“As the sun sets slowly in the west behind us…”), I know it’s time to come home. When I try to explain the subtle delicacy of fried okra to Chinese friends and get the same stare I get when I talk to my cat, I know it’s time to come home. And when I hear the word “y’all” in a crowd and get whiplash trying to find the speaker, I know it’s time to come home.

I just wish I could come home in time to see all of you at our high school reunion, but I will be with you there in spirit. Maybe I’ll even get up early in the morning of Aug. 9 (early in the evening Aug. 8, Charleston time) and sing the alma mater. In the meantime, I want to see lots of pictures, from the reunion or from any of you who wants to drop me a line at sino.vette@yahoo.com. Come mid-October, I’ll be living downtown at 360 Ashley Avenue, so stop by and set a spell.

Your classmate and friend,

David Corvette

Flat B, 37/F, Phase 1, Tower 3
Residence Bel-Air
28 Bel-Air Avenue, Island South
Hong Kong
+852-2219-6467

Reunion's right around the corner!

Hello Everyone!
Wow, only 18 days left till Reunion. Are we getting excited yet?
We'll have a great turnout. Try to mingle at the events planned and rekindle friendships or just aquaintances from back in 78'.
Also, meet the new frienships made during the planning of the reunion!
Looking forward to meeting everyone! See ya there!
"Go Rocks"
Dottie Wear (O'Driscoll)

Good idea Dottie about posting the names with the pictures from the 20th reunion as some people standing close to one another may be mistaken as "couples" who are not. Would be fun to be able to identify/recognize everyone! Thanks!