Our 40th year class reunion, held on Friday and Saturday, September 2nd and 3rd, 2016, has come and gone, and with it a lot of new memories were made and friendships rekindled! I can honestly say that I have not laughed that much in a long time!  Everyone was just so happy to see each other! There were constant hugs and kisses! I am so happy that we can say we are still friends, no matter how far we are from one another, or how long it's been since we've seen each other!  Not many classes are as close as we all are with one another!

Our first event, at Paradise Beach on Neville Island, was a huge success!  I don't think I sat down the entire evening because there were so many classmates to see and talk to!  I'm estimating we had about 50-60 people in attendance, including some schoolmates from other classes who joined in on the fun! The weather was perfect for a night by the river!  Felt more like an evening in Florida than Pittsburgh, PA!  It was a very fun beginning to our reunion weekend!

Then on Saturday, at Embassy Suites, we enjoyed a great night of dining and reuniting! So many photos were taken! I love how you are posting them here and on our group Facebook page! Ellwood Davis should be a professional photographer! The elegant Embassy Ballroom was decorated in blue, white, and gold accents all over, with the same color floral centerpieces and candles. We had banners with photos attached that had been downloaded from our senior yearbook.  Our spouses were having some good laughs at our expense looking at them! There were balloons, flowers, pompom garlands, graduation momentos, beautiful table settings, and banners all adding to the festive mood!  We were all having so much fun "meeting and greeting" and eating that variety of delicious hors d'oeuvres (that baked brie in puff pastry with apples and pecans...oh my!) that we almost delayed our dinner! 

Our great class president Stanley Munger gave a beautiful welcoming speech (no, Stan, it wasn't too long!), then gave a moving tribute to the 18 classmates who we have lost since 1976. He said each person's name, giving them a respectful pause after each, then asked for a moment of silence so we could privately think of them and thank them for being in our lives. Yes, a few got choked up, me included.  We had a memorial display set up on a table with a candlelit lantern, flowers in our school colors, and their senior photos framed with votive candles beside them.  Many of us stopped and gave our respects to them there. Then our beloved classmate, the Rev. Dr. Melvin "Gerard" Rippy gave a rousing invocation! He had everyone applauding and laughing and giving praise at being able to join one another in fellowship so many years after graduation!  We love you, Gerard!

We dined on a delicious spread of Chicken Romano, English Cod, baked ziti marinara, vegetable medley, roasted potatoes, mixed greens salad, rolls, and a chef's assortment of decadent desserts of cakes and cheesecakes. Everything was prepared and presented perfectly!  It was all so good!!  The smile on my husband's face after tasting that chocolate cake said it all!  But that was not enough for our class.....we had a "Pittsburgh Cookie Table"!! Just like the kind you have to wait for someone to get married to enjoy!  The banquet staff said it was a first for them to have one at a reunion, but like us, they loved the idea!There was a big assortment, but we have to agree, the ladylocks were FANTASTIC!! Take-home boxes were supplied for those wishing to take some home, with blue napkins engraved in gold with "Cornell Class of 76" and the date.  No one left hungry, that's for sure!

RAD Photography then took our class photo out by the Koi pond and waterfall in the Embassy atrium area. That man has the patience of a saint to put up with how much we were all laughing and not standing still, just waiting for one of us to fall backwards into the water! (No one fell, thankfully!)

After finally getting a decent photo taken, we went back to the ballroom and gave out door prizes for various notables, from most children and grandchildren, to who travelled the farthest to attend, to who changed the most. Then we presented the newlywed couples in attendance, Doug and Marni Carey, and Shirley (Niederriter) and John Smoker, with red rose bouquets. We drew the raffle ticket winners for the two beautiful handsewn quilts, the mesh autumn wreath, the certificate for a free night's stay at Embassy Suites, and the 50/50 cash award. Congratulations to all the winners!

Rounding out the evening, we talked, we laughed, we hugged, we laughed, we exchanged numbers and addresses, and laughed some more, while enjoying music played by our DJ Bobby Dinell.  It seemed no one wanted the evening to end, by how so many hung around when the servers were beginning to clean up. Everyone took home a reunion program book to remember the event by with our names, poems, positive quotes to live by, and thank you's to those who so generously donated to the costs of the reunion.

I want to thank my reunion helpers for the beautiful rose bouquet and gift card you presented to me! I sincerely was not expecting anything! You made me choke up and be speechless! (Imagine that, me having no words! My husband wants to know if that's how you do it! LOL!!)  I really want to thank everyone who helped with the reunion, be it financially, handling the bank account, donating prizes, manning the registration table, or decorating both the private pavilion at Paradise Beach and the ballroom at the Embassy Suites. It could not have come off so perfectly without your help! So thank you to Jeanne Cosgrove, Vera Alford, Shirley Smoker, Linda Wright, Kathy Stergar, Andrea Wolfe, and all who donated money towards our reunion costs! It really takes a lot of money and hard work to pull off a successful reunion....and teamwork! THANK YOU ALL!!  HOPEFULLY SEE YOU FOR THE 50TH?!!  

Hoping we all stay in touch.....Debbie Barone Rambo