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Stephen Seko
HEY!
Let me be the first to post my impressions of our 40th reunion event. OK, OK, I KNOW I organized it, so it seems a little self-serving, but SOMEBODY needs to begin the process.
I had planned the reunion fairly carefully, taking into account the layout of Phillips Gallery and how the traffic would flow through it including the location of the registration desk, the food, the cash bar, etc. The first thing I noticed with horror was that everybody was so happy to see eachother that NOBODY moved into the main gallery space, creating a massive congestion of humanity in the art supply shop! Did you all really think the entire reunion was going to take place in that cramped space? Thankfully, we were able to usher you through into the main gallery space and things started to flow from there.
What I found extremely entertaining was the way in which many of you held up your name tags to one another, then in a moment of instant recognition, burst into mutual smiles and fell into a quick embrace. In all honesty, some of us have changed more than others, but after a few minutes of conversation, the years quickly melted away from everyone's faces as they emerged from the one's we knew back at South High.
As one of the organizers, you were a difficult crowd to control as the conversations continued in spite of our attempts at rounding you up for Howard's welcome and the group shot. I have concluded that this was a measure of success as you were all enjoying talking to one another WAY too much (if such a thing is possible). One of Howard's talking points was to direct you to the location of the restrooms. I KNOW Howard's welcome fell on a lot of deaf ears since almost EVERYBODY I ran into asked me where the restrooms were during the course of the evening. Again, I take this as a GOOD thing rather than a bad one. (We were supposed to have a mini PA system for Howard that was not delivered, but no matter.) Oh, and please accept my apologies for the heat. I cranked up the air conditioning as much as possible and opened the front door in an attempt to alleviate the oppressiveness. Who knew that our old bodies could still generate so much heat? Also, it has been an unseasonably hot August this year. Normally the hot temperatures abate by this time. At least it did not rain to spoil the accessibility of the Sculpture Deck.
I was sincerely touched by all of the thanks you bestowed upon me for my part in the reunion. I can only respond that it was my pleasure to facilitate our 40th Reunion. And I was not alone. I had the help of a diverse, but wonderful and supportive committee: Ted Hanson, Mary Anderson Stephens, Chris Venizelos, Suzanne Hata, Richard Shew, Lanette Parson Dunbar, Michele Done, Craig Snow, Becky Edwards Edwards, Rondi McDermott hyphen-hyphen (simply "Rondi" to all of us), David Muecke, Jon Faldmo. My thanks go to all of them. In the first two weeks of the registration process, I think we had only a handful of respondents (I recall it was something like only 14 people). At that point, I was worried the reunion was going to be a disaster - I envisioned a small group of people sitting around quietly holding their punch cups, wearing party hats with nothing to say). Ultimately, approximately 112 of you were there (again, approximately 82 alumni, 30 "plus ones')! But you came! My thanks go out to all of you who made the effort to attend. Many of you traveled from other states, some altered their vacation plans (I'm talking about you, Lani Quinn Kesler - who traveled from Hawaii and back!).
All of you were the ones that made the "magic" happen by the grace of your presence. Thank you all for coming.
Please share your impressions of the reunion with us on the Message Forum page. We want to know what you thought of our 40th Reunion.
With Great Affection,
Stephen Seko
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