2011 May newsletter

My company, Iron Mountain, is trying to sell the division that I work in, Digital, to an as-yet-unknown buyer. Agita! I’m kind of hoping we get bought by Disney, or maybe Hershey’s. Anyway, this is not the ideal scenario when you have two kids in college and your wife is out of work. I’ll let you know what happens.

Last month, I mailed out more than 700 invitations to the Reunion. Boy, is my tongue tired! What’s even more astonishing than the number sent out is that only 77 have come back from the Post Office marked as Return To Sender, Unable To Forward, or Kidnapped By Space Aliens. Compare this to the last time I sent out a mailing like this 5 years ago, when we mailed out about 500 invitations and about 200 were returned. Part of the difference this time around is because online people-search is so much better now: when I did a diligent search for missing classmates, I actually found them. But most of the credit goes to everyone who made phone calls for me, rounding up stray classmates. Thanks to all of you for making this so successful!

Oh, right, the numbers. As near as we can tell, we now know the whereabouts of 646 of our classmates, a new record! Compare that to 7 years ago, when I first started keeping track of this, when we only had 400 or so. Yay!

If you haven’t sent in your check for the Reunion, do it right now. I’ll wait. Make it out for $50 per person, payable to “CHSE”, and send it to:
Pat Giarrusso
11 Bow and Arrow Trail South
Wakefield, RI 02879
This is going to be a great party! We have a beautiful location, at Bonnet Shores Beach Club, which should be fantastic at sunset. We’re arranging delicious food, fun music, and a cash bar. I, personally, have reserved a room at a local hotel so I don’t have to drive home afterwards. Classmates are flying in from all over the country – and from out of the country! You DON’T want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime event. See you there!

Speaking of which, Tom and Nancy Iacono may still have room at their bed and breakfast. You can contact them at tomiac1@verizon.net or 401-792-8264.

As I’ve mentioned before, there is a down side of trying to contact classmates. We’ve just learned that classmate Susan Wylie died about two years ago, of cancer. She was a Special Education teacher. She taught and lived in many places, including California and London. Her father reports that she lived a life of dedication and commitment. She didn’t marry, and had no children. Our condolences to Susan’s family and friends.

Dale (Waterman) Bonanno shared memories of our classmate Dave Stewart. “When we were in Park View, Dave, Karen Robinson, and I used to go to the old Park Cinema and meet there. We’d tell those old jokes about books with silly titles and authors. We really had some great laughs together. I am glad I have those memories about him, he was a great guy. That memory about him never fades.”
Thanks for sharing, Dale. It’s good to remember our classmates like this.

If you’ve been following his blogs, you know that Dave Fowler did successfully run the Boston Marathon yet again. I’ve lost count of how many times this is. You can read about it here:
http://speakerscorner-dave.blogspot.com/
You can still make donations to the foundation that Dave set up in memory of his son, Nick, here:
www.helpinthenickoftime.org
or here:
https://www.donation-net.net/public/essex/donation/donation1.cfm?dn=1236&source=8&CFID=11708021&CFTOKEN=57378858
Congratulations to Dave!

Dave Lanni reports that he recently had the opportunity to personally meet Michelle Obama and Jill Biden at a special military event held at Sears Holdings Distribution Center in Columbus, Ohio. This event kicked off the Military Recognition Campaign called "Joining Forces". “Both Michelle and Jill were very impressive with their presentations as well as this initiative, which is truly patriotic in recognizing the employment needs of our service men and women.” Dave has a new position as Vice President of Human Resources for the Arden Companies, a Midwest manufacturer of outdoor furniture and accessories. Best wishes on the new job!

Anna (Dias) Laughren and her family have lived just outside of Washington, DC in Rockville MD since 1984. She is a nurse manager at a small hospital in Montgomery County, MD. Her husband is a Division Director for the FDA. Her oldest daughter, Kelly, is finishing her degree in visual arts at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus. Younger daughter, Emily, is attending Boston University (Anna’s alma mater for grad school) and is a computer science major. Emily lives near Fenway and it’s always fun to go and visit her. Anna and her family are planning a trip to Sand Hill Cove this year. “We went back last year for the first time in about 10 years. Reconnected with some old friends including Kathy Stamp. We had a blast!!! RI will always be home!!! What can you say about a place where the beach is only 40 minutes away at the most!!!”

We have lots of ways to keep in touch online now. For example, we have a web site:
www.chse1971.com
(thanks to Ernie Sutcliffe for starting and maintaining)
and wiki:
https://chse1971.wikispaces.com/
(also thanks to Ernie)
and Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/group.php?gid=51722469479
and a Facebook event for the Reunion:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=192240297471327
Check out one or more of these easy ways to see what people are up to.

That’s it for me. Remember: get your checks in for the Reunion. You don’t want to miss out!

Have a \s/uper day!

Ed DeJesus
exdejesus@gmail.com