Biddulph '77 Grade 8 Grads Reunion

It has been 40 years since we graduated from Biddulph Public School near Lucan. Three years ago, we attended a reunion at Teresa and Jeff's place. If you missed it, I wrote all about that event here.  Everybody had such a good time, it was decided we should try to get together every couple of years. Tentative plans were made for a gathering in 2016, but then it was decided to wait until 2017 to make it a 40th Anniversary celebration. 

Rob and Sandi offered to host, word went out to mark our calendars and hold the date. It was planned for June 10th, 2017 starting around 3 p.m. 

The 40th Anniversary of Biddulph '77 Grade 8 Grads Reunion took place this past Saturday. With a flurry of last minute cancellations, our class photo was smaller ... almost half the number from three years ago. We would have enjoyed seeing all those who could not make it, but were happy to see everybody who did. 

The party was a success. Like last time, we thoroughly enjoyed a good time spent with old friends. The venue, food and, most of all, the camaraderie were truly outstanding. A huge thanks to Sandi and Rob for hosting and to Ferlin for helping organize and sharing his fabulous photos.

Back: Mrs. Garrett (teacher gr 1), Joanne, Laura, Beth, Kathy, Ethel-Lori, Heather, Diane, Barbara, Sherry
Front: Rob (host), Gord, Tracy, Ferlin

We were so busy socializing, we didn't think to stop for photos until after dinner. Eric and his wife Annette left shortly after eating to babysit their adorable granddaughter, so missed the photo shoot (sorry Eric). 

Mrs. Garrett taught grade one at Biddulph all those years ago. We thought she should stand at the end "where teachers stand" ... perfect.

Diane and her Mom share a laugh with Kathy

I moved to Lucan and started at Biddulph in grade 5, so never had Mrs. Garrett as a teacher. I enjoyed chatting about her upcoming travel plans to Iceland... such a nice lady. I imagine she was a fun teacher too.

Diane and her Mom (gr 1 teacher from Biddulph)

When I moved to Lucan in 1973, I made friends with the neighbourhood kids ... so many happy memories from those years.

Part of Langford Drive 'gang' - Laura, Ethel, Ferlin, Beth

My husband lived in Ilderton and did not go to Biddulph, but we both went to the same high school. Fun Fact - Although we went to the same high school, we're not "High School Sweethearts" because we did not know each other or spend time together until he asked me out on the very last day of classes in grade 13. Timing really is everything.

Beth and Lee

Laura was one of my best friends through grade school and high school. We share many happy memories together. Fun fact - Laura went back to school and became a teacher eleven years ago. She loves teaching.

Brad and Laura

Thanks again to Sandi and Rob for hosting. They have a lovely home and perfect backyard for parties. 

Fun Fact - You can see Ferlin and Julie's house from Rob and Sandi's back yard. They were pleasantly surprised to discover they were moving on the same day into the same neighbourhood quite a few years ago now. 

Sandi (host), Julie (Ferlin's wife) and Ethel

Tracy and I both started at Biddulph in grade 5. I have always loved her laugh and bubbly personality ... so much fun. 

Fun Fact - When we were in school, Tracy and her family lived on the same property where the Black Donnellys lived and tragically died.

Cheers Tracy!

Getting a shot of us 'girls'

Us 'girls' - Laura, Joanne, Tracy, Beth

As it got dark and started to cool down (just slightly), a fire was lit adding to the backyard party ambiance... ahhh a perfectly wonderful evening. 

My husband likes to enjoy a Cuban cigar once in a while. In all these years, I have never tried one ... not even a puff. 

I sent this photo to my kids. My son said "Congrats on the cigar". My daughter said "Why?" My answer - "Because I'd never done it and to see what it was like of course." Thanks Ferlin for capturing this little bit of 'wild-and-crazy-for-me" moment.

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To respect the privacy of my friends, I have used first names only. Biddulph '77 Grads are welcome to share this post and these photos with family and friends.

Be the first to comment - click on No comments: below.

  

Blast from the Past

A few months ago Joyce an old friend and neighbour from Lucan posted some photos from our Grade 8 Grad in 1977 which brought back many happy childhood memories. 

Joyce posted this photo of the parents smiling and happy to see us graduate - Ferlin's Dad (no longer with us), Laura's Mom, my Mom, Ferlin's Mom (Joyce) and my Dad. They were neighbours and they were friends and they looked so young!! It took me back in time. I remember thinking it was great to have neighbourhood friends whose parents got along well and socialized together.

Jamie M., Ferlin, me and Laura (photo above). Laura and me (photo below). All of us were neighbours, friends and classmates.

I thought it might be fun to post our Biddulph 1977 Grade 8 Grad Class photo on Facebook as well. It generated a lot of activity and prompted a few friends to organize a class reunion. Teresa, Anna-Lee and Pam set the date for September 6th and announced plans for a party to be held at Teresa and Jeff's place. They created a Facebook group called "Biddulph '77 Graduates" and asked everybody to get the word out to as many folks in the photo as possible. 

Back Row: Shawn, Darin (deceased), Ferlin,Rob, Bernie, Chris, John Ha., Brad D .(deceased), Brian, Ron, Jamie S., Brad A., Jamie M., Mark

3rd Row: Chuck, Paul H., Ted, Stuart, Gord, Paul W., Erin, Eric, Steve, John Ho., Brad H., Doug

2nd Row: Melanie, Joanne, Lori, Anna-Lee (party planner), Lynn, Heather, Beth, Barbara, Pam (party planner), Tracy N., Carol, Tracy Q., Darlene, Kim H. (deceased), Jeannine

Front Row: Anne Marie, Kim S., Laura, Ethel, Sherry, Diane Y., Lisa, Kathy J., Diane G., Kathy R., Teresa (Hostess), Angela

It was quite a daunting task considering name changes for the married ladies and having lost touch over the years. In the end, 26 grads were able to attend. That's almost half the class if you consider there were 63 grads with at least 3 who sadly are no longer with us. An amazing accomplishment really. 

Many of our spouses joined in on the fun so there were a lot of people altogether. Teresa our hostess has the perfect place to entertain such a large group. She and her husband live on a large two acre lot in the country with a huge shed and plenty of space for parking. There were lots of tables set up inside for the food with lots of room left over for our chairs and coolers and to move around and socialize. 

The shed was equipped with a decent sound system for party music and there was a toilet conveniently located at the back. I would say it is the ultimate man cave and my husband who loves to work on cars would agree. He was totally impressed with their setup. 

After months of anticipation and preparation, the party was a huge success. As I was getting ready, I was all excited and nervous at the same time. The thought of seeing so many old friends after so many years was kind of freaking me out. I wondered what it would be like. Would we recognize each other? Would it be awkward after all this time? Would I remember all the names? And what about their spouses? How would they manage?

I need not have worried. Everybody was fabulous and fun. Yes we did forget some names and yes we did get a little confused about who was with who (at least I did) but everybody seemed to be OK with that. 

My husband and I arrived shortly after 4:30 p.m. and stayed until after midnight which is way past our bedtime these days. We really had a terrific time socializing, reminiscing and catching up on the past 35'ish years with everybody. 

Once all the guests had arrived and gotten reacquainted, it was time to gather outside to recreate the infamous Grad Photo from 1977. Our hostess, Teresa got everybody moving. Here she is with her husband Jeff leaning against the wall behind her.

It took a bit of effort to arrange as chatting and socializing continued. 

We needed somebody to take charge.

It's so much fun getting organized with so much laughter.

Let's have another drink and figure out how this might work. 

OK we have the old photo. Let's line up - oops are we in reverse order?

Finally Anna-Lee takes charge and we line up properly.

Almost there but the front row will have to kneel as we don't have bleachers this time.

Time to smile. I think some of us were looking. Let's try that again.

At last a perfect group photo similar to the original minus all the pretty dresses of course. Some changes were necessary to balance the gaps plus Brian had to be photo-shopped in as he was working and arrived too late for the group shot.

Back Row: Shawn, Ferlin, Rob, Paul W., Gord, Eric, Jamie S., Brian, Brad, Doug, Sherry

2nd Row: Laura, Joanne, Anna-Lee, Ethel, Heather, Beth, Barbara, Pam, Tracy N., Carol, Darlene, Jeannine
Front Row: Diane G., Kathy R., Teresa

A few photos were taken throughout the evening. We were all busy chatting and having a terrific time. Dare I say it was a Perfect Evening? Yes it was and I think everyone would agree. 

Tracy and Jeannine enjoy catching up.

Paul W., Joanne (married to Paul) and Jamie S.

Best of friends through grade school and high school. So many happy memories with Laura and her family.

Tracy and I started at Biddulph in gr. 5 but lost touch after her wedding 25 yrs ago.

That's better. Ditch the back lighting and smile, so pleased to have met up again.

Part of our neighbourhood 'gang' - Laura, me, Ferlin, Ethel and Darlene

To sum up our Biddulph '77 Grad Reunion, I have to say, seeing so many old friends and familiar faces was truly a 'Blast from the Past'. I loved seeing everybody, chatting, laughing, reminiscing and catching up. I loved every minute of it. 

We've gone our separate ways but will always have a common bond growing up together and sharing childhood memories. This reunion was a perfect opportunity to take time to reflect and celebrate. Family and Friends are the Best. 

You can just feel the joy as you browse through these candid photos. They help keep our memories alive. Thanks Ferlin!

Anna-Lee (happy party planner) and her husband. This photo captures Anna-Lee's expression from so many of her class photos...always laughing.

Joyce (Ferlin's Mom) got the party planning started and this is Julie, Ferlin's beautiful wife. So nice to meet Julie in person. FB is good but real life is better.

Joyce and Ferlin (Mom and son team) - great work tracking down so many people from our past and thanks for sharing these photos

Thanks to Teresa and Jeff for their generosity in welcoming us all into their home. Thanks to Teresa, Anna-Lee and Pam for planning and organizing this reunion. Thanks also to all your helpers. I know it must have been a lot of work. Your efforts are very much appreciated.

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To respect the privacy of my friends, I have used first names only. Biddulph '77 Grads are welcome to share this post and these photos with family and friends.

Be the first to comment - click on No comments: below.

Synchronicity in Action

According to Wikipedia, "Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events as meaningfully related, where they are unlikely to be causally related. The subject sees it as a meaningful coincidence." A more detailed Wikipedia definition of synchronicity can be found here. 

I think we all experience synchronicity in our lives all the time. The trick is to notice and celebrate it. Life becomes much more interesting when you do. I would like to share a meaningful coincidence from my life that happened as recently as Friday.

It all started with a grade 8 graduation class photo from 1977 posted on Facebook (FB) a few weeks ago. The photo generated a lot of comments from people who were either in the photo or knew somebody in the photo. This wasn't just any grade 8 class photo, it was my grade 8 class from Biddulph Central School near Lucan. That's me in the middle row 7th from the left.

I have lost touch with most of the people in this photo except for a few through FB recently. A couple ladies from my grade 8 class are organizing a reunion. The date has been set for Saturday, September 6th. They have started a FB group to share information and have asked for help in spreading the word to those who are not on FB. 

I started thinking of my friends from way back then. I remembered one friend in particular Tracy Norton (middle row 6th from the right). We started Biddulph at the same time in grade 5 and remained friends right through high school and college. My husband and I went to her wedding 24 years ago but then lost touch. We had already moved to Toronto and had a baby by the time Tracy married. When we finally moved back to London 13 years ago I just never bothered to look up any of my old friends. Life seemed busy enough with kids, work and family.

After all this time, I wasn't sure how to contact Tracy. I couldn't remember her married name and FB searches came up empty. Then my parents remembered her husband owned a meat market and deli. They couldn't remember his name so I did a Google search and came up with this. Of course, Jim Chioros is his name and he owns Western Meats and Deli with two locations in London. 

I tried calling the Deli to get Tracy's number but Jim was not available. Since the Hamilton Road location was right around the corner from my office, I decided to stop by for lunch on Friday and hoped to see Jim at the same time. As luck would have it, Jim was working in the Take Out trailer. I ordered a chicken souvlaki sandwich which was very tasty and Jim graciously gave me Tracy's number. It turns out they had just celebrated their 24th Anniversary a week ago. I was very happy to have her number and was looking forward to calling her some time soon. 

Since our son was was away for the weekend and my husband and I were both ready to relax on Friday night, we decided to go to Dolcetto for dinner. We heard it was good and Friday was a beautiful night for a dinner date. It was sunny and warm and finally feeling like summer. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner. Our server was attentive and friendly and the atmosphere was upbeat and fun. It was very busy and getting late so we chose to sit inside instead of waiting for a patio table. 

As we sat eating our meal, I remember looking around at this large restaurant full of people and saying to my husband that I didn't recognize anybody. Imagine seeing all those people and not knowing anybody in a small city like London? You're probably wondering what all this wining and dining has to do with synchronicity, well let me explain.

As we were finishing our meal, a lady walked by our table to sit on the patio. We didn't really get a good look but both thought it must be Tracy. Can you imagine my surprise? Once we settled our bill, we headed out to the patio and I was delighted to find Tracy and Jim sitting out there. She really hasn't changed. I love her energy and bubbly personality. I told her about the reunion and got her business card so I can keep her up to date on the details. 

Just one more funny coincidence, when their meal arrived I was surprised to see they had ordered the same as us. I think we'll have to make an effort to get together some time soon. I can tell we'll have fun.

I love noticing synchronicity in action both in my life and in the lives of people I know. So tell me, what meaningful coincidences have you noticed lately?