MHS Class of '76

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

March 2018

Welcome to this March 2018 edition! Hopefully spring has arrived in your part of the country!

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Here's what's happening with classmates:

Joe and Ann Fagan and family are pleased to announce that their son Shane has been recommended for admission to the United States Naval Academy with the Class of 2022. He is some of his acceptance letter: "You are guaranteed an offer of appointment if your remaining admissions requirements are satisfactorily met. You should be proud of your outstanding accomplishments as you have earned an opportunity to join one of the country's premier officer training programs. As the undergraduate college of the Navy and Marine Corps, the Naval Academy will prepare you to become a leader in the Naval Service and provide an experience unmatched by any other college or university."

Joe says,"He’ll be majoring in Quantitative Economics and playing Sprint football. He reports to the Academy 28th of June where he will swear in and then start 7 weeks of Plebe Summer. "

Congratulations on this accomplishment!

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February saw the birthday celebration in Mahwah for John Baker. Happy 60th!

Pictured are: left front, moving clockwise: Randy Swickle, Glenn Kaplan, Pat Kaplan,

John Baker, Andrea Swickle, Lynn Savino, Patty Menz,

Todd Cochran and Mike Grattini.

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March brought another celebration at the Mahwah Bar and Grill.
Lynn Savino celebrated her milestone birthday and
St. Patrick's Day with friends.

Everyone had a great time!

Above - Ada Cochran, Patty Menz, Todd Cochran, Mike Grattini, John Baker.

Front to back: Ada Cochran, Todd Cochran, Mike Grattini,
John Baker, John Reda, John Dolan

L to R: Tom Collishaw, Lynn Savino, Jeff Reisel, Anna Reisel

L to R: Tom Collishaw, Jeff Van Demark

Clockwise: Tom Collishaw, Mike Grattini, John Baker, John Dolan

Clockwise: Ada Cochran, Todd Cochran, Mike Grattini, John Baker, Jim Bush,

Jeff Reisel, Anna Reisel

Clockwise: Todd Cochran, John Baker, John Dolan, Tom Collishaw, Jim Bush

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Above: Kevin Klimek with daughter Kylie after middle school girls basketball game
February 2018

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Suzee Krebs has shared her news with us:

"Suzee Krebs here, my Son Ernie Barbero is attending SUNY Maritime College in the Bronx. Where he met up with Jimmy Fava . Guy's son from Mahwah. Ernie will be shipped out in April. Aboard the Empire State heading to Puerto Rico for some relief work than around the world and ending in Scotland.

Same son Ernie partying late at night at Ramapo College in Mahwah.

Somehow was sent to the Pokey for trespassing. Apparently the boys did not sign in properly.. Another blast from the Mahwah past - Forrest Merrill representing...

"My son Andreas Barbero Graduated last May from JWU in Providence RI

He is working in Providence as a Chef and is also Coaching Men's tennis at

JWU.. Where he played number 1 for the last four years."

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Now the usual business...

If you have any new contact info - email, home address changes, please let me know so that I can keep the database up-to-date. You can send changes to mahwahhighschool1976@yahoo.com or by replying to any emails I send to you. Thank you!

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The next edition of the blog will be posted in October. As always I will let you know ahead of time so that you can submit your stories and photos.

Have a wonderful spring and summer!

Sue

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

October 2017 Update

Thanks to everyone who has dropped by to read the latest update! And many thanks to those who contributed with news and photos. Without the submissions the blog would just be a blank page
so your help is very much appreciated!

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Take us out to the ball game!

Mike Grattini, John Baker, Lynn Savino, Jeff Reisel

Mike Grattini and John Baker

In the raffle at the John Carty Golf Outing Michael Grattini won the tickets to a Yankees game ! In July Michael, John Baker, Lynn Savino and Jeff Reisel attended the game and had a great time!

Jeff Reisel

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TJ Wilks and Debbie Demeduk welcomed new grandson Benjamin Oliver in April.

Congratulations!

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Patty Menz and Lynn Savino were high-fiving it at a Giants vs San Diego Chargers game in October. Sadly the Giants lost.

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Mike Dooley and his wife Marie are the proud parents of two children. Here is their daughter Morgan. She has graduated from the University of South Florida with a
Bachelor of Science Nursing degree

Morgan is now working at St. Joseph's Hospital in Nashville.
Congrats Morgan!

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Congratulations to Glenn Kaplan!

He says:

"On June 26 I was nominated by the Governor of the State of New Jersey to be a Judge of Compensation. On June 29 I was confirmed by the Senate. My court covers Union County."

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Scott Valentine shares this news and photos of Hurricane Harvey from Texas...

"My family and I have lived in north west Houston since ‘88 and have been thru a couple bad storms, but Harvey was the worst by far. One family member got her home flooded though my children’s homes and ours were extremely fortunate with the water only threatening our homes and some fairly short power outages. The pictures are out to the street from the front of our house. The water was half way up the yard on three separate occasions and the street was a river. A bit nerve wracking to see happening right outside our front door and to watch so many others less fortunate not very far from us.

"God was watching out for us. Hope any others affected by these storms were as fortunate as we were."

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Joe and Ann Fagan are sharing news about their youngest child, Shane:

"Shane applied to and was accepted to the USNA’s summer program for prospective candidates. Shane’s 4^th from the left and is now waiting for his Congressional and Senate Nomination meetings in early December. He plans on Majoring in Quantitative Economics."

Good luck to Shane!

Here is the Fagan family~

(left to right) Jack, Ann, Shane, Colleen and Joe

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Cathy Swickle Johnson had a wonderful time visiting her daughter, Melody in Austin, Texas recently from October 19 til October 26.. She shares these photos:

Above, The Contemporary is a museum in Austin and this sculpture is on the grounds of the art school near Mt. Bonnell. Soooo many beautiful sculptures and installations on the
most beautiful grounds and it's free to roam!!!

Above, this picture is taken at Radio. It is one of SO many outdoor/indoor places that are all over Austin. They have coffee and local beers and food and they are the most relaxing, unassuming spots to go and chill, read, work, whatever have you.
The climate is, obviously, rather conducive to places like this.
Another favorite of mine is called the Buzz Mill -
same atmosphere and dog-friendly, just like Radio.

Above, Mt .Bonnell is the highest point in Austin and the view is beautiful. There is some great history there, including outings of General George Custer and his family.

and lastly, here are Melody and Cathy:

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Thanks for reading this update! As always, if you have any news that you would like to share, please do. You can send it to me at mahwahhighschool1976@yahoo.com or by replying to any email I send you from my personal mail.

And if you have a change in your contact information, please be sure to let me know and I can keep the database updated. Thanks!

The next update will be in March 2018. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful fall and winter!

And "Happy Milestone Birthday" to classmates who have already celebrated # 60 so far this year and to those who will soon be celebrating later this year and in 2018!

Thanks very much!

Sue Montgomery Lane
mahwahhighschool1976@yahoo.com

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

March 2017 Update

Welcome to the latest update!

Just a bit of our usual business....

Please keep your contact information up-to-date so you can receive any news or emails regarding the class. Send any changes to mahwahhighschool1976@yahoo.com and I will note the new info. Thank you!

Our class group is located at https://www.facebook.com/groups/47889678341/

Please feel free to join and start discussions.

There is also the group called

"You know are from Mahwah if.." and is located at https://www.facebook.com/groups/46650173906/

There are over 1200 members in this group and

folks share memories and photos of Mahwah.

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Thank you to those classmates who have contributed to this edition of the class blog. If you have anything you would like to submit in the future, contact me at mahwahhighschool1976@yahoo.com or reply to emails from me from her personal email address. Thanks! It is fun to share photos and stories and anything else you would like to send. Without your contributions there would be no class blog.

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February was the start of the birthday celebrations

for this fun group!

Celebrating their special days were John B. and Walt M.

Lynn opened her home for a nice dinner get-together.

Happy Birthday guys!

Mike G, Patty M., Lynn S., John B., Todd C., and Walt M.
Photo by Todd's wife Ada.

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These three friends got together when Patty M. came through Mahwah.

How wonderful to see each other and catch up!

Patty M., Lynn S., Susie B.

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March brought another birthday celebration.

(Guess whose birthday? Does the tiara/crown give it away?)

Happy Birthday to Lynn S.

These people know how to have a good time.

John B., Jeff R., Lynn S., Todd C. and Ada C.
Photo by Jeff's wife Anna.

John B., Anna and Jeff R., Lynn S., Ada and Todd C.

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Thanks to Lynn Q. for sharing the following story -

"In 2015, Lynn and Don Melanson’s son, Sean, received the derelict remains of a 1957 14’ Whirlwind Runabout (speedboat), compliments of his uncle. It had been abandoned in a field in upstate New York and then stored in a basement where it was exposed to 2 hurricanes. Over the course of the next 13 months, Sean restored the boat to its original condition with ten coats of varnish, newly chromed parts, a ’57 Johnson outboard and lots of TLC. He met his goal of showing it in the Mystic Seaport Antique and Classic Boat Show on the Mystic River last summer. In turn, he received the Head Judges Choice Award for his achievement. We are so proud of him for his hard work and perseverance!"

This is the "Before" picture of the boat.

Sean on his maiden voyage on the Connecticut River

in Deep River, CT

Sean, his dad and sister, Kelley, in the parade
on the Mystic River in Mystic, CT

Sean showing his boat at the boat show in Mystic

(Awesome job, Sean!)

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Please take a few minutes to read and view some news from our own resident hiking expert,

Joe Cuhaj -

"Here are links to the first two videos in the series based on my book, "Hiking the Gulf Coast". By the way, "Hiking the Gulf Coast" is available online or at your favorite book store and covers hikes from Tampa, FL, to Corpus Christi, TX. Enjoy, won't you?"

Hiking the Gulf Coast Part 1: Alabama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hloo2cj9_aA

Hiking the Gulf Coast Part 2: Louisiana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-b_W4z6N5c

ALSO from Joe...

"The schedule for the Alabama Book Festival has been released. I understand the speakers at 11 am in the log cabin are great.

😊 We'll be discussing outdoor writing, trails in Alabama, and whether White Castle is better than Krystal's. Well, maybe not the latter. It's going to be fun! Hope to see you all there."

Go to www.alabamabookfestival.org www.alabamabookfestival.org to begin planning your
April 22!

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Cathy S. and her husband Ken just returned from an unforgettable trip to Ireland,...here's her story:

"This month, March, Ken and I took an amazing trip to Ireland where we travelled much of the length of the island, taking in such varied places. I would say that the countryside areas were our favorite, as well as the coasts. we spent St. Patrick's day in Limerick at their parade and then at a local pub. We witnessed the Atlantic Ocean from high atop the cliffs in Sliabh Liag (Sieve League) in County Donegal to Dublin city and its outskirts. We got a glimpse of Bono's home from down on the coast and drove up to Enya's castle gate.

"The people all throughout the country were wonderful and hospitable
and always made us feel welcome and at home.
Most of our accommodations were booked through Air BnB - if you need suggestions, we've got 'em!

We already know that we'd love to go back, as there is much to see and do
and being there is truly wonderful!

Fa'ilte...you see it everywhere and it is for real...you truly will always feel WELCOME!"

An amazing view of the Atlantic Ocean from Sliabh Liag

NOT an uncommon site within the little towns all around Ireland!

A home in the village of Adare.
As in all of the little towns we went through,
everyone was so friendly and welcoming.

Never tired of seeing these cuties! It was the time of year for babies and there were tons of sheep and their lambs, as well as cows and their calves.

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Also, some family news from Cathy S.:

I have become an inlaw for the 2nd time, just this past September, when my son, Jacob, married his wonderful bride, Ariel! The day was perfect and we are truly blessed.

The photo from the wedding, as well as a current typical silly photo of theirs are pictured -
they definitely share the same sense of humor!

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If you have a Twitter account and would like to be followed by classmates, just let me know and in the next blog I can make a list. If you have a website, Facebook page or Pinterest account for a business or hobby or fun, feel free to share those and
perhaps we can boost your views and followers.

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Best wishes for a wonderful spring and summer. Hopefully the weather will not be as erratic as winter had been! Stay safe and enjoy the nice days ahead!

The next blog update will be in October. If you have any urgent news that you would like to share with the class email me at my personal email address (by replying to any email I have sent you) and I can get the word out.

Sue
mahwahhighschool1976@yahoo.com

(I apologize for the spacing issues - Blogger has a mind of its own and it is driving me crazy!)

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

October 2016 Update

Hello from summer-like Ontario!

Here is the October update for the Class of 76. There is not much news to report at this time but I thank those who contributed! It's been a big year as we celebrated our 40 year reunion, looking forward to our 45th in 2021!

Some basic business to take care of:

If you move or change any of your contact information, please pass along the changes to me at mahwahhighschool1976@yahoo.com Having the database up-to-date makes it much easier when reunions roll around.

In between blog updates if you find you have something important that you would like to share with our class, please contact me and I can get a mass email sent out rather than post publicly in the blog or waiting until the next update is to be posted. The usual schedule is March and October of each year, I send out a notice asking for submissions for each edition and also notify the class when the update is done.

So here is the news this time around. Wishing everyone all the best for the remainder of 2016 and for 2017.

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This is amazing - check out what Patty M. has been doing!

Patty M. just completed the first leg of a Northern Route bicycle ride across the USA. Segment one, 700 miles, was from Astoria, Oregon to Missoula, Montana, traveling through Oregon, Washington, Idaho and eastern Montana. She will continue the journey next September riding from Missoula, Montana to Rapid City, South Dakota.

Here’s some pictures from the journey--