Welcome back everyone! I hope you all have had a nice summer! We'll get to some business first and then scroll through and see what classmates have been up to for the past couple of months!
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Reminder - keep us updated on your contact information for the database. That way you can be assured of receiving information regarding class activities such as reunions and such. You can send any changes in your mailing or email address to Sue by replying to any of the emails that get sent out or you can forward the information to
mahwahhighschool1976@yahoo.com
Thank you!
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Here are Paul Lange and Lynn Savino at Dead Fest in August.
The festival was at the Warwick Valley Winery.
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Joe Fagan shares the following:
Shane Fagan representing the Midshipmen Action Group (USNA
volunteer club) with Mr. Dan Murphy at the Lt. Michael Murphy “Run Around the
lake” in Ronkonkoma, LI last summer. Dan is the father of Lt. Michael Murphy the
lead officer in Operation Red Wings where he and two other SEALS, Matt Axelson
and Danny Dietz were killed. Marcus Luttrell was the “Lone Survivor” and the
movie was made with Taylor Kitsch playing Lt. Murphy and Mark Wahlberg playing
Marcus Luttrell. Photo shows actors and Murphy, Luttrell, Axelson and
Dietz.
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With thanks to classmate John Sepp for this submission and photos -
"Sepp, Lansing and Schattschneider met up in the Adirondacks this summer
for hiking along the High Peaks trails. Also pictured is J. Sepp's son
John"
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Baby news from Mary Claire Mullin!
"Today (October 24) my son Ryan and his wife Lisa delivered our granddaughter
Brynley Rose Savianeso, 6lbs 8oz. She joins our 3 grandsons Chase 6yrs old,
Garrett 3 yrs old and her big brother Bryce 3 1/2 yrs old. "
Congratulations to Mary Claire and her family!
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From Joe Cuhaj -
My 9th book, “Hidden History of
Mobile”, will be released in November. It features some fascinating unknown or
little known stories about the 325-year history of Alabama’s Port City that
would be of interest to anyone interested in general
history.
I’ve attached the
cover photo and below is the back cover text.
“It was an unlikely
place for a city, scourged by disease-ridden mosquitos and pummeled by
hurricanes. But for more than three hundred years, Mobile has thrived on the
unlikely and endured the unimaginable. Mobilians love their gumbo but are likely
unaware it was first served up here by women sent from France to foster
population growth. Times were once so dire for free blacks that a shocking
number petitioned the courts to become slaves. The city witnessed the first
operational submarine, the first Mardi Gras celebration and the last major
battle of the Civil War. Author Joe Cuhaj navigates the backwaters of Mobile’s
fascinating history.”
Beautiful Colorado day working cows.
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Anniversary Celebration Time!
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July at the John Carty Golf Outing....this annual event raises funds for scholarships
John Dolan, Jim Bush, Jeff Van Demark, Lynn Savino,
Jeff Reisel, John Baker
Mike Grattini missing from photo
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Todd's birthday get-together in June
Ada Cochran, Lidwin Goodwine, Jim Goodwine, Todd Cochran, Lynn Savino, John Baker
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Joe Cuhaj made a visit to New Jersey in October and of course that included connecting with friends!
Joe shares the story of the visit including his special visit to Ellis Island. Photos below are from the party (thanks Debbi Karpowich!) and Joe's Ellis Island photos are also below.
Last Christmas, I was completely surprised by a unique
present from my family. It was a certificate but not just any piece of paper.
It told me that the Cuhaj family name would be placed on the Ellis Island Wall
of Honor that pays tribute to the millions of immigrants who first set foot in
America on the tiny island. I was really touched by the incredible gift.
Word finally came in September that the name would be
engraved on the wall and ready for viewing by the end of the month so a
pilgrimage was planned back to the “homeland” – New Jersey – to view it.
My wife and I took the ferry to the island and even
though I had been to the island many times, this time was different. I felt
shivers going up and down my spine and my eyes began to mist a bit. We headed
to the wall that faces New York City, and there it was – “The Cuhaj Family”
etched into the bronze panel along with 700,000 other families who made the
dangerous voyage to start a new life. Needless to say, it was quite emotional
but the moment became overwhelming when I visited the ancestry record room and
found out that almost to the day 97-years prior, my grandparents arrived from
Czechoslovakia. The dam broke and I cried at the finding.
But there
was more to see while we were on the island. I know most of you have been there
before, but if you haven’t been in recent years, you need to go back and take
the "Hard Hat Tour”, which we did. The tour takes you to the hospital,
kitchen, and infectious disease buildings that are off limits to tourists because
they have not been restored. In fact, everything in the buildings are exactly
where they were left when the island was shuttered.
There are
incredible stories like children writing home telling family members that the
American's were feeding them "bloody worms" for dinner (aka
spaghetti), others telling friends that the American's feed them cake every
night (it was actually white bread that they had never experienced before). And
sad tales of children who had some unique fungus in their scalp. Doctors would
scrub their heads - hard - then treat it with a mix of antibiotics and
turpentine. Nurses would come in and spend hours comforting the children
prompting MANY directives that read, "DO NOT hug or kiss the
children!" The nurses ignored them. It's a fascinating tour and highly
recommended.
Of course,
the journey wouldn’t be complete without a good old fashioned Class of 76
party, and indeed there was one. Our dear friend Debbie (Karpowich) O’Connor
and her husband, Brian, put together an incredible “welcome home” party for me
and the entire “gang” (that you have heard way too much about in my short
stories) were there – Jay Karpowich, Steve Spaulding, Kevin Coughlin, Gary
Wilson and Terri (Karpowich) and Mark Jeker. Sadly, Mike Cummings and Debbie
(Page) Hooper couldn’t make it but the late, great Tom Reavely made an
appearance. Gary had a photo of Tom placed prominently on the banquet table. We
were going to have a full size cardboard cutout of him made with a mechanical
mouth, but there wasn’t enough time. If you knew Tom, he would have appreciated
it.
It was an
amazing, noisy party. It always amazes me that when the Class of 76 gets back
together, it’s like we have never been apart and we pick up where we left off
over 40 years later. The only thing missing from the party was us breaking into
Monty Python routines or singing the “Knights of the Round Table” song from the
“Holy Grail”. Oh, there were requests, but no takers.
There were
also a request for a song by our old band, Quits, but that voice was summarily
drowned out, much to the relief of the crowd.
Debbi adds this:
Here
are some photos from the party we had last Sunday at my house, when Joe Cuhaj
was visiting up north from Alabama. In the top photo from bottom left and
clockwise: Terri Karpowich Jeker (class of 1974), Me (Debbi Karpowich
O'Connor), Gary Wilson, Kevin Coughlin, Gary's wife Linda, Mark Jeker (class of
1973), Joe Cuhaj, Steve Spaulding, Steve's girlfriend, Donna, and Joe's wife,
Maggie. Seated on the stairs are Jay Karpowich (class of 1977) and his wife,
Jean. I included the selfie photo because the photographer (my husband,
Brian) was in that picture! There is also a photo of Joe and I, as well as an
old photo from when Joe, Gary, and Mike Cummings left on a train in Newark to
enlist in the Navy in 1976.
Joe's Ellis Island visit:
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Cheers! Happy Anniversary!
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Mark Hansen from '77 joins us in our class Facebook group and had a bit of news to share with his friends in '76:
I retired in January after working for 37 years, most of them as a Press
Secretary in the New York State Senate. The highlight of retirement so far was
taking my family on a trip to Ireland and Denmark.
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Classmate Mike Dooley shares these wonderful pictures of from his daughter Morgan's wedding
in Nashville, Tennessee.
It was a bit rainy on October 25 but that will bring good luck to the happy couple! Congratulations!
Here's Mike above and below is a proud Dad with his beautiful daughter Morgan.
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We have a class Facebook page for those who like to use Facebook. It is for our classmates and friends of our class. Pop by for a visit and join in!
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Thanks go out to everyone who sent in submissions this time! The next edition of the blog will be in March 2020. I will send out a reminder notice asking for submissions but you are welcome to send me news and photos any time and I can save them for publication! Just reply to any of the emails I have sent you from my private address or send to
mahwahhighschool1976@yahoo.com
Just an aside - I noticed from the blog archives that I have been publishing the blog since 2009 on this Blogger format. Previously I had used the now defunct Geocities web site for a few years.
(I wish I had printed those posts out!)
Time sure flies!
Have a wonderful fall and winter!
~Sue
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