GRACIOUS HOST ordered delicious platters of sushi for the third meeting of the planning committee for the 30th high school reunion of the Upper West Side high school that no longer exists.
MAGAZINE PUBLISHER brought an incredibly thorough list of possible venues for the reunion. The group tentatively decided on an Italian restaurant not far from where the high school was located. The group is set to meet there in March for a tasting menu.
Progress is being made tracking down missing classmates. Someone from the class of 1975 attended the meeting and promises to notify his classmates as well. We were informed that the class of 1977 have had two (count ’em) two reunions and NEVER invited anyone from our class.
A member of our group made a motion disallow that class from attending our reunion on the grounds that they left us out twice. Rejected. There were some great people in that class.
Apparently their reunion was more low-key. It was held in someone’s apartment. And they didn’t have a show or anything. Figures.
There was a heated discussion about what to charge for the event. Most in the group felt that $100 dollars per person was fair and would cover costs. SCHOOL DIRECTOR felt that it was a bit steep, especially for teachers. "You all look pretty affluent," she said. "But not everyone is." The group decided not to charge teachers for the event. We also agreed that there should be a scholarship fund for those who could not afford to come. The bigger problem is: how do we communicate that without making people feel uncomfortable. It was decided that HEDGE FUND, who is chair of the Finance committe, would be charged with figuring all that kind of stuff out. He wasn’t there to disagree.
SCREENWRITER and I presented our ideas for a 30-minute program of speeches, video, music, and possibly a karate chop demonstration by our zany principal, something he did at our high school graduation. We want to touch briefly on the history of the school, why it closed, etc.
The group asked OPERA SINGER if she would perform an aria at the reunion. She seemed a little uncomfortable with the idea. She had something lighter like a Gershwin song in mind. There was a request for a reunion of the jazz band but EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, the drummer, didn’t seem interested.
GRACIOUS HOST and SCREENWRITER volunteered to make speeches. EXECUTIVE PRODUCER and CORPORATE LAWYER agreed to develop a comic segment. MAGAZINE PUBLISHER will write a short tribute to our classmate who died. We’ve yet to ask HEDGE FUND or EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR if they want to make a speeches. The show cannot exceed 30-minutes – people want to talk and catch up, not watch a show – so speakers must limit their words to 3 minutes or less. BREVITY, please.
The way we’re putting this reunion together is reminding me of the "let’s put on a show" style of our high school life. It seemed like we were always planning something – a trip to West Virigina, a musical revue, a video documentary about Boston busing, a school television show on public access, an economic summit, a jazz performance, a play, a women’s day, a week of mini-sessions, which included student-taught courses in impressionism, songwriting, building a student lounge, exploring New York City, cooking.
It was a creative place to spend a few years. Many in the class feel that our education was a bit spotty and that they were ill-prepared for college. But the school was very much of its time. It was, afterall, the last of the truly progressive schools, where more emphasis was put on a love of learning and a sense of empowerment, than on, well, more traditional pursuits. We did feel empowered – we learned how to make things happen. That is really the legacy of our time there.
After the reunion, SCREENWRITER, OPERA SINGER, and I went to Kitchen 22, a bar on 22nd Street and did barely any gossiping about the meeting. And that’s the truth. We were reunioned-ed out at that point and needed to think about some other stuff for a while.
