RMHS 76 – 20^th Reunion

20th Reunion a Big Hit!

Over 125 Classmates and guests attended one of the events held to mark the 20th reunion of the Class of 76. Over 75 Alumni celebrated with old friends and started new friendships with both alumni and spouses alike.

Mystery at Marble Island

The weekend started with a Friday night reception at Marble Island where

RSVP's were not required. Over 40 alumni navigated the party without the benefit of a name tag which in itself was a hilarious form of entertainment. More than one "Who the heck is that?" could be heard.

The night was marked by the arrival of several alumni from out of state including Ann Campbell and Dave Gardy (Virginia), Carolyn Fayette and Cathy Halpin (Florida), Ellen Sullivan (Washington), and Karen Warner (Colorado). A highlight of the night was the arrival of Patti Nowocienski and her husband Stephan from Wisesbaden Germany.

Several other surprise guests included Joe Comeau, Dottie Coillard, Sue Cain, Janet Delorme, Rick Donlan, Dave Fisher, Brenda Gingras, Tim Hartnett, Mike Messier, Sharon O'Brien, and Jim Yarnell.

The party went well into the night. Many said that the mystery of who

would show up made the Friday night reception one of the best parts of reunion weekend.

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A Show at the Sheraton

Over 100 alumni and guests attended the Saturday evening dinner and dance at the Sheraton Inn and Conference Center in So. Burlington.

The evening saw the arrival of more distant travelers including Frank Rush from Florida who was attending his first reunion. Other out-of-stater's included: Muriel Benjamin (CT), Jane Bergeron (MA), Laurie Boardman (MA), Peter Corbett (NU), Alan Crowley and Terry Fuhem Crowley (NH), Tim Fennell (MA), Joanne Ferro (NE),Joe Hemmingway (CT), Anne Leveille (NH), Brian Mcclintock (MA), Paul McNeil (ME), Dennise O'Horn (OK), Kelly Roberts (MA), Mike Rocheleau (NH), and Carolyn Trottier (NJ).

The evening started with cocktails and a new class ritual, the swapping of picture name-tags. We were all fortunate to have Fr. Wendell Searles with us to share memories, shake hands, and provide us with a touching pre-dinner prayer. After a buffet dinner, Mary Collins are Roger Fay hosted the evenings entertainment which included door prizes like Rice sweatshirts, tickets for a dinner/cruise on lake Champlain, and several gag gifts.

The highlight of the evening was a special multimedia retrospect on the class of 76. Several months in the making, it included photos, voice bites, and period music craftily blended together to take everyone back through both the joys and tears associated with growing up.

Particularly touching was a portion of the work dedicated to Jeff Vitaffi, Bernadette Lasage, and Linda Sheeran all of whom were sadly absent.

As the video concluded and emotions began to return to a normal level, Mary and Roger got everyone involved in two special presentations which included the giving away of "The Boxing Nun" to Bobby Clavelle for passing Sr. Jean's American Lit. test. Other door prizes included an Eagles CD to Frank Rush for being the first to send in his response, and a Michael Jackson CD to Ellen Sullivan's husband Devon who was mistaken for Tim Burke (not present) and got a hug from an errant female alumni in the process.

Tim Fennell, Dan Morrissey, Barb Hurteau, Lori Boardman and Ann Campbell were good sports as they strutted their stuff before the class as the audience tried to decide which would win the "least changed" contest. In the end, the judges made a surprise ruling in favor of Kathy O'Reilly who won a bottle of wine for the honor. Mark Lovejoy was the lucky raffle winner of a new VCR donated by Gardy/McGrath Inc.

The remainder of the evening was turned over to Charlie Papiflo (class of 73) who played music and got everyone dancing. Many moved out into the reception lobby for reminiscing and drinks. Others in attendance were: Judy Barone, Martha Blanchard, Paul Boutin, Lynn Brassard, Shelley Caroll, Kevin Cieplicki, John Cincotta, Linda Cloutier, Sam Cutting, Lisa DeGrechie, Laurie Fisher, Mary Jo Fitzgerald, Jane Irish, Janet Jennings, Judy Jennings, Darlene LaMountain, Janet Langlois, Lynn LeBeau, Peter L'Esperance, Joanne Leveille, Jim Mackin, Anne McGregor, Tom McGregor, Judy McLaughlin, Lil Meilleur, Anne Nichols, Jamie O'Brien, Tom Racine, Mike Riley, Linda Roach, Kelly Roberts, Nancy Simindinger, Jim St.Peter, Bill Sweeney, and Anne Marie Trahan.

As the evening concluded and people said their good-byes, there was a sadness that the time had gone all too quickly but everyone left knowing that they would return and reunite again in 2001.

In summary, the reunion was much more than the coming together of people who shared a common experience at Rice. Many of us rekindled our earliest childhood memories with friends from St. Francis, Christ the King, St. Joseph's, Chamberlin, and St. Anthony's. There is a special bond between those who were lucky enough to live their entire childhood together. Many of us got to take home the treasure of making a new friend of someone we went to Rice with but never got to know until our reunion, where all of the old things that got in the way of making friendships vanished.

Thanks to everyone who made Reunion 96 a possibility and made the time and effort to come, Seeing each one of you made this reunion more special.