Why Attend?

Our 50-Year Celebration is going to be a HUGE event for many of us. But some of your friends and classmates may still be undecided about attending. Here are some good reasons, directly from your classmates.

Why Attend?

Do You Wonder If Anyone Remembers YOU From Our GCHS Class of 1965?

Please read this very thought-provoking, well-written short essay by Dixie Reinhardt, who chairs our Search Committee for Class of 1965 GCHS graduates.

     Wonder if anybody will remember you?" We've heard this more than a few times in our conversations with old classmates.

     The answer is YES. And whether you know it or not, you were important to somebody else who might surprise you. In the course of our conversations, we've heard about more than a few secret crushes that were never shared because one person thought the other "was out of their league." Or the example of someone who used to chase another home from school every day, but now was thrilled to say hello again to that same person at the 65th. Be sure about this: even if you don't think so, somebody has been thinking about you and trying to find you over the years. These are stories that we've heard more than a few times, so don't worry that you're not remembered. You are!

     From our perspective now as 66- and 67-year olds, we bring a lifetime of experience to our memories of high school. If you've only attended an early reunion (our 10th or 20th) you probably won't have experienced them the same way we did at the later get-togethers because its the passage of time that has given us this particular perspective and genuine pleasure at reuniting. If you've never been to a reunion, it IS special. You've been missed. If you've just been "found" it isn't because we weren't looking for you for a very long time.

     We've each experienced getting to know people for the first time in the several phone calls we've shared. It doesn't matter what clique or group of friends you were in then or whether you knew just a few people. What matters now is that we shared an intense experience in a particular place, with all the emotional hills and valleys, at a particular time in life and at a particular time in our country's history. Age has helped us understand how special that bond is, just on the cusp of adulthood and before we had all the responsibilities and baggage we've collected in life. We've spread out across the country, and even across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. But nobody else in the world shares precisely what we all shared together in the 60s, in that particular school, in that particular city, and in that particular time---1962 through 1965.

     We're grateful to still be alive when many of our old friends are not, to be young in mind if not in body (LOL), and to inhabit that space again but probably with a much more generous frame of mind. We still see each other as young but can empathize with the arthritic knees, and all that comes with a life that has spanned some extraordinary changes.

     Join us, please

     Dixie

Here's Why Other Cavaliers Plan To Attend

I have always wanted to help with the reunions since I was chosen to be your Senior A Class President. In 1965 I made a promise to lead the class toward graduation. Little did I know at that time that I would be involved in the 10, 20, 30, 40 now 50th celebration, as well as a really cool 65th birthday party. No one person could do these events alone and I thank all of our classmates and their spouses that have helped in the past as well as the current group that is working hard to make the 50th our best event ever! The tenth reunion on the Queen Mary was special to me as I was married that morning to my wife Cindy. Talk about being a good sport. Cindy and I spent our Honeymoon night with a few hundred of my best friends on the Queen Mary in Long Beach. The 50th event will be within a week of our 40 wedding anniversary.

     I have enjoyed seeing our class grow up over the years. Even though it may be ten years at a time, our class has really had a lot of great experiences. Just look at the stories on our website. We have Veterans, fire fighters, police officers (from the rank of Officer to Chief of Police.) We have actors, musicians, writers, lawyers, politicians, business owners, dentists, doctors, nurses, teachers, educators, pilots, web-site developers, as well as being the Moms, Dads, Aunts and Uncles and now Grandparents that all have had a profound affect on our society. Our Class of 1965 really has helped change the world for the better.

     So why am I on the organizing committee? How could I miss all of this! Seeing friends, strengthening bonds with others and finding our how everyone is doing. I wouldn't miss this opportunity for the world.

     So I encourage everyone that can make this event to do so. It will be a weekend to remember.

Dick Eyster

There are certain films, like Gone With The Wind & You've Got Mail & yes, The Godfather, that I can watch over and over because they make me feel, and there was a three year span in my life that also brought out all of my emotions, attending Grover Cleveland High School!

I love going back & seeing all of the friends that shared these years while also going forward making new friends who shared such a common ground. If anyone has never attended, please watch Peggy Sue Got Married or Romy & Michelle, the real life reunions are even better. It is like going home, the warmth in the room is incomparable. I am going to bask in it. I love being involved in the planning of the event, too, It is so fun and so rewarding! See all of you soon!

Gloria Dorcy

"Sad truth is, I've forgotten more classmates than I remember, and my three years at Cleveland were less than the happiest in my life. But I was in L.A. on other business when the "Class of '65 Turns 65" party came around, and at Pete's and Dixie's invitation I showed up. What a great time! Not only with them and the few others there whom I knew from way back when, but with so many others who were just great people to hang with for a while. I'm really looking forward to the 50th, and I hope that you are, too, whether we remember each other or not. Forget all the reunion clichés! Yes, all is forgiven! No, you DON'T have to lose 20 pounds! Just come, because you'll be amazed at how many people would love to see you!"

Milton Rouse

I passed you in the hallways every day for three years and was afraid to say "hi" because I thought you would not say "hi" back. I didn't know. I had the same classes as you but never spoke to you because I thought you were too popular. I didn't know. I didn't smile at you because I thought you would think I was laughing at you. I didn't know. I didn't ask you to dance because I thought you would reject me. I didn't know. I ate lunch by myself because I thought you would not want me to sit with you. I didn't know. I didn't ask to play on your team because I thought you didn't think I was good enough. I didn't know. I saw you around campus every day and never bothered to try to get to know you. I didn't know. I went off to live my life and never bothered to keep in touch with you. I didn't know.

I thought you didn't know I was alive. I didn't know. I thought all you wanted to do was beat me up. I didn't know. I thought we would all live forever, and then you died. I didn't know. I didn't go to all of the reunions because I thought no one would care. I didn't know. I thought it would not matter if I never saw anyone I went to high school with again. I didn't know. I did not think I would ever want to see you and tell you that you were, and are, important to me. I didn't know you would have talked to me, and had lunch with me, danced with me and been a friend to me.

All I had to do was take a chance and reach out. That's why I'm going to the 50th celebration. I'm grateful for the opportunity to see the people I knew, but didn't get to know, and have a chance to enjoy the company of people who shared three years of my life.

Jeff Davis

I have reconnected with classmates at the events over the years. I realize how important it is to so many people as well as myself to keep in touch with my past while moving into the future. They are all interconnected. It give me great pleasure as a searcher on our committee to find our 'LOST' classmates, so they have the opportunity to enjoy the fun of the get together. So I look forward to visiting with friends and looking back to reconnect with those that time has lost. Just sayin'

Kristie Bechtold

I'm attending because I want to actually meet a lot of the people with whom I've been able to communicate with since I started doing communications for our Class events (the website, newsletters, etc). I personally didn't have that many truly close friends during those 1962-1965 years at GCHS, but I did know a lot of people through common interests, classes and clubs/organizations. And there were lots of people, even if I didn't know them that well, that I truly liked/admired as people. I'm also looking forward to be able to take more photos and videos at our events that weekend, for posting on our Class website, on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Google+, You Tube and numerous other outlets. Yes, we will all be famous via social media after that soon-to-be-legendary weekend.

Pete Senoff