Cheltenham High School Class of 1958

50^th Reunion was held

October 25 and 26, 2008

Ted Taylor

High school reunion a time to revisit old friends, memories

My graduating class from Cheltenham High School had our (you'll never believe this) 50th reunion a couple of weeks ago. Imagine, 50 years since high school and enough of us are still lucid and walking erect to gather together for a two-day celebration.
And if you think it's amazing that my classmates are still mobile, you'll be stunned to learn that 10 of our teachers made it to the celebration as well. OK, so one of them was in her 90s (the youngest was 74), but the rest were "looking good" and it was nice to see them again.

Dave Harr, a history teacher who inspired me to pursue a career in education, sat at our table, as did the legendary Joe Nejman, our football coach/phys ed teacher, business teacher Elaine Hunter and phys ed teacher/hockey coach Adele Boyd, with whom I also spent some time as a colleague when I coached baseball at Ursinus College a few decades ago.
There were about 320 students in our class - 39 of them have gone to that high school in the sky and couldn't make it. But close to 130 of our classmates did make it - and they came from all parts of the country (and a few from outside the country). When counting spouses and significant others, there was more than 200 people at the Huntingdon Valley Country Club shindig.
The nice part about growing up in this area is that an awful lot of our classmates stayed in the neighborhood. Enough, certainly, to form an active committee and to make things happen. Dr. Mickey Langsfeld, Dick Stern, Carol Rose Armon, Marsha Eisenburg, Lynn Bortman, Caroline Simon, Roy Thompson, this writer - all local names, of course, helped populate the committee. There were others, too, and they all deserve accolades.

The fun part was tracking down old grads who hadn't been back in years. Only one gave a good reason why he couldn't come, he said, "No one liked me when I was in high school and I didn't like them either." He remained home in Colorado.
Our classmates have ended up doing all sorts of things including winning a Nobel Prize (Dr. Michael Brown), being an internationally acclaimed photographer (Mary Ellen Mark) and a seven-term member of the Georgia Legislature (Tom Rice).
Classmate Dr. Joel Schwartz ran off some interesting stats - including a cornucopia of professions that included a one-time winner of the Monaco Grand Prix, doctors, dentists, teachers, professors, artists, poets, karate instructors, restaurateurs, CEOs, radio and TV producers and on and on it went.

Of those who attended and filled out questionnaires we learned that we have been married for 1,331 years, had 159 children, 220 grandchildren, 43 dogs, 56 cats, four rattlesnakes, two boa constrictors, two African ring-tailed monkeys and other members of the animal kingdom that depend on us.
The nicest part of the two-day affair was getting reacquainted with people whom most of us haven't seen for a long, long time. It amazed me how easy it was to still recognize faces and how fit everyone looked. The years have been kind, at least to those who were able to attend.

This is a class that has always tried to stay in touch and a lot of lasting friendships have endured. Cheltenham High (then located in Elkins Park), was a pretty nice place and everyone got along regardless of race or creed. I think it says something for our parents, something for our teachers and something about the fine education we all received.
I can't wait for the 55th reunion.

Reprinted from Montgomery Newspapers November 19, 2008