We cleared that hurdle, now where is the next one?
We made it through the millennium minefield and found that we really were
prepared. Still, a few people will spend endless months eating their stockpiled
cans of tuna fish and condensed soup, remembering how much excitement there was
in planning for Armageddon and watching the supply of goods and necessities
filling the shelves and debating which of our neighbors we could tolerate
joining us. The rest of us - the truly unprepared - will go to our unconverted
basements to watch television and marvel at a world that unerringly rises to
the challenge of finding things to scare the hell out of us.
I don't want to make too much fun of the stockpilers because admittedly I was
one. My wife and I assessed what we already had in the house and then purchased
a few extra cases of champagne. We were concerned about the disturbing prospect
of a champagne shortage. (It turns out there was a production shortfall, but
not for the inexpensive varieties we drink.) We firmly believe that champagne
is the solution to many of the major problems facing the world today. As to
sustenance, Kathy had a small cache of cheese and crackers that I figured she
would share. In retrospect the only thing I would do differently, would be to
purchase the wine closer to doomsday, because we drank our entire stockpile of
champagne and had to purchase more.
For the next few years, my choice of disasters to obsess about will be the
chilling prospect of huge meteors striking the earth. Originally I was going to
worry about thermonuclear war, but on the whole it is much more fun to agonize
about rocks falling from space because there is so little preparation required
for that type of catastrophe. It's true that bombs are apparently not that big
of a problem anymore. If I recall events properly, one can ward off the effects
of radiation by a few extra showers a day, and the initial blast won't harm you
if you are fortunate enough to be under a desk.
My big question is what major milestones are in front of us? Y2K is out of the
way, and who really cares about Y3K or 2100 for that matter? But there is a
compelling need for milestones because they help us to schedule our lives, make
the big decisions, all the while presenting wondrous opportunities for
celebration.
$1,400 and counting
Our reunion account balance is now over $1,400. We owe this sum to the generous
contributions of our classmates, and the fact that we didn't invest in the
stock market last year. At least half of the funds were given to us after the
37th Reunion party. We will need at least twice this amount to produce the
40th. If you would like to make a contribution, send a check to Sandy or Rick.
Make it payable to: Penncrest Class of 1963. So far, we have not posted the
names of contributors on our web site, but if you want a mention just drop me a
note. For the right amount you can even have an advertisement on the web. But
more important than recognition, if you make a very generous contribution we
will not pester you to write articles for the newsletter.
We get letters.but not enough
The counts indicate that we get a fair number of hits on the message board by
our class and a number of others. If you don't have time to update your bio,
just leave a note on the message board. If you have your own web site, please
place a link on the message board. I will also place the link by your name in
the class list.
Moving pictures
Jay Fenwick, our talented class cinematographer, has produced his first classic
film. It chronicles the reunion at Rick's farm without any messy animal shots,
rusty tractors, old school buses, etc. As might be expected from an artist of
our generation, he failed to use a digital format, and we will now have to find
a way to convert the film to a format that can be placed on the web. It's a
great film and will be worth going through the conversion process.
Additionally, Jay has instructed me to file a formal protest against the PG-50
rating.
Volunteers?
Once again the call goes out to anyone in the class willing to write articles
for the newsletter, or to assist Paul Gibson with searching for the lost
classmates. Paul can be reached at pgibsons@bellatlantic.net
Other notes:
There has been some discussion about another mini-reunion this year.
Massachusetts seems to be the location. Please send an e-mail to Helen Essaf
Cogley if you are interested: hcogley@mediaone.net
I've been wondering what else we can do with our web site. (For those of you
just returning to the planet, it is at www.Penncrest.com.) Other classes have
asked for links to their sites and we, of course, have been as accommodating as
possible. The Amazon link is not being used very often, and it would be nice to
increase activity because we do get a small commission, which is then deposited
in the class fund. It would be great to have a "free" 40th.
Penncrest High School
Class of 1963
Newsletter Issue #7 - February 2001
Editor
Sandy Sorkin:
Sandy@Penncrest.com
Sanford522@AOL.com
Research Specialist
Paul Gibson:
pgibsons@bellatlantic.net
Guidance Counselor
Rick Hevner:
Richard_Hevner@Prusec.com
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