What's in your Hometown trunk?

How many of you have saved weird "stuff" over the years? I don't remember being overly sentimental about my time in the scouts, but I do have the sash. I guess that says something - what I'm not exactly sure.

And how many former girl scouts do we have out there?

Can you name the merit badges in all three columns and in all 5 rows?

What about those wing-things?

And, for bonus points. What was the troop number (not shown) to which girls in my neighborhood belonged?

On the edge

"There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza - there's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole." I just couldn't stand the thought of Deb (Salza) Gorey's son not being able to see her 8th grade graduation picture.

Here's to you, kid. Hint: she's on the right side....

And, oh - please do not let Vinnie's comb-over escape you! (He's on the left.) That's hysterical, seeing as how he had plenty of hair in that picture. A geriatric fashion statement at the tender age of 14.

Happy to be reunioning!

Jan and Andrea had a great time at the 20th reunion. Here's how you, too can have the time of your life:

1) Fill out the reply form attached in Mike's e-mail (or on the web site).

2) Write a check for $60.00 per person, made payable to Newton High Class of 1974.

3) Mail in the form and the check to Mike Richard before July 8th.

4) Save the date (July 25th), and

5) Don't forget to show up at 7:00 p.m. at The Barn at Perona Farms!

A mini reunion at Applebee's!

Sent to me via Mike from Bill Martin, 5 classmates got together at Applebee's in Newton on May 20th, 2009. From left, Lavon Wagner, Carol Wilkens Sanagorski, Mary Gilmartin Shortway, Suzanne Spatarella Wallace, and Bill Martin. Carol - we'll miss you on July 25th, but we'll get some scuttlebutt from those attending this gathering... :-)

Smiles all around...

Funny - three out of the four ladies pictured here were also in the prom photo I uploaded just as the blog was getting started. Now, Mike captioned this "Would-be Homecoming Queens," when he e-mailed them to me - but we all know he's just trying to get back at Maggie for squelching his political ambitions and/or not caving to his romantic advances (crest or no crest) in the 6th grade! It doesn't matter how many years go by - we all still look good. Of course, this WAS fifteen years ago... And since this was my favorite of the photos he sent, I get to choose which ones to post first. Andrea sent some, too. Perhaps tomorrow (or the next day). Stay tuned.

Where's Waldo?

Does anybody recognize this guy? Thanks, Ed for mentioning him. I cannot take credit for "creating" Waldo because truthfully, I can't even remember being on the Aurora staff! (Isn't that awful?) Who would even guess that years later, we would all be reading Where's Waldo to our kids, and something would be niggling at us in the far corners of our minds? Will the real Waldo creator please step forward? You're so clever!

Any interest in bike riding?

Somewhere in one of the messages that have flown around concerning the upcoming Class of '74 and Friends Reunion, someone floated the idea of mountain biking. I'm not sure who mentioned it first. Might have been Peggy (Dolan) Cordell, or maybe Michelle (Edison) Leonard, maybe Andrea (Margaret Herman) Harmon. Doesn't much matter. It seems like a good idea, whoever wants to claim credit.
I've begun to do a little digging to see what might be available for off-road rides. Our choices really depend on who's interested in going, and the level of riding that group wants to tackle. There are converted rail trails in a couple of different places that offer flat or nearly flat riding over just about any distance. Examples are the Kittatinny Valley State Park that lies east of Andover and the Paulinskill Lake Rail Trail that runs some 27 miles from Sparta Junction to Knowlton Township somewhere past Blairstown. The Sussex Branch Trail runs 21 miles through Allamuchy and Kittatinny Valley parks, terminating in Branchville. Kittatinny Valley also has some single-track with more challenging terrain, according to a couple of sources I found on-line. Stokes State Forest has biking as well, though I haven't yet come up with any detailed information. There's always Sunrise Mountain, which seems to have a place in some people's hearts.
On the grander scale is Mountain Creek (formerly known as Great Gorge) with a fee-based, big-terrain experience available ($30 for lift ticket).
There are also paved and dirt sections of the Old Mine Road in the Delaware Water Gap NRA open to biking.

We have Saturday and Sunday mornings available (or at least, I do). I could be talked into any one of the options I mentioned above and am open to other suggestions as well. If you've got a favorite trail you'd like to share, let's hear about it. I'd also be interested in possibly getting a road ride together for the day that mountain biking doesn't happen.

Let's hear some discussion about the level of interest in either/both of these activities and what y'all would like to do.

Dave

LINKS:
Kittatinny Valley State Park
Paulinskill Valley Rail Trail
Stokes State Forest
Diablo Freeride Park (Mountain Creek)
some trail reviews
Delaware Water Gap