Why Don't We Do It On The Water?

Whaddya Say?

We need SIXTY 1972 Jets

to send in $100 each

by July 15th 2011!

(30 Jets with dinner dates would also do.)

The very first time a small group of us started the periodic practice of getting together and trying to put together a worthy, fun, memorable reunion experience for the rest of us (We're talking way back in the day, when almost all of the guys still had almost all of their hair and when the idea of 'getting in shape for the reunion' meant losing what, by now, we can see were really just a few pounds that could actually hope to be lost by the time of the event, and when some of us still had our black-light posters and working lava lamps, along with our collections of at-that-time-already-getting-to-be-vintage-LP's), the idea came up of doing the reunion on the Bay.

It was voted down: Too expensive! What about the people who get seasick? Or are afraid of going out on the water? Or who want to come to the party late? Or leave early? Or who have to be able to run home if the babysitter calls with an emergency?

So, instead, we settled for a meal-and-next-day-picnic package - a choice that eventually became the basic pattern for these occasional occasions, with the additional tour of EHS thrown in, for good measure, once or twice. A little "welcome" speech. A moment of silence for those no longer with us. Some more or less silly awards for Furthest Trek to the Reunion or for Most Kids or Most Marriages. Some good food; a little music; maybe some dancing; lots of drinks, storytelling, flirtation, and laughter, with a few serious heart-to-heart's and the random, long-incubated tear rolling down somebody's cheek here and there throughout the crowd…good, enjoyable memory-making in its own right.

What some people don't know is that the 'on-the-Bay' impulse never died away. It has come up every single time we've gathered to discuss the "next" reunion. It just always gets voted down, for more or less the same set of reasons as were invoked the first time (with diminishing emphasis on the whole 'baby-sitter' thing, as fewer of us are in that boat these days).

The thing is, we went to high school on an island. In a beautiful bay. Across from one of the most enchanting cities in the entire world. People come from everywhere on the planet to visit our area, and when they get here, countless throngs of them can't wait to go out on the Bay - whether to make the trip between the City and one of its many Ferry destinations; to visit Alcatraz or Angel Island; to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge; or to party, dining and dancing on luxuriously-appointed yachts from a fleet of companies catering to the whims of all those tourists and of the innumerable locals who choose the water for their special celebrations. In recent years, many Senior Banquets for the graduating classes of Encinal High have taken place on these elegant chartered vessels.

So, why not us?

This might be our last chance to do this comfortably, given the fact that, by the time of our 50th, a good number of us will be packing a supply of Depends - definitely at odds with the James Bond vibe of a luxury yacht!

The reunion committee has been giving this a lot of thought and - since we've never been able to pull off a dinner cruise, but since we can't seem to get the idea to go away and leave us alone, we want to go through with it, if at all possible, and we recognize that some out-of-the-box thinking might be required to meet everyone's needs and to respect everyone's circumstances.

So, we propose, for a mid-August Saturday (of 2012 - over a year from now, to give everybody who's interested enough time to save up the funds, take the swimming lessons, whatever):

• A Happy Hour (no-host / cash-bar) event at a dockside venue, at which the speech-making & award-giving, (if any) and the moment-of-(unfortunately-yet-inevitably-ever-more-extended)-silence, etc. are observed.

• Followed by:

- A sit-down dinner (at current banquet-rates [$35 to $55 a head?]) at that same venue, for those who still want to hang out in reunion mode, but who don't feel the cruise vibe, and…

- A 3-to-4 hour dinner cruise on the bay for those who do. The cruise option would be on a Commodore Yacht, departing from and returning to the company's dock on Alameda's north shore, next to the Pasta (used to be the 'Rusty') Pelican Restaurant, over by the original Chevy's over the tube. The cruise costs $100 a head (yes, that's $200 for a couple!)

• Followed by (if there is sufficient interest):

- a next-day picnic (in a park, at the beach, on the EHS football field, or wherever, bring the kids/grandkids/etc.)

This plan:

A. Gets us all together to celebrate the friendships that began all those decades ago in that beautiful, humble little high school on the Bay (best location of any high school around!)

B. Respects...

• those who think that a Happy Hour together is enough, and who plan to go home and watch TV or go to sleep or take care of whatever business, while the rest of us go on partying

• those who can't afford the cruise (or simply don't think it's worth the money), but who still want to enjoy a delicious dinner with classmates to continue the celebration

• those who can't (or simply don't like to/want to) go out on the water, but who still feel like some fine, waterfront dining among friends after the Happy Hour

• those who need greater flexibility in their schedules than a cruise permits

• and (FINALLY!) those who love the idea of enjoying some time with some classmates on a dinner cruise on the Bay

• Makes time the next day for everybody to tell stories and swap lies about the night before, as we say goodbye to each other for another five or ten years.

The thing is, for this to work, we need SIXTY PAYING SIGNUPS BY JULY 15th, 2011, yes next month!

Please understand…

We totally understand that these are not the best of economic times. (How's that for an understatement?)

We are totally prepared to postpone (once more) this age-old desire to do it on the water, but just think it's time to go ahead and try to make a push for it.

SO, PLEASE, IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE THIS TO GO, SEND YOUR $100 TO THE PAYPAL ACCOUNT (on the upper-right-hand corner of the reunion-website page) TODAY.

Stay tuned for updates.

Ahhh...the march of time

When we were born, we were closer to the end of the 1800's than we are now to the year of our birth. We've personally experienced over a third of the history that has passed since the end of the Civil War. And over a fifth of the history since the American Revolution.

We're about four times older than we were when we watched the lunar landing on our little, grainy, black and white TV sets. And between five and six times older than we were the first time we saw John, Paul, George and Ringo on the Ed Sullivan Show.

A new, local "Oldies Station" plays "...hits from the Sixties, the Seventies, and the Eighties." Think about that. Twelve of their "Oldies" years occurred before we left Encinal High, and eighteen of them happened after we were already out!

Half of the Beatles are already gone. So are many of the Black Panthers, much of the UFW leadership, a large number of the Freedom Riders, countless Viet Nam-era vets (of both the war and the peace movement), and an innumerable list of other icons in our collective experience, artistic, athletic, religious, socio-political… Not to mention our own personal losses - parents, siblings, spouses, children, friends, classmates...

Indeed, time just marches right on, paying little attention to our shifting perspective on the grand parade. Furthermore, not to be macabre, it is worth remembering that each of us is almost certainly already on the home stretch, having lived over half of our personal allotment of sunrises.

Which casts the high-school reunion in a different light.

It's no longer as much about crowing competitively around some new acquisition or accomplishment as about celebrating with infrequently-seen loved ones some deeper, more transcendent joy or insight. Or perhaps about empathizing over a shared experience of trial-and-error or of struggle, whether ending in triumph or defeat. It's ultimately about sharing a realer version of life-story, with some of the very people who shared the rose-colored glasses with us when they were such a comfortable fit.

Of course, there's still time to revisit, and perhaps rekindle, an old crush. Or to finally patch up that ridiculous old misunderstanding with a used-to-be-close-friend, after all these years. Or even to finally take the risk, reaching out to that person who was somehow too intimidating in school and somehow still vaguely and inexplicably inaccessible when we gathered at 20 or 30 years out.

It's not like we have an inexhaustible number of chances left, you know.

The Encinal High School 40th Reunion Committee has already begun to discuss plans for a couple of dates next August, about mid-month, for us all to gather in each other's company, sharing some warm memories of days gone by and creating some fresh ones, just as warm, to comfort us in the years ahead. Speaking of time, there's plenty of it left for you to clear your calendar and make your travel plans.

We really, really hope that you can make it.