Thank You

I want to give my personal thanks to everyone who made our reunion a huge success. First, my thanks go to all who attended. It was your support that made the reunion the biggest and best our class has ever had. It was wonderful to see everyone again. Next, my thanks go to all the committee members for all their hard work in staging 3 days of events, arranging the details of venues, catering, music, rooms, decorations and party favors: Jeff Abrams, Sheri Baron, Lois Chick, Chris Cook, Daria Monica, Mary Windeler, Jane Yavener, and Gary Zak. In addition, my thanks go to the others who volunteered their efforts: Barbara Beca and her husband John for the photo nametags; Jeanne Schuman for her musical composition on the memorial video; and Pat McGuinness for his help with reunion financing. Thank you everyone.

Have You Received Your Invitation Yet?

Invitations to the 40th reunion celebration for Colonia High class of 1968 have been mailed. Please contact any reunion committee member if you have not received your copy yet.

Reunion Steering Committee:
Sheri Baron (Massachusetts) sbaron26@comcast.net
Chris Cook (Washington) kitcook@gmail.com
Mike Marsden (Tennessee) mmarsden191@gmail.com 901-373-8116

Our New Jersey Reunion Planning Committee:
Jeff Abrams, Treasurer jeffabrams@comcast.net
Daria Angelo Monica daria2222@aol.com
Lois Chick loisjanechick@aol.com
Jane Kleiner Yavener jryav@comcast.net 732-270-0755
Mary Pecil Windeler marymax6@aol.com
Gary Zak gzak@globalessence.com

40th Reunion Update - June '08

Colonia High Class of 1968
40th Reunion Party
"Those Were The Days"

October 10, 11, 12, 2008 (Columbus Day Weekend)
at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, NJ

Here are the top 10 reasons to attend the reunion --- not that you need a reason…
10 Because you’re a member of the first graduating class at Colonia High, not the last
9 To see if your high school boyfriend or girlfriend still recognizes you
8 To see who's been married the most times
7 Because it's time to get revenge for what happened in the locker room
6 To see who has the most tattoos and body piercings
5 Because you spent a bundle on cosmetic surgery and you want to make everyone envious of how fabulous you look
4 To see if you can still name five teachers from Colonia High
3 To see who has the most children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren
2 Because we'll talk about you whether you're there or not, so you'd better come to defend yourself
1 Because there are no friends like old friends
Come to have fun and share the good times and memories with your classmates from
Colonia High Class of 1968.

This wonderful weekend of friendship and memories begins Friday evening with an informal get-together at Old Man Rafferty's (cash bar) just around the corner from the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, NJ

On Saturday evening we'll celebrate with a festive dinner, dancing, and lots of great nostalgia at the Hyatt Regency

Then, on Sunday we'll top the weekend off with a delicious
reunion brunch at the Hyatt Regency

All events are separate – you can attend any or all events – come to whichever you like

Tickets
Before Oct. 1, tickets for the Saturday night reunion party at the Hyatt Regency are $80 per person. After Oct. 1, tickets will be $100 per person. Please make your check payable to CHS 1968 Reunion Committee, and mail it to:

Jeff Abrams
107 Wells Drive
South Plainfield, NJ 07080

Rooms
If you’re coming from out of town and would like to stay at the Hyatt Regency, they’re offering us a special discounted rate of $129 (usually $209.) To get this special rate, make your reservations with the Hyatt Regency before Sept.1, and ask for the “Colonia Reunion Rate.” Hyatt Regency New Brunswick, 2 Albany Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Phone: (732) 873-1234 Website: http://newbrunswick.hyatt.com In a future reunion update, we’ll also provide you with a list of nearby lodging instead of the Hyatt.

Website
Our CHS class now has a website at http://www.classreport.org/usa/nj/colonia/chs/1968/ Please take a few minutes to look at it. While you're there, please let us know of your reunion plans by posting a message on Our Class Message Board. Please tell us if you're planning to bring a guest. We’d like to make a preliminary head count and finalize arrangements with the Hyatt for rooms and food.

If you have any questions or comments about the reunion, please contact us:

Reunion Steering Committee:
Sheri Baron (Massachusetts) sbaron26@comcast.net
Chris Cook (Washington) kitcook@gmail.com
Mike Marsden (Tennessee) mmarsden191@gmail.com 901-373-8116

Our New Jersey Reunion Planning Committee:
Jeff Abrams, Treasurer jeffabrams@comcast.net
Daria Angelo Monica daria2222@aol.com
Lois Chick loisjanechick@aol.com
Jane Kleiner Yavener jryav@comcast.net 732-270-0755
Mary Pecil Windeler marymax6@aol.com
Gary Zak gzak@globalessence.com

Those Were the Days Reunion Weekend

Who can believe it's been 40 years?!! Or is it only 39 and holding?
To commemorate this event, our class will hold a reunion on
October 10-12, 2008 (Columbus Day Weekend)
at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, NJ.
Our theme will be "Those Were The Days."

This fabulous weekend of friendship and memories begins Friday evening with an informal get-together at Old Man Rafferty's (cash bar) right around the corner from the Hyatt Regency.

Saturday evening we'll kick it up a few notches and celebrate with a festive dinner, dance party, and lots of great nostalgia at the Hyatt Regency.

Then, on Sunday we'll top off this wonderful weekend with a scrumptious
reunion brunch at the Hyatt.

(All events are separate – attend whichever you like)

Come and celebrate with us.
Come to reacquaint yourself with old friends.
Come to make new friends.
Come and meet some fun people.
Come and share memories.
Come and make some new memories.

Come to have fun and share the good times with your classmates from
Colonia High Class of 1968.

If you're single and looking for that special someone, this just may be the time and place for you. You’ll never know unless you come and find out.

Our class has a website http://www.classreport.org/usa/nj/colonia/chs/1968/ Please take a few minutes to look at it. While you're there, please let us know of your reunion plans by posting a message on Our Class Message Board, and please tell us if you're planning to bring a guest. We need to make a preliminary head count to finalize arrangements with the Hyatt for rooms and food. If you're coming from out of town, please make reservations with the Hyatt before Sept. 1 and ask for the Colonia Reunion Rate of $129 (normally $209.) We’ll also provide a list of nearby lodging besides the Hyatt.

Our reunion treasurer, Jeff Abrams, is now accepting deposits of $50 to be applied to the final cost of the reunion. If you have not already sent in your deposit, then please make it payable to CHS 1968 Reunion Committee, and mail it to:

Jeff Abrams
107 Wells Drive
South Plainfield, NJ 07080

If you have any questions or comments about the reunion, please contact:

Reunion Steering Committee:
Sheri Baron (Massachusetts) sbaron26@comcast.net
Chris Cook (Washington) kitcook@gmail.com
Mike Marsden (Tennessee) mmarsden191@gmail.com 901-373-8116

Our New Jersey Reunion Planning Committee:
Jeff Abrams, Treasurer jeffabrams@comcast.net
Daria Angelo Monica daria2222@aol.com
Lois Chick loisjanechick@aol.com
Jane Kleiner Yavener jryav@comcast.net 732-270-0755
Mary Pecil Windeler marymax6@aol.com
Gary Zak gzak@globalessence.com

Jerry Rij - Space program veteran

Jerry - Can you tell us some of the high points on your path from Colonia High School days to becoming part of the Space Shuttle team?

First, I attended Newark College of Engineering (now NJ Institute of Technology), which provided relevance to the math I struggled with as a senior in H.S. The science and lab classes added to the relevance and provided the visualization that I needed to really understand the material.

Secondly, my experiences in the Air Force opened my eyes to the real world.

In my first assignment, I participated in development of an Electronic Warfare (EW) Training Range, a foreign military sales project for the Imperial Iranian Air Force. I first participated in a site survey in Iran. I actually piled rocks to mark places for installation of equipment in the
desert and huddled in abandoned mud brick buildings for a day during a sandstorm. I also acquired copies of four radar threat simulators that duplicate the RF signals used for adversary surface-to-air missile systems, and directed installation of the equipment in Iran during the reign of the last Shah.

My experiences in the Middle East taught me a lot about regional customs. For example, construction of the most important structure in the EW Range was held up for more than a year due to two innocuous design requirements that conflicted with certain religious traditions. The matter was resolved with only minimal building design modifications, but it demonstrated the impact such religious traditions have on everyday life in that part of the world.

In subsequent assignments I worked with space system contractors and participated in the manufacture and test of space-qualified hardware and applications of space systems for remote sensing. I led a 6-year development of a first-of-a-kind space payload and participated in launch readiness activities for four new space systems.

Modern space systems are large, complicated, and very expensive. Every effort is made to prevent the loss of such systems. It was my detailed knowledge of a specific space system, including how it was supposed to extend and operate in space and the "physics" that largely determines the quality of its performance that led to my selection as a Manned Spaceflight Engineer (MSE). Of course, my experience working with the associated civilian Government, military, and contractor personnel also played a key role in my selection. US civilian and military space programs are largely dependent upon successful interaction between people at all phases of hardware and software development, fabrication, integration, and test.

My MSE experience included training on every operating system onboard the Space Shuttle, neutral buoyancy exercises using Apollo Astronaut space suites weighted to simulate zero gravity in water, flying zero-gravity parabolas to experience weightlessness, and a host of medical and physiological evaluations.

One set of such evaluations was run by the so-called "Barf Lady of Aims" at the NASA Aims Research Center in Palo Alto, California. In this case, each MSE candidate was subjected to a 2-week protocol of multi-directional attitude variations in an attempt to "discover" the symptoms of the onset of malaise. Fortunately, none of the candidates actually met their individual "malaise end point", but the testing uncovered previously unknown limits to tolerances of motion in all of us.

Looking back, what did you learn, experience in high school that helped you in your career and life?

My experiences in high school would never have predicted my career or my accomplishments. I was a "Late Bloomer." I didn't begin to appreciate the applications of math and science until I entered college and afterwards as I worked with contractors on systems development projects for the DOD.

What are you doing now?

I am currently working with the payload development contractor for a follow-on space system to replace the one I helped develop several years ago when I was in the Air Force. The new system is expected to significantly enhance remote sensing ability.

Look for more about Jerry's life since graduation at our Colonia High Class of 1968 Reunion web site.

Joe St. Pierre memorial

Joe St. Pierre drowned Friday, Sept. 7 in upstate New York while visiting family. He had been living in Houston, Texas and after high school graduated from Newark College of Engineering. We remember Joe as a tall, friendly, positive guy in high school. His claim to fame at Colonia High School was his lead role in the class play. We send out our condolences to his family. Mike called his home Saturday and was informed of his death by Joe's son-in-law.
The news article about Joe's death is in a local newspaper in New York State.
We invite posting of anecdotes about Joe you might recall. Please attach your comments to this report.

(update)
Joe's obituary is now online on the Houston Chronicle's website .

Colonia High '68 graduates - Class is back in session!

Find out what happened to your Colonia High classmates since that warm June day in 1968 when we all received our diplomas and headed down our unique paths.
More and more life stories of your old friends are appearing each week on a new, free website being overseen by Mike Marsden.
Go to www.classreport.org to find the Colonia High Class of 1968 website. There's no charge to take a look, or to register to write up your story and add photos. Contact information on the website will allow you to connect with many old friends.
Besides the fun and intrigue of finding out what happened to everyone over the past 40 years, the Class of 1968 website is being used to organize a class reunion tentatively scheduled for Fall 2008.
The big news is that Woodbridge High Class of 1968 may be joining us for a fun weekend. A beach town on the Jersey Shore is the top choice so far for the reunion location.
Please tell other classmates you know to join in. We're working hard to bring everyone together and every new name brings us closer to connecting with everyone.
Classreport.org pledges to never sell names and addresses to third parties and to let the website be administered exclusively by Colonia High School Alumni. Other alumni classes from Colonia High School can be accessed at classreport.org/usa/nj/colonia/chs/.

Colonia High School Class of 1968 Reunion Website Committee
Mike Marsden - Sheri Baron - Chris Cook