Last weekend, the South Gwinnett Class of 1992 gathered at the 1818 Club in Duluth, GA for a 20-year Class Reunion. So many of those who gathered have said much regarding the Party that happened and everyone I have heard from that was there had a great time. Even though I did say my peace last Saturday night, I wanted to provide an extended take on the events of the evening.
(1) Some wonderful surprises on who could attend. Even though I had a good idea of who was coming in advance, there were some last-minute surprises. The Smith twins (Mark and Brian) were great to see. Another former Band of Stars member showed up, and it was great to see Todd Peck again after not hearing from him in a long time (thank you Natalie Wilson Faulkner for tracking your friend down). And Miles Daniel was another pleasant last-minute surprise attendee, even though he declined to wear a name tag.
(2) Great pictures all around. Everyone took great pictures throughout the evening, capped off by the group pictures. I took several pictures myself, and thankfully most of them turned out well. My personal favorites were two pictures taken by Kim Julian’s date for the evening. The picture of all Four Georgia Scholars from our Class, and the Picture of 4 of the 8 Focus members from Britt Elementary School were two pics I had wanted the moment I heard Kim, Laurie (Vickery) Benesh, Beth (Fitzpatrick) Smith, and John Brown were attending. It made the whole evening worth it for me.
(3) A great job of organizing. Laurie and Jennifer (Jackson) Cramer did a great job of making sure the night went smoothly. Callie (Waters) Kaiser was able to find an available night at the 1818 Club. Wendi (Jones) Pierce and John were able to organize hotel rooms for the out-of-town guests. Finally, Beth and Stephanie (Rutledge) Virag organized the Memory Table and did such a great job of bringing back windows to our past.
(4) Just great conversations all around. Families and life after South dominated the conversation as many of us talked about kids, jobs, and even a few walks down Memory Lane were overheard. Mostly, it was about reconnecting with old friends and sharing laughs, hugs, and smiles. It brought the best out in all of us.
The only regret I have is that my wife, Liz, could not join me down in Duluth. She would have loved meeting more of my friends that she hadn’t met before. Maybe at the next Reunion, Liz will be able to come with me.
We missed those of you who could not attend. You would have had a wonderful time, and hopefully all the accolades you have heard from other classmates will convince you to join us at the next Reunion whether it is 2017 for the 25th or 2022 for the 30th. John is right: You will have a great time.
(P.S. Oh in case anyone is interested, I saved the name tag files from the Reunion in the hopes of jump-starting anyone’s efforts to put together the 25 or 30-year name tags. If anyone would like to work on the name tags, I will do what I can to help you reduce the work load.)
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