For some reason, the reunion was not nearly as well attended as the last one. In know that some of us have small children and other have more pressing obligations (such was the case with Lori Dexter, who was deployed to Iraq). The evening's agenda was the same as the last reunion, except that our music was provided by Lynn's daughter Meghan, who was diligent in burning several CDs with "old people" music. It would've killed me to do that for my parents, and kudos are definitely due her.

One person who had not been to a reunion was convinced to show up; this was Lori Stokes Dau and her husband Juan, who were very pleasing company. Lori's face seems not to have changed since her Senior picture. That's just not fair :-)

The New Market Rescue Squad again did a great catering job. We again had fried chicken, baked ham, mashed potatoes, green beans pie for dessert (remember this- it comes back into play later in the story).

The awards ceremeny has become a traditional part of the dinner, and this time was no exception. We didn't do "Most Changed" and "Least Changed" this time, since myself and Natalie (winners in those categories, respectively) simply haven't changed. Bill Jones was "Longest Travelled", coming from Wilmington, NC. Mike Burner was "Longest Married", now either 23 or 24 years- I forget which, but that's a damn long time. Lastly, we thought that we'd quiz the class on the Senior class colors and song. I believe it was Sonja who guessed silver and blue, but since she has all those papers in her archive, I want a recount! This was actually a dead giveaway as the decorations were all that color. She also guessed the song "Yesterday" by the Beatles, but we made her sit quietly while we got a bunch of puzzled looks from the classmates before we let her give the answer...

This was a special gathering for me for several reasons. One was that the reunion committee of Lynne, Natalie, Mark and I got together at Nat's house prior to the dinner for drinks. This was great because I was a bit down because of the low turnout. Their companionship over the weekend (and a lot of partying) were just what the doctor ordered. I've got to admit that I enjoyed myself more than 2001! The other was that my best two high school friends, Tim Jenkins and Tim Moomaw were there. This was the first reunion that all three of us have ever attended. In fact, as I asked them to get together for a picture, T.J. said "the Three Musketeers" which was exactly what I was thinking.

Now let's get something straight- just becuase there were fewer people there does not mean there was less going on. In fact, there was much more dancing. This was due to two factors: Meghan's excellent choice of music and well, a lot of booze. Lynn Foley Mowery packed what looked like a walk-in cooler on wheels, filled to the brim with Jell-O shooters. It would appear that this will be a lifelong tradition, and Lynn, all I can say is "start collecting Jell-O now". Notables included Greg Hovatter, who hasn't lost his hair or his ability to charm the ladies, and Donnie Carter, a great guy who I've missed for a long time.

We had just taken the class picture and were sitting down when Sharleen Litten Schlaak and Lisa Miller Burner came in. So what you see as the Class Portrait is actually the second picture taken after I was already down on old knees once... thanks, girls! Rhonda Grim Presgraves is still adding to her perfect attendance streak, having never missed a reunion. It was nice to have Michelle Taylor Cissell with us,too. I should mention that she made the "Monsoon Picnic" in the afternoon but had the good sense to go to the Green Valley Book Fair later and stay dry. Barbara Ryman (who I found out lives near me in Charlottesville) was there with her unmistakable smile, and of course Debbie Sine Skidmore who was on the committee. I think Deb left "Mommy Skidmore" behind for a night and reverted back to her wild self somewhat. That was fun.

We danced and partied at a breakneck pace, I think far eclipsing 2001. This was probably due to the fact that, with the DJ being a classmate's daughter, there was essentially no cutoff time and we went until about 12:30 or so. Since she was off work at 11:00, I invited my sister, Delaina (Class of 1982) to stop in. I think she had fun since half my beer magically dissappeared. By the way, Natalie nodded off. I don't care what she says...

Remember the dinner menu? Well, in case you don't know or remember:

D + P = M
Where D is Dancing, P is Partying and M is "Munchies". We got into the walk-in cooler afterward, breaking out all the cold chicken and ham. We proceeded to gorge ourselves on food, and I think Greg took it with him as we piled in our vehicles and drove home...

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