Hempfield Class of 1968

All hail to Hempfield High!  Sunday, August 23, 2015, the class of 1968 had a huge birthday party to celebrate our collective 65th birthdays!  What a great time we had!  There were guests from other grad years, as well, and it was great to catch up with people we haven’t seen in a very long time, and to connect with some old (??? Old??? Did I say Old???  Sorry….) and dear friends.

Chatted with Ernie Hertzog, our class president and a long-time church youth group friend, and his wife Patty.  Also, spent time with Debbie Yanosko Gretz, Carol Metrik, Diane Meyers (Crazy Aunt Diane!!!), Mark Vallozzi, and several others. Several special people were missing, but hopefully they will be there for our next event.

Realized that the guy I see walking every morning in my neighborhood – with his golden retriever – is a fellow grad, and lives just up the hill.  Small world!  They call me the purple lady, because I always wear purple and I live in a purple house. (Well, purple shutters.)

One of the highlights for me was connecting up to a guy who came searching me out, wanting to tell me about knowing my dad.  Dad’s been gone over 30 years, and to have someone pay tribute to him with such kind words of praise and fond remembrances and respect – especially on his ‘birthday’!! – was very touching to me.  Thanks, Jan, for sharing with me.  So glad my dad – Cliff Steiner – made such a lasting impressing on your life.

I went back and looked for a few other photos, and found two.  One is with my best friend, Gen Cerk Morris, and the photo is from 1998.  The other one is from the 45th reunion in 2013. Again with Gen, and with Diane Meyers. We didn’t change much, did we??!!!

I’ve never been one for big social events and don’t normally mix well in crowds, but Sunday’s event was just what we needed, and I want to take a second to thank the hard-working committee for putting this together, and for already making us look forward to the reunion!  Let’s go Spartans!!!!