L to R: Mike Fay, Aldo Donnaloia and Mary Ellen Saville
Thursday evening get-together
Representing the class of 1965 from Canadian Academy in Kobe, Japan, at the 40th class reunion in Calgary, Canada are some very happy class members seen above. The reunion was June 23 to 25, 2005. It was a small group but a grand time.
For Mary Ellen and Mike it was 40 years since they had seen each other. Hugs, smiles and rememberances of days gone by were the order of the evening. Bob Muira arrived on Friday and helped celebrate. Aldo and Mike both travelled from Oregon.
Also in attendance were class members from 1959 - 1964. Several teachers, including Billy Burke and George Samuels joined the festivities. There were stories told and secrets revealed. Do you remember Mr. Samuels drinking boiling water? How about Mr. Burke explaining to the English class what a "wee-waa" was? Having a senior moment?
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Commentary by Mary Ellen
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Mary Ellen
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It seems appropriate to begin by saying - when's the next reunion going to be?! Those who attend come away with a wonderful feeling of having "reconnected" with old friends, but the time is always too short, no matter what the schedule or size of the gathering, and we wish there'd been just a little more time…
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Calgary was a fabulous, beautiful site, and I thank Ellen McIlwaine and Wazir Seth for all the work they did to make it happen. The Palliser Hotel rooms were very nice, and there was plenty of space for our gatherings.
The first night, we had an opportunity to recognize Mrs. Bishop for her 90th birthday. What a remarkable woman! I lived with her family my freshman year, while the girl's dorm was being completed, so I really enjoyed sharing moments from the past with her. Mr. Bishop was fondly remembered for his fair administration and excellent teaching skills.
What a treat to get to hear Ellen perform on her guitar after all these years. She's amazing, and has so much talent. I remember her playing on the piano in the auditorium at CA. You've come a long way, Ellen, and thank you for sharing your music with us.
It was really special to have so many teachers and administrative staff at this reunion. Those in attendance: Sally Bishop, Mrs. (Jo) Bishop, Billy Burke, Alan and Emi Flynn, Blaine Lewis, Ken Moorhead, George and Saku Samuel, Ardis Jacobson, and Frank and Gladys Muir. Kelsey Cleveland and Etsuko Kuwata came all the way from Japan to participate!
The "open mike" on the first night told the story… there were so many testimonials about how this or that teacher influenced our lives. How many times have we said under our breath, as we work on our computers, "thank you, Mr. Mihara, for teaching me how to type" or "Madame Sata, if you were here right now, I'd let you know how thankful I am for how tough you were on us", or "Mr. Samuel, I've had many teachers over the years who I wish had learned from you about how to teach." "Mr. Camp and Miss McAlpine, thank you for making us repeat and repeat those choir phrases until we had the timing and diction just right." I really enjoyed having time with Sally - formerly "Miss Bishop" - my PE teacher and basketball coach. Who would have known that we'd be on a first-name basis after all these years? AND it was fun to hear the teachers share their stories and memories of us and praise for the school.
The next day, the bus tour of Banff was a great opportunity to not only chat some more, but to see how gorgeous that part of the world is. It's truly magnificent! Following the tour, different classes had their dinners at different restaurants. The class of '63 was most generous to let our class join them at Zipang, a Japanese restaurant that Ellen recommended. It was some of the best Japanese food I've had outside of Japan - and we couldn't even finish all the sushi! Imagine! Ellen invited the owner/chef, Tanaka San, to come out after the dinner, and we all clapped and thanked him.
The next day, we had a lot of free time, and some played golf and others went to the Heritage Museum to wander around and enjoy old trains, an old "town" with original log houses, and more time together in the cool weather. That evening we had a BBQ at Mike (Wazir) Seth's house. The only rain we had came down right as the bus took us to his house, but Mike was unfazed. The BBQ was a wonderful spread, and he was most generous to share his beautiful home with all of us.
Some amazing things about CA reunions:
There's an immediate bond and level of trust with everyone who attends.
We have a chance to talk with people we didn't know that well in high school, yet feel we know now, or want to get to know better, given a chance. Listening to anecdotes, we realize there was a lot more going on at CA than in our own personal little worlds - and life was FULL! There's an obvious difference between the lives of "dormies" and "townies" and it's fun to catch up and hear about some of the things that went on.
Sure, we've all matured and look different, but each of us still has a spark or look about us that hasn't changed. It's amazing when you can still pick out someone from a distance by their posture or their walk after all these years.
Another amazing phenomenon after reunions is that we continue to communicate. The emails and sharing have been wonderful, and I cherish them, so keep 'em coming.
This was Mike Fay and Bob Miura's first reunion, and I do believe they got a lot out of it. Aldo and I were the "repeaters." For those in my class who were unable to attend - I hope you'll be able to get to the next one. So… when IS the next reunion? There was talk in Calgary of a cruise or a gathering in Las Vegas. Let's stay in touch and see what we can dream up.
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Can you see this? Click to enlarge.
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