Category: News

Thanks to those of you who submitted your “stories” to this website back in the spring. I am finally getting around to moving them to the website. There are a couple of additional ones that need final edits and a couple that want their remarks to be restricted to classmates. So watch for additional postings, and please do share your own at this form.

• Sharon Black Wherry
  Living the Good Life in Nebraska but looking forward to renewing friendships with LHS '67 classmates in 2018.
• David Clark
  Left LHS for warmer weather!
• Don Fisher
  Have been blessed with family, friends, colleagues and community. Owe them so much. A.B., Bowdoin College, Philosophy; Ed.M, Harvard; Ph.D., University of Michigan, Mathematical Psychology.
• Art Fox
  School, work, travel, and now settled in California.
• Bonnie Kurth Buesching
  Sending greetings to the class of 1967 and wishes she could be joining everyone. Now living in Hernando, Florida.
• Peter Squire
  After LHS I went to Norwich University (EE) and University of Phoenix (MBA). Then I did consulting engineering for utility companies. After that I worked on satellites for Lockheed Martin.
• William Squires
  Retired businessman
• Margaret (Maggie) VanGaasbeck (Carah)
  Centenary College AA, Syracuse BA Married for 42 years. 22 years ass’t Montessori teacher. Tutored dyslexics. 2 adult children. 4 grandchildren Enjoy: oil painting, hiking/walking, kayaking, traveling

Again, there’s a lot more information in our Facebook group, but we do understand not all of you care to join in that discussion.

Bill Squires reported on the September 25 ceremony at the high school:

Mark and I presented a check for $1000 to LEEF this afternoon at a ceremony announcing this year’s grant recipients for educational programs and equipment not normally funded by taxes and town budgets. …

LEEF and the school department were most appreciative of our donation. … We spoke with Tom Landers, LHS principal, who thanked us effusively for our gift, and also threw out an idea for us to participate in — something that could develop into a living history of our memories of the town and the schools during the fifties and sixties. I think all of us could participate through interviews and videos, even from remote parts of the country and the world. More about that later…

• Bill McIntyre’s sister Susan Bertrand (the gracious person who gave us a tour of the high school last April) took a video of the presentation, and Bill posted it to our Facebook group.
• The Longmeadow News covered the event and their story was posted recently.
• Earlier post about the donation.

From Bill Squires:

The friendly spirit and camaraderie of the LHS Class of 1967 continues long past the fabulous April reunion.  On a beautiful sunny Friday, September 14, eight of us spent a wonderful lunch hour (or two or three) in Cambridge reminiscing and having a great time.  (More photos are on the Facebook group.)  Mary Jane Dyson Disco is attempting to organize a group get-together in Florida, and others will try as well — use the address regionals@longmeadow1967.org to express interest in attending or hosting.

As previously announced and confirmed in the discussions of this group, the Class of 1967 will be making a contribution of $1,000.00 to LEEF, The Longmeadow Educational Excellence Foundation.  According to its website, LEEF “is a private, volunteer, nonprofit [501(c)3] educational foundation that was created to enrich and enhance  the quality of education in the Longmeadow Public Schools…[by] providing grants, beyond the tax-supported budget, for innovative education and enrichment programs.”  We thought those that may wish to contribute an additional amount can send a check payable to LHS Class of 1967 Reunion by October 15 to:  Bob Basdekis, 11 Jaynes Road, Lenox, MA 01240. If you want a tax deduction for your donation, the check has to be made out to LEEF, and there’s no guarantee it’ll be considered part of the class total. If you’d like individual credit as a donor, please donate directly through the LEEF website.

As of 9/4/2018, here’s the information on how our classmates have scattered:

Classmate Locations

The list of all classmates that we’ve been posting on this site has been updated to show who we’re in contact with and who is okay with the committee sharing the contact information with the rest of the class.

While we work on an updated directory, please check your status on

• Class list as of September 4

If you aren’t marked as “found” (with your current city/state) please do

• Fill out the information form

If you know someone who is on the “some contact” or “no contact” list, please send them to this page so they can

• Fill out the information form

If you’ve moved or otherwise changed your status, please

• Fill out the information form

If you have changed your mind about sharing the information either fill out a new form and look carefully at the “sharing” checkbox, or write reunion@longmeadow1967.org.

The September issue of Go Local (a magazine published by the same folks as The Reminder) has a story on the sculpture garden we toured on the Sunday of the reunion weekend. If you are in the area, pick up a copy of the September issue at one of the many outlets.  The September 2018 issue is also available online– the story starts on page 11.

Sharon Nuger Levy and her husband Mark were so gracious that Sunday back in April. I am sure many of us considered it the highlight of the weekend.

Their daughter Tiffany Levy Greene was the photographer on the story and posted the story and more of her pictures  to Facebook — that link should work even if you don’t use Facebook.  You can also find it in our Facebook group.

As we said earlier, since we collected more money than we needed to fund this year’s reunion, we’ll be making a donation in the name of the class to the Longmeadow Educational Excellence Foundation (LEEF, goleef.org).

Bob Basdekis, finance chair, reported on July 19 that there is $2751 remaining in the treasury. The committee discussed the donation on a conference call and agreed that $1000 would be an appropriate donation, leaving some startup funds for our next gathering and, perhaps, to help individuals with the cost of attending.

Thanks to Bill Squires for further discussion with both the school administration and with LEEF. With the information he collected, we’ve decided that the check will be presented at or before LEEF’s November fundraising gala.

If you’d like to make an additional donation, you can send a donation to Bob (treasurer@longmeadow1967.org) or (particularly if you want a tax deduction which the class can’t provide), donate directly to LEEF and mention the class.

If you’re interested in attending the gala, early bird tickets ($75/pp) are available through Oct. 3. The event is Saturday, Nov. 3 at Twin Hills Country Club. More information: www.goleef.org/igala2018/. Please let Bob know if you’ll be there as part of the class.

If you’re in the Boston area, please consider joining your classmates for lunch on Friday, September 14.

Sharon Wherry is expecting 10-15 of us and has chosen

Henrietta’s Table
One Bennett Street, Cambridge, MA

The restaurant is next door to the Charles Hotel and Charles Square Garage.
See the garage website for discount coupons, which look like a better deal than validated parking. They also advertise a “reserve your space” function, which may be recommended.

If you’re not already on Sharon’s list, contact her at regionals@longmeadow1967.org, if you’re interested in joining the group.

And that’s also the address to write if you’d like to arrange your own event! (Hellooooo folks in DC, Florida, and ???)

Sharon Black Wherry is organizing a lunch in Boston for Friday, Sept. 14. Please contact regionals@longmeadow1967.org (or Sharon directly) to tell her you’re interested or for more info.

We’re hoping this is the first of several smaller gatherings before our next reunion. You can use that address or reunion@longmeadow1967.org if you’d like to advertise an event through this site our our newsletter.

We’re starting to talk about the next reunion and we’re reassembling the information on classmates that we’ve collected over the last couple of years.

Since we’re all at a stage of life where we may be moving around, here’s a new form that we’re asking everyone to complete.  If you registered for the reunion or filled out the earlier contact form, we’ll use that info if you don’t complete this. However, it will help our data collection immensely if many of you do choose to fill out this form, too.

Thanks!