Class of 1966 Celebrated their 50th Reunion
The 50th reunion of the 1966 graduating class from Greece Arcadia High School was celebrated in September 2016, it was a very special reunion. The Class of 1966 was the first class to graduate from the then newly opened Greece Arcadia High School. “We had a lot of firsts at Greece Arcadia. We started as 10th graders so we were like a senior class all through 10th, 11th and 12th grades. We were always the oldest students,” class member Marsha Hazen said.
Being the first class in the new school presented many challenges. They started from scratch with all teachers, clubs, sports teams, organizations and they had the first yearbook for their graduating class of 1966. There was no school history or traditions to build upon. They were charting new territory as a class.
The graduating class of 1966 had 300 members. “It was a real challenge to contact all 300 class members for the reunion,” Marsh Hazen said. She was a member of the class reunion committee consisting of 16 class members that accepted the challenge. Through the use of social media and the internet the committee was successful in contacting about half of the graduating class. The result was 100 class members attending the reunion. They came from Canada and all across the United States from California to Florida.
Reunion weekend started on Friday, September 23rd with an informal “Meet and Greet” at Hose 22 Fire House Grill on Stutson Street in Rochester. “It was a very casual get together where we all got reacquainted,” Marsha said.
On Saturday morning, September 24th the group assembled at Greece Arcadia for a tour. They met in the auditorium where they were greeted and welcomed by current Greece Arcadia principal Gina Larsen. Greece Arcadia cheerleaders were the tour guides and were very interested in what high school life was like at Greece Arcadia during the 1960’s. “We all reminisced and marveled at the changes to the school. One big change is that there are now middle school students at the school and our library is part of the middle school. We were also given a tour of the new Science Wing. It was fun to be together and remember how the school was when we were the students,” Marsha said.
After the tour, the group enjoyed lunch at Bill Gray’s Restaurant.
On Saturday evening, the Formal Dinner was held at Ridgemont Country Club on West Ridge road in Greece. The evening consisted dinner, dancing, and “major socializing.” Class member Joe Janowicz addressed the group and spoke about their high school days.
The evening concluded with class members suggesting a 55th reunion instead of waiting for the traditional 60th year reunion. “Many of us reconnected and renewed former friendships. We plan to all keep in touch through our Facebook page,” Marsha said.
In March 2017, the Class of 1966 presented current Greece Arcadia principal Gina Larsen with a plaque commemorating their 50th High School reunion. The words on the plaque were written by class member Joe Janowicz with minor revisions by the reunion committee.
The plaque reads:
WE WERE THE FIRST…
To walk these halls
To open the lockers
To learn from our teachers
To celebrate our teams’ victories
To perform in the school auditorium
To create the school newspaper, yearbook, and traditions
To hug and cry the day President Kennedy died
To create our lives from all we learned and experienced
We were the first sophomores, juniors, and seniors…
We were the FIRST graduating class of Greece Arcadia 1966.
But we are not the LAST.
We leave a legacy of FIRSTS for all future classes to build on
To find a way to give back and make the world a better place.
As you walk in OUR footsteps, the class of 1966 wishes you all the best.
In celebration of our 50th reunion 2016
For more information go to Facebook and search Greece Arcadia Class of 1966.
For additional photos from the reunion weekend go to www.GreeceNewsNY.com
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