Community

MEMORIES

from page 33

Hoffman of Rockville, Md., one
of the reunion organizers.
"We decided to spend a day
with some of our best friends
since childhood," said Hoffman,
who grew up on Littlefield.
Another organizer,
Huntington Woods' Susan
Wauldron Jerris, called the
reunion "a magical day."
"We're connected for life," the
former Lesure resident told the
gathering. "Vernor was a very
special place."
In appreciation
for all the good
memories of their
elementary and, in
some cases, junior
high school, the
birthday celebrants
donated more than
$1,200 to the
school in sweat-
shirt and T-shirt
sales, the earmark-
- ing of part of their
dinner-dance fee
and additional
contributions.
Some of the alum-
ni also donated
books and games.
Pepsi-Cola and Warren's
Drugs in Farmington Hills
donated Vernor's Ginger Ale,
stirring memories of enjoying
the gingery soft drink every
major holiday, thanks to Vernor's
Ginger Ale, then a hometown
product.
A special guest at the evening..
dinner dance at Peking House in
Royal Oak was Beatrice Cohen,--
a popular math teacher during
the '50s and '60s. Now 88, the- :-
Southfield resident describes lief'
years ar Vernor as the happiest;
days of my life as a teacher."
It was clearly a day to savor
with old friends — and with a
building that harbors the ghosts
of a simpler, more carefree time.
Echoing his classmates, Atlanta's
Bernie Greenberg, who also grew
up on Lesure, put it this way:
"Vernor was our own special
jewel.''

10/19

2001

34

Clockwise from top left:
Fred Greenspoon of Philadelphia looks
for a note he placed in a pipe in 1966
as a tiny time capsule; he later found it!
He grew up on Schaefer.

Beatrice Cohen, a retired math teacher,
takes delight in the birthday greetings
she gets from her former students.
:• -,•
•
•_
Mother- iand:datighters-Sari Moss
Weiner of We*Bloomfield, Milly Moss
of BloOmfield Hills and Lori Moss Roth
of West Bloomfield visit a kindergarten
room. The family formerly lived on
Cheyenne.'

Ann Arbor's Ellen Barahal Taylor, who
grew up on Hartwell, Maagie Hessler of
Evanston, Id (Hartwell) and Carol
Karbal Blender of Beverly Hills, Mich.
(Littlefield) join in a rendition of
"Here's To James Vernor School."