af·ter·glow
ˈaftərˌɡlō/
noun
noun: afterglow; plural noun: afterglows
- light or radiance remaining in the sky after the sun has set.
- good feelings remaining after a pleasurable or successful experience. “basking in the afterglow of victory”
I returned home to London, from Chatham, Sunday night and my eyelids felt like a ton of bricks, but what a great weekend we had! Once again, Tecumseh alumni came together and made this reunion, my last one as an organizer, another one for the record books!
Friday night at Jazz Bah was incredible, and owner Carol Hall was, as always, the most gracious hostess. The band “Big House” did not disappoint, with excellent music – as expected!
Our Saturday morning open house, at the school, was a huge success, with a few teachers on hand to greet former students as they toured the school and watched as some of our former “Gym Rats”, as Michael Alexander put it, tossed basketballs in the gym. I am happy to report that no heart attacks occurred, or medical assistance of any kind needed.
It was five years ago, to the day, that we had our last reunion and those who were there remember that it was possibly the hottest day ever. Well, it turns out that if you want to set records for temperature, all you have to do is plan a Tecumseh reunion and you will be blasted with heat!
Because of the extreme heat and humidity, our afternoon outdoor activities at the Portuguese Club had to be cancelled, however, in true Braves style, we adjusted and turned the situation into an opportunity. Some went to pool parties, some gathered at a classmate’s home and others came out to the Beach House, where it was a comfortable 25 degrees with a nice cool breeze coming in off the lake, to make for a wonderful afternoon.
Saturday evening at the Portuguese Club was everything the committee hoped it would be!
With nearly everyone who committed to coming in attendance, and even a few more after-the-bell ticket buyers coming in, the hall looked great and the place was abuzz with the chatter of reconnecting classmates, some of whom we hadn’t seen in 40’ish years!
It was great to see people who had been unable to make it to the previous reunions coming out to finally enjoy one of our great reunion parties!
The meal was great and “Friends” band was awesome as expected! Our organizing committee once again outdid themselves! This was the perfect example of a well planned, well executed event. Everything that was planned for went off without a hitch, and there were no unexpected surprises, which is always good when running multi-venue events!
Even though Class of ’76 kicked butt in attendance numbers, Tom O’Brien and Mark Delanghe did an outstanding job in recruiting their classmates, starting with a much-fragmented class list; and Janine Buckles (Bell), Ramona Robinson (Scheibli) and Tracy Theemes deserve tremendous accolades for getting a very respectable number of their classmates out, with an even more fragmented class list!!
And then there are my original “partners-in-crime”, Sue Eagleson, Sue Cummings and Dan Foster, who have been right by my side since the very start with their unwavering support, much appreciated input and “extra-mile”. Without them, NONE of this would have come to fruition! They keep me in line and on track and I couldn’t have done it without them.
I cannot thank everyone enough for helping make this such an easy job to do. As I said Saturday night, behind every successful leader, there are a bunch of people wondering how the heck he/she is getting credit since they did all the work. Our committee is one that gets the job done with a very high level of cohesion; everyone on it sharing the same vision. This is rare in a committee and very much valued by anyone managing a project of any kind.
If there is anyone that I missed thanking, please know that it was a genuine oversight, as I really did not prepare anything to say before I got up.
As this is my last reunion as an organizer, I kind’a hope someone takes over and puts another one together at some point, because as I pointed out last night, “I have heard that these things can be fun” and it would be interesting to see what it would be like to be just a participant.
Scott Primeau, Class of ’76
Paul Donovan
Hi Scott and Team,
I’m really glad the event went off well. Sorry I wasn’t able to get there, but this is the way my life goes, decisions can’t be made until the last minute.
Who knows if we will be able to have another one in 5 years, but if so please keep me on the list.
Thanks to all. Sure wish I could have been there.
Mark Tilley
Sorry I missed it too, but it was a bit far from L’Anse aux Meadows NL where we were on Saturday! Drop me a line on our sailing blog!