Halloween

Halloween is a wonderful holiday. Kids get to explore their neighborhoods and grownups give them candy when they knock of their door. It's a good deal for all concerned and it also is a learning lesson for kids. At some point each child has to decide whether or not they are too old to make the candy tour. It's not that they don't want the treats it is just a sign, which they can always choose to ignore, that they need to make a decision about whether or not they are a kid or a teenager. Of course, this is how I remember it in my day.

These days Halloween is celebrated by people of all ages, and grownups go to great lengths to make costumes which reveal their inner selves. I have not been one to dress up since the day I decided I was too old to go out for Tricks or Treats. I have stood by the decision made in the 8th grade and I have never looked back and longed for ringing doorbells and shouting "tricks or treats" or dressing myself for an adult party. To each his own is my thinking.

It is curious to remember that my friends and I used to dress up as hobos, and the complete time it took to fashion our costumes was usually no more than a few minutes. All it took was some old cloths, one of my Dad's old hats, and a bit a charcoal applied to our faces. Maybe a few dry leaves stuffed inside our pockets to add to the desired effect. It was acceptable to dress as a hobo in those days, inexpensive, and required nobody to ruminate as to whether it was politically correct.

I now prefer to celebrate the holiday in more subtle ways, like picking out pumpkins which, in the words of Linus of Peanuts fame, that are sincere. These pumpkins have found a place on my window sill for many years and are never carved or painted. These "sincere pumpkins" stand on their own and need no special treatment. They are sort of like our old hobo costumes, they need no explanation.

RHS 1977 Class Gathering 26 Nov 2010

Many of the class of 1977 received this email from Bill Nolan so I thought it appropriate to re-post it:


"Guys:  I don't know if any of you will be in Ridgewood over the Thanksgiving weekend.  If you are, why don't we get together at Smith Brothers on Friday, Nov. 26th around 7:00ish.  We could grab dinner, or just have a few cold ones.  Fuzzy, please send this out to all the boys.  I lost half of my addresses a few weeks ago when I switched to a new computer.  Cindy Neidig is going to send an e-mail out as well.  Please feel free to send to other class of '77 people.  I hope to see many of you in Nov.  Fuzz, is Ridgewood home on Thanksgiving?  Willie"

The Road Not Taken

My favorite American Poet, Robert Frost, made a timeless observation about the choices we make in his 1920 poem, The Road Not Taken. When I first heard it elementary school I was the young fellow of the poem's first four stanzas. I'm not sure when I became the older person of the closing stanza but I am sure that is me now.

The choices I have made regarding my friends, career, and where I have chosen to live have made a difference, as they do for everybody. I suppose some people consider these choices more than others, and for some they are just agony. This makes me fairly lucky as I have no regrets about the life paths I didn't take, or where I stand in life at the moment. I have seen many stories far sadder than anything I could conjure up and this keeps me honest about what I am doing and where I want to be going.

We all have many times in our lives when there are two roads before us and we need to choose one. I guess one of those roads, ala the Frost poem, I saved for another day was the option to live in Ridgewood. In fact, I have saved it for so long it is no longer a reasonable option, or even one I would consider. This is not to denigrate the town or its inhabitants. We all just grow up differently and cherish different things. I like to remember how Ridgewood was in the 1960s and 1970s and try to keep these memories alive via this blog. It gives me the chance to ponder at length the road not taken. It has also made me realize that for me this has made all the difference.



                                                   The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

RHS Class of 1970 40th Reunion

Now only days away. Very excited. Here’s what is new. 

·          Record turnout expected. Ticket sales for the Main Event on Sat have now topped 155. We expect more during the week, and some walk ups at the event. We also believe that the turnout at the Elks Club on Fri night will be even greater (since some classmates will attend only the Elks but not the Main Event). Very exciting.

·         Share your photos of the reunion – As you know, we will have a photographer to take photos. We also expect that many of you will bring your own digital cameras. We will set up a photo sharing site after the reunion, and we will let you know how to post your photos to the site. Should be fun.

·         Pick up your “Reunion Weekend Info Sheet” – We are putting together a sheet with important info about the weekend (e.g. events and timeline, last minute updates, key contacts, transportation) and a list of attendees. You should be given one when you check in at the DoubleTree or Super8. We will also hand them out at the Elks Club on Fri night, and the Main Event on Sat night. Make sure you pick one up.

·         Want a tour of Ridge Elementary School? – Classmate, and Ridge alum, Nancy Kandoian, has arranged for a tour on Fri afternoon Oct 8, 3:30 – 4:00. If you are interested contact Nancy at nak04574@gmail.com, or cell phone, 201-888-1246. Nancy is also the coordinator for the Ridge din ner on Fri at MacMurphy’s in Ridgewood, 6:00 – 8:00.

·         Dress code for Main Event on Sat. Men should wear ties. Women should wear cocktail party/semi formal evening wear.

·         Make sure you are registered for the Main Event – If you purchased tickets over the reunion web site, or sent Irene Nagy a check in the mail, you should have received back from Irene a confirming email, and your name should be shown as having ‘Purchased Tickets” on the “Who’s Coming” page of the reunion web site. If there is any confusion, pls contact Irene at gardendesign@bellsouth.net or 678-467-7795.

·         Main Event ticket sales at the door – Tickets are $125, cash only. Price includes: cash bar for 2 hours (7:00 – 9:00), meal, DJ and dancing, reunion CD.

·         Timeline for the weekend – You will find more details on the reunion web site (www.rhs70.myevent.com), but we have made some changes. For your planning purposes, here is a recap:

• Friday Oct 8

·         3:30 – 4:00 Tours of Ridge School and Willard School

·         6:00 – 8:00 Elementary School dinners (check web site for exact times & locations)

·         8:00 – 12:00 Elks Club Icebreaker

• Saturday Oct 9

·         8:00 – 11:00 Breakfast at DoubleTree Hotel

·         Noon – 1:30 Lunch at the Fireplace

·         2:00 – 4:30   Football game at RHS

·         3:00 – 3:30   Tour of RHS (at half time of game)

·         4:00 – 6:00   Warm up for the evening at DoubleTree

·         7:00 – 12:00 Main Event at DoubleTree

• Sunday Oct 10

·         8:00 – 11:00 Breakfast at DoubleTree Hotel

Safe travels to Ridgewood. See you this weekend.

RHS ’70 Reunion Committee:

Brian Corcoran

Irene Nagy

Rick Bowe

Don Christensen's New Business

According to Don, the new business is called Restaurant Services of Michigan.  

"The services and systems we offer were designed to help small restaurants compete with "the chain operations" and are robust enough to keep up with your growth. Although we provide 3 services, we are only in one business - helping locally owned restaurants compete with "big company" tools and methods."

"Helping Small Business Run Big"

RSM was formed to provide restaurants with new tools to increase sales and delight their customers. The company began with providing online ordering services for carryout and delivered foods in 2001 and continues to successfully expand this business as consumers opt for this service more and more. “It became very clear, early on, that small and locally owned restaurants were attempting to compete with big corporate chains without the same tools and methods.” said company founder George Ryder.

 “Our web based Point Of Sale system will help restaurants manage their business and help reduce their costs like the “Big Guys” do.”, said partner Don Christensen.

Managing Partners Ryder & Christensen both spent many years working in engineering and manufacturing sectors and are quick to point out that “There are hundreds of very valuable procedures and methods that we have learned in the these segments that we fully intend to bring our locally owned restaurants”, said Christensen

 Restaurant Services of Michigan, Inc.

Tyler Clementi

It was not a quiet week in my old home town, Ridgewood. Tyler Clementi, RHS 2010, reportedly jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge following the release of a sex tape on the Internet. According to reports,  Police recovered a man's body Wednesday afternoon just north of the bridge, and authorities were trying to determine whether it was Clementi's. Check the story out here: Tyler Clementi

It would be foolish to say there were no gay people living in Ridgewood during the 1960s and 1970s. There most certainly were and are now, but then they were not as well organized or disposed to let their neighbors know.

Being gay is not right or wrong. It is not a life choice; it's just what some of my friends are and I have no problems with it.

I do have problems with people who would deny them equal status in the eyes of the law. I have problems with any state which has one set of rules for men and women who are married, and another set of rules for men who want to marry men or women who want to marry women. There is no difference in my eyes as long as they are law abiding, hard-working, and paying taxes.

When I was growing up this sort of argument was not acceptable among people living in Ridgewood. What's more, it was not offered by anyone unless they wanted a lot of needless trouble on their hands. Thankfully, times have changed and we can all openly mourn the passing of a young man who didn't know how to handle his feelings, and might only have needed an intervention in order for him to still be among us today.

It is all very sad and I hope we all learn something from this incident which just leaves me numb when I think about it.

Peace.