End of June

I've always enjoyed the waning days of June. As a youth this meant that school was out and the summer months lay in front of me with all their wonderful possibilities. It has also always been the time when Jersey Blueberries hit the market, and for my money there are no better. The ones from Michigan are good but there is a hint of tartness in the Jersey variety which I find more to my liking.

The end of June means the 4th of July is near, with its parade and fireworks. In Ridgewood this has always been a huge tradition and probably the one day of the year where beers are openly consumed in public. I'm mostly talking about the people who watch the parade near the Railroad Station and grab some beers to go at Smith Brothers. We even did this the one year I was in the parade on the Graduating Seniors float. It was a hot day and the parade was moving at a glacial pace, so David Rorty and myself hopped off the float and bought a couple of six packs to go. We were back on the float and in the parade again so fast that we were barely missed.

June's closing for a working man may not hold the same possibilities it once had when we were young and anticipating where we might go and what we might do over the summer. It does give us the same pause on the 4th of July and if we are smart we'll buy all the Jersey blueberries we can and eat them until we can eat no more, then freeze the rest. When we defrost them sometime later, long after the blueberry season in Jersey is over, we can maybe for a moment recollect how good they were fresh and how much we enjoy looking forward to them each year.

Father's Day

My Dad always looked sheepish whenever Father's Day rolled around on the calendar. He spent 364 days a year providing for his family, paying for our educations, and being a fount of wisdom when we asked for his opinion. The fact there was a single day in the year designated to honor just such men as he was fine for the other Dads, but it put him at the center of attention and that was not something he was entirely comfortable with. I know how he feels and can relate to what he must have felt every year when we offered our tokens of appreciation and uttered the memorable phrase, "Happy Father's Day!"

This year my brothers and I came up with an idea which surely would have made him blush. We endowed a scholarship at Ridgewood High School in his honor. The John B. McCubbin Higher Education Scholarship will be given to a graduating senior each year who will be attending either college or trade school in the fall. The principal at RHS will make the selection of the boy or girl from a middle income family, with at least a B average, to receive the $1,000.

I know my Dad wouldn't have wanted his full name on the award, but we did it anyway. Thanks for all you did for us, Dad. We miss you.

School Spirit

Some people have it when they are in school and some people don't. Some people lose it after they graduate and some people kick themselves for not acknowledging it when they were in school.

I am referring to the emotional support one has for an educational institution. This is usually tied intrinsically to the town where you live. Unless you are a commuter student or attend a prep school, t one's feelings about a school are bound forever to the town.

I was lucky you could say because I had one town and one school system. I can see how hard it would be to develop an attachment for a place if it was one of a string of residences you lived in growing up.

One's school spirit is tested severely later in life by class reunions. Whether you admit it or not, everyone is concerned to a degree about how their lives have turned out when compared with the lives of their former classmates. I would readily admit this to anyone. Though I also know that once the reunion is over these comparisons become moot and I will return to comparing myself with my brothers, those I work with, and those I live around. These people are ubiquitous while those I see at reunions every five years or so who make me feel uncomfortable are more easily avoided.

The RHS Class of 1977 is planning a 35th reunion the weekend of July 20-22 2012. We have events starting on Friday night when the first performance of our Alumni All-Star band will be held at the Elks Club. Saturday morning at 11:00 AM we will have a student-led tour, the RHS Ambassadors will provide us a tour of the newly renovated Ridgewood High School. Saturday night at a 7:00 PM at a local hotel we will have the traditional reunion dinner with music, prizes and a great deal of picture taking I'm sure. Sunday afternoon we will have a picnic at Graydon and say our last goodbyes.

I am truly looking forward to this weekend. Not because I am so successful by any standard that I can fearlessly be compared with the accomplishments of my classmates, or because I am a social butterfly. No, the reason I want to go is to simply be in the presence of people who have known me longer than anyone outside my family. Some of these people will make me uncomfortable and some will bring joy to my heart. They will all remind me from whence I came. They will collectively serve as a touchstone and hopefully I'll gain some insight which will serve me well in the future. I guess that would sum up my reason for wanting to go, as scary as that might be.