Class of’ 78 Holds Annual Fall Picnic in Pottstown
and hairlines were compared, nicknames explored. Roommates and house mothers recounted. Some of us had different roommates each year, some had the same guy for all three years. It is amazing how seeing a picture of us as freshmen in our shop class can bring back so many memories. How did we get here? Why are we here? Will I last three years?
I see“ Fitz” and Bob Clifton, Larry Boyer and Kevin Christman, and“ Bartley” in Dec Shop with Mr. Stevick lecturing. Regulars like Bruce Radebaugh, Bob Clifton, Charlie Ludwig, are easily recognized. But, who is S. Grey?? and C. Catone?? There is a good pic of our freshman class officers- Howie Adams, secretary, Steve( Robert) Saunders, treasurer, Kevin Blackney, president, and Sam Clemens, vice president.
Rumors of“ election interference” still abound. What changed by our senior year. How did Jake Giaccio become our chief executive officer? And how are things in Florida?
While driving on City Line Ave. past Saint Joseph’ s University, I saw a new building going up with a Blackney Hayes Architects sign. So it looks like Kevin is still busy...( but I am available for breakfast!).
There are a couple of pages of pics of our GEEZER period. Howie Adams with an Army helmet. Steve Stavrou with a lampshade on his head, piles of shoes near the tennis court. A big human pyramid. The varsity basketball team was loaded with guys from our class- Chris Toth, Wayne Edwards, Marty Jeffers, Bob Eplett, and Joe D are pictured, along with Charlie Ludwig and Brian Hassel as managers with Coach Stewart. JV basketball had Tony Bressi, Art Noel, Harry Baynes, Dennis Warner, Bill Wanamaker, and Hank Ferri led by Coach“ Doc” Keller.
It is snowy at the time of this writing. What was the coldest day you remember? Any freezing jobs? Or big snowball fights?? Dangerous drives? I was in the back of the garbage truck at“ the dump” and had to chip the frozen stuff out. YUCK!
The Housemothers – aka“ MOM” are listed- Mrs. Powell, Mrs. Froeschle, Mrs. Deemer, Mrs. Eckman, Mrs. Baldt, Mrs. Pisano, and Mrs. Buchanan. Who did you have? And, what was the name of your dorm? If you haven’ t been on campus in a while you will be surprised to find some new dorms and to see some names have changed!
Some may recall that over 40 pages of our yearbook got lost in the mail, but what we ended up with was still quite good. Thanks, Jeff Rachlin for all the pics, and printing expertise, Chris Toth, Tom Krall, and Bruce R, for hours of work, and Brian Hassel for the ads!
We do have a BIG reunion coming up and it would be so good to see some folks that we’ ve lost touch with. Bob and Art and Marty, have been helping out a
The annual 7W8 picnic was held at the Historic Old Home Farm in Pottstown on Sept. 7, 2024. Left to Right: Gregg Trexler, Tom Bressler, Kurt Elliott, Jim Devine, Phil Gricco, Rich Williamson, Matt Mchale, Steve Wagner, Bob Furmanak, Kevin Kimmel, Bob Olock, Bob Wilson, Joe Callaghan. Missing from photo: Garry Saroukas.
lot with alumni stuff. It would be great if you all reached out to them. And help us start planning now on how we can connect, and what we can do to raise money for a class gift! Our class has been one of the best in giving over the years, but we’ d like to do something special for our 50th.
Bob Jordan’ s email is seawolf7w6 @ gmail. com and mine is gordoncomedy @ gmail. com. Take a few minutes to drop a classmate a line, let us know where you are and how you are doing. And what you have been doing the last 50 years! Until next time, be blessed!! Choosing to Rejoice! Gordon Douglas
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Class of’ 78 Holds Annual Fall Picnic in Pottstown
Tom Heisner 3645 Worthington Road Collegeville, PA 19426 610-489-9151 Cell: 610-513-2645 theisner3165 @ gmail and Facebook
Hello fellow classmates,
By the time you receive this it should be well into spring and the weather is, hopefully warming up for some of us. It’ s been quiet on the alumni news side of things. I haven’ t heard much, if anything, from anyone as of this writing so I’ ll just bring everyone up to date on what’ s going on with events sponsored by the Association of Alumni.
May 17th we have the Alumni Day at the Phillies which is a fun afternoon enjoying some eats and libations in an area just for the alumni with the game to follow. On June 2nd there is the sold out Alumni Golf Outing. This sells out within hours so if you’ re interested be ready to get your reservation in immediately once registration opens. The Jersey Shore Event is on July 26th in North Wildwood. This is a fun time and well attended so come on out and enjoy meeting fellow classmates and other alumni along with music, food, and beverages.
Hope to see some of you at the events. Have a great summer.
Tom Heisner
W 78 Gregg Trexler
238 Hearthstone Road King of Prussia, PA 19406 610-275-0259 Cell: 215-806-7996 trexgsjr @ gmail. com
Happy 2025, guys!
We have had a little more snow in the tri-state area than in the past few years. Wags reported from Gulf Shores, La., that they had about seven inches of snow with no equipment to deal with it.
The Bresslers enjoyed a Celebrity Christmas Cruise to warmer waters. Kurt is on his annual winter trek to the sunny south with this RV.
Most of us will be celebrating our 50th high school reunion this year. I am on my high school Reunion Committee and it is great when we meet to reminisce with my classmates about those times. That being said, it will be 50 years in August that we entered as Geezers. What do you remember of those first few days? My first impression of Downtown Byers West was not a good one. This isn’ t like the newly redone Derrickson cottage that we toured during our interview, testing, and tour, I thought.
I also learned how much I didn’ t know about making a bed. Mrs. Bury straightened me out on that. How about that lunch on our first day of orientation – choice of PB & J or egg salad( on a hot and humid day with no A / C in the dining room) and pink lemonade? The first dinners weren’ t bad – the only one I can recall was paper thin burgers and French fries. And, of course, the mouth-watering cream of wheat at breakfast. It was so hot and humid that my sport coat was spent on the first day.
I attended my first meeting of the new Williamson Association of Alumni and President Rounds mentioned our 50th coming up. I believe the Alumni Phillies Outing is Saturday, May 17. As soon as you get the email to sign up, do so, because they sell out in a matter of hours. Alumni Day is April 25, a Friday. Hope we can get a few of us in attendance.
Trex A-67
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Steven Spiese 20 Alanrose Court Newark, DE 19702 Cell: 302-229-5363 spiese @ aol. com
Greetings and Happy New Year!
I trust all of you experienced a wonderful holiday season with family and friends.
Now for the tough part. Gentlemen, I must report that we lost Kevin Hopkins on 1 / 8 / 25 at the age of 64. Kevin, as many of you know, was a member of the 1981 graduating class. I will use the literary license granted to me by the school to dedicate this article of The Williamsonian to our fallen brother and my friend.
When we, as the Class of’ 82, arrived in August of’ 79 I’ m sure you can recall the nervousness and trepidation that we all shared. I am from Montgomery County and there were only a few freshmen from Montco and I for one knew no one on day one. Kevin Hopkins was integral in changing all that for me as I’ m sure for others as well.
I was excited to be able to continue to play the sport I loved, and after meeting Hoppy I was even more thrilled. He was a gifted athlete and an excellent QB on a Willy team that lacked numbers, size, and speed. We became fast friends and one of my fondest memories was when he invited me to take a ride to Claymont Steak Shop where he treated me to my first steak from the famous place.
That was part of Williamson, helping the underclassmen to adjust and learn the ropes. His kindness and brotherhood was etched in my mind for life. Kevin was such a great quarterback that he was awarded a post-Williamson scholarship to Villanova University. I have to state simply that Kevin was the coolest of the cool cats. His demeanor in the huddle was calming and confident as we faced opponents from much larger schools with much larger teams. He threw me many passes and his accuracy was such that even I could haul them in with ease. His large family was
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