Reunion 2009 - It Was All About You!

It was a gorgeous weekend on campus for this year’s reunion. It began on Friday, June 5, with the cocktail parties for reunion-year classes held at Cranbrook House for Senior Alumni (classes of 1934-1959) and the Natatorium (classes of 1964-2004). More than 300 alumni and guests gathered to welcome each other. Many classes then went on to their own class dinners/parties. Other alumni attended the special dinner for Frank Norton, held in the Cranbrook dining hall, to celebrate with Frank in recognition of his 40 years of teaching at Cranbrook.

On Saturday morning, June 6, the morning was spent at Kingswood checking out some memorabilia, going on the Kingswood tour with Leslie Schimpke Johnston ’64, being back in the classroom for a SmartBoard demonstration with faculty member Greg Miller or learning more about the Website, particularly CranNet, with Cassy Roumell ’02, and attending the annual Alumni Assembly to hear from Director of Schools Arlyce Seibert, Kingswood Alumnae Association president Jamison Williams Faliski ’86 and Cranbrook Alumni Association president Roger Mali ’93. Distinguished Alumni Awards were presented to Bill Prady ’77 and Lisa Lapides Sawicki ’74 and the Kingswood Gratitude Award to Karen Gilray Street ’59. The same morning a family run/walk was held with Jennifer Miller Heath ’00, the annual alumni baseball game at the lower fields with Jack Sanders ’42 or the annual alumni lacrosse game at Thompson Oval coordinated by Austin Marks ’00 and Jamal Robertson ’94. The morning ended with a picnic by Kingswood Lake which included a moon walk for the children.

In the afternoon alumni found many things to do on the Cranbrook campus. Alumni merchandise was sold from noon until 8 p.m. in the PAC. The Wilderness Program celebrated its 40 years with a camp-style lunch outside the science building and a retrospective of the program in the Assembly Hall. The afternoon continued with a tour of the Cranbrook campus with Head of the Upper School Charlie Shaw, the annual memorial service officiated by Rev. Ned Schneider ’44 and the Gathering of Golden Grads with former faculty member Ben Snyder. Then the fun really began with QuadFest, the annual cocktail party on the Quad, and over 400 stayed for dinner.

On Sunday morning, June 7, alumni gathered in the Page Hall Common Room to fondly remember former faculty member Bob Hoffman, who had been at Cranbrook for 59 years! Coordinated by Dean of Boys John Winter, the celebration of his life included a slideshow presentation and sharing of memories of Bob. Don Slotkin ’54 played several Cranbrook songs on the piano. About 80 alumni then attended the brunch on the Quad with fond memories of a special weekend reconnecting with classmates on both campuses.