50th Reunion Wrap Up Highlights
Note: The main photo gallery for the reunion highlights is here:
Gallery: 50th Reunion Highlights
Friday Night at Deland House
What a turnout! 99 classmates (including a smattering of brave spouses), 1 teacher (Mr. Platek) and 1 coach (Coach Steitz) showed up making for a full house. Everyone had a great time catching up with old friends and making new friends with classmates they hadn't gotten to know before. The appetizers were plentiful and awesome, the bar service was amazing, and even though the event was extended an hour, it still seemed like it ended way too soon.
Reunion Selfies - Pictures of classmates taken Friday evening by Jeff Heininger:
Reunion Selfies at Deland House - penfieldhs1973.com
Friday Night at the Penfield HS Football Game
More than a half century after Title IX became law, the prohibition of gender discrimination in schools, the original trailblazers were honored. Penfield High School's Class of 1973 women athletes were brought onto the field during halftime on Friday evening, October 6th, to honor the courageous efforts from the 23 women athletes that played in nine different sanctioned sports, pioneering the sports culture we know today.
Watch the 13 WHAM news video 
13 WHAM PHS Football Game Coverage
Photo's are available for viewing and downloading here:
Halftime Pics from the Friday Night Football Game
You can also check out the girls sports pics from the '73 Junction yearbook here:
Class of 1973 Girls Athletics
Saturday Morning High School Tour
The October 7th Saturday morning tour was a popular event. The tour crew came back with all kinds of stories about the beautiful new swimming pool, the amazing theater style auditorium with it's comfortable roomy seating, and more. Some of the group felt a sense of eeriness walking some of the halls that were untouched by time.
We have a few photo's from that tour here: PHS School Tour Photos
Saturday Night at The Log Cabin
There is a LOT to unpack here.....!
Weather that day was on the cool side, partly cloudy with some sunny breaks but no rain. Inside the tent was cozy and the decor was lovely. There were strings of white lights along the raised tent ceiling and the clear windows along the sides let in plenty of light. The tables were covered in white table cloths with red cloth napkins and silver flatware. Each table had a vase with lovely red flowers and baby's breath (thanks to our committee decorations team).
The display tables held items from 1973, a tribute board to the classmates no longer with us, a few freebie tokens (a basket of 1973 unciruclated lucky pennies and a bowl of "Chiefs" matchbooks), and the clothing items that were up for raffle. Also on display was a tribute board to the Title IX girls sports athletes and trophy.
Food was plentiful! The appetizers were almost a meal in themselves, and sausage bites were added to the original menu. The main meal was awesome, with an addition of mixed vegetables to the original planned fare. There was so much to eat that even going back for seconds didn't seem to put a dent in it. Dessert was a simple and delicious "help yourself to the sweets". The open bar (Thank you Jim Gubiotti and Larry Heininger!) served beer and wine choices all evening long.
People were having a great time, music from the 70's was playing in the background (Thanks, Jim!), and we all managed somehow to be herded together for a group photo. And then herded back into the tent to eat.
After the meal, we were treated to a wonderfully delivered speech by Coach Steitz. He talked about his experiences as a D-Day boy in World War II, and told us many stories... educational, experiential, entertaining and yet sobering. Coach generously let us have his original handwritten notes he used during his speech, which are included on the website here:
Coach Steitz's Speech Notes
Each table had a Penfield Trivia Quiz on it put together by Jim, and after Coach's speech the trivia answers were announced, and the raffle item winning tickets were called.
You can play the Trivia Quiz here:
PHS 50th Reunion Trivia Quiz (the last SAT)
Enjoy the photo's taken by Renee Heininger (and a few others) here:
Log Cabin 50th Reunion Photo's
The Extra Curricular Tours
The Penfield History Tour was moved to the Penfield History Room in the Library. Attendee's described the tour director Anna Jarvis as delightful and very fun and knowledgeable. They enjoyed the tour and learning about some history that they previously were not aware of and found the tour very interesting. The Penfield History Room greatly appreciated the donation made by the attendees and the class of 1973.
Learn more about the Penfield History Room here: Penfield History Room
The Valentown Tour was initially scheduled to be approximately one hour. However the attendees and the tour guides became so interested and involved in the history being presented that the tour lasted closer to THREE HOURS! Feedback on the tour was about how interesting and educational it was, as well as how personable and welcoming their museum hosts Kathryn White (president of the board), Julie Zoller (Secretary of the board) and Frank Kosmeryl were. The Historic Valentown Museum greatly appreciated the class of 73 attendees and the donation made on behalf of the class of 1973.
The Valentown Museum will be open again for public and private tours starting in June 2024. However there is still much to enjoy on their website (HistoricValentownMuseum.org) or Facebook page (Historic Valentown on Facebook ).
penfieldhs1973.com
https://penfieldhs1973.com/page.php?page=20231026140410284