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Vikki Young (Hale)
What a fabulous week in Annapolis for our 50th reunion!
This time last week (Thursday morning), eight of us were playing golf at The Preserve at Eisenhower, a short drive from Annapolis. What a picturesque course with rolling hills and NO SAND TRAPS! We were amazed that Rod Smart had a "Twilight Zone" experience when he was assigned cart #71! What are the odds? Team Smart and Team Stanton enjoyed a competitive round and a fun day!
Also this time last Thursday (and after the golf event) my thoughts turned to the gala that would be held that evening at the Fleet Reserve, the last event of a fun-filled week. Could the week have really passed so soon? Two evening socials at the Dark Horse, a picnic at a beautiful park complete with a tasty buffet, a third evening social at the Fleet Reserve and the week was almost over already! I was so looking forward to my dinner selection (crab cake and steak) after having sampled a wonderful lobster roll at a Main Street restaurant the day before, after the harbor cruise.
The gala didn't disappoint, especially since our special guests were Drs. Wheatley and Vest, both of whom were instrumental in our development and education for three years at Crossland. Doug Guinn provided the musical entertainment that brought back so many memories of songs which formed the "soundtrack of our lives". In my opinion, the sixties and seventies were the two best musical decades ever!
Words of wisdom and reflection by Drs. Wheatley and Vest helped us re-capture those years at Crossland, those years that were now in our rear view mirrors. What perspective they brought to us! I felt as if I were at another pep rally, not performing the cheers, shaking the pom poms and singing "Stand and Cheer", but listening to two very wise men who had watched us through different sets of eyes, remind us about having been part of the "golden years" of Crossland. Hindsight is always 20/20, but their memories and words totally validated what I'd known and treasured over the last 50 years: Crossland High School was a very special place for our three years. We were educated, guided and influenced by dedicated and strong faculty members, staff and students. We were a Crossland family full of spirit, competition, caring and camraderie, being prepared for a future which none of us could predict for ourselves. We were challenged and we challenged ourselves and each other as well. We survived and moved forward with our lives, with only faraway dreams of a 50th reunion.
Thank you Drs. Vest and Wheatley for giving us our 50th reunion pep rally and for all that you did for us back then. Thank you for attending our event and reminding us about who we were back then!
Thank you, Doug, for organizing the golf event! Thank you, Rita, for taking photos and being there all week to help. Thank you to the staff members at Dark Horse and the Fleet Reserve for accommodating us, moving tables around and getting loud. Thanks, Mike, and the others who helped with the logistics and details. Thanks to all who attended any and/or all of the events. It was truly wonderful to see everyone!
Most of all, thanks to Pat O'Connell for stepping up to plan, organize and coordinate the week's activities, with the support of his wife (Vicky), all under the threat of the china virus raging during the year. Your graciousness, patience and hospitality will never be forgotten and made for an incredibly successful week!
Our football field said good-bye to us that June day of 1971, our graduation day. I recall there being 776 of us who had "come together" for three years and said good-bye that day, spreading out in all directions to live our lives. I wish we all could've made it to our 50th reunion. To our fallen Cavaliers, we miss you. "Crossland's sons and daughters, children of the free, proudly face(d) the challenge of our destiny." Here we are, fifty years later. What a ride! Best of luck to everyone!
How about a 51st reunion? I know where there's a fine golf course, a neat Dark Horse place, a fun boat ride, a tasty lobster roll, a beautiful Fleet Reserve - all in a quaint and special place called Annapolis!
Vikki Young Hale
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