Since the establishment in 1916 of the University of the Philippines High School Department in Diliman, Quezon City, Class 1966 has arguably been one of the most active batches when it came to holding class reunions. Manila in 1971, 1976, 1981, 1982 and 1986, Newport Beach and Manila in 1991, Los Angeles in 1992, Hawaii in 1993, and then San Francisco and Manila in 1996 were venues of successful reunions actively participated in by many 1966 graduates and some of their spouses and children. High in the list of varied reasons for attending reunions are renewal of friendships and associated catching up through the years, "getting in touch with one’s inner teenager and reliving those young and carefree yesteryears", and going through "what-if scenarios" with former crushes and heart-throbs. Regardless of reasons, attendance of reunions promises heightened fun and excitement as sharing of personal experiences enriched by time and circumstances always provide increased value and significance to each successive "regathering". For the group’s emerald anniversary or the 35th year after graduation, the celebration would have been more special on two accounts: first, it was to be the first reunion of the new millennium, and second, it was going to be held for the first time in the ‘city that never sleeps’ – New York City!

The year 2000 was of major importance for most of us because it was the year we turned half a century and began our golden years, or simply said, turned the big 50! Most of us celebrated on our big day in many ways, albeit common, while others decided to do something different – and one of these being our classmate Josefina (Joy) Enriquez-Diaz. She planned a June trip to visit her childhood through adulthood friends now living in Delaware but who were neighbors in Cubao in years past. When Joy called Becky Gatmaitan-Raval about her plans, Becky persuaded Joy to make a side trip by train from Delaware to New York City. At that time, Becky just learned from her husband Ros of a reunion to be held in New York City by U.P. High School Class 1965. Ros' childhood friend Nora Jorge Maceda was accompanying spouse Emmanuel (Noly) Maceda of UPHS Class 65 to New York from Canada for Noli’s class reunion to be held at the La Guardia Courtyard by Marriott on May 19-21, 2000. They insisted that Becky and Ros attend their dinner dance, which was open to other UPHS alumni. Joy convinced Becky to attend Class 65's reunion so she could obtain information on some high school friends. Ros was eager to attend not only to hook up with a childhood friend but possibly with a long time crush and former PNB officemate Carmilla Onrubia-Cruz who was coming all the way from Hongkong! Becky wondered if perhaps Roy Vinuya would be there too.

After the dinner dance, Becky called Joy to pass on all the juicy stories including how absolutely beautiful and svelte Thelma Magtoto looked and what a great ballroom dancer she had become, how young Ray Corpuz and his wife looked, how graceful and charming Carmilla was, and how welcoming and gracious Melanie Quejas-Suzara (who graduated with our class) and Carmencita Dizon were.

When Joy finally got to New York in June, she started talking to Becky about organizing Class 1966's 35th anniversary reunion in New York City. The two had dinner with Ray Corpuz who suggested the cloning of the reunion format of Class 65, on which he, Melanie and Benjie would help plan and execute. Becky was not buying the idea knowing that she was just getting into a lot of work and that her co-New Yorkers were all so busy and may not have much time to help.

But after constant and insistent prodding from Joy (and eventually from Jet Santos and Spike de Leon as well), Becky very reluctantly agreed. Becky and Joy were constantly on the phone after that. The first thing that had to be decided upon was the date when the reunion was to be held. Thanks to modern technology, emails were sent to classmates with cyberspace addresses informing them of a reunion. For those outside the email sphere, Becky obtained from the 1996 class directory their regular postal addresses in the U.S., Canada and other countries so they could be sent regular written notices about the gathering. Classmates were polled for their available weekend in June 2001, and based on the majority vote, the date would be decided on. Responses came in quickly and on first count around 30 classmates committed themselves to the weekend of June 22 - 24, 2001.

On August 25, 2000, Spike with his computer expertise set up the Yahoo eGroups website for our class. It was through this medium that updates on the reunion were disseminated to all the classmates who had access to cyberspace. Not satisfied with just that, he did more. He further strengthened the group’s presence on the World Wide Web with its own address http://uphigh66.tripod.com, and created the home page that became a source of information for the 35th Anniversary Class Reunion in New York City. And so for a long year, preparations were made, programs were drawn, meetings were held, and communications were constantly exchanged on this subject. Excitement mounted as the reunion date drew closer. More frequent phone calls were burning the lines. Heavy email traffic was choking web servers and modems. Even the snail mail and courier systems felt the extra heat not only from the reunion organizers but also those getting ready to participate. Not long after, attendees began emailing their travel itineraries. The point of no return was reached and passed. The reunion was just around the corner!

The masterminds were determined to pull this reunion through. But how did they promote it? Check out the teasers in the following copy of their propaganda posted in their website for months  NY Reunion Announcement .

With much time and effort invested on its detailed planning and meticulous organization, the reunion’s successful execution was guaranteed, right? Well, read up and see how great things panned out.
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Thursday, June 21, 2001

Some former classmates who couldn’t contain their excitement arrived in NYC a day before the start of activities. These included Joy Enriquez-Diaz and husband Maning, from Ontario. California were met at JFK by Becky Gatmaitan-Raval. Later at 11PM, they went to pick up Joy’s son, Ray, also at JFK. From the Philippines came  Didi Panlasigui-Manarang and Maline Apelo-Flores.  From Singapore came Beuls De Vera-Schmitz, leaving her twin daughter with their Grandma in Wisconsin. From northern California came  Jeannie Ebio-Garfinkel and Cito De Guia.  Jeannie had been a regular attendee in the reunions, but this was going to be the first for Cito.  He had not seen most the classmates for over 30 years, most specially that 'special someone'.. From the L.A. area came Sam Manongdo.  They all got in early and proceeded directly to the La Guardia Marriott.  Sam and Maline was able to enjoy a round of golf today.  Jess Socrates and family also motored into NYC from Hanover, PA  early but got stuck in Manhattan traffic after watching "Lion King" on Broadway. He apparently paid an arm and a leg for tickets from scalpers. This was really a "free" day when no organized activity was scheduled.

A little after midnight, Jess and family arrived at the Marriott, surprised to see that the hotel lobby was still abuzz with classmates waiting for others to come. Minutes later, Spike de Leon with wife Fely, kids Cherry and Amanda  arrived (3 hours delayed), shortly followed by Jet’s entourage whose inbound flight (8 hours delayed) got delayed due to weather-related problems. Jet Santos with wife Lilian and kids Jason and Jessie started their journey from the west coast at 3 a.m. on Thursday. The original plan was to depart at 6:15 a.m. for Denver and arrive in La Guardia at 7PM, in time for dinner with Becky and family. For some strange reasons, they had to fly into JFK through Los Angeles.  Both Jet and Spike came from California.

After some lively tête-à-tête, the group yielded to exhaustion and slowly dispersed to the comfort of their rooms. Spike and Jet were the last ones to retire (it is said that older people only need a few hours of sleep a day).
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Friday, June 22, 2001         June 22 photos
 

On Friday morning, most of Class ’66 slept in except for Jeannie Ebio & husband Gary who took off early to check out Manhattan, and Beulah who was persuaded by Didi to give Cito a tour of Manhattan as this was his first visit to the Big Apple. By noon time, classmates and families started pouring into the hotel lobby. Noy Sarte, from Florida,  arrived from his business trip in Rochester,  NY and promptly joined the few classmates downstairs after quickly checking in. Jet had a laptop computer and was soon showing some images from the photo CD. At around 1:30PM, Jet & family, Maline, Didi, Noy, Spike & family and Jess & family decided to have brunch (or an unofficial get-together) at the hotel restaurant. But because it was almost the afternoon closing time, the restaurant’s service wasn’t the best yet generous tips were given.

After brunch, the group was back at the hotel lobby generating enough noise that frequently called the attention of hotel workers. The latter didn’t seem to share the group’s excitement in reuniting 35 years after high school graduation, but they didn’t reprimand the group either. There was a lot of catching up to do in so short a time, so decorum had to take a back seat.

By mid afternoon, more classmates showed up, including Joe ‘Lugaw’ Gregorio with his wife Elsa, from Toronto, and brought fresh Sampaloc fruits from Canada, Cito and Beulah now back from their Manhattan escapade, and Mario Gaerlan, one of the NY organizers

Driving down from Boston,  were Betsy Barangan-Cabanos & hubby Pepot.   Dave Austria with wife Jo and kids Davey and Jake arrived from nearby Philadelphia. , Al and Prunie Esguerra drove up from the Washington DC area. Francis Carlos checked in at Marriott as well, but had been in New York three days prior to the reunion.  He had stayed with his relatives from the New Jersey area.  Rene Bersamin (another NY organizer) and wife Femy were next to arrive at the hotel, after picking up Del Quesada and wife Divina who flew from California.  Next came Belle Payumo, Melanie Quejas-Suzara (another NY Reunion organizer and still as beautiful and sexy as ever).  They shared rooms at the hotel.  Becky, the chairperson of the NY Reunion organizing committee arrived with children Rhea, Don and Rosalie ("assigned" volunteers to help get the group to the dinner/cruise pier), and finally, Sappho Gillego-Ong (another NY organizer and still the same ‘Ate’ – ask Sonny Siasoco).

Edith Quintos-De Leon called Jet as they were departing St. Louis on the way to La Guardia. They surely wouldn’t make it to the cruise. At this time, the out of town drivers who were unaccustomed to and intimidated by the infamous New York City traffic, started pleading to be excused from the Friday afternoon drive to the pier. Nevertheless, some had to risk life and limb to maneuver their way through the busy and precarious streets of New York City. It’s funny that some folks got lost and tried to fault Mario’s directions but the others made it to the pier without any problem using the same directions.

Waiting for all the classmates to arrive at the Chelsea Piers for the Hudson River cruise on board the Spirit of New York seemed to last an eternity. But no problem as this was yet another opportunity to do more catching up. Becky, ever so concern with other classnates, stayed on her cell phone, shown on the left (flank by 'patriotic' red and blue posts to complitment her white dress),  making sure no classmates got lost in New York's concrete jungle.
 
Pretty soon, the group was joined by Doy Vea, Ed Sarangaya, Jerry Soriano and his beautiful wife Sabiha and 3 sons, Edith Dadufalza and hubby Johnny with daughter and boyfriend. Ros, Becky’s husband was also there waiting before the group arrived. According to many, the last time they saw Jerry and Edith would have been at least 25 years ago! This was definitely a time for taking lots of analog and digital photos and video recording as well.

Celebrating New York with the UP High 66 group were schoolmates from other classes including Belle Payumo-Apelo, Ray Corpuz and Tony Elefano from class ’65, and Fremma La Puebla-Esquejo and Jessie Salileng-de la Cruz from class ’64.

There were the usual photo ops, several taken in front of the Philippine flag. The photo below has Ed, Tony, Dave, Jet and Al kneeling from left to right, while standing also in the same order are Becky, Mario, Noy, Joe, Spike, Rene, Jess, Ray, Prunie, Del, Joy, Jeannie, Melanie and Beulah. For full-size photos, check out Noy's website June 22 photos

Without exaggeration, there must have been over five hundred photos taken at the pier by members of the group during the one-and-a-half-hour waiting time to board the cruise ship. Wonder where they are now?

Finally, at 7pm, the "Spirit of New York" was ready for boarding. Our group was big enough to be assigned to a quarter of a deck.

All in all, there were 65 people seated around 8 tables. The dinner buffet featured an assortment of sumptuous seafood dishes. It seemed that wine and beer must have flowed in some tables. After dinner, there was a lot of dancing, helped along by the wine and beer.

Cito could have easily been voted the celebrity of the cruise as he readily drew the attention of more than 64 pairs of eyes when he repeatedly danced with a Puerto Rican lady (doctor) from NY! This lady apparently had a younger female friend who caught the fancy of some UPHigh 66 guys who preferred to go anonymous on this issue.
 
 As the ship got closer to the Statue of Liberty, many cruise guests left the dining and dancing hall to go up the top deck. This gave the best, unobstructed view of this famous and magnificent lady who used to welcome immigrants from all over the world
before the international airports in major US cities took over. The pleasant evening breeze kept many on the top deck for the rest of the trip back to port for more photo ops and conversations.
 
Downstairs in the dance and dining hall, the rest of the UPHigh 66 group along with other cruise guests were still dancing and rocking the night away. Didi, Del, Dave and Jo, Melanie, Mario, Spike and Fely, Beulah, Cito, Ed and others joined a host of Puerto Ricans and local New Yorkers in dancing to a variety of music. The cruise guests were also treated to a nice song and dance presentation by professional entertainers who recruited some children from the group as extras for their well- applauded number. Ros Raval won the evening raffle price of two Broadway tickets to the play Fosse. This cruise was definitely a nice touch and a memorable event in the group’s celebrating New York for its emerald anniversary.
 

At the end of the cruise, the group was back on New York streets headed back to Marriott. Jess quickly followed Dave and Al who were armed with maps, and made it to the Midtown Tunnel without making too many extra turns. Others made fewer turns and got to the hotel later. And others apparently made some illegal turns that didn’t go unnoticed. Spike wanted to stop for some fruits (at close to midnight) but ended up buying some goodies at a 7-11 store instead. Upon reaching the hotel, the group learned that Edith and Dave already checked in but were already asleep. Sonny Siasoco and his wife Menchu also checked in late but were at the lobby waiting. Menchu took issue with the hotel folks about a cancelled reservation and was recompensed with a suite at the same discounted regular room rate.

Before members of the group could retire to their rooms, Francis and Sappho at the hotel lobby began exchanging classmates’ cash for commemorative white t-shirts bearing the icons Lady Liberty, the Twin Towers, some NY skyscrapers and the oblation superimposed on the Big Apple with the slogan "UPHS 66 celebrates NY 2001" (all the shirts unfortunately came in only one size, Large). During and after the shirt sale, the group generated noise levels that exceeded acceptable limits which drew weak reprimands from the hotel staff. At this, about half meekly retreated to their rooms while the rest carried on with the party, albeit at a muted sound level.
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Saturday, June 23, 2001             June 23 photos

Ten a.m. and the aroma of sinangag, pancit and lumpia for the Saturday brunch filled the hotel meeting room. Thanks to Melanie, Becky and Sappho for the delicious buffet! Reinvigorated, the group’s decibel meter was again off the wall.  This time, hotel management was more resolute. The group was relocated to a much larger but more isolated chamber.  Alsa balutan, pumbreras and all!  Becky’s son Don brought a boombox that pretty soon played nostalgia music courtesy of the "CD Martyrs" (i.e., Noy, Jet and Rupert). Jess Socrates organized the distribution of copies of personalized CD sets to each 1966 graduate and wasn’t timid in asking for monetary contributions for financial aid programs the group has started or pledged to support.

Familiar "oldies" tunes from The Lettermen, Chad and Jeremy, Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Cascades, The Animals, Beachboys, The Playboys and other popular groups during circa 1962-1966 played for hours and provided excellent background music to a lot of eating, previewing old photos off the photo CD (part of the CD set), singing, dancing, picture taking, horsing around and catching up. Classmates danced the locomotion, twist, jerk, and boogie as the nostalgia trip swung deeper and deeper.  The Manila crew of Maline, EdSa and Didi, joined by Melanie, Del and Spike wowed the group with their high energy dancing skills. Al, Prunie, Edith Q and David also showed off their ballroom dancing abilities. The JS Prom and parties at the Multi seemed to be just yesterday.

Four hours into the brunch, and there’s more eating of assorted desserts and crunchy adobong cornix served in a huge punchbowl.

Digital photos of yesteryears continued to scroll on two laptops provided by Becky and Jet to the amusement of many. Class pictures and family photos drew smiles and laughter (hurt feelings too?). An impromptu karaoke session broke out when old and present sweethearts serenaded one another (names have been omitted to protect the innocent). Outside, a whale of a New York typhoon raged against the glass windows unheeded, as guys out sung the Lettermen with their rendition of "when you walk through a storm, hold your head up high".  Prof Maceda would have been proud of this bunch.  Soon, Al and Prunie who had prior engagements bade an early farewell. Then, the group split into three smaller units to practice for their special presentation numbers during the night’s dinner dance party. Afterwards, some proceeded to their now familiar corner at the lobby to continue with their tête-à-tête, others (the older ones) who had expended their day’s allocation of energy retreated back to their rooms to rest, while a few stayed behind in the brunch room for more singing and merry making.
 

After dinner, special numbers were rendered by the Manila classmates, followed by the West Coasters, and then the host Easterners.

Preceding was a special dance performance by Ray, Tony and Belle of Class 65 which was a welcome surprise.

Soon afterwards, the dance floor became alive as the ladies sought their partners and danced to the tune of "Beautiful Brown Eyes". This was followed by several fast dance numbers, still on ladies choice basis. The guys seemed to have been outnumbered by the gals, as all the former appeared to have been on the floor at one time. At this juncture, it was evident who took ballroom dancing lessons and sessions as theirs appeared to have been money well-spent. Or maybe, it was from watching Chito Feliciano’s crew doing the pachanga on channel 7 many years ago that simply got programmed in some minds and merely replayed well.

Becky and the NY group pulled out all the stops for this one.  They even provided "dance instructors" (fondly referred to as "DIs") to coax even the most terpsichoreally challenged to dance.  Two male and one female DIs helped everyone dance well —almost. The Thursday Club, a local band featuring Ray's daughter as vocalist, provided the tunes.  No more karaoke stuff, this was professional grade music, complete with keyboards, percussion, brass, guitars and more. The band must have gone through a briefing, though, as its program was slanted towards the 60s and 70s classics, with only an occasional Mariah Carey number belted out beautifully. Class 66, as usual, required minimal prompting. The parquet floor was soon elbow-to-elbow, shoulder-to-shoulder and hip-to-hipful of discoing humanity. Forgotten for the night were aches and pains from joints and limbs of abused and aging bodies. EdSa, Didi, Maline, Spike, Melanie, Becky, Joy, Del and Dave were the dance experts in the group. The others, especially some guys just seemed to clutter the dance floor. Thank goodness for timely pauses for awards, door prizes and presents, many were saved from over exerting and possibly collapsing on the dance floor. Jet swept many of the awards including the one with the most children and grandchildren. Didi and Senen won awards for having the smallest waistlines among the gals and guys (26" and 30"?). In fact, everyone received presents just for attending.  Beulah had the longest commute, all the way from Singapore. Joe Gregorio crossed the border from Toronto, Raddy came from Long Island.  Dinky heard about the party just the day before, enough time to make pustura. And just in case anyone choked on their steak, we had expert medical personnel for each table.  RNs Chabets and Edith D and MDs Sappho, Jess, Senen, Jerry, Dave and Edith Q were evenly spread out. Mesdames Joy and Jeannie rounded out the California entourage, along with Cito (still sporting his sixties ponytail), and Sammy (in regulation PMT haircut).  Hundreds of digital photos from Spike and Jet, as well as scanned-in analog photos captured the moment well and are still posted today at Noy's server :www.osarte.com, and also some at the group’s website: http://uphigh66.tripod.com.  Better yet, why not join the digital age by signing up at www.groups.yahoo.com and searching for our group? By the time the dust settled, and all the ballots were counted, Noy and Melanie emerged Homecoming King and Queen.  The ladies (and later, the men) were lined up, with their backs to the audience, and a show of hands was made for each one.  No pregnant or hanging chads here.  The cabernet made the people do it, judge.  Noy's prize was huge- he gets to host the next reunion (hey, the group is going to Disneyworld, Orlando in 2006!).

Sunday, June 24, 2001          June 24 photos
 
 During Sunday brunch at the hotel coffee shop, it was all business.  Class 66 commandeered an entire corner, like it used to take over the ol' drugstore at Balara.  No tapsilog today though, it was the prototypical American breakfast buffet of pancakes, omelets, sausages (Someone get Senen his Lipitor, please). After Del said grace, Doy and Maline delivered the State of the Class Fund Address, and Jess and Tito gave the US Response.  The gist was whatever could be raised here in the US of A would be matched by the RP counterparts (EdSa was involuntarily volunteered to fill in the rest, joke lang ha, Ed). It is heartening to know that the first student the batch sponsored is now a Physician.  There are a few more on the way.  There was also discussion on funding a computer lab for the alma mater.  Spike proposed that the group finance the paving of Mayor Doming's Main Street and name it the Class 66 Memorial Highway, aka, Route 66. Plans for the 40th Homecoming were tentatively made.  Also, two mini reunions were planned in North America in August (one in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, and the other in Fresno, California) and successfully held (photos available at previously mentioned websites).
 
Farewells have always been difficult, especially when three and a half decades have elapsed since the last goodbyes.  New York in the summer of 2001 was truly memorable.  Everyone looks forward to another reunion on November 24, 2001 in Manila. And then there is an Ilocos Norte January 2003 gathering that classmates should pencil in their calendar. That promises to be a big one too, perhaps bigger in attendance than the recently concluded NY reunion. And 2006 in Florida seems just around the corner.  If this group could really withstand the treacherous Florida heat and humidity (and excellent sun, sea, sand, shells and surf), well then, the alligators are in big trouble.  Mickey and Minnie, consider this a warning: the UP High School Class of 1966 is coming!

During Sunday brunch at the hotel coffee shop, it was all business.  Class 66 commandeered an entire corner, like it used to take over the ol' drugstore at Balara.  No tapsilog today though, it was the prototypical American breakfast buffet of pancakes, omelets, sausages (Someone get Senen his Lipitor, please). After Del said grace, Doy and Maline delivered the State of the Class Fund Address, and Jess and Tito gave the US Response.  The gist was whatever could be raised here in the US of A would be matched by the RP counterparts (EdSa was involuntarily volunteered to fill in the rest, joke lang ha, Ed). It is heartening to know that the first student the batch sponsored is now a Physician.  There are a few more on the way.  There was also discussion on funding a computer lab for the alma mater.  Spike proposed that the group finance the paving of Mayor Doming's Main Street and name it the Class 66 Memorial Highway, aka, Route 66. Plans for the 40th Homecoming were tentatively made.  Also, two mini reunions were planned in North America in August (one in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, and the other in Fresno, California) and successfully held (photos available at previously mentioned websites).

 Farewells have always been difficult, especially when three and a half decades have elapsed since the last goodbyes.  New York in the summer of 2001 was truly memorable.  Everyone looks forward to another reunion on November 24, 2001 in Manila. And then there is an Ilocos Norte January 2003 gathering that classmates should pencil in their calendar. That promises to be a big one too, perhaps bigger in attendance than the recently concluded NY reunion. And 2006 in Florida seems just around the corner.  If this group could really withstand the treacherous Florida heat and humidity (and excellent sun, sea, sand, shells and surf), well then, the alligators are in big trouble.  Mickey and Minnie, consider this a warning: the UP High School Class of 1966 is coming!
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