Class of 1958 -
50th Reunion Held
The Hopkins Academy Class of 1958
celebrated its 50th class reunion at the Hickory Ridge
Country Club in Amherst on Saturday, July 5, 2008. The
reunion committee consisted of Elsie (Grabiec) Waskiewicz,
Theresa (Jekanowski) Pickunka, and Monica (Drabeck)
Vandoloski. They took care of all the wonderful planning
and made arrangements for the attending classmates and their
guests. Mrs. Norrine (Jacobus) Tiley and Mr. Frederick
Luddy from the teaching staff joined in the festivities with
their respective spouses. Before the evening event, a
"mini-reunion" was held at noon with classmate Susan (Martula)
Perry from Troy, NY, who was unable to attend the evening
portion and wanted to meet with as many as possible for
lunch. Many had not seen Susan since graduation time.
Attending the class 50th were: Richard Baranowski, Robert
Barrett, Kenneth Barstow, Esther Boisvert Grohowski, Monica
Drabeck Vandoloski, Barbara Fil Bednarz, Richard Fil,
William Gnatek, Elsie Grabiec Waskiewicz, Eileen Hannigan
Muzyka, Walter Helms, Theresa Jekanowski Pickunka, Rose
Kermensky Hebert, Richard Moreau, MaryAnn Pietras Grandonico,
Sharlene Reil Locker, John Royko, David Russell, Joann
Tudryn Barnes, and Patricia Wanat Bye. Twelve were unable
to attend due to commitments and circumstances.
Our class
has 9 deceased members: Chester Baj, Jr., Alice Baj,
Theresa Fydenkevez Pippert, Elizabeth Meakim Sadlowski,
Edward Nolan, Eleanor Powers Barber, Jeanette Russell Shoro,
Stanley Soldega, and Robert Sanders.
Mrs. Jacobus Tiley and Mr. Fred Luddy highlighted the
evening with their memories of our class and the whole
evening was lively as acquaintances and friendships were
renewed.
Bob Barrett explained that next year's all-class reunion
will be held on June 13, 2009 as part of Hadley's 350th town
celebration. More information will be found on the Alumni
website, www.hopkinsalumni.org. All in all - a great 50th
reunion for all those attending!! Next one will be...????
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Reunion Report -
Class of 1957
Members of the Hopkins
Academy class of 1957 met for an informal reunion at the
Whately Inn, the evening of Saturday, September 1, 2007.
This event was the culmination of efforts on the part of Ann
(Duffy) Rust and Dick Martula.
The evening began with a
social hour followed by dinner. Thirteen members of the
class were able to attend the event. They included Junie
(Latham) Baceski, Eileen (Chmura) Malan, Tom Devine, Dick
Karakula, Bill Kicza, Fred Kowal Robert Martula, Rita (Moczulewski)
Montague, Kikie Niedbala, Richard Sawicki, Connie (Tudryn)
Keen, plus Mrs. Rust and this writer. Spouses of
classmates were also in attendance.
June Baceski and husband,
Joe, were kind enough to invite all to their home after the
dinner. They were very generous with desserts and drinks.
This venue gave us another opportunity to share our pasts
and thoughts with those who did not sit next to us at the
dinner. Junie even distributed copies of a class history
written upon completion of 8th grade courtesy of
the misses Malan, Carol Ann Duffy, Baceski and Montague.
She also included a photograph taken at Russell School.
Sometime later she sent a current photograph of alumni in
attendance.
These events often
require some to travel great distances to attend. The
Martulas traveled 900 miles; Ms. Malan probably traveled an
equivalent distance. Mrs. Rust probably traveled 300
miles. Connie and her husband traveled from New York. The
Kicza’s and Kikie probably traveled the farthest if you
include their addresses in Florida. Others are considered
local since they live near Hadley in the Connecticut
Valley.
Mrs. Rust is attempting
to collect single page statements from each us re: notes or
pertinent facts we would like to share with classmates. The
final document is not ready at this printing.
An unusually large number
(11) of our classmates have passed; they include: James
Blyda, Margaret Callahan, Lewis Chunglo, John Czerwinski,
Elaine Fydenkevez, David Klimoski, Alice (Mientka) Lipski,
Ed Podolak, Bernard Rocasah, Doris Sanders, andLewis West.
Dates of their deaths were not available at the time of
this writing.
Nonetheless
those attending the reunion event made the most of the time
together.
**************************
Class of 1956
Holds 50th Reunion
Hopkins Academy
Class of 1956 celebrated its 50th class reunion on
June 10, 2006. The class gathered at the Whately Inn
for a social hour – compliments of Joe and Carol Zgrodnik – with
dinner following.
In attendance were
17 graduates and 2 non-graduates. Catching up on years past
with Frank Sienkiewicz and Richard Sanders was truly a special
part of the evening. Richard Fox, who also left us prior to
graduation, sent along a letter describing his journey through
life – a letter read by Ted Kosior.
Graduates in
attendance were: Philip Duffy, Georgia (Hannigan) Fowler, Jean
(Lannon) Hodgdon, Eugene Hoynoski, Irene (Borowski) Hoynoski,
Stan Jekanowski, Ted Kosior, Tom Kowal, Nancy (Adams) Muraski,
Connie (Bussiere) Niedzielski, John Pipczynski, Peter Sadlowski,
Martha (Waters) Vincellette, John Waskiewicz, Tom West, Carol (Tudryn)
Zgrodnik and Joe Zgrodnik.
Three classmates who
have passed away were recognized:
Irene (O’Shepa)
Lankarge
July 19, 1997
Michael
Matusek April 17, 2004
Joel
Searle July 6,
1999
Mr. “Bud” Kneeland
gave a wonderful short speech of the many contributions of the
Class of 1956 – contributions that the Class had made to him –
and, all the while it was HE who gave so much to this class.
“Bud” Kneeland will forever be a class individual.
After viewing some
of the photos that were available of events gone by, and
exchanging stories, it was time to call it an evening.
Each individual who
at some point or other was a member of the Class of 1956
received a copy of “Hopkins Academy and The Hopkins Fund
1664-1964”, autographed by the author Margaret Dwyer. The book
was given compliments of Joe and Carol Zgrodnik.
**************************
Class of
1960 Get-together
Members of the class of 1960 gathered July 12, 2006 at Butternut's
Restaurant in Hadley to have a "mini-reunion" with class member Bob Piziak who is on his annual vacation in Hadley. Coming out to say "hello" to Bob and to each other were Class Advisor Fred Luddy and his wife, Judy, Dottie Filkoski Gnatek, Richard Yarrows, Marion Kostek Waskiewicz, Diane Kozera Baj, Bernie Pipczynski Wyman, Leona Waskiewicz Chmura, Mary Ann Taraska Wolfe and husband Wayne, and a member of the class of 1961 Dave Martula. A good time was had by all!
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Reunion - Class of 1955
The class of
1955 had a 50th reunion at the Olde Hadleigh Grill on
August 20, 2005. Ten classmates and several spouses
attended. The next day all but one couple met for
breakfast at Sully’s. According to our sources, a great
time was had by all!!
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Celebration of 2004 wrap-up
The Alumni Association
of Hopkins Academy celebrated the school’s 340th anniversary by
having an alumni all-class reunion on July 17, 2004. There
were about 270 people in attendance, from all over the country,
including Hawaii. The Association honored a member of the
class of 1931, Mrs. Evelyn Day Ruddeforth. Also, Miriam
Russell Pratt was celebrating the 70th anniversary of her
graduation. The classes of 1944 and 1954, celebrating 60
and 50 years respectively were well represented. The
youngest class represented was 2004.
The committee chairperson was Connie Paulson Mieczkowski and her
assistant was Kathy Tudryn. Members of her committee
included Kate Carney Iles, Vicki Bell, Joe Pipczynski and Brian
Glazier. Food was catered by Alumnus Ken Beretska and
again this year the dessert cakes were decorated with the logo.
All of the guests sported name tags with their names, maiden names
and dates of graduation. Shirts and t-shirts sporting the
Alumni Association logo were sold as a fund-raiser and will
continue to be sold throughout the year, soon on the website.
Alumni were reminded of their website and were asked if
anyone wishes to register a current name and address with the
Association to please do so on this website.
Mr. Bill Mahoney, present principal of Hopkins Academy, spoke to
the group about the present state of the school. He had
many positive things to say about the school and the students
who are currently there.
Bernadette Pipczynski Wyman, President of the Association, held a
brief business meeting and announced to the members what the
Executive Board voted to have the Association fund this year.
Among other things, the Association supports a scholarship given
each year to a member of the graduating class. This year
it also donated money to the Hopkins Academy Band’s trip to
Florida to compete at Disney World and is now waiting for a
quote on enlarging the trophy cabinets in the school as it will
support that to some degree as a 340th birthday present to the
school.
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Reunion
of 2003 wrap-up:
On Saturday, August
2, 2003, Hopkins Academy held its first all-class reunion in 30
years. The event was co-chaired by Bernadette Pipczynski Wyman
and Marion Kostek Waskiewicz and attended by 450 people from all
over the country. The event also gave birth to the newly
reorganized Alumni Association of Hopkins Academy. A chicken
barbecue was served and cakes sporting the Association logo
which was unveiled that night, were dessert. The oldest class
represented was 1927 and the representative was Clementine
Wanczyk. The youngest class of 2003 was represented by Lindsey
Basara. The graduates coming the farthest were from California,
although others were there from Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota,
Florida and many other states.
A business meeting
was held invoking the newly edited by-laws and a slate of
officers of the Association was presented and voted upon.
Speakers included Fred Luddy, a former Hopkins teacher, Mrs.
Margaret Dwyer, author of Hopkins Academy, 1664-1964 and Joseph
Zgrodnik, a member of the Hopkins Academy Trustees. Fred Wilda,
artist and designer of the Association logo, unveiled and
presented the logo, dedicating it to Florence Utley, a long
standing art teacher at Hopkins.^
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