That's a Wrap !

What an amazing year.  We loved seeing all of you!  Who would have thought, nearly 60 years after graduating from Meadowdale, we'd still be finding ways to be together, that  Wendy Wallace would still have that big smile, that Mary Ferchen would still be Norwegian, that Lee Crary would still have that deadpan delivery often ended by a slight smile, that Gary DeBardi would still be smart.  Well, all of that is true, and in addition to that, we have some real characters in our class.  I love every one of them.   Personally, I have had so much fun getting to know classmates that I never really knew in high school.  I was from Meadowdale Jr. High, and we had all these people from Lynnwood Jr. High joining us, ... and now in 2025, we're all one, and you can feel it.   This year we had the most audience participation ( that's you ) ever, and we had more events than ever because you demanded it.   Well, ... demanded might be too strong a word, but you came along when we asked.  Here's a recap. 

January - Hygge Pub Night -  this was the last Hygge Pub Night because we're changing the name in 2026 to "Nordic Nights".   We had issues with people being able to remember how to pronounce "Hygge"  ( hew-gah ), a Danish term, so we changed.  Nordic includes Finland, Sweden, Norway, Greenland, Iceland, ... so, it's more inclusive. 

The reasons for this momentous change to Nordic Nights are obvious, but I'm going to enumerate them nonetheless. 

1.  The number of Danish classmates we could find are less than half the number of people who've actually seen Bigfoot.

2.  Steve Favorite still cannot pronounce Hygge, ... but, he can say Nordic.

3.  Mary Ferchen and Jeanne Fletcher will stop whining, "what about Norway".

4. This gives Greenland an opportunity to be more visible on the global stage, since they've recently been touting they want to be independent.  Besides, I think Linna Carlsen once told me she's from Greenland. 

5.  Kevin Murray once wrote a report on the Faroe Islands for Mr. Ridge.   It wasn't an assignment, ... Kevin just wanted to do it.  We don't know why.

6.  Including Greenland and Iceland expands the apparel options for attendees.  You can wear your giant ear muffs, or your caribou or musk ox anorak.  Will you have to wear Nordic apparel, ... No, ... but it's more fun don't you think?  I would love to see Stephanie Smith in her musk ox anorak.  Do vegans not wear anything that contains animal?  Steph?

7.  Janet Westerlund can tout her Swedish ancestry, ... if that's what you are, Janet.

8.   Linda Churchill once stopped in Iceland for lunch on her way to Mexico.  ( she falls for all these travel gimmicks )

March - Pub Trivia Night - My staff photographers, Mary & Stephanie did not attend this event, and I was so intent on keeping my team focused, that I forgot to take photos, but we were there with 3 or 4 teams, we looked good, but we didn't finish in the top 10.   Not even my team.   I chose Pat McCune to be on my team because she looks smart,  and is smart, we couldn't pull off a top ten finish.  We met at Shawn O'Donnells Irish Pub, ... had a nice Irish dinner before the games began, and then began testing our brains with answers to the most trivial things.  Steve Favorite thought Cardi B was a medical test for the heart. 

May - Jersey Boys Stage Play -  Except for the very top 4 rows, everyone you see here was us.  A great turnout to see the play based on Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons. We always were a very rythmic class,  and we had a ball swaying to the music.  We had dinner after the show at the Everett Marina, ... because who goes to a play without going out to dinner.  In addition to be rythmic, we are also very sophisticated.  Being sophisticates, we enjoyed the historical nature of the play, ... but also, ... We had a rockin' good time!, ... in fact, even at dinner, I could hear Kevin humming, " O What a Night".   

August Summer Picnic -  Our signature event.   That actually sounds kind of cool, "signature event".   Weil, we had another great turnout, good food, lots of new classmates came for the first time.  We had so much just talking, we didn't even play any games.  Below is some of our merry band of picnickers, and this was before we popped open the wine.

Below is our concierge and security people. 

October Elvis Night - Well, this was surprising.  We were all set to attend our 3rd Elvis Night, and were told by the establishment, they were cancelling us because they wanted to show the Mariners playoff game, and they thought Mariner fans would drink more beer than our group.   Have they been out withSteve Favorite?  We hadn't misbehaved our previous 2 times ( I'm excusing Mary for dancing on the tables, because, first of all, she's a dancer, and second, she's Norwegian, so I'm not counting this as misbehaving ), so there was no reason to cancel us.

December - Christmas Gathering - This was our first ever Christmas Gathering.  I was surprised at the turnout.  We had 23 people, ... and 6 people had to cancel, so, it was almost our 2nd highest event attendance.  We met at Cabernets & IPAs in Mukilteo, ... a favorite place of ours.   We had our own room, and there was a lot of mingling and laughter.   It's funny how we can gather and always have stuff to talk and laugh about.  This was a very engaging event, as most of us at the end were still lingering, visiting with our friends

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2026 is coming, ... buckle up!!

We are planning to publish News Years Resolutions early to mid January, so send yours in to me, ... dlexj@comcast.net