The Lantern Luncheon-December 1, 2009

Rose,

Here is a summary of our day yesterday with our classmates for the Lantern.

Members of the RHS class of 62 again met at the Continental on Rte 1 in Saugus at 1pm for yet, another mini reunion.

Those in attendance were:

Meri Mastronardi Yankapoulos

Peter Zaccone

Roger Keith

Joanne Nardone

Joanne Strazzulla McCarthy

Billy Melchionno

Dotty Brennan Russo

Estelle Follet Pohner

Robert Scott [Scotty]

Roseanne Bellofatto

Sal Carmosino

Carolyn Carmosino

John Henry

The Continental Restaurant seems to be our new meeting place for the class of 62 as we have been there several times since our last big reunion in August of 2007.

After we exchanged our usual warm greetings in the restaurant foyer we were seated at a long banquet type table. Noticeable absentees were Jeanine Erricolo White, who originally planned this gathering but had to fly to Florida on a family matter and Diane Screnci Beatrice, who had to tend to her ailing mother.  Therefore,

organizing the event fell to Meri Mastronardi again as she made the reservations for the group.

Introductions weren't necessary as everyone broke out into individual conversations which ranged from divorces to grandchildren to teachers from the past to retirements. Of course as most of us are now at the Medicare age, health issues came up as well. Cameras were flashing all over and hopefully some of these will reach Rose for the Lantern blog.

Peter Zaccone still has the same dry wit he has had for years.  He now judges Ballroom Dance contests. Perhaps we'll see Peter as a judge on 'Dancing with the Stars' someday.

Some questions came up that no one seemed to be able to answer...like who was the captain of the football team and the basketball team. The yearbook says that Ronnie Lanza was the basketball captain but no captain was listed for the football team. Some thought it might have been Paul Lavargna and Billy Cataldo as co-captains.

Another question was what were the other classes that were in the McKinley School auditorium in the 5th grade. Some thought it was only one class, that of Miss Pritchard. A late arrival was John Henry, not the Red Sox owner, but our class president who confirmed that it was indeed only one class.

In any event the luncheon lasted well over 3 hours as none of us wanted to leave. At the end of the day, Peter Zaccone graciously paid the entire bill much to everyone's surprise! Everyone offered to pay Peter back but he wouldn't hear of it and even left a generous tip as well. Peter....you will be our guest the next time...leave your wallet at home. But a hearty thank you from all of us for your generosity. Investment person, Roger Keith wanted to know if Peter had a hidden source of wealth somewhere!

Everyone seemed eager for our next gathering and hoped that Rose Franciosa Sisti would make her annual Boston visit next May so we could meet again. Even though several people could not make the luncheon, its good that everyone knows that we have these get togethers, via the blog, email or word of mouth.  Hopefully, it will encourage others to come the next time. There was even some discussion about having it a weekend day the next time as perhaps more would attend if the luncheon is held on a weekend instead.  Let us know your thoughts.

I mentioned to the group, after a toast to ourselves, that these gathering never get old....and its great if we can keep them going. Who would ever have thought in 1962 that we would be 'friends forever'...which indeed we have become.