IT’S ALL JAZZ: Saturday, September 26, on what would have been my father’s 100th birthday. After breakfast, Cee and hubby went to a scarecrow event; they brought their own straw and other accouterments.
I spoke to a couple of cousins, my sister Leslie, and others.
PLANNED (I LOVE planned!) My friend Bill picked me up for my BCHS reunion. That’s Binghamton Central High School. It merged with Binghamton North in 1982, but the school is still the building that Rod Serling and I attended (not together), though it has been expanded.
Bill came with his wonderful wife, Brenda, and his nifty sister, Wendy. The event was at Ely Park Golf Course on Mount Prospect, which I believe is the northernmost point of the Appalachian Mountains.
The base of the mountain was very close to my grandmother’s house when I was growing up, but I hadn’t really been up there in decades, not since they took down the steps that ran from Prospect and Oak Streets up a couple of hundred steps. They tore them down when they built the “new” Route 17 in the early 1970s.
The upside was seeing Lois, like Bill, another Dickinson alum, and a bunch of other folks. There were fewer people than five years ago, but for me, the crowd was more manageable. Kudos to Helen, Sharon, Bonnie, and Susie for organizing the event.
The downside was that it was REALLY windy at times, so the staff people putting out the food thought it prudent to turn off the flames under the heating trays. I had a cold hamburger late in the 2 to 6 pm window, which wasn’t terrible. Fortunately, I had my autumn jacket.
Improv
PLANNED: Cee and spouse picked me up, and we went to the UU church, where I first heard the Beatles’ white album in 1968; ah, the LRY (Liberal Religious Youth) that my high school friend was involved with.
We saw the improv group Cherry Bomb, which has nothing to do with the song by The Runaways.
A member of the audience suggested the beloved Binghamton location for the group to riff on: the Rod Serling statue. One performer misheard it as the Ron Serling statue; fortunately, the piano player had attended Binghamton University, so he was required to know who Rod Serling was.
It was entertaining enough. I laughed a lot. But they must have had some bits already in their performance arsenal.
At about 10:30 pm, I received an email: my Flix/Greyhound bus back to Syracuse and then Albany, scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 2 pm, had been canceled. I don’t know why. I got a refund. It’s a good thing I had a backup plan.
Mixed together
Speaking of the reunion and the white album: when I was in high school, I rewrote “Back in the USSR” in my head as “Back at BCHS” (ain’t you a mess).
Those Central girls really knock me out
They leave the North High behind
And Central girls make me sing and shout
That Bulldog’s on my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my mind.
The Bulldogs were Central’s mascot, the blue and white. North’s were the Indians, the blue and red. Now Binghamton High School – red, white, and blue – are the Patriots, of course.
