OCEAN CITY – More than 50 1960 graduates of Ocean City High School and their spouses and friends gathered in the Adelene restaurant at the Port-O-Call Hotel on the Ocean City boardwalk Oct. 18 to celebrate 65 years of staying together as a class.
Memories were shared, yearbooks and photos of previous reunions were passed around and long friendships were renewed.
To start off the evening, Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian, a graduate of OCHS, presented a “Piece of the Boardwalk” award to Robert L. (Smitty) Smith for his “diligence and devotion in 65 years of keeping the class together.” Smith, starting at the June 1960 graduation, made every effort to keep the class united with regular reunions, frequent communications and personal contact, first through mailings and more recently through emails. Smith kept detailed records of all classmates’ contact information, and as a result only a small number lost contact.
Also recognized for her efforts to keep the class together was Fran Sullivan McIntyre, who every year invites the whole class to her home for her annual Night In Venice party.
Another highlight of the evening was the poodle skirt, which were very popular in the 1950s, with a matching bag and bow worn by Alice Hoy Cameron.
Attendees traveled from Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia as well as Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
An “After Party” was attended by more than a dozen people who continued to party late into the night.
There may have been a few walkers and canes in the room, but the spirit was youthful and the feelings warm. At the end of the evening, one attendee told the class events planner to “start planning the next one!”