According to Keene Central School Superintendent Dan Mayberry, of Lake Placid, some classes are very tight in school but not after, while others develop a bond in school that carries them through life. The Class of 1967 is like that.

My sense of the Class of 1967 is that it’s like a large, boisterous extended family, a stew filled with too many ingredients and spices to describe easily. This mixture bubbles over occasionally, causing the fire below to sizzle and spark. There’s a passion, a lot of humor and a joy of life that can’t be stomped out under any circumstance.

On Saturday, June 22, many alumni and their spouses gathered for a picnic at the Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department pavilion, a gathering instigated by Karen Fountain, a long-serving member of the fire department who now also serves as the historian for the village of Lake Placid and town of North Elba.

“I’m glad that Karen pulled this together, as it provides us a chance to see people we haven’t connected with in years,” said Rick Morford. “Sometimes I have to study them as I don’t quite recognize them, and then, all of a sudden, their names pop into my head. Ann and I are in good health. We are not on any medications; we walk, hike and do everything.”

“Knowing Rick, I am not sure if he’s telling the truth,” said Chuck Berghorn. “I mean, I am on so many medications that when I saw my cardiologist the other day, I said if you want to give me another pill, you’ll have to cut one out that I’m already taking.”

Berghorn said he likes coming to the reunion to catch up with old friends, but he’s saddened that so many are no longer alive. Tough is that 17 members of the class have died, including Janet Lopez, Steve Ortloff, Mike Rand, Francis Roy, Hubert Smith, Lynn Southmayd and cousins Arti and Pam Torrance.

“Some of my classmates are starting to age,” said Berghorn, giving me the bent eye. “I didn’t think I’d end up looking like the way I do now. I was foolish and didn’t know any better when I was young. That’s probably why I took up (ski) jumping, but when you think of all that I’ve gone through, I’ve only broken five bones, which is nothing compared to some.”

Morford added that he loved all the sports activities that Lake Placid Central has provided and still provides the students. His favorite teacher was Tom Morgan.

“Everybody hated him,” said Morford. “I was the only kid in class that got hit by an eraser every day. He had a good arm … and aim. Yes, he did. But I liked him. Two that put me through the wringer were Mrs. Ryan and Mrs. Sullivan.”

“Mrs. Ryan told me you’re just like your father, which wasn’t a compliment,” I responded.

“I didn’t pay attention to most, but Gertrude Powers and Mrs. O’Rourke were a force of nature,” said Berghorn. “But the one I was afraid of was Stan Pelkey.”

“The teacher that helped me accomplish the most was Ray Pratt,” said Bob Whitney. “He made me work. He said if I didn’t apply myself, I’d be sitting in the same chair next year; that motivated me. Pratt was a great teacher. What I liked about our class was the camaraderie. Many remain my closest friends. Like you, I was taken down to sit in front of Mr. Page. It’s hard to remember a day that I wasn’t taken down to see Mr. Page. I was the class the clown, you know that.”

“But you were only that for 17 years,” I said.

“I’m still the class clown,” he responded. “You ask anyone in the firehouse, but you know we had a good class and still have a good class.”

“Ray Pratt was my favorite teacher,” said Nancy (Hart) Beattie. “I loved him. He’s the one who told me to go to St. Lawrence (University). As for what I learned, I loved learning Latin the most with Mrs. Kerst and the 10th grade science we did with Jack Dixon, so all three of them. Mr. Morgan, for math, was so demanding; he challenged me. Hard on my life are the two people who best helped me remember those days are Steve Ortloff and Pam Torrance, and they both died. I can’t ask them anymore. Now I have to depend on you and others.”

“The teacher I liked the most was Mr. Dugan,” said Susan Albright. “Connie Bonsignore made me stretch. She was my most demanding teacher. After she died, Karen put together a video of Miss Bon. I gained so much more respect for her after learning about her amazing contributions to the Winter Olympics, helping disabled people over the years, and co-founding the Luge Federation. I regret that I didn’t know those things about her sooner. I did know she co-founded our winter carnival.”

“My biology teacher, Mr. Dixon, was my most influential teacher, though I had Mr. Morgan and, like him, I ended up as a math teacher,” said Greg Adams. “Dixon was incredible. Another was Doc Murphey, who taught me how to play the string bass.”

Later, at the alumni banquet at the Hotel Cambria, I asked Fountain why she had organized the Class of 1967 picnic.

“We have a very close class and love getting together,” she said. “So, I thought a picnic would be a nice and relaxing way to reconnect and that the fire department was the perfect place. I think Mike Eisel suggested having a picnic, and it took off. We had a tight class. We all liked each other. I think we cherish all our different experiences in school and since.”

“The group who were the square kids and those who were not all got along. We all loved each other as a group,” said Beattie. “It was OK if we were the squares, or if we weren’t. That’s what I liked the most about our class.”

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(Naj Wikoff lives in Keene Valley. He has been covering events for the Lake Placid News for more than 15 years. He went to school with the Lake Placid High School Class of 1967 through eighth grade and graduated from Northwood School in 1967.)