50 years and counting - Smiles and Solemnity

I'm just back from Star Lake, NY, a small and easily overlooked place on the forgotten western fringe of the great Adirondack wilderness. On the fair night of June 26, 1961 forty-seven of us graduated from Clifton-Fine Central High School. Last week we celebrated the 50th anniversary of that event. Since our graduation, nine have gone on to their eternal rewards. The attachment to us survivors remains strong, however, and about 20 of us attended reunion events in Cranberry Lake or Star Lake.

We were the largest class ever produced by our community,  and we benefited from a time of great local prosperity and promise. The intervening years have not been kind to the community, but we can look back fondly on the best of those good times.

Thanks to classmate Gary Peterson for sharing this photo, made at one of the events.