Reunited and it feels so good
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There was laughing, hugs and kisses and everyone was happy to see each other – just the kind of reaction expected when friends have been apart for at least 10 years.
Former graduates of the now defunct Jenkins Township High School held their second all-class reunion on Sept. 20 at the Jenkins Township Volunteer Hose Company with more than 190 people in attendance. The first reunion was held in 2004.
“This is a gathering of Jenkins Township Purple Riders,” said 1957 graduate and reunion committee member Michael Jordan. “There is no formal program, there is no primary speaker other than a greeting to the Purple Riders. Basically, it’s just an evening for us to renew old friendships and begin new friendships.”
To call oneself a Purple Rider is a rare thing today. The Jenkins Township High School first opened in 1912 and its first graduating class consisted of five girls and two boys. The school was open for 50 years before merging with Northeast High School in 1962, and eventually merging into Pittston Area High School three years after that.
The graduating classes were not very big, according to Jordan, saying that it helped students get to know each other better.
“The graduating classes through the 1950s averaged 50-53 students and they were broken down into two sections,” said Jordan. “Basically, in your class there were about 25 students, so you really got to know each other very well.”
It was not just graduates attending the reunion with the spouses, but also with immediate family members who were also graduates of Jenkins Township High School.
Sisters Antoinette Tozzi-Himlin, a member of the Class of 1962, and Gloria Tozzi, of the Class of 1965, were once Jenkins Township Purple Riders.
Tozzi-Himlin was ecstatic to be around old friends again, admitting that some of them definitely look different than they did in high school.
“I haven’t seen a lot of these people in a long time,” said Tozzi-Himlin. “I recognize some of them, but not all of them.”
A lot can happen over the years, but Tozzi said that age hasn’t impacted her former classmates and fellow Purple Riders one bit and that everyone is still has sharp as ever.
“They all look pretty good, let’s put it that way,” said Tozzi. “I didn’t think they’d be in the shape they’re in, but they all look pretty good and just terrific. They’re all still pretty sharp there, too, with their minds.”
Classmates came from far and wide to attend the reunion, including Jack Farrell, Class of 1956, who now lives in Florida, but returned to the area specifically for the reunion.
Farrell played football for the Purple Riders and recalls how intense those days were.
“It was tough,” said Farrell. “You had to be tough to be on that team and we had some very good players. We didn’t go undefeated, but we played hard.”
While some in attendance have not left the area and still see classmates on a regular basis, Farrell has not seen or spoken to any classmates since he graduated.
Now living much further away, he does his best to keep up with the happenings of the Greater Pittston Area, but his return for the reunion was made much sweeter seeing so many people he once knew.
“It’s a big deal for me because we we don’t live around the area anymore,” said Farrell. “I read the Dispatch all the time because we have it sent to us and sometimes I read about different things and I’m thinking ‘Well, maybe I should be there,’ but it’s tough because I can’t come for everything. I enjoy reading about people that I know and that’s a big factor. I’m having a good time, and I’m glad I’m here.”
