SCA Girls’ Nite Out

The SCA Class of ’69 reunion started with an informal get-together on Friday evening. Joyce had graciously offered to host the gathering at her house.

Camila Valencia, née Espejo; Carli Scott; Christine Heusner Robinson; Eloisa Bradley; Ester Heusner, née Hernández; Gloria Saldano, née Atkins; Ina Retreage, née Boyd; Ivy Leslie-Blease; Jennifer Neal, née Brown; Joyce Perdomo, née Gough; Lydia Balderamos Loskot; María Scott, née Villanueva; Minerva Gordillo de Maldonado; Rita Stuart, née Young; Rosilia Ordóñez, née Vega; Ruby Vásquez; Veronica Jones, née Usher.

Two guests were Minerva’s sister, Betty Gordillo (SCA class of ’71), and Christine’s friend, Lorraine Pinnock.

Arrival

The last reunion announcement we received had hinted at party games and we were not quite sure what to expect. The first game of the evening, Name That Classmate, wasn’t planned, but developed spontaneously. As each guest arrived, all those already in the room would look at her and try to identify her. If we recognized her, we would smile quietly and look around to see who was still trying to figure out who she was.

In the mean time, the new arrival went around to each person already at the party to greet her and (sometimes more of a challenge) to identify her. Some of the early arrivals were stumped when they came to one particular guest, and with good reason—she wasn’t a long, lost classmate, after all. She was Christine’s friend Lorraine, a nurse who lives in New York. Lorraine is originally from Jamaica and was visiting Belize for the first time. We decided that having Lorraine as a "mystery guest" made the game more interesting and we agreed not to tell who she was until each new arrival had tried to recognize her.

As more guests arrived, the game became more fun and the room filled with laughter. When a new guest couldn’t put a name to a face, we’d first give her the class address list. Sometimes she would find a forgotten name and immediately know that’s who she was looking at. If the address list didn’t do the trick, the "contestant" would look at the Caribe ’69 yearbook and try to find a 30-year-younger version of the same face. The only time the yearbook failed was with Lorraine. After a while, someone would take pity and explain that Lorraine wasn’t a classmate. When Ivy arrived, she made her way around the room, recognizing and hugging each classmate. When she reached Lorraine, she said with no hesitation, "I’m not sure who you are, but I’ll give you a hug anyway!"

When Minerva arrived with her sister Betty, she presented us each with a little gift, beautifully wrapped in blue and silver. Each present was a lovely silver-colored ornament in the shape of a sun; our suns will be lasting mementos of a happy reunion.

Renewing Friendships

We passed the evening reminiscing about old times, looking at photographs of our school days and flipping through our yearbook. Joyce and María had photos that many of us had never seen of our class trip to Chetumal, Mérida, and Chichén-Itzá. Joyce had a collection of other memorabilia, such as a program from our graduation and programs from a couple school plays—Androcles and the Lion and a joint production of Brigadoon with PHS and SJC. It was great fun to read through the names on the various drama committees.

We also spent time hearing what our various classmates have been doing in the last 30 years, sharing family photos of husbands and children who couldn’t attend the festivities, and most important, finding out that we still enjoy being with friends from long ago.

Refreshments

We had come to the party expecting only light snacks and were pleasantly surprised and impressed with the lavish array of food and drink awaiting us. Hors d’oeuvres, including some wonderful chicken puffs that Eloisa had made, circulated while guests arrived. In addition to a wide selection of soft drinks, Joyce served us luscious "panty-rippers" (coconut rum & pineapple juice) that her husband Myito prepared. At dinner time, we were treated to equally delicious tamales that Joyce had ordered and garnaches that she made.

The main dishes were so good that is was difficult to save room for the tempting desserts waiting on the counter. We managed to finish most of a great sweet-potato pudding; a chocolate cake remained untouched until later in the evening when it was served on paper plates that guests could take home.

Games

Veronica had prepared the party games. She passed around a bag from which we each drew a slip of paper. Each slip had a question on it. When everyone had picked a question, each classmate took a turn to read her question aloud and answer it.

Clearly a lot of time and thought had gone into the questions. They ranged from questions about school:

• Did you take a cooking class in high school?
• Did you ever dissect an animal in high school?

To questions about social life:

• When did you go on your first date?
• Did you go to our senior year Valentine’s Day dance? Who did you take?

To requests for performance:

• Sing La Bamba.
• Dance an Irish jig.

To requests for opinions:

• Who was the most popular boy at SJC during our high school days?

The questions and their answers all generated a lot of discussion, reminiscing, and laughter.

The second game is best described as a strip-tease by Joyce. (I guess you had to be there. For those who weren’t, I’ll leave you guessing…)

Visitor

Since this was the beginning of a joint reunion weekend, it was fitting that we had a visitor from the SJC Class of ’69. Roy Young dropped by to see what was going on. He introduced himself and looked around the room, searching for a familiar face. Finding himself confronted with a room filled with cackling women, however, he quickly bid us farewell and left.

Discussion

As the evening progressed, the party (or the party-goers) got a little more lively. Many of us remember Rita as outspoken and entertaining in high school; time has not changed her. One of the highlights of the evening was Rita regaling us with her views on the delights of sex after age 40.

Parting

At the end of party, we said our goodbyes, thrilled by a wonderful beginning to the reunion weekend and looking forward to the reunion activities that lay ahead.