The Biltmore Plaza Hotel not only was the site of the reunion dinner dance, but also had offered special reunion rates to our classmates who were coming from out of town. With many reunion attendees staying there, the Biltmore became the center of activity.
Seen at the Biltmore
Judith Bodden, née Usher and husband Willis; Linda McCarthy-Remkes; Victoria Codd, née Day
Minerva Gordillo de Maldonado
Adrian Roe, Derick Gongora, Rodger “Rogie” Rodríguez, Stan Martínez
Arrival
When Linda checked in at the Biltmore, she was a bit perplexed not to see anyone for the reunion. The desk agent said that a couple of SJC men had checked in earlier, but there were no familiar faces in sight.
A few hour later, Linda went to the gift shop and discovered that Adrian Roe’s wife Karen was the owner—small world—Linda is a long-time friend of Karen’s sister! As she had not been back to Belize in over twenty years, Linda was excited to speak with someone she knew and asked the attendant if he would phone Karen. The attendant put the call through and Linda spoke to Karen and Elena van Leer, née Mendoza, (SCA ’69), who was staying with Adrian and Karen for the reunion.
When Linda returned to the desk, she met Minerva and her family checking in. Then came Rogie and his family. The reunion started to materialize as the hotel lobby filled with the buzz of conversations and classmates greeting one another.
At the Bar
Later in the afternoon, Linda took some time to explore the hotel and ran into Adrian and Stan outside the bar. A few seconds later, Derick joined the group and they proceeded to reminisce about their days in high school.
Hours later, Victoria and Judith & Willis stopped by after returning to the hotel from the Pallotti get-together. The larger group now had a wonderful time laughing and reliving school days. When Minerva returned from the SCA get-together, she stopped by briefly.
Planning the Programme
But the evening was not all play and no work! The group at the bar also planned the programme for the dinner-dance. Stan volunteered to be Master of Ceremonies and to give the opening remarks. Derick was elected to thank all the organizers who had worked to make the reunion a reality. Stan said that he would take some time to reminisce about school days at Saint John’s; Victoria agreed to share her memories of school days at Pallotti. (No one from SCA was present, which left a gap in the programme. To fill it, Adrian and Stan spoke to Carli the next afternoon before the Mass and asked her to say a few words about her time at Saint Catherine’s.)
Moving On
Our reunion group enjoyed themselves in the Biltmore bar until it closed for the night. After that, a few people went on to the Bellevue for one more drink and a little music. It was a warm evening and the band was playing Suavecito as they walked in. Everyone was swaying to the beat of the music.
The spontaneous get-together has been a great beginning to the reunion weekend!