Monroe Elementary School Old Timers Gather for Reunion

What seemed unimaginable nearly six decades ago as graduates of Monroe Elementary School said goodbye and moved on with their life's journey happened again on Sunday, when more than 200 alumni returned home their 17th bi-annual reunion, held at Roberto's Restaurant.

The former classmates reminisced about the good old days, glancing back at the town they all remember so fondly. While some alumni traveled from as far as Idaho, others came from much closer distances like Shelton and Easton.

However, Bernie Sippin, 81, a 1944 graduate of the elementary school has never left.

Sippin is a member of the Monroe and Stepney Old Timers Club, which coordinated the event. He said the concept of having a class reunion started in 1994 to celebrate his class's 50^th anniversary.

The first reunion took place at the Harmony Grange at the intersection of Route 110 and 111 with approximately 30 people. From that point forward, the group has continued to meet in the fall every two years and kept growing in size, incorporating the graduating classes from 1935 through 1950.

"Many of the people here are in their 80's and 90's," Sippin said. "What started as a small group has turned into many, many old friends getting together."

Back in 1940's Monroe was a farming community with a population of approximately 2,000 people, Franklin Deleano Roosevelt was president and the country was engaged in World War II, the war to end all wars.

During the four-hour event Sunday alumni reminisced about old times recalling the stories of their lives and sharing photos of their children and grandchildren with their classmates.

Sippin joked with friends about enjoying third grade so much he did it twice and about tipping over outhouses on Halloween.

"It was all a lot of innocent fun back then," he said.     

Robert Pistey, a 1944 graduate who grew up in Stevenson, has attended several reunions and said he remembers a much simpler town and cannot believe how much it has grown.

"There are just so many houses and streets now," he said. "It was not like this at all back then."  

Old friends Connie Stevens-Beardsley and Gloria Mix spent several moments looking at pictures of former classmates strewn about a long table in the reception hall.

Beardsley, another 1944 graduate of the elementary school, said she could not believe the growth in town, noting back in her day there weren't any banks or pizza places.

Beardsley added that with so many people living in town, Monroe has become overcrowded and yet it seems to have lost the closeness neighbors once had with each other.

"Everyone knew each other and it seemed more like a family," she said. "Everyone got along."

Mix, a 1940 graduate who lived on a section of Old Tannery Road that was later renamed Walnut Street, said that the reunion was filled with numerous old friends and plenty of good times.

"All of what we remember has changed, but we still keep those memories in our heads," she said.