RHS Class of 1984 Reunites

When the class of 1984 graduated from Ridgewood High School, Bruce Springsteen was playing at Giants Stadium, preppy was in, and the incumbent governor was readying to run again. Sound familiar? 

Nonetheless, 25 years have passed, and the RHS class of 1984 will gather again at its reunion this weekend.

Events include a Friday night party from 8 p.m. until midnight at the Elks Lodge that is open to all alumni. This event is casual, and invites classmates to “grab your friends from the old days and come boogie down the '80s music.”

Saturday features an 11:30 a.m. tour of the high school led by current students, which will be followed by a football game. RHS hosts Paterson’s Eastside High School, and the class of 1984 has a block of seats set aside.

The reunion dinner will follow football; it takes place at Biagio’s Restaurant in Paramus at 7 p.m. As a special treat, the class of 1984 will view a DVD of high school highlights—a reminder that, while some aspects of Ridgewood life are unchanged, time has passed for the graduates. And out of the archives will come a recently-discovered video of graduation, thanks to Barbara Ferolito-Haglid's father, now converted to DVDs that members of the class can purchase.

The class of 1984 hopes to raise funds for a gift to RHS. To that end, sweatshirts and T-shirts are available. The reunion committee includes Rich and Lindsey Dittrick Barclay, Kelly Kennedy Coakley, Kathleen Cummings Moran, Nancy Conheeney Tarleton, Noah Michael Gresham, Rob Davis, and Mary Beth Murphy Seibel. 

Of course, the committee knows that the real draw is the classmates. Rob Davis, who moved back to Ridgewood in April of this year, dedicated his efforts to finding classmates and current contact information. 

"Facebook and Google helped me find a number of our classmates," Davis says. "Often, when I found one person, that would lead me to another."

Personally, he looks forward to reliving memories and reminiscing a bit. "I  have had the chance to connect with people I haven't talked to or seen in years," he says. "The electronic media opened up the possibility of finding people, and it reminded me of what we share."

Attendees are likely to see changes in the village of Ridgewood. Sealfons, a small department store at the corner of Ridgewood and Maple Avenues, employed countless high school students, including a dozen members of the class of 1984. Friendly's, now long gone, was a favorite late-night stop.

Still, Davis says, "The town feels homey." He points out that the reunion is "a fun time to get reacquainted," but there's more to it.

"Most of us," reflects Davis, "felt fortunate to grow up when and where we did, and the reunion is a good chance to remember that."