Class of 1991 Grads Say 20 Years "Just Like Yesterday"

After months of planning and alumni searches, more than 80 graduates of class of 1991 gathered at West Lake Inn in Patchogue for their 20-year reunion.

The reunion committee was comprised of four friends who greeted their former classmates as they arrived at the reunion event. They said Facebook made the planning process run much more smoothly because it allowed them to easily contact members of their class.

Committee member Nicole Amico Boekel said the planning wasn't easy, but she was excited to see her graduating class after two decades.

“As stressful as it was planning it, getting to see everyone is the best part of it. You see friends you haven't seen in 20 years,” she said.

Fellow committee member Christine Ranone Leigh-Manuell said she was so excited to see everyone.

“It’s been a long time," she said.

As Kara Wojciaczyk Hirsch checked in classmate Dan Jamison, she said, “We love seeing everybody as they are walking in. Seeing how everybody changed and yet so many people look exactly the same. 

Jamison agreed, "We are having fun, it’s awesome," he said.

The class of 1991 went back in time with music from the DJ, and that wasn't the only flashback of the evening. There were large photographs from their senior year spread around the room and a picture slideshow continuously flashed old photos from alumni onto a screen.  The reunion committee made a short speech thanking their classmates for coming. They also acknowledged Chris Mugavero who was unable to attend because he is currently serving in Iraq.

Class of 1991 member Jason Brunner summed up his 20-year reunion.

“It does not feel like it was that long ago. During high school you spend so much time together with certain people, going through probably the hardest times of your life. It's just funny, you know these people so well even though you have not seen them in 20 years.”