Margaretville Central School All Class Reunion 2024

MARGARETVILLE - The ‘62/‘63 varsity sports team listed in the article at the Andes Hotel 

Group photo of the All Class Reunion at Union Grove Distillery in Arkville 

ARKVILLE — The Margaretville Central School (MCS) reunion would not be deterred by the torrential rain prior to the Friday evening first night of the all-class reunion at the Union Grove Distillery in Arkville. There were one hundred twenty-five people in attendance, all sharing stories of trees down, flooded roadways, and gusting wind en route to Arkville. Once people began to arrive at around 6 pm, it was a great bonding experience of generations spanning back at least sixty years. 

Josh Samuel, was on the road from Colorado on a countrywide trek in his camper and picked up a stray kitten in South Carolina along the way. Samuel was happy to show off his new friend with a group of cat lovers. Samuel, who is an accomplished chess player, enjoyed a game or two with one of his buddies. It was interesting to observe the generational gaps draw closer together as Zamyra Maxim, the youngest of the Union Grove gathering removed her hat revealing a style of frosted white streaks and lovely short-cut hair that was initially surprising to some of the older ladies, but Maxim is a charming lady who warmed up to the group immediately. 

With the Union Grove Distillery owner Brian Mulder buzzing around making everyone feel welcome, this location was the perfect kick-off to so many coming into the area, many of who have been away for some time. Gary Atkins, one of the founding members of the Margaretville Fairview Library spoke about the recent 50th anniversary of the local library with friends and brought his usual uplifting presence to the party. 

Day two of the reunion was held at the Andes Hotel which had a full day of visitors due to it being Andes Community Day. With the gathering starting at 5:00 pm, it was perfect timing as the day’s events were slowing enough for the MCS folks to find sufficient parking. The newly renovated hotel was quite a surprise for many as most of the attendees recall celebrating weddings and all sorts of gatherings in the former Yellow Room, now the Greem Room main dining area of the hotel. 

Gene Fix dressed up in a Blue Devils mascot costume and did a great job of making announcements and doing a brief session of MCS trivia. RuthAnn Funari shares her excitement of the event, “Great venue! Elucidating trivia about school history!”

 Fix announced that Ken Berger of ’52 was the most senior attendee, while Jarod Tanzer ’04 was the youngest, only because Zamyra Maxim was a late show. Everyone seemed to enjoy the very generous banquet of food provided by Derek Curl the owner of the hotel and the staff were very attentive to the needs of everyone. Mark Ladenheim of the class of ’70 came out onto the hotel porch with a couple of baseball gloves and a ball and asked Fix if he would throw the ball for a bit. After tossing the ball back and forth for a while, Ladenheim shared, “Back when I was a kid, my friends and I looked up to Gene and the older kids. We would ask them to allow us to play ball with them occasionally because we admired them so much.” Seven of the ‘62/’63 varsity sports team members including John Huggins, Gary Atkins, Denny Conklin, George Vining, Doug DeSilva, Doug Hinkley, and Gene Fix came together out on the porch together like old times to pose for a photo. 

Marilyn Vining shared, “It was wonderful all being together at the Union Grove and the Andes Hotel. The fireworks at the Andes Hotel were incredible and the alcohol was good, too!” 

“I came with my brother and sister.  We all had such fun being together at this amazing event” expressed by Kim Wagner Bohan. 

It took months of planning as Kam Storey was one of the many people assisting in putting this weekend together with very thoughtful and careful consideration. Storey’s graduating class has been dedicated to staying in touch with each other as she reveals, “The Class of ‘68 has a class reunion every year and we have stayed very close. This year we also attended the alumni reunion.  We hope we spread our excitement and school pride to the many other classes we spent this past weekend together.  It was exhilarating to share stories and remembrances with all who attended. Catching up, laughing, remembering those we have lost, and best of all, creating new memories! What a great time the ‘68 gang had!”

The Lawrence sisters ’68 and ’70, “Well planned, a wonderful time with old friends and made some new friends! Let’s do it, again.” 

We’re going to give the youngest of them the last word. Zamyra Maxim who is a local celebrity radio host on WIOX Roxbury Radio, “How cool it was to see so many generations of MCS alumni all together.”