Jeff Chivers
It's been fun reading everyone’s comments and reflections of great times we shared together at South. Brings back sooooo many memories. It's hard to believe that small, 3-year snippet of time at South had such a profound, lasting impact on our lives. Many of my fondest and most vivid memories are of those years; not to mention many of my closest, lifelong friendships having their roots at South - a real rarity in this world of superficial, fleeting relationships.
I've often wondered what’s the "glue" or "secret sauce" that has held the South High Class of 1970 together these many years in contrast to other schools and classes whose relationships have all but withered and died. I attribute it to several things: 1) The fact that we all came from pretty much the same middle class "blue collar" background, mostly free from the "have / have not" cliques apparent at other valley high schools. 2) A healthy mix of many races, cultures and ethnicities blending well together. That's not to say it was seamless or perfect, but generally we all seemed to get along exceptionally well. And 3) key people from our class that have kept the spirit of our class alive over the years - Preston Miller's generosity in establishing and continuing to fund this "South High Class of '70" website enabling us to stay close and keep our relationships strong; Char Warr and Paul Michelsen's website contributions keeping us interested, informed and entertained; Tony Divino (and others too numerous to mention) for being a driving force behind the organization and success of our fabulous class reunions, kept fresh with the reunion videos posted on this site . . . plus the contributions of many other class members, also too numerous to list individually. I believe you'd agree the rare success of the durability of our class in no accident, but the result of a tireless labor of dedication and love.
One more thing I wanted to mention that has been close to my heart over the years, the "In Memory" section of this website with names and photos of our class members who have passed on all-to-soon. Take time to look at that page, reflect upon the friends no longer with us remembering their special contributions to our class and our lives. After all, we're all on the same bus, some of us not having arrived at our appointed stop quite yet . . .
(See Char, maybe I did belong in the “Philosopher’s Club” photo after all!!)
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