Moorestown High School’s Class of 1969 held its 55th reunion at Carlucci’s Waterfront in Mount Laurel on Oct. 18, an event coordinated by alumnae Karin Cerstvik, Joanie Williams Perry and Linda Laessle Kemple, and alumnus Bob Ransom.
“They were my team on the ground in Moorestown, and it wouldn’t have happened without them,” Cerstvik said of the coordinators. “Without those folks, we wouldn’t have had a reunion. It just simply wouldn’t have materialized. I cannot thank them enough for all the help that they gave. They did it so cheerfully.
“They just jumped in and went with it.”
The reunion was a two-night event. There was a meet-and-greet at Ott’s Tavern on Oct. 17, with about 30 alumni in attendance. Those who couldn’t make the big event came to that gathering.
“It was just nice to catch up with people,” Cerstvik recalled. “And all of the social barriers that there are in high school, where certain groups of people hang out together, all those barriers are gone now, and it was really nice.”
All of the tables at Carlucci’s were set with white tablecloths and black and gold napkins for the high- school’s colors. Laessle Kemple and Williams Perry made the centerpieces, pumpkins carved out into planters for chrysanthemum plants and wrapped with gold ribbon.
Alumna Sandy Zoerner Mount made calligraphy name tags for everyone. There was also a memorial table that honored those alumni lost in the first 50 years since graduation, as well as 12 who have died in the last five. Yearbooks were also available to peruse.
“It was just an outstanding place to have a reunion or to have an event of any kind … It really was magnificent,” Cerstvik said of Carlucci’s. “Everybody was just glad to be there. We had lively conversations around all the tables, and we had a brief period where we talked about memorable experiences.”
One of those conversations memorable for Cerstvik was when a fellow graduate recalled the April 1968 day that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
“All of the African American students walked out as a gesture of solidarity, and that was very radical, because you just didn’t do stuff like that,” she added of the era in which King died. “But I remember it so clearly … I remember I was in history class when we heard the announcement and I remember all the students that left.
“But it was just a very emotional experience,” Cerstvik added, “and that was one of the memorable things that he (the fellow graduate) had to share with us.”
All in all, the reunion was a success. Cerstvik’s advice for current high-school students? Get your education no matter what it is you want to do. Don’t want to attend college? Don’t stress.
“If college isn’t for you, go to a trade school,” she advised. “There are careers that are lucrative that don’t require a college education. When you think about skilled trades, those are every bit as viable as a college education, because lots of times, it’s hard to get a job with a college diploma.
“It doesn’t guarantee you like it did 50 years ago.”
