50th High School Reunions & Fossils

Sometimes life will send us to unexpected places.  I recently received an email from some entity who claimed to have gone to high school with me.  I recognized the name, but being the overtly paranoid soul that I am, I was sure it was a scam.  So, I decided to perform my own forensic due diligence, and miraculously, when I eventually clicked on the link, my laptop didn’t erupt into a flaming mess.

The last time I had seen this person, he was streaking across the quad during our senior year.  He informed me that we had a 50th Pascack Hills High School reunion coming up shortly. There are two people that I still see with from high school.  One of my concerns was that people would approach me and I’d look back at them confused, as if I had dementia, which my wife says can’t be too far away.   (Note: latest science says only 30% of your dementia destiny is tied to your genes. 70% is tied to how well you take care of yourself.  So get those walks in and have a salad!)  

The morning of the reunion, they had scheduled a tour of the high school and then a lunch.  I thought they were joking.  I told them that in my current state, I could either do the morning/lunch events or the main evening event.  My tank no longer holds enough fuel to do both.  Notice I say fuel, not gas.

So, it’s now three days before the reunion, and I’m signed up for what has the potential to turn out to be a magnificently awkward evening.  With that, our daughter finally received her summer wedding photos.  She emailed them to me – great!  I was amazed.  I could not figure out how they got ahold of a picture of my grandfather and had him walking my daughter down the aisle.  A commensurate amount of sobbing ensued. 

During the reunion people were commenting to me, “What, no wife, or did you get a hall pass?”  I told them it was not a problem.  As I was driving away, I looked back at the front window of our house, and could see my wife doing cartwheels in the living room. When all was said and done, outside of not being able to lie to anyone about my age, I actually had a very good time at the reunion.  My famous wrestling coach, Bucky Rehain showed up. On his birthdays, he does his age in pushups.  The last one was 82…so I hate him. I could do that too; it would just take me a couple of weeks to complete.   In the end, I’m pretty sure I was coherent the whole night and I drank a lot coffee which kept my spirits high.

Ten days after my high school reunion, I made a trip down to Glassboro, NJ and connected with three close friends at our college for a mini 46th reunion.  Back when we were enrolled, it was Glassboro State College.  Then in 1992, Henry Rowan donated a $100 million to the college.  This gift created a juggernaut that propelled the college into becoming a diverse, outstanding University.  Rowan University is a great example of what millions of donation dollars can do, “IF” it is used wisely.  We got a very personalized tour that not only impressed the bejabbers out of me, but also left me quite jealous.  Long gone are the days when breaded mystery meat, aka New Hampshire, was the main dish at the dining hall. Now, with all the choices they have, the students might as well be at Epcot in Disney World. 

Having parked our cars at the hotel, a new Marriott, we toured the town in the evening.  When we were students back in the 70s, the town was a…let’s just say there was no reason to go there.  But now, because of the strong partnership between the university, the town, the state, and private business, extensive reconstructive surgery was performed in the downtown area, and this rebuilding continues today.  Rome wasn’t completely built in a day.  Our last stop at the end of the evening was to a massive sports bar where I was brutally reminded of how old I am.  We stayed too long, and I’m pretty sure I was overserved. 

The next day we went to the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum…of Rowan University.  Ric Edelman and his wife Jean are significant donors to the University and especially Fossil Park.  It’s about 10 minutes from the main campus, and an hour and thirty-five minutes from Bedminster.  The Park opened in May of 2025 and is run by world renown paleontologist and explorer, Dr. Ken Lacovara. (Ken went to South America and unearthed the largest, and never before found dinosaur, which he named, Dreadnoughtus…meaning “fears nothing.”  At 65 tons, it weighs more than seven T.rex.)  Ric, Jean and Ken are all graduates of Rowan University / Glassboro State College.

The Park has an area where digs are continually happening.  If you uncover a 66-million-year-old fossil, you can bring it home.  One of the exhibits in the Museum, talks about a 1000-page book on the complete history of earth.  In the book, the dinosaurs appeared with 41 pages left.  Human History, are the last five LETTERS of the book!  We’re newbies, I don’t feel so old anymore.

Dr. Lacovara also makes a point of dispelling the notion that dinosaurs were unintelligent, slow-moving, unable to adapt creatures.  Think about it, whenever a company is thought to be losing their competitive edge, they’re referred to as, “A Dinosaur Headed for Extinction.”  Now don’t get me wrong, the dinosaurs weren’t solving complex math problems, but dinosaurs existed and adapted for 165 MILLION years.  Let’s see if we can find any country or company with that kind of longevity. 

In conclusion, ‘It’s a small world, after all.’  Or is it?  The person I went to high school with, who alerted me to the reunion…for the last 25 years, we’ve lived two miles from each other and never knew it.