Kathy Au Crosier
In 1968 if anyone had asked me what I would be doing in 2018, 50 years after graduation, the absolute last thing I would have imagined was that I would be standing up here and giving a speech!
After all, if you look in our Ceralbus, you’ll find that I was named the shyest girl in our class! I was so self-conscious that I never wanted to raise my hand, even when I knew the answer.
Some of us have wonderful memories of our high school years. One of my favorite memories was accompanying the choirs under Mr. Regnal Hall. When the Burbank High administration found out I played the organ, I ended up playing the Alma Mater at every assembly.
Yet for others high school was a time of pain and uncertainty. I have a horrible memory of playing the processional for Baccalaureate and learned the hard way that my music wasn’t long enough for 630 people to march into the Starlight Bowl! I played the same piece over and over and over—I think I stopped counting after about 50 times!
Some people were popular and others were wallflowers like me.
But here we are, and I have somehow become the lightning rod for connecting all of us through the blog and the website.
The real miracle is that we are all here 50 years later and that WE ARE SURVIVORS.
school reunion, We are never sure in life what may happen in the future, but I love being in the present, and that means embracing the past, and looking forward to the future, and maybe finding a few old friendships along the way.
After tonight is over, I will continue to maintain the website and blog, so this is a reminder to please fill out the Reunion Questionnaire so everyone can find out what you’ve been doing for the last 50 years.
At this time I would like to recognize some special members of our class, people who have come a LONG way—please stand up as I call your name.
(and please give me a call if you ever come to Hawaii!)
Susan Parker Easley, Milton, FL, 2,094 miles away<
Please stand if you have been married 50 years or more.
Kathy O’Rell Schaedler and Gary Schaedler ‘65 married in December the same year.
Now, will all the couples who have been married 45 years please stand? Next, if you have been married 40 years? How about 35? And lastly, all those who have been married for 30 years? [Editor’s Note: The vast majority of people in the room had been married at least 30 years or more. Congratulations!]
Who has the most children? Anyone have five or more?
How about grandchildren? Anyone have ten or more?
Anyone have Great-Grandchildren?
At this time I would like to call up Tom Tanksley, who has come to the reunion from Las Vegas. Tom is offering ten hardback copies of his novel, Tainted Visions. He calls it fast-paced but complex women’s historical fiction, with themes of real world survival and a touch of sexual harassment. Tom has spent the last thirty+plus years as a civil litigation attorney and mediator. He opened his own office in 1998, but prior to that he was involved in many cases, trials and appeals including multi-million dollar matters covered on the pages of Las Vegas newspapers.
Thank you. I will now turn things over to Sallie Shelton Thomas who will recognize other members of the Reunion Committee.
Burbank High Class of 1968 
[…] — we sincerely appreciate all you have done to make this evening possible. [Editor’s Note: Click here to view a copy of Kathy’s speech. She was notified TWO DAYS before the reunion that she would […]
Lovely speech, Kathy. It looks like you all made a magnificent effort on this event, and it looks like everyone had a great time.
[…] For the last week, my focus has been totally unmusical — I was in Burbank, California, attending the 50th anniversary of my high school graduation, the Class of 1968. As I was unwittingly a key member of the Reunion Committee, I was asked to give a short speech at the banquet—on two days’ notice! Fifty years ago, this would have thrown me into a tizzy. However, I am glad to report that the speech and the entire weekend was a complete and smashing success. (If you’d care to see a copy of my speech, click here.) […]
[…] If anyone has asked – Kathy Au Crosier’s speech […]