Bringing the Class of 1978 together

When Lawrence High School Class of 1978 alumnus Randy Lawrence attended his 30th high school reunion at Mother Kelly’s in Cedarhurst three years ago, he was frustrated to see no more than 100 out of the 685 of his former classmates there, especially since his class was the largest class to graduate from the high school.

Lawrence, a current Boca Raton, Fla. resident, found out that the reunion committee had not been actively looking or contacting former classmates. He then asked the committee if he could take over and according to him, after no dispute, he began searching for classmates who he had never been to a reunion.

“I felt like an injustice had been done since some people had never been contacted for a reunion before,” said Lawrence, who is planning an Aug. 6 reunion. “I thought if I could get all these people in one room, it would be very special for all those involved and bring me back to that happy place from my childhood.”

Michael DeRosa, an Inwood chiropractor and member of the Class of 1978, decided to help Lawrence with the reunion planning as many of his former classmates and their family pass through his office. “My job is to try and contact people and make them aware of the reunion,” he said. “I get the satisfaction of hoping somebody will come out who probably wouldn’t of.”

Lawrence decided to make the reunion more special by inviting former teachers and principals to the reunion since many of his former classmates still raved about the impact their teachers had. When he asked his former classmates where they would like to have the next reunion, according to Lawrence, 80 percent of the 300 classmates he had found wanted to have it on Long Island.

“We’ve always had our reunions at home because there’s something about coming home,” he said. “Even if someone now lives in Canada, they come back (to the Five Towns) because they spend time driving to their old house, where they used to hang out and take a drive down memory lane.”