Saturday, October 8

 We are off on the bus again this morning and it is a beautiful day.  The skies are back to El Paso blue and there is a brisk fall feel to the air. The border highway is our route to El Globo Rojo, the Red Balloon, tucked into a corner of Sunland Park.  Its adobe colored walls blend seamlessly into the surrounding sand.

It's not easy to find a photo of this car museum and no photography is allowed inside but I lifted this shot from a Facebook page.  When we last visited it was cars, cars and more cars.  After a recent expansion it is now more cars, more cars, an unbelievable number of cars! All the auto enthusiasts began their trek around rows upon rows of beautifully restored and maintained vehicles while everyone else congregated in their diner style restaurant.

Jerry invited El Paso Mayor, Oscar Leeser, to address our group on the state of the city and the migrant crisis that has been in the news nationally for a while. It was a very informative talk. We learned a lot about how the busing of migrants is done and how until very recently private sector charitable organizations had cared for the migrants.

Tastey box lunches from Jersey Mike's were ferried in and enjoyed by all.

It's time to hurry back to the Paso del Norte and get ready for High Tea, another Jerry treat.  We were told to come prepared to shine in the best British tradition, wearing fascinators.  Fascinators are those little space ship hats donned by ladies as they are served tea and goodies by white gloved waiters.  Of course, spares were supplied for those who may have missed the memo.

Everyone looked wonderful, some in EPHS colors, some in vintage hats and many in toppers embellished with feathers and veils.  Our own Mad Hatter and soon-to-be EPHS Outstanding Ex, Colbert Coldwell, came suitably outfitted in his tall black top hat.

Savory sandwiches and tiny sweets arrived on three-tiered servers and tea was selected and poured to be enjoyed by all in this lovely two story room. Soothing guitar music played in the back ground.  Giant windows pour light onto the the marble walls and chandeliers.  The High Tea experience was certainly unique and memorable.  Plus, who knows when you might need to have a fascinator handy!

Our two-plus days together have surely flown by and everyone is feeling a little bittersweet getting ready for the gala evening that will close our reunion weekend. Our private banquet hall is decorated by Irene and Suzie in the traditional black and orange and Skip's slide show of previous EPHS '61 gatherings plays front and center.  Julie Ford gives the invocation over a background recording of Richie's singing.  Few knew what a rich and wonderful voice he had.  So the class president was leading us still.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner followed by a program of amusing jokes and asides taken from the critiques we filled out after our State Line dinner. There is no reunion dinner without Mike Wieland's remarks and this time he was joined by Charlie Villa.  His deadpan delivery added much to the program.  Irene gave an update on the scholarship project whose first recipients will be announced this year.

A sixty-first high school reunion is hardly a common occurrence.  The attrition of time certainly makes gatherings held later in life more difficult. But EPHS class of '61 who famously, or infamously, liked sex, booze and fun have hung together over the years.  So very many classmates strategized and planned to make this a memorable and fun occasion.  The loss of each classmate was acutely felt and memorialized.  If there is a giant yearbook in heaven we hope that those missing classmates are taking a peak at our exploits over these past few days and know that they were certainly among us once again.