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Youngstown's East High Class of 1943 marks 69-year reunion
By ELISE McKEOWN SKOLNICK
BOARDMAN
The group gathered at Johnny’s restaurant on Market Street laughed and joked as only old friends can.
And this group goes way back – they graduated from Youngstown’s East High School 69 years ago.
The class of 1943 was actually two classes. One class graduated in January, the other in June. The January class had about 114 students; the June class had 206.
Their first class reunions were at the 25-year mark, and they had others at roughly 25-year intervals. But about 10 years ago, they decided to meet annually, said Bette Fajack, coordinator of Saturday’s event. The two classes also began combining their reunions.
“We like being together, and we like seeing each other,” said Fajack, who now lives in Poland. “Every year I say, ‘Now, shall this be the last one?’ and they say, ‘Oh, no, no, no, we want another one.’”
Fajack is a member of the June class.
The school friends and their family members enjoy dinner together at the reunions. They also raffle off various prizes donated by the class members. This year, about 35 people attended.
Also included is a moment of silence for classmates who have died.
Rose D’Amore, now a resident of McDonald, attends the reunion every year. She graduated with the January class.
“I used to live in New Jersey, and I used to fly out,” she said. “I really enjoy it. And I love all of them. We’ve got wonderful people that we graduated with.”
The event is a chance to catch up with friends they haven’t seen since the last reunion, said Edrice Clark, now of Liberty. They find out things such as how many new grandchildren each has, she noted.
“It’s really fun,” she said. She is a member of the January class and has attended every reunion.
This year, her daughter, Yvette Clark-Kirksey, of Youngstown, attended with her.
“I was so excited my mom wanted me to come to her reunion,” Clark-Kirksey said.
She hasn’t attended any of her own class reunions.
“I’m really proud of my mother. She’s gone to all of hers,” she said. “So now, it’s going to motivate me to come to my next reunion.”
The group already is thinking about next year’s reunion — the 70th.