It is with great sadness 

that the 40-Year Class of 1970 Reunion 

has been cancelled due to lack of interest/attendance. 

We did not come close to the guaranteed amount needed.
If you sent in a check it will be refunded to you shortly. 

Jim

 

 

Missing Classmates 1970

If you have any information on the following classmates, 

please e-mail Jimmy Paul .

Frank Colonna----Charlotte Henkle----Rochelle Kapla----David Noack----Joseph O'Connor----Joseph Tornatore

 

 

New CD released by our classmate Steve Grecco Jr.

featuring the track upon opening this site

"THERE  IS  ALWAYS  TOMORROW"

Check it out, listen to the other tracks on his website

Golden Mane Music

or at

CD Baby

 

 

 

Articles written about the Lodi High School Alumni Team

 

By HEATHER KAYS
HERALD NEWS 

8/23/2004

LODI - Always looking for an excuse to throw a party, members of the Lodi High School Alumni Association have found a way to help others at the same time.

 

For the fourth consecutive year, the association has raised thousands of dollars to benefit Special Olympics New York through its Million Dollar Duck Race. This year, more than $5,000 has been raised for the non-profit organization, which provides sports training and competition for children and adults with mental retardation. During the first two years the association participated, it collected so much money that Special Olympics New York threw a cocktail party for 350 Lodi graduates.

 

"It gives us another reason to get together," said Carrie Weber Hook, a member of the Class of 1973.

 

Hook and Jill Schmidig D'Onofrio, a lifelong borough resident and a member of the Class of 1976, organize the alumni association's two or three annual gatherings.

 

Hook, a mother of two and an administrative assistant, created a Web site for her former classmates to keep in touch. She now lives in Saddle Brook but is married to her high school sweetheart, Bob, and remains in contact with many of her former classmates.

 

In 2001, Hook added a place on the Web site to click on a yellow duck and make a $5 donation to Special Olympics New York.

 

This year, sending a donation enters the donor's name on one of 30,000 rubber ducks that will be dropped into the East River on Tuesday and race from the Brooklyn Bridge to Pier 17. With each entry a person is eligible to win $1 million, American Airlines tickets, or various other prizes.

 

"We do try to do something meaningful and have a party as well," said D'Onofrio, adding that the group participates in the Toys for Tots program during the holidays and established a Sept. 11 memorial fund.

 

Hook and D'Onofrio agree that the best part of Special Olympics New York is meeting the athletes and representatives during the race.

 

"They start yelling, 'Lodi's here!'Ÿ" Hook said. "It must really mean something to the athletes, that they remember us like that." 

 

During the Million Dollar Duck Race, the Lodi team has faced tough competition from such corporations and organizations as Merrill Lynch and the Knights of Columbus.

 

The group raised $4,095 in the 2001 duck race, $8,525 in 2002 and $4,425 last year. This year's proceeds have exceeded $5,000 so far, the highest amount of any team, according to Special Olympics New York's Web site.

 

Hook and D'Onofrio attribute the association's success to their close-knit borough.

 

"We have always had great school spirit and have been able to band together for a good cause," D'Onofrio said.

 

For more information or to adopt a duck, visit www.specialolympicsNY.org or call (212) 490-1062.

 

Email: kays@northjersey.com

 

 

August 13, 2004

Lodi High School Alumni Get Quacky Over Special Olympics
Former classmates join together to raise thousands for the Million Dollar Duck Race.

NEW YORK – For the past three years alumni from Lodi High School in Lodi, NJ have banded together to raise more than $17,000 for Special Olympics New York (SONY) through the non-profit’s Million Dollar Duck Race. This year’s race takes place Aug. 24 at the South Street Seaport and Lodi has already raised $4,500 more.

“Everyone loves a party!” said alumnus Carrie Hook, class of ’73. That was the main reason the group first took on the challenge of raising money for Special Olympics New York. The prize for the team that raises the most through duck adoptions is a catered party at the South Street Seaport. And Lodi alumni are always looking for an excuse to get together.

Hook and Jill Schmidig D’Onofrio, class of ’76, run a Web site that keeps classmates from Lodi connected. They send out e-mail updates, organizes reunions and posts photos. After hearing about the race from a fellow alumnus who worked for Special Olympics, Hook and D’Onofrio posted the event on the site and started soliciting other alumni through e-mail. It worked. After a battle to the end with another team, Lodi’s team pulled out a victory raising nearly $5,000 and winning the party at the Seaport.

The second year the team doubled the funds raised and won the party once again. But Hook and her classmates know that it’s not just about winning the party.

“I can't tell you what a surprise it was the second year we arrived at the duck race and one of the Special Olympics athletes yelled out, ‘Lodi is Here! Hey everyone Lodi is here!’” Hook said. “He thanked us all night long and we realized why we were really doing this – for the athletes.”

Last year the Lodi team lost out to a corporate team from Merrill Lynch but because of a rule change this year, corporations and community-based teams compete in separate categories and can each win a party. And Lodi is looking to recapture their crown.

“Lodi High School is an unbelievable group of people,” Hook said. “We pull together and stick together. Our enthusiasm is unstoppable.”

This year 30,000 rubber ducks will race in the East River from the Brooklyn Bridge to Pier 17. For a $5 donation, a little rubber racing duck will be adopted in your name. You can adopt a duck online at www.specialolympicsNY.org or by calling 212-490-1062. Corporations, groups of friends, or families may join a team online and invite others to participate through e-mail.

The Million Dollar Duck Race is presented by The New York Lottery. Sponsors include NYSUT American Airlines, OppenheimerFunds, Merrill Lynch, Amtrak, Daily News, Time Warner Cable, WABC-TV, New York Sports Clubs and the South Street Seaport Museum.

Special Olympics New York provides year-round sports training and competition in a variety of Olympic-style sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities at no cost to the athletes or their families.

For more information, visit www.specialolympicsNY.org, or call Doreen Hand, associate director of public relations, at 212-661-3963, or e-mail dhand@nyso.org.