Here's a recap of our 2010 Boston Reunion for the 1969-70 Vienna Group - our FIRST Reunion in 40 years! We had a wonderful time and hope to see each other again. (By the Way, I deleted the previous one which had 53 views because it was incomplete; not all the slides loaded.) Keep in touch!

1. The 1969-70 IES Vienna Group 40 th Anniversary 2010 Boston Reunion © 2011 Copyright Lily Mazurek

3. It all started when Lily traveled from Florida to visit Marcy in Boston in August of 2009….a reunion after 30+ years…Among other things, the former roomies went to a concert at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA, a favorite concert spot for both…hmmm, thought Lily as she saw Strauss on the following summer’s concert roster a week or so later…might be a good occasion for a reunion, eh?

7. Then in the afternoon we received a phone call that Paul DeStefano, who had just come all the way from California, had an emergency and sadly had to leave right away. He came to say goodbye to us at the hotel and rushed off to the airport…. We missed you Paul….! We originally had about 20 people coming… numbers dwindled during the last 2 days to 11. But we knew it would still be a wonderful reunion. It just had THAT feeling to it.

12. Terry O’Donnell won money several times in Lottery scratch offs and paid for group cab fares and drinks a few times…talk about the luck of the Irish! Thanks Terry!

13. We also had an anonymous donor from our group who covered our entire drink tab for the formal dinner for Saturday. We came to call this person the Beverage Benefactor. A big THANK YOU from all of us! We lift a glass to your kindness and generosity!

15. 1969…with Laurie, Mike, and Lily 2010…as reenacted by Karen, Mike, and Lily

16. It was good food, good company, good stories, good service…a wonderful evening. In attendance were… L to R: Karen Schmuckli Booth, Lily Mazurek, Mike Mullane, Virginia Meagher, Henry McCarthy, Julie Sygiel (Virginia’s daughter), Barbara-Anne Steegmuller Johnson, Marcy Murninghan, Terry O’Donnell (absent from photo)

17. Henry and Barbara-Anne look at some of the memorabilia that was passed around…lots of memories restored…

18. A special moment with Daughter and Mom… Julie and Virginia…

19. and a great shot of Julie and Karen…sporting the Mardi Gras beads of course…

20. Henry also told us about how he and his family survived Hurricane Katrina while living in New Orleans….

21. Let’s see that happy group once again….

22. The next morning Barbara-Anne, Terry, Virginia, Karen and Lily had breakfast next to the hotel at the Elephant & The Castle… Saturday, July 24, 2010

23. Then, for the 5 hardy mateys that were left, it was off to Boston Harbor … L to R: Terry O’Donnell, Virginia Meagher, Lily Mazurek, Barbara-Anne Steegmuller Johnson, Karen Schmuckli Booth

24. Cruisin’…

26. … on our way…

27. … to see Old Ironsides…

28. Land ahoy….

29. Naval Museum

30. Ship ahoy, mateys!

31. And there she was…what a beauty! USS Constitution: Old Ironsides

32. Captain Who? is steering this ship…??

33. And the story goes that she was called Old Ironsides because…

34. she seemed impervious….

35. to cannonballs…

36. The “four graces” had lunch afterwards at the popular Jacob Wirth restaurant, known for its beer, schnitzel & atmosphere… From L to R: Lily, Karen, Barbara-Anne, Virginia… The saying above the bar, “Suum Cuique” indicates “To Each His Own”…and we certainly did….

37. In the evening it was off to the “castle” as we called it: Smith & Wollensky’s restaurant.

38. A few more IES alumni joined us and a grand time was had by all… From L to R: Terry O’Donnell, John Meissner, Henry McCarthy, Lily Mazurek, Karen Schmuckli Booth, Marcy Murninghan, Mike Mullane, Rosemary Mullane (Mike’s daughter), Barbara-Anne Steegmuller Johnson, Virginia Meagher, Tom Finnerty.

39. Lily gave a speech thanking all who came and all who assisted with the reunion and calling us a “tribe”… we certainly felt like one.

40. Virginia led us in singing “Edelweiss”…and Henry sang a solo of “O Tannenbaum”… the patrons didn’t know what hit them, I’m sure, but they broke out in applause for our musicale…

41. Some special moments from our reunion dinner…

42. And some more posing for posterity…

43. with smiling faces….

46. deep discussions…

48. and of course, the grand finale!

49. While some of us were busy checking out other watering holes afterwards…others were at the hotel dealing with a fire, smoke, and evacuation…

50. Sunday, July 25, 2010 Everyone left town by Sunday so it was a lovely day for the two reunion planners to just kick back and relax….

51. So we did a little cultural sightseeing… at the Institute for Contemporary Art, on the waterfront…

52. And had some lunch at the Barking Crab…

53. And what happened to the Tanglewood plan, you say?