THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAYS! Check out the Reunion Photos on the Photo Albums page.
May 17, 2025, Welcome and Convocation by Karen Blum-Paulisin at the 2025 Southfield High Class of 1974 and 1975 Block Party reunion.
Welcome to the 50-year reunion of the Southfield High School Classes of 1974 and 1975. We hope you are enjoying our Reunion weekend. Classmates and teachers have come from all over Michigan, 17 states and Canada to enjoy our Block Party Celebration.
The connections in this room go far beyond High School. Our parents were pioneers, speeding along the Mighty Lodge Freeway and ending up in the great city of Southfield.
We grew up in neighborhoods and subdivisions within the boundaries of a magnificent, growing city. Our parents posed their babies next to the newfound neighbor’s babies, relishing the bonds that such close relationships fostered.
Together we learned to walk and ride bikes. We walked to school or we stood shoulder to shoulder at bus stops, waiting for the bus to take us to school for our first day. Tears were shed, but not for long, as we were all in the same big yellow boat.
At the tender age of elementary school, we went outside to play all day with the neighborhood kids. Siblings of all ages were drinking out of the same hoses on the hottest days of summer, only to return home when the sun faded away and the streetlights came on.
In junior high we broadened our horizons, becoming friends with kids from other neighborhoods, sometimes miles away. With our new classmates, we had experiences that bonded many of us for life.
Then came the daunting day at the beginning of grade ten. Once again, side by side with our neighbors, we went off to a 3-year adventure to that huge, scary institute of higher learning, Southfield High. This was where many of us found out who we were and who we wanted to be. There were so many opportunities to learn to express ourselves.
We were growing up. We were challenged to select the right road and forge a path to adulthood. Along the way, with the same kids who were there when we rode our first two-wheeler, we sat shoulder to shoulder in the drivers’ training cars, learning to take off in a two-ton torpedo from Point A to Point B, and eventually speeding away from Southfield!
We sped away, but we carried our friends in our hearts. Over the years we have reconnected, reminiscing about our families, many of us as close to our neighbors as we were to our own parents, siblings, and cousins.
At times it seemed we would never find anyone who understood us, or knew us as well as the people we met in Southfield.
We have come together with treasured teachers, and friends who were, and still are, our long-lost families.
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.
Please bow your head or look to the heavens as we take a moment to remember our classmates and teachers who are not here, and the wonderful people we have lost along the way.
(Moment of Silence)
Thank you, God, for the opportunity to come together with our friends and loved ones to break bread and reconnect. Amen.
After dinner we will open the Blue Jay Café and the Turning Point. Then the class photos will be taken at 9:15 and 9:30 on the dance floor. Check out this evening’s schedule by the bar.
Please keep in touch. We will see you in 2030 for the 55-year reunion.
Now we will turn the mic over to the maître d’hôtel who will direct you, table by table, to the dinner buffet.
Bon appétit
May 17, 2025, Welcome and Convocation by Karen Blum-Paulisin at the 2025 Southfield High Class of 1974 and 1975 Block Party reunion.
Welcome to the 50-year reunion of the Southfield High School Classes of 1974 and 1975. We hope you are enjoying our Reunion weekend. Classmates and teachers have come from all over Michigan, 17 states and Canada to enjoy our Block Party Celebration.
The connections in this room go far beyond High School. Our parents were pioneers, speeding along the Mighty Lodge Freeway and ending up in the great city of Southfield.
We grew up in neighborhoods and subdivisions within the boundaries of a magnificent, growing city. Our parents posed their babies next to the newfound neighbor’s babies, relishing the bonds that such close relationships fostered.
Together we learned to walk and ride bikes. We walked to school or we stood shoulder to shoulder at bus stops, waiting for the bus to take us to school for our first day. Tears were shed, but not for long, as we were all in the same big yellow boat.
At the tender age of elementary school, we went outside to play all day with the neighborhood kids. Siblings of all ages were drinking out of the same hoses on the hottest days of summer, only to return home when the sun faded away and the streetlights came on.
In junior high we broadened our horizons, becoming friends with kids from other neighborhoods, sometimes miles away. With our new classmates, we had experiences that bonded many of us for life.
Then came the daunting day at the beginning of grade ten. Once again, side by side with our neighbors, we went off to a 3-year adventure to that huge, scary institute of higher learning, Southfield High. This was where many of us found out who we were and who we wanted to be. There were so many opportunities to learn to express ourselves.
We were growing up. We were challenged to select the right road and forge a path to adulthood. Along the way, with the same kids who were there when we rode our first two-wheeler, we sat shoulder to shoulder in the drivers’ training cars, learning to take off in a two-ton torpedo from Point A to Point B, and eventually speeding away from Southfield!
We sped away, but we carried our friends in our hearts. Over the years we have reconnected, reminiscing about our families, many of us as close to our neighbors as we were to our own parents, siblings, and cousins.
At times it seemed we would never find anyone who understood us, or knew us as well as the people we met in Southfield.
We have come together with treasured teachers, and friends who were, and still are, our long-lost families.
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.
Please bow your head or look to the heavens as we take a moment to remember our classmates and teachers who are not here, and the wonderful people we have lost along the way.
(Moment of Silence)
Thank you, God, for the opportunity to come together with our friends and loved ones to break bread and reconnect. Amen.
After dinner we will open the Blue Jay Café and the Turning Point. Then the class photos will be taken at 9:15 and 9:30 on the dance floor. Check out this evening’s schedule by the bar.
Please keep in touch. We will see you in 2030 for the 55-year reunion.
Now we will turn the mic over to the maître d’hôtel who will direct you, table by table, to the dinner buffet.
Bon appétit
"Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name."
Click here to play:
https://archive.org/details/tvtunes_29180
https://archive.org/details/tvtunes_29180
Southfield High Classes of 1974 and 1975 will be together again
in 2030 for their 55 Year Reunions.
Stay tuned to this website for information and
be sure to keep us up to date on your contact information!
in 2030 for their 55 Year Reunions.
Stay tuned to this website for information and
be sure to keep us up to date on your contact information!
We must keep the BlueJay alive!
Our frequent reunions remind us that we were once part of something great!
Southfield High School is now called
Southfield High School For the Arts and Technology.
Their colors are Red, White and Blue and their mascot is the Warrior!
Many classes of BlueJays passed through those halls.
Come to our next reunion and enjoy each other's company.
Talk about old times and catch up on the new things.
We all were each other's neighbors.
So many memories, so many people to hug!
Our frequent reunions remind us that we were once part of something great!
Southfield High School is now called
Southfield High School For the Arts and Technology.
Their colors are Red, White and Blue and their mascot is the Warrior!
Many classes of BlueJays passed through those halls.
Come to our next reunion and enjoy each other's company.
Talk about old times and catch up on the new things.
We all were each other's neighbors.
So many memories, so many people to hug!
I didn’t write this; a friend shared it:
"Barely the day started and it's already six in the evening.
Barely arrived on Monday and it's already Friday.
.. and the month is already over.
.. and the year is almost over.
.. and already 40, 50 or 60 years
of our lives have passed.
.. and we realize that we lost
our parents, friends.
.. and we realize it's too late
to go back.
So.. Let's try, despite everything, to enjoy the remaining time.
Let's keep looking for activities that we like.
Let's put some color in our grey.
Let's smile at the little things in life that put balm in our hearts.
And despite everything, we must continue to enjoy with serenity this time we have left.
Let's try to eliminate the afters..
I'm doing it after.
I'll say after.
I'll think about it after.
We leave everything for later like ′′ after ′′ is ours.
Because what we don't
understand is that:
Afterwards, the coffee gets cold.
afterwards, priorities change.
Afterwards, the charm is broken.
Afterwards, health passes.
Afterwards, the kids grow up.
Afterwards parents get old.
Afterwards, promises are forgotten.
Afterwards, the day becomes the night.
Afterwards, life ends.
And then it's often too late.
So.. Let's leave nothing for later.
Because still waiting to see later, we can lose the best moments, the best experiences, best friends, the best family.
The day is today. The moment is now.
We are no longer at the age where we can afford to postpone what needs to be done right away."
It Looks Like An Eternity,
But It's A Short Trip,
Enjoy Life And Always
Be Kind.
Barely arrived on Monday and it's already Friday.
.. and the month is already over.
.. and the year is almost over.
.. and already 40, 50 or 60 years
of our lives have passed.
.. and we realize that we lost
our parents, friends.
.. and we realize it's too late
to go back.
So.. Let's try, despite everything, to enjoy the remaining time.
Let's keep looking for activities that we like.
Let's put some color in our grey.
Let's smile at the little things in life that put balm in our hearts.
And despite everything, we must continue to enjoy with serenity this time we have left.
Let's try to eliminate the afters..
I'm doing it after.
I'll say after.
I'll think about it after.
We leave everything for later like ′′ after ′′ is ours.
Because what we don't
understand is that:
Afterwards, the coffee gets cold.
afterwards, priorities change.
Afterwards, the charm is broken.
Afterwards, health passes.
Afterwards, the kids grow up.
Afterwards parents get old.
Afterwards, promises are forgotten.
Afterwards, the day becomes the night.
Afterwards, life ends.
And then it's often too late.
So.. Let's leave nothing for later.
Because still waiting to see later, we can lose the best moments, the best experiences, best friends, the best family.
The day is today. The moment is now.
We are no longer at the age where we can afford to postpone what needs to be done right away."
It Looks Like An Eternity,
But It's A Short Trip,
Enjoy Life And Always
Be Kind.