Palmerton Class of 1961 holds 65th reunion Aug. 8
Palmerton Class of 1961 held its 65th reunion Aug. 8 at the Aquashicola Fire Company banquet hall.
Forty-one classmates attended. There were 13 classmates from eight states: Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Vermont, plus one from Nova Scotia, Canada,
The class had 35 men and one woman who served in a branch of the military. There was one Purple Heart recipient, and 17 are still alive today.
The class president, Martin Gursky, traveled the greatest distance, from Nova Scotia, Canada.
Four high school sweetheart couples were represented: Neal and Penny Evans Biege, married 60 years; Joe and Carol Werkheiser Kuronyi, married 60 years; Ken and Carolyn Hittner Handwerk, married 62 years; and John and Gloria Kravitz Kraftician, married 62 years, but Gloria was unable to attend.
Four other couples were in attendance who married upper or lower classmates: Barry and Beverly Anthony Ramaly, 56 years; Conrad and Romaine Smith Biege, 59 years; Brian and Karen Moon Leyfert, 61 years; and Frank and Lorraine George Yelinko, 65 years.
Five years ago Brian Leyfert handcrafted a key to Palmerton to present to Ronald “Klip” Klymyshyn, who was hoping to attend but was unable to do so at that time. This year Klip arrived from Nevada and brought the key along.
For the past six years, the class was presented with a beautiful handcrafted cutting board made by craftsman Eugene Strohl, which was donated and won by a classmate. He had also created a special one for fellow Marine Corps veteran Rodney Rehrig.
Co-chairs were Brian Leyfert and Carolyn Hittner Handwerk; committee members were Gail Adams Bell, Judy Dotter Walck, Judy Frano Sommers, Louise Walk Shupp, Ken Handwerk and Steve Devore.
The committee donated wonderful baskets for a free raffle.
Baker Kyle Strohl made a fantastic cake decorated with the Blue Bomber Plane logo.
The class held reunions for the 10th, 20th, 25th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 55th through 65th, except for 2020 during the COVID pandemic shutdown.
Numbers 56th through 64th were held at a restaurant in Palmerton.