40th Reunion Report!

Well, the 40th high school reunion has come and gone and I think we all really had a good time!

Even though I only went to this high school for my senior year, I made some good friends there and many of them attended the reunion and came from far, far away. It was impressive! Now I'm looking forward to the 50th reunion and wondering how we'll all look then.

A few weeks ago I had listed some of my favorite songs from 1966 and sure enough that's what the DJ was playing. I still am amazed at how music can bring back soooo many memories. Apparently, the neuro-hormones and neurotransmitters that course through our brains and bodies when we're teenagers really lock in the associations between the music and the "feel-good feelings!" Today, we can listen to the same songs and get a surge of great memories and feelings. And you don't even have to be a member of the Class of 1966! :-)

As I thought about my reunion I started to think and read more and more about the Baby Boomer Generation. I know that as we age we are going to want more and more information about retirement, investments, health issues and lots more. Now, I have created a site called "BabyBoomerArticles.com" Please visit my site and tell your friends about it as one-stop shopping for information of all kinds geared to Baby Boomers. Remember, http://www.babyboomerarticles.com/.

I'll stop for now because I've got some other exciting information for you later this week!

As always, feel free to forward this to all your friends and interested folks!

Keep the music playing!

Alice

Baby Boomer Quiz

You may have seen this, but I thought it was kind of cute:

01. After the Lone Ranger saved the day and rode off into the sunset, the grateful citizens would ask, Who was that masked man? Invariably, someone would answer, I don't know, but he left this behind. What did he leave behind?____________
02. When the Beatles first came to the U.S. in early 1964, we all watched them on The __________________ Show.
03. "Get your kicks, ___________________."
04. "The story you are about to see if true. The names have been changed___________________."
05. "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, ________________."
06. After the Twist, The Mashed Potato, and the Watusi, we "danced" under a stick that was lowered as low as we could go in a dance called the "_____________."
07. "N_E_S_T_L_E_S", Nestle's makes the very best _______________." 08. Satchmo was America's "Ambassador of Goodwill." Our parents shared this great jazz trumpet player with us. His name was _________________. 09. What takes a licking and keeps on ticking? _______________
10. Red Skelton's hobo character was named __________________ and Red always ended his television show by saying, "Good Night, and
"_______________".
11. Some Americans who protested the Vietnam War did so by burning their____________.
12. The cute little car with the engine in the back and the trunk in the front was called the VW. What other names did it go by? ____________ & _______________.
13. In 1971, singer Don MacLean sang a song about, "the day the music died." This was a tribute to ___________________.
14. We can remember the first satellite placed into orbit. The Russians did it. It was called ___________________.
15. One of the big fads of the late 50's and 60's was a large plastic ring that we twirled around our waist. It was called the ________- ________

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ANSWERS: 01. The Lone Ranger left behind a silver bullet. 02. The Ed Sullivan Show 03. On Route! 66 04. To protect the innocent. 05. The Lion sleeps tonight 06. The limbo 07. Chocolate 08. Louis Armstrong 09. The Timex watch 10. Freddy, The Freeloader, and "Good Night, and may God Bless." 11. Draft c ards (Bras were also burned.) 12. Beetle or Bug 13. Buddy Holly 14. Sputnik 15. Hoola-hoop Send this to your "old" friends. It will drive them
crazy! And, keep them busy and let them forget their aches and pains for a few minutes

Have you been to a high school reunion?

This weekend I am going to my 40th high school reunion in Aiken, S.C. I only went there for one year, my final year in high school. Even though I was not a happy camper at first, I met some great kids, had some wonderful teachers (Bobo, Barlow, and Butler) and danced and dated to some great music! Much of this music brings back surges of memories and emotion. Among my faves:

Ain't Too Proud to Beg - The Temptations
Born Free - Roger Williams
California Dreamin' - The Mamas & The Papas
Cherish - The Association
Devil with a Blue Dress On
Winchester Cathedral
When A Man Loves A Woman - Percy Sledge
These Boots Are Made for Walkin - Nancy Sinatra
Supremes - "You Can't Hurry Love"
Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
Wipe Out - Surfaris

I'm wondering if I'll see my old boyfriend...I'll keep you posted!

P.S. I did see my old boyfriend!

Pay Attention to Your "Courting" Music

Are you worried that perhaps one day you'll get Alzheimer's disease? Rather than worry about it, there is something contructive you can do! There is ample research documenting the fact that people who have Alzheimer's disease can often remember, recognize, and sing along to the music of their "courting years!" In study after study, patients who no longer recognized their family members or even remembered their own name, heard some music on the piano, another instrument or just people singing, and the patient started singing along too, often remembering verse after verse.

So what can YOU do? Start making a list of all the music you loved when you were in high school, college and probably through your 20's. It could be the best medicine you have!

What was the music YOU fell in love to?

I dont know about you, but when I was 12-13 in the early 60's I had a little radio by me bedside. Late at night in my bedroom in S.C. I could get WGN in Chicago! I thought that was pretty awesome. I can remember lying in my bed listening to "Soldier Boy" and "Cupid" and dreaming of the day I would be a "real teen-ager" with a steady boyfriend and lots of parties and dances to go to. The picture here is my family on a ship in the summer of 1961, going from Miami to the Bahamas. Can you see me?

If you were a teen at that time, what was your favorite music?

Are you a Boomer? Do you like music??

Hi everybody! I'm a Baby Boomer, born in 1948, turned 13 at the beginning of the sixties and loved every day of them! I got married in 1971 and continued to love most of the music of the 1970's. Now I am a musicologist and I'm learning so much about how, when people get to the end of their lives, the music that is most meaningful to them is the music of their "courting years." Here's how I looked as a teen: