To the Members of the Applewild Class of 2010:

Greetings and congratulations!

Fifty years ago eleven classmates and I became the first students to graduate from ApplewildSchool.  (Historical note: Susie Crocker was the first to receive her diploma.)

That was a special day for us and for the school; but today, it’s all about you.  You’ve worked hard to arrive at this moment in your lives . . ., and now you’re about to move on to the next stage in your life.

As you do so, I’d like to offer a few words from someone who stood a half-century ago just about where you stand today.

There are some differences, of course, between 1960 and 2010.  The President of the United Sates was Dwight Eisenhower.  You could buy a new car for $2,000 – and put gasoline in it for thirty-one cents a gallon.  In 1960 most TVs were black-and-white, telephones had rotary dials, twittering was something birds did, and as for computers – don’t even ask!  There was such a thing as a portable phone, sort of.  It was a landline phone that you unplugged from a jack in one room in your house and then plugged into a jack in another room.  That was the phone company’s idea of portable, because most phones were hard-wired into the wall; they went nowhere!

But what I really want to talk to you about is something that hasn’t changed, and that’s the quality and the importance of an Applewild education.  At whatever school you attend next, you’ll discover that you have received excellent preparation for the work and the school life. At Applewild there’s a magical way of making learning a joy, and of creating enthusiasm for academic subjects.  But there’s also a rigor instilled that you will find serves you very well in the next chapters of your academic life.  For that, you have your teachers to thank – and please do thank them [which we did earlier]. It’s their dedication, their diligence, their creativity and their caring attitude that create this very special blend of experiences you know as Applewild.

After graduating from Applewild I went to [secondary school, where,] about twice a year, the headmaster would read a letter from some old alum about how he cherished the memory of his days at [good old academy]. We students rolled our eyes at this – it was incomprehensible to us that some geezer forty or fifty years old [and he’s being generous . . .] could even remember back [then].  But the joke turned out to be on us, because these are days that build strong memories.  You will remember Applewild, for many, many years.  And as you look back on it, I believe you will value what you have received here more than you can possibly imagine today.

In the meantime, however, enjoy today and this wonderful season in your lives. . . .Well done!

                                                                        Les Meyer, ‘60