{"id":20880,"date":"2017-04-30T21:21:41","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T01:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/?p=20880"},"modified":"2024-06-02T17:32:17","modified_gmt":"2024-06-02T21:32:17","slug":"horn-tooting-in-the-first-degree-50-years-ago-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/?p=20880","title":{"rendered":"2024 – Horn-Tooting in the First Degree (50 Years Ago Today!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

……………………………………………..<\/span>(ignore April 30, 2017 publish date – this was published on June 2, 2024)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the first-degree? Must be some pretty serious bragging!<\/span><\/p>\n

Well\u2026\u2026.YOU be the judge.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This week, I read an article about the Ramapo College graduation ceremony at the Prudential Center in Newark – a rather large venue.<\/span><\/p>\n

I graduated from Ramapo in 1974 – five years after I was supposed to (a whole \u2018nother story at a whole \u2018nother college…………..https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/?p=6541, if you’re interested) – in a small on-campus outdoor ceremony, which I guess was appropriate, as we were only the school\u2019s second graduating class. There weren\u2019t that many of us.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Initially, I could find no record of the date of graduation, so I emailed the school about that on May 30 – 3 days ago – and got a reply the next day (thank you, Ariana!):<\/span><\/p>\n

The date was June 2, 1974.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hey, wait! That was 50 years ago TODAY! Not sure why, but I have to write about this (and take a lot of pictures)\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..quickly!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So I\u2019m feverishly trying to find anything connected with that ceremony and – of course – I find diplomas from every school I ever attended, but not the one I need.<\/span><\/p>\n

I knew I had a ring, but\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, I tore apart some dresser drawers that contain much of my life and found everything, PLUS other goodies, including a wad of 25 U.S. one-dollar silver certificates that may now have a lot more value (good-thinking there, Robert……….maybe).<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Ring:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Straight-on and right side, which shows the year, a handshake, the phrase, \u201cPeace Through Understanding\u201d – and the school symbol – \u201cThe Arch\u201d (shown in the opening pic). The unphotographed left side shows \u201cBS<\/strong>\u201d, which I hope refers to my degree.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the inside – a rather sloppy signature:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What I came for that day:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From the program:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Who gave the commencement speech?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Related stuff:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What was attached to my car\u2019s left side back seat window that year?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Believe it or not, during that year, I was a student at one college AND a faculty member at another college – a year before I got my diploma!<\/span><\/p>\n

(slightly bragworthy?)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Oh yeah – almost forgot\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026the graduate:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Note: I was already leaning in another life direction away from chemistry, as is almost<\/em> visible on one of my jeans\u2019 legs.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s that purple blob, you say?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About 30 years later, I opened up a clothing bag in which a LOT of old clothes were jammed in and found those very-wrinkled jeans:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

That purple blob should be a little more recognizable now.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most of you know the rest of that story.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for this<\/em> story, I\u2019m done. I need a rest (sore arm from patting myself on the back).<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That rest will have to wait a bit because of a last-minute find:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NOW I\u2019m done. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thanks for reading my RAMAPOst.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

……………………………………………..(ignore April 30, 2017 publish date – this was published on June 2, 2024)   In the first-degree? Must be some pretty serious bragging! Well\u2026\u2026.YOU be the judge. \u00a0 This week, I read an article about the Ramapo College graduation ceremony at the Prudential Center in Newark – a rather large venue. I graduated from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20880"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20909,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20880\/revisions\/20909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}