Category: History || By T.L. (Tim) Tassone

(This is the third of three parts. Part 1 appeared Sunday. Part 2 appeared Monday.)

There's a common and familiar phrase that all of us have heard so often throughout our lives: The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Each one of us, the graduates of 1964, can be the judge of that.

Just think about and reflect upon a few of those basically simple things that so importantly affected our lives as graduating students of MSHS and then, in contrast, reflect upon the vastly more complex things which have affect our lives now as we celebrate our 50th reunion. How the very sense, scope, and scale of our priorities have changed!

From the joy of savoring an Isaly's Klondike or thick chocolate real ice cream milkshake to the fear of sudden danger from a Richter Scale 6.0 earthquake, and from looking forward to enjoying a summer evening and a tasty Dairy Queen soft-serve cone to dreading the endless obligation to repay our heirs' student loans.

From slowly searching for basic information buried within our sets of Encyclopedia to using a mere touch of our finger tips to instantly access all the world's data of information on the web through Wikipedia.

And from constant craving to finally own the McKeesport must have classic British style of men's golf jackets, the "Baracuta," to the continuous curiosity regarding the curious ideology of the international TV broadcast network Al Jazeera.

. . .

From the pure pleasure of eating a delicious slice of Eat 'N Park's strawberry pie to the pure fright of eating anything that might have a dreadful strain of E.Coli.

And from dances at the Palisades to detainees at the Abu Graib.

From Kennywood to the Islamic Brotherhood, Chef Boy-ar-Dee to Muammar al-Qaddifi, and from the anticipation of a fantastic MSHS Senior Prom to the anguish caused by a fanatical dictator named Saddam.

And from the simple joy of shopping at a McKeesport original -- Murphy's "5 & 10" -- to the surreal fear of the mastermind behind the worst-ever terrorist attack on U.S. soil --Osama bin Laden.

From the Balsamo Produce and Meat Market to the Dow Jones Industrial Stock Market, and Rainbow Gardens to Presidential Pardons.

From slow dancing to mortgage refinancing, and from summer fun and great food at the International Village in Renziehausen ("Renzie") Park to fear of a seashore menace called the Killer Shark.

From the Sunday night "oldies" dances at the White Elephant to the medical miracle of Human Organ Transplant, working in Steel Mills to using Birth Control Pills, and memorizing lines from the "Our Father" to doing the same from the "Godfather."

From the simple personal adventure of shopping with our few available dollars at one of the favorite variety department stores along the fabulous Fifth Avenue mile, "McKeesport's Big Store," named "The Famous", to the sobering personal threat of losing all of your lifetime savings via a loosely associated and shadowy group of cyberspace hacking activists named "Anonymous."

And certainly from enduring SPAM (suspicious and mysterious meat by-products) to enduring SPAM (suspicious and mysterious computer messaging by-products)!

. . .

But, in contrast, we also went from enjoying Jim's Hot Dogs (aka, Jim's Drive-In in West Mifflin) with his "Famous Hot Dog Sauce" to ... well ... enjoying Jim's Hot Dogs (aka, Jim's Drive-In, West Mifflin) with his "Famous Hot Dog Sauce" offering proof that there are a few things that should never and will never change!

Our styles of clothing and our hair (and, in some of our cases, even lack of hair) may have evolved/devolved from 1964, but in many ways our ideas, attitudes, and music still seem to prevail today.

It is common to walk through an area shopping mall or grocery store and to hear the music from "our high school days" playing from the overhead speakers. We can still hear our favorite "oldies" playing on the radio or in new movie soundtracks as if to pay us a welcomed visit after a long absence.

Each time we hear those old familiar songs, we usually have instantaneous memories of where, when, and under what circumstances we were experiencing those moments. So many memories!

To be sure, there is little doubt that since our high school graduation, all of us have experience many of the best and some of the worst days of our lives. But no matter what changes, whether good or bad, have happened to each of us, here we are celebrating our 50th high school graduation anniversary! We've made it!

Congratulations, MSHS Classmates from 1964. We have traveled a long way and have had many starts and stops, joys and sorrows, and highs and lows in our journey. Many of us have now retired from our jobs and careers, looking forward to the well-earned leisure time.

Some are still working and preparing for their well-deserved retirement. But whatever the case, may all of us be here and able to celebrate our 55th, 60th, and even 65th Class Reunions and beyond.

It will be whatever it will be!

. . .

So, have we managed to successfully fulfill and realize the aspirations of our official 1964 MHS Class Motto: "Our Best Today for a Better Tomorrow"?

Well, no matter what we thought was to be our value, worth, purpose, and meaning for the rest of our lives--we gave it our very best effort time and time again, individually and collectively. And, for the most part, we have made it happen! For a better tomorrow for ourselves, and for our many family generations to come...

All of us can look back and think of what could have/should have/would have happened in our lives. But, needless to say, no matter what actually did happen ---we are here to celebrate our 50th! And that is a significant accomplishment in itself.

For those of our Classmates who have passed away from this earthly life and on to the next, even though you cannot be with us on this day, we will always remember you as one of us. May you rest in eternal peace with the grace and dignity, deserved and earned during your lifetime.

Welcome home, MSHS classmates of 1964! No matter where you've been, where you are, where you're going, and if you ever return again--always remember McKeesport as a place where you grew up and were graduated from high school.

And while the Daily News in McKeesport is still being published, and the Minerva Bakery and McKeesport Candy Company have managed to survive along that once known and fabled fabulous Fifth Avenue mile, mostly everything else we remembered has changed with the passing years.

The railroad tracks cutting through the center of downtown may be gone, as well as many of the familiar businesses and buildings and many of those you knew so very well. But you can always call it, "home," because it always will be just that.

May there be continual hope, happiness, peace, good health, and comfort for the rest of these wonderful years still ahead among us and to all of our loved ones.

. . .

And just one remaining thought, in what seems to be an appropriate reference to and meaningfulness of some of the compelling words from a famous poem by American legend, Robert Frost. Many of us studied in English classes during our junior or senior year at MSHS, "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening":

...But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Suffice it to say, as it was, is now, and always will be: fondly remember those MSHS days via this everlasting thought:

GO RED AND BLUE! ONCE A TIGER, ALWAYS A TIGER!

. . .

T.L. (Tim) Tassone is a graduate of the Class of 1964, McKeesport Senior High School. Copyright © 2014 T.L. Tassone, all rights reserved.