Class News

Bob Rands ’64 and Amy host 80th birthday party for classmates

June 25, 2022

Bob and Amy Rands hosted a “Celebrate 80” birthday party for Boston-area classmates at their Westwood, MA home on June 25.

It was the first in-person gathering of this group in two years. Nancy Upper (surviving spouse of Dennis Upper ’64) promoted the gathering from Day 1 and assisted with communications, name tags, and a collection of classmate photos.

Amy Rands brilliantly planned all the party elements, including symbolic 80th birthday cakes and cookies.

Nick Danforth took the occasion to announce that he and Robin Jones ’77 had gotten married the day before on his 80th birthday. Nick led the group in a rousing rendition of “Midsummer Song.”

MIDSUMMER SONG (Tune: Bright College Years)

Hooray, hooray, Midsummer Day,
My happiest and longest day.
Now Robin's got her MBE,
So she can finally marry me!
The worst of Covid may have peaked,
The end of Roe v. Wade was leaked,
But time and change shall never bend
Our vow to stay together till the end.

Our birthdays come, our birthdays go.
Our hair falls out as white as snow.
But time and change shall never bend:
We'll stay together till the end.
So let us strive that ever we
May let these words our watchcry be,
When in and out our wedded tides may go [wave white hankies]
We'll stay together through all ebb and flow! — N.D.

PINK PAJAMAS [Tune: Merry Widow Waltz]

[Old] We wear our pink pajamas in the summer when it's hot
We wear our pink pajamas in the winter when it’s not,
But sometimes in the springtime, and sometimes in the fall
We slip right in between the sheets with nothing on at all!

[New] We share assisted living in the summer when it's hot,
We share assisted living in the winter when it's not.
But housing is affordable (we rent out half our home)
Assisted and affordable: we'll never need to roam! — N.D.

On behalf of the 1964 Class Council, Jerry Flannelly and Tony Lavely presented Bob and Amy with a framed citation of gratitude for their hospitality.

Amy Rands presented Nancy Upper with a Y64 Class scarf in appreciation for Nancy’s work on the event.

To give all attendees a memento, Bob Rands presented each guest with a copy of one of his favorite books, Old Filth, by Jane Gardam.

Classmates overseas who have been regular participants in Boston-area Zoom gatherings asked to join the “Celebrate 80” party. Jerry Flannelly made this possible by establishing a Zoom link between the Rands home, London, and France.

Conversations at the tables were lively and even included a few recitations of poetry.