Members of the 212th class catch up over brunch on Sunday May 7 at Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. One classmate came down from Massachusetts for the weekend.

By Yvonne Dennis (246)

Skip Markowitz served as Lanny Edelsohn’s best man.

Larry G. Schwartz,  a devoted baseball fan, never forgets the date he attended his good friend Barry Shinberg’s wedding (June 21, 1964) because it turned out to be the day he didn’t get to see live on TV the Phillies’ Jim Bunning throw a perfect game against the New York Mets.

Central graduates are known for their particular closeness. But alumni from classes such as the 212, who graduated in June of 1959, show how precious these bonds can be once members retire from long careers, the kids go off on their own, and, to be frank, some classmates dissappear.

The school stories, the life summaries and the raunchy old-folks jokes were flying as a core group of about two dozen 212 members brunched at Bala Golf Club on Belmont Avenue in Philadelphia on Sunday.

“I went back to law school when I was 59 and have been practicing for 14 years,” Mel Rothbard told classmates as they took turns providing personal updates after the meal.

Many members, all around 75 years old, work full-time. Reunion treasurer David Axelrod, on the other hand, retired last last year and told the gathering, “It’s great not working.”

Retirement for former radiologist Jules Yavil means going to Philadelphia treasures like the Consitution Center and Free Library speaker series, and traveling to Europe and Asia.

Still others have their feet half in and half out of retirement. Soon after he graduated from Penn State, engineer Alan Verbit worked at NASA as part of the Apollo Program of 1969-1972, which landed the first humans on the moon. Now, he told the gathering on Sunday, “I’m working with a group at Penn State to build and launch a small satellite- actually unamned space craft–that will land on the moon or at least participate in work towards the Mars mission.”

Jules and Dave Zeft were two graduates of the 212 who actually started out in Central’s 213th class. Central was still graduating two classes a year at that time–one in January and one in June. A lot of guys would go to summer school–yes, voluntarily–and graduate from Central in three and a half years in order to be able to go to college in the fall instead of having to wait half a year.

Dave Zeft worked for almost 50 years as a pharmacist. In retirement he swims a little and he watches soccer a lot. He also serves up mostly 1940s music one day a week as a DJ for WRDV public radio out of Hatboro.

Some of the news being shared at the brunch wasn’t news to all of the attendees. Many of them go to sporting events together or to each others’ anniversary parties, children’s weddings and grandchildren’s bar mitzvahs.

Otto Mills teaches part time and does research in dermatology at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical Group in New Jersey. Dealing with conditions including acne, dry skin and hair loss, he told the group, “I’m here to recruit for the next study.”

Often stories at the biannual brunch were interrupted by recollections of Central experiences, updates on absent classmates and comments about what to do for the 60th reunion that would draw classmates from beyond those living locally.

Larry Schwartz’s story about the Jim Bunning game appeared to get the most reaction.

“That was a very hot day.”

“Who pitched the second game?”

“Rick Wise.”

“Somebody can remember who pitched the second game of a double header in 1964, but we wear Depends! I can’t figure it out!”