Gathering here at my historic venue NOVA 535, for our 30th high school reunion, Boca Ciega Class of 1986, the excitement and anticipation was palatable. Gathering in beautiful Downtown St. Pete, Florida, on a weekend already full of Pride; St. Pete Pride. Gathering one and all, black, white, brown, tan, blue, peach and green and rainbow (we hired the amazing Hoola Monsters to perform) gay, straight, undecided, “it’s none of your business”, tall, short, thick and thin, bald to bushy. Humans. Gathering. To Celebrate. The gathering core comprised of our friendships; friendly, caring and kind to each other. How Humanity should be treating each other. With love, respect and kindness, instead of fear, ignorance and hatred. By 4am, as the last few of us ubered our ways home (Uber Marcie it’s UBER!), after all our laughter, stories, jokes,  memories, photos, drinks and smokes, we framed the solution, for our species.

Since we didn’t have a “sign-in sheet” (that’s so 1986) I decided to use technology, my Galaxy Note 5, and take a photo, screen write their name, and post to our HDTVs throughout the venue. Well technology is like a relationship, wonderful when it’s working fabulously, and terribly frustrating to the point of madness when it’s not. You’ll see that some of the images below have extraneous details….ugg…anywho here’s who made it (aside from a few spouses) to the Class of 1986 Bogie Reunion!

Back to educations and training….. Not a new solution, just the correctly obvious one. Proper, full and lifelong Training and Education. Mentoring and Apprenticeships. Humans don’t come out of the “box” damaged, it happens a bit at a time, over time, via a mean word here, a rude comment there, an ignorant decision, mixed with fear, anxiety and loneliness, and so on. It’s up to US, all of US, to work TOGETHER, to teach and educate ourselves, our fellow humans, to treat eachother with love and respect. Like we did tonight. And on how to take care of ourselves (diet, exercise, fueling our passions, etc) so we can be healthy, happy and able to care for eachother.  It’s our species, it’s all about us, Humanity.

So are we going to evolve and thrive and prosper together or will we be a sad footnote in some alien’s future history story? Along with the Dinos and other Dodos. Humanity: the amazingly talented and promising, yet utterly disappointing species, that really could have, yet ultimately was unable to, get out of our own way. OR will we pull together, realize that we are ALL in this TOGETHER?

Like our 30th reunion was; a microcosm of the human spectrum, focused on helping, enjoying and loving each other. So here is something to be proud of, to have Pride in, a toast to all loving humanity and to those of you who traveled from near and far to come together, to NOVA 535 in downtown St. Pete, to celebrate 30 years of Pride. Bogie Pride. Friendship Pride. And being Proud of always trying to improve ourselves and those around us. Cheers, Salute, Skol and Compi to us all!!

Entertainment tonight was from the always delightful ladies of Hoola Monsters, (love ya Abby!) bravo ladies, everyone loved you all! Commanding the DJ booth was the 3 time (not 2 times, let’s be clear here, it’s 3 times) Best of the Bay DJ, DJ Mega! Mega, aka Neal Stoll, kept the perfect balance of 80s hits, mashed up nicely with today’s grooves and beats. Perfectly dished out, once again Mega!! 5 Stars!! A late dinner was ordered (pickup, call 727-623-0942) from Bodega, the amazingly delicious Cubano Restaurant on Central Avenue in DTSP. Fresh, delicious and nicely packaged. 9 out of 10 stars – they just forgot to label the food – I’m sure they will next time. Everyone loved it, not a bite remained!! Not even one to photograph. Mmmmm Muy Bien!!

Thanks again for everyone who took the time and energy to show up, enjoy themselves and share with us. A BIG THANK YOU to Lori West, Rob Lewis and Dean Koske for the organizing, the help, the promoting and everything! Certainly would not have happened without you all! And thanks to Chris Novilla and Charlotte Johnson from Team NOVA for the 5 Star Service! (Be kind and leave NOVA a nice review here)

PS For those of you that graduated St. Jude’s Class of 1982, we are holding a 35 year reunion here at NOVA 535 in 2017. Date TBD!

PPS If you or a friend is looking for a world-class venue to host a wedding, reception, Mitzvah, corporate event, party or film shoot, then you can Get Started, email Sales(at)NOVA535.com or voice / text us at 949-873-6682 for pricing, photos and a tour with customized event details just perfect for you!