Uncle Larry's Retirement Dinner

On September 29, 2004, my family went to Villa Amalfi in Cliffside Park, N.J. to attend a retirement dinner for former Slocum Skewes School principal Larry Dunn. Known as Mr. Dunn to most Slocum Skewes alumni and Uncle Larry to me since he's married to my dad's sister, Aunt Pat, he served the community of Ridgefield for two decades as principal of a small school in a town located near the southern end of Bergen County towards Hudson County, N.J. He helped students cope with real world problems as well as helping teachers teach others to do well. During Uncle Larry's years as principal, a major program debuted in a New Jersey school for the first time. Called DARE, the program to keep kids off drugs became a success in Ridgefield and spread quickly to other schools around the state. I attended the DARE program at the school and did pretty good. Since that time, I never and will not take drugs in New Jersey as well as around America.

As for the dinner itself, it was great. The commute though was tough. One of the main roads we got lost around was Route 5 from Edgewater all the way to North Bergen, near where I worked at Palisades General Hospital, which was one of my first job training attempts while I was at school. Once we called the restaurant for directions, we knew where we were.

Among the meals that were offered were chicken, pizza, seafood, breaded potato with cheese inside, as well as an ice cream sorbet for desert with a peach inside. Oh, and there were the teachers whom I adored much since I went to Ridgefield, with the exception of a few (Mrs. Sforza and Mr. Bannon, are you reading? Write back!). There were great speeches by friends and family of Uncle Larry, and by Uncle Larry himself. Among the gifts that Uncle Larry got were a large memory book featuring photos of students and teachers along with Mr. Dunn, as well as cards and thank you notes.

In conclusion, the restaurant was great, as well as the dinner.