Day 2 of our reunion culminated in the 50th Anniversary Party, Saturday night, back where our reunion began, in McElroy. It was a “party.” No real structure — just people talking, eating, gamboling about, some dancing.

The video below (10:48) reflects much of the same intent as the others, i.e., show as many classmates as possible. There was particular attention paid as well to the photo booth, which had its distinctive share of color and fun.

This was the result of the photo booth visit highlighted in the video.

There were some new people at the party, classmates who may not have attended the Golden Eagle investiture and other events of the day before, or even other events earlier on Saturday. Included among them was Ed Markey, who made it to one of the world’s most exclusive groups, the 100-member United States Senate. And a couple of BC basketball players, Jim Kissane and Steve Adelman, who stand out in the video by standing taller than any of the rest of us, I’m quite sure.

Senator Markey, who unknowingly ended up sitting next to me for dinner, shared an anecdote about the hall in which we were eating that I found somewhat poignant. Soon after Ed won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, he said, then-BC President J. Donald Monan, SJ, asked him to speak to a group of prospective or newly admitted students. That event took place in the very hall in which Ed shared the anecdote. Noting back then that it was likely the first time any of those students had been in the Main Dining Hall, Ed said, he told them it was the first time for him, too.

That was an expression of something that, during the course of working on this blog, I came to appreciate more was an unfortunate aspect of our overall BC experience as students. Segments of our class — resident/commuter, male/female, A&S/CBA/Education/Nursing — went through those years in “silos,” separated in several respects. As a student, Ed Markey, a dayhop from Malden, had never been in the main dining hall, and that status was shared by many classmates. Many of us overcame aspects of that relative isolation, of which the dining hall was only an example, through extracurriculars, etc., but many did not. I expect that nearly all of our classmates, particularly women, are very happy that BC has changed so dramatically in the absence of those silos.

Here, too, is a gallery of photos from the evening. If you have some to share, please do.

Here are some photos submitted by Judith Anderson Day, our erstwhile and forever class correspondent. She was too busy having fun to go around and interview people. Send her your memories of reunion. And do it soon. She has a deadline coming up!

Tomorrow, there will be a post about Day 3. Much more subdued.