The Past Time Reunion

In the Summer of 1984 it seemed to me that it had been too long since loud noises and laughter had come from the end of Main Street in Rochester where the Past Time was. I had driven by the building several times since the 1960’s. It was still a bar, perhaps a little less seedy than when we called it home.

Frank Cicha, then head of Alumni House for RIT suggested alternative ideas for an event for Homecoming. It seemed natural to try to fill the vacuum that had existed for 20 years at the Past Time.

Before the Internet there was only the mail. RIT agreed to pay the postage, we had to create the direct mail piece… with no budget. A graphic arts and printing challenge tailor-made for RIT School of Printing Alumni. RIT segmented the people who were students from 1960-1969, about 15,000 names and addresses. Jack Farrington at Favia & Farrington and Mike Lofton handled production coordination. John O’Sullivan at O’Sullivan Typographers did the type.

Bob Adamson at Mono Litho Typesetting in Toronto, typeset the 15,000 names and phone numbers as part of the printed piece. The database wasn’t just the mailing labels, we published every name with a phone number, all 15,000, 38 tabloid pages full, and asked that everyone call a friend and then ask them to come.

It was printed in Canada by Ron DeLuca, Del/Charters Litho and shipped to Rochester for mailing… in six days.

That was 26 years ago. It was a plan to celebrate the thousands of relationships and memories that, even then, were 20 years in our distant past. It was a plan that worked!

It’s unlikely that many college experiences were as good as ours. Almost universally the people who experienced RIT’s Old Campus in the 60’s remember with warmth the pleasure their friends and their adventures.

I unpacked a box last week and found the printed piece, and pictures from the gathering at the Past Time which was Saturday October 14th, 1984. It was a great party.

Help identify these people! If you recognize someone or just have something to say, leave a comment. For instance, “picture #2 is Norm MacEachern”. You can click the photo and make it larger, (although you might think twice about enlarging #2).  The photographs are numbered.