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(May 2002) Edith Cobb, a
longtime Kingston resident who died recently, was truly one of our
town "treasures" – a soft-spoken, bright, and classy
lady. I had the pleasure of meeting her and her husband George more
than twenty years ago, when their graduating high school class (the
Kingston High School Class of 1936) celebrated its 45th reunion.
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Edith Cobb.
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It was the summer of
1981. Dan Sapir and I had just joined forces to combine our separate
weeklies into the Independent Voice, and we were headquartered on
Pembroke Street, in the building that currently houses Kingston
Fitness.
It was a Monday morning when I answered a phone call. It was Edith,
who introduced herself and advised me of their upcoming reunion. She
asked if we could print an advance notice of the event in our weekly
newspaper.
Edith, who was no stranger to newspaper writing or writing in
general (she was both an author and had been a writer for the Silver
Lake News, the predecessor to today’s MPG Reporter
Newspapers), made the job easy for us. She hand-delivered an
announcement of the event, and brought a copy of the KHS Class of
1936 yearbook to show me.
Have you ever met someone that you like instantly? Edith was that
type of person. As we spoke, her sense of community and her
friendship for her classmates shone through like a beacon. She told
me about her husband, George, her high school sweetheart; her son
Peter (we would later meet Peter, his wife Sandy and their family
through a separate circle of friends), and stories of what it was
like to grow up in Kingston when it was a really small town. It
occurred to me that we could do more than just print an
"advance" notice of this. After all, how many high school
classes still get together after 45 years? We offered to bring a
camera to the reunion and take some pictures for the following week’s
paper.
My wife Susan and I both went to take the pictures. It was a Sunday
afternoon – a warm and sunny day. The festivities took place at
the Cobbs’ house on Main Street. What a fun, lively event – and
a delightful crowd! In addition to Edith and George, there were
members of the Ruffini family including Bea, Irma and Mike (Mike,
one of our former Water Commissioners, joked that he was only an
"honorary" member of the class because he had graduated a
year later). There was Ted Avery, a well-known local photographer;
and Mike Moran, the retired superintendent of schools. Mr. Moran
hadn’t been a member of the class but had been one of their
teachers. Over the years he had stayed in touch with a number of his
former pupils. In all, more than 20 people turned out for the event,
with a few having traveled from out of state to reconnect with their
classmates.
We didn’t want to intrude, so after a half hour or so of taking
photographs we prepared to leave. However, they wouldn’t hear of
it. "If you’re nice enough to take some pictures, the least
we can do is feed you," Edith said. "Please stay and join
us."
This great meal included an even greater conversation. What we had
expected to be a half hour assignment turned out to be an engaging,
fun-filled afternoon. What great stories and anecdotes they told! We
talked with these Kingston alumni about everything from the Reagan
presidency to the recent "gas shortages" and whether the
Independence Mall would ever be built. And they talked a lot about
what Kingston was like when they were growing up here. Part of the
afternoon’s activities included a walk down the street to the site
where they had attended high school. The Kingston High School
building had been torn down years before this day in 1981. Then, it
was a vacant lot. Today, it is the site of our police station.
We dedicated four pages of our sixteen-page weekly to the Class of
1936 that next week. In addition to current photos, we put together
a "then and now" section and reproduced pictures and even
advertisements from their 45-year old yearbooks. Our story focused
on the obvious bond that existed between these special people.
Our coverage earned us a wonderful "thank you" letter to
the editor from Edith, and an invitation to attend their 50th
reunion in 1986. And we did have the chance to meet with these
classmates one more time, at their 50th, where they treated us as
long-lost friends. Whenever I saw Edith around town, she always had
a smile and a word of cheer.
Over the years, I had the occasion to cover hundreds of community
events – everything from the massive "Jaws of Life"
fundraiser organized by Jeanne Matatall to countless Scouting,
school, church and civic events. But the Class of 1936 reunion still
stands out as one of the most memorable. The Cobbs and their
classmates symbolized what life in a small town should be: people
who care about their town, maintain friendships and look after each
other, through whatever changes life throws at them.
Edith Cobb, her husband George and their classmates made a
contribution to Kingston that you won’t read about in any of our
town reports. Reports, after all, deal only in statistics and facts.
Edith and her generation gave us a sense of community. They were the
glue that held this small town together. We can all learn from their
example. |
