MONTCLARION: Sept 6, 2013

Old friends make us feel young. It’s why we giggle when we get together with classmates. It’s why some of us sit on the Dairy Queen wall with our buddies, 42 years after high school in Minnesota. It’s also why Helen Barnes spent so many hours hunting down grads from her Oakland Tech class of 1953.

The 60th reunion of Barnes’ class at Tech was quite an affair in late June. Folks from as far away as Atlanta gathered here for three days of parties and reminiscing — something she was glad she didn’t have to plan alone. “Rich Lang, Mike Cleu, Hanford Chew and I all had important jobs, plus a committee of 10 of us putting the events together.”

And what were the prominent memories of the Tech class of 1953? A poem written by one of the grads starts like this: “We shed the shackles of our teens, and left the saddle shoes and jeans ….”

Congratulations to the class of 1953 for keeping your kinship alive. Like finding the fountain of youth, spending time with old friends is one of the best elixirs.

Around town: Looking for a volunteer opportunity to match your interest and skills? Check out this Saturday’s Volunteer Fair at Oakland’s Lakeview School from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Steve Goldenberg says that’s where he signed up for the tutoring/mentoring program called Boost at Lafayette Elementary School in West Oakland. For the past two years, he’s helped a young student with his home-

work and life goals. “I can’t resist my student’s vitality, constant smile, and positive outlook,” he says. “I am there to encourage his dreams and enhance his future.” More than 20 nonprofits have booths at the Volunteer Fair.

How about a high-five for 9-year-old Abbey Richter, who was featured on KPIX 5 recently for a book she wrote about the unconditional love she has for her dog. “Lucky Leo” was so heartwarming, it made Richter the No. 1 bestseller on Amazon’s Kindle store earlier this summer.

And congratulations to Dale Marie Golden for receiving the first Trailblazer Award from the East Bay Women in Business Roundtable. Golden is the gregarious “gal about town” who friends call “the mayor of Montclair.” The Torrey Pines Bank vice president will be honored at a reception Sept. 19.

Book it: It’s a good chunk of change — $100,000 — especially when volunteers raise it. Friends of the Oakland Public Library kick in that amount, and more, every year for our 18 libraries. Reader Winifred Walters reminds everyone that the next big fundraiser is the Oct. 11-13 book sale at Bookmark Bookstore in Old Oakland. See www.fopl.org for details.