To the editor:

As strange as it may seem, several members of the Saranac Lake High School classes of 1949 to 1951 are still alive and leading active lives. Earlier this year, my wife and I visited with Clare (Edelberg) Rotenberg and husband Jerry at their winter home in Florida. We all had dinner with Phil and Phyllis Feinberg, who also live down there to escape the typical Saranac Lake winters. We decided that a get-together at our old hometown would be a lot of fun.

So we contacted a few others from our classes around 1949 and have put together a small gathering over the weekend from Sept. 20 to 22. Also in attendance will be Esther and Lionel Arlan and Walt Ryan and his wife Margie (now living in Florida).

A little personal history:

I was born in Saranac Lake on Sept. 29, 1932. My parents were Sol Drutz and Maxine Effenbach. Coincidentally, both families operated grocery stores around the corner from each other: Drutz Supermarket at 4 Bloomingdale Ave. and the Oxford Market at 73 Broadway. I attended SLHS and graduated along with Lionel and Walt in the Class of 1949. Walt and I went to Paul Smith’s (Class of ’51), and I went on to graduate from the University of Vermont with the McCormick sisters, Nancy and Phyllis (Class of ’53).

I subsequently served in the Army for a couple of years and then got my MBA from Syracuse in 1956, where I met my wife, Sandy. We have been married for 63 years. Interestingly enough, all of the other couples who will be attending also have been married about that long. I spent more than 50 years in the computer systems business.

You may remember my Aunt Bea, who worked at the Enterprise for many years, and my Uncle Joe, who ran the grocery store for a while and then worked for the American Management Association. Clare’s family operated the only furrier store in the area. It was next door to the Pontiac Theatre.

Esther and Lionel lived in town for many years; Esther was active on the school board and Lionel with the Rotary.

Phil and Phyllis have remained in town, as you most likely know.

We all have had interesting and successful careers.

Our group would be delighted if you could post a short notice about our reunion event as the date approaches. I am sure others from the classes of ’49 to ’51 or so are still around, and we would be excited to see them. We plan to stay at the new Hotel Saranac, where we held many proms and earlier reunions.

If you are interested in any more information, you can contact me at canaras@aol.com.

Thanks for your support.

Aaron “Bud” Drutz

Leesburg, Virginia