Good News

By Bill O'Boyle boboyle@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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KINGSTON – Rich Pries was feeling sentimental. Maybe it was the memories of playing in Reese Park. Maybe it was seeing his high school classmates again. Maybe it was his cancer diagnosis.

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Gordon Dussinger, left, Kevin Boylan, and Rich and Bob Pries pass around a bottle of champagne after dedicating the bandstand they are standing on in Reese Park in Kingston Saturday.

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A group of Reese Park alumni listen during the dedication of the bandstand at the reunion in the Kingston park Saturday.

DON CAREY photos/THE TIMES LEADER

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Thinking about all of that motivated Pries to reach out to his past, relive it with his buddies and value his life as he deals with the truth of his mortality.

“They say one’s wealth is not measured by how much money he or she has, but by the friends they have,” Pries said. “If that’s the case, on Saturday there were 60-plus millionaires all in one spot – together – in Reese’s Park in Kingston.”

Pries, 59, and his close friend, Larry Evans, spearheaded a reunion of 50- and 60-year-old “boys and girls” who used to cavort, play and cause mischief at Reese Park in Kingston. They came from local towns and faraway places to relive their childhoods.

Pries said the idea of organizing the Reese Park reunion came to him about eight years ago, but he never acted on the notion. Then came a cancer diagnosis in 2007.

Pries was told he had throat cancer.

“It wasn’t good,” he said. “The treatments I went through still have effects on me today.”

Pries couldn’t talk for awhile. He still can’t eat solid food. He is scheduled for a CAT scan and a PET scan today. He said recent tests have shown he is clear of cancer but the experience shook him and made him think about his life.

So Pries joined the committee for his 40th high school reunion – Wyoming Valley West Class of 1968.

“Seeing all of those classmates was kind of a mortality check for me,” Pries said. “I decided soon after our reunion that I wanted to get the Reese Park Gang together again.”

Pries started e-mailing people and making phone calls.

“I wanted to see if there was any interest,” he said. “Was there ever. I never expected 60 people to respond.”

Pries called relatives of the old gang. He formed a committee to help locate people and to plan the event.

“We started having meetings at the Indian Lake Inn once a month starting in January,” he said. “We had people driving to the meetings from Virginia and Maryland. My brother Bob drove in for a meeting from southwest Ohio and after the meeting, he drove back.”

Reese Park is located off of Carle Street, which is one block off of Market Street. It’s bordered by Bowman Street, South Landon Street and an alley.

Pries said he ended up finding about 45 members of the old gang. Some brought along spouses to raise the final number of attendees to 60.

“They ended up coming in from Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Georgia and California,” Pries said. “Well, let’s just say they came from everywhere. Many didn’t go to their own high school class reunions, but said they wouldn’t miss this for anything in the world.”

Even the former park playground instructor – Gordon Dussinger – made a surprise visit.

“He was our mentor at the park and he ended up coaching some of us in wrestling when we got older,” Pries said. “It was really special to have him there.”

The group gathered at Reese Park at noon Saturday and then traveled to the Indian Lake Inn for a party.

Pries said the Kingston police often came to the park “back in the day” to chase them when they got a little out of hand. As a surprise, Pries arranged to have the cops chase them again on Saturday.

“Some of them actually started running,” Pries said with a chuckle. “Call it instinct, man.”

The old gang surprised Pries by dedicating the old bandstand in his name.

“I’m not sure how they pulled those strings with the borough,” Pries said. “But it was a total surprise; it really humbled me.”

At the party that evening, the gang presented Pries – a Marine Corps veteran – with an American flag.

“It was pretty emotional,” Pries said. “Me and all my old, tough park friends crying like that.”

Pries said it wasn’t like a school reunion. These were people from the same neighborhood and many were friends before they went to school. They were of the same fabric, and Reese Park provided a place where they could weave a web of friendship that remains strong today.

“We all came from the same place and grew up together,” Pries said. “Then we went on to live our lives. Last Saturday, we went back in time to remember who we are and where we came from.”