Classmates revisit the past, gather to reshoot photo taken on original “super cool” Plymouth ’Cuda Bruce Norman and Patty Barenkamp Cordes Jan 8, 2024
Today, left to right: Joan Hasselfeld Biondo, Sally Winters McNeill, Cindy LaBerta Whitby, Patty Barenkamp Cordes, Mary Beth Shea Gold and Jan Musterman Kurant. (Not pictured, but in the original: Lori Ferguson Kraatz, Becky Taylor Ellrich and Christy Bouffard Davis.)
It was a warm, beautiful spring day when nine fun-loving Webster Groves High School seniors donned funky hats and posed for a picture taken by 1973 Webster Groves High School graduate Patti Weber Breunig.
The photo was snapped on Dave Clark’s super cool Plymouth ’Cuda. Clark graduated from Webster Groves High in 1971.
Framed and parked outside Roberts Gym on Bradford, it is now one of those classic pictures we all wish we had taken a lot more of when we were in high school. But hey — very few folks had cameras back in 1973.
Fast forward to 2023, when a photo taken by Ringo Starr on Feb. 7, 1964, started circulating on Facebook. Five high school kids in New York City cut school to attend the Beatles concert that day. Ringo himself captured the lads in the photo. Then, 50 years later, the five reunited to recreate the group photo.
Patty Barenkamp Cordes of the Webster Groves High School class of 1973 took this to heart. With inspiration from classmate Bruce Norman, she said, “We can do that, too!”
Patty knew the car was owned by Webster Groves High School graduate Dave Clark, whose father owned the popular A.M. Clark and Sons auto service center on Big Bend, eventually passing it on to Dave. Patty took it upon herself to do some serious sleuthing to find Dave to see if he still had that car.
A.M. Clark is still going strong, so Patty popped in to see if Dave still worked there. To her chagrin, Dave had long since retired, and the shop had been sold to Troy Scheske. Troy had been part of Dave’s team for 19 years, and bought the shop in August 2020. So no, Dave no longer worked there.
Disappointed, Patty was about to walk out, but paused. She decided to tell Troy the reason for her visit. She showed him the photo. He, along with customers sitting in the waiting area, were intrigued by the photo idea and her interest in the ’Cuda and the year it was made. After all, we thought it was a Dodge Charger, but we had our doubts.
Troy immediately recognized the car.
“Yes, that was Dave’s car, but it is a 1971 Plymouth ’Cuda,” he said.
Not only did Troy know the car — he also knew who Dave had sold it to, and that he had recently done some work on it. Troy was certain that the new owner would be willing to let the old classmates borrow the car to recreate their photo of years past. He took down Patty’s contact information with the promise to touch base with the owner of the car.
It didn’t take long for the owner, 1974 Webster Groves High School graduate John Mensio, to respond. Calling Patty that same afternoon, he was all for letting them borrow the 1971 Plymouth ’Cuda that now belonged to him.
“Of course, just tell me where and when,” he said.
So, on a warm and sunny afternoon on Sept. 22, 2023 — the weekend of Patty’s 50th Webster Groves High School reunion — she gathered up “the girls.” They had come from as far away as Vermont and Texas.
Webster Groves High School 1977 graduate Terri Koch Gaffney and husband, Tim Gaffney, now live in the house with the driveway in which the original picture had been snapped. The couple not only allowed the use of their driveway for the photo recreation, but were as excited as the rest of the group.
Unfortunately, one of the girls in the original photograph — Christy Bouffard — had since passed away, and two others were unable to make it. But six of the original nine leaned onto the hood of the same pristine ’Cuda and took another photo 50 years later.
Word got out about the photo recreation and more than 20 other alumni and friends began showing up. In the background was Robert’s Gym, and the high school had just let out. Today’s Webster Groves High School students wandered around, chatting, hanging out, and of course, deep-diving into their cell phones.
The informal 50th reunion weekend for Patty and her classmates brought much fun, reminiscing and lots of photos, laughs, hugs and smiles all around. It’s amazing how time flies, but at the same time, 50 years ago also seems like just yesterday.
As published in the Jan 5, 2024 Webster-Kirkwood Times
Bruce Norman and Patty Barenkamp Cordes are both members of the Webster Groves High School class of 1973.
