By KELCY DOLAN

At the end of the summer, Toll Gate alumni, family and friends are invited to a multi-generational reunion at Iggy’s Boardwalk in Oakland Beach.

The reunion, which has been in the planning process for several months now, will not focus on any one graduating year but invites all alumni to gather for a formal meeting.

The planning committee itself is made up of alumni from various classes: Cindy Martin Trahan, 1977, Debra O’Brien, 1978, Lori Brosnahan, 1979, Dr. Albert Alba, 1979, Rick O’Brien, 1979 and Steven Einhorn, 1978.

All the members met earlier this year after Albert posted on Facebook that he was interested in hosting a reunion and encouraged anyone interested to reach out to him. He said he was interested in a reunion open to all graduating years because with a reunion of only one class, “You may not even see your best friend, the person you played sports with or was in the drama club with through high school.”

He said it’s also an opportunity for family to gather together and see siblings or cousins with friends from their own classes.

Rick said, “It clicked for us all at once” everyone was looking into their own class reunions, whether there was going to be one or how they could host one themselves when Albert’s post showed up.

“Instead of waiting for years to go by or wait on the class presidents to do something about it we all stepped up to do it ourselves,” Rick said.

Albert said that the “reality of life” is that people do pass too soon and that’s why he wanted to see something come together sooner rather than later.

Debra, who had a class reunion only a few years ago, said reunions aren’t “what they used to be” and hopes that this event will really inspire people to come out. She said now a lot of reunions are small gatherings for old “cliques or the cool kids” to get dinner or a drink.

“We didn’t know each other,” she said. “We weren’t a clique back then. No one is being forced to go, so everyone who shows up really wants to be there; you know that will be fun.”

Cindy joked that the planning committee are the “cool kids” now. She only moved back to Warwick in the past few years after 23 years elsewhere and said she wanted to get involved because it will be a way for her to reconnect not only with old classmates but the city as a whole.

“We rode buses together, rode the ups and downs of high school together. It’ll be nice to see that family of people coming together again,” Cindy said.

The hope is that the event will be one of fellowship and reminiscing as people look back with fondness to their high school careers.

Albert said, “Back then we weren’t separated by different views and opinions, we were interested in who won in sports and such. I think it’s important to get a little bit of that back.”

As different as all the graduates may be, the committee said that Toll Gate has this one commonality, a pride for their school that brings them together as a community.

Cindy said especially for older classes, Toll Gate was a new school and people took ownership over shaping the school in those early years.

“There is really a one-of-a-kind spirit from Toll Gate graduates. The school has a unique character,” Rick said.

The Toll Gate Family Reunion will be held on Saturday, August 22 at Iggy’s Boardwalk at Oakland Beach from 6-11:30 p.m. A buffet will be held between 6:30 and 8 with classic Iggy’s fare and alcohol can be purchased through the bar. Musician Bill Gannon will be performing for the event as well

Tickets are $35 per person and registration fees are due by August 2, so the reunion committee can have a head count for food. Checks can be made out to Toll Gate Family Reunion and mailed to Albert Alba at 24 Eagles Nest Terrace, Narragansett, RI 02882. Please provide name, email address or any other contact information with the check.

For more information on the event or other ways to submit payment visit the Toll Gate Family Reunion August 2015 Facebook page or contact Albert by phone at 783-2506 or by email at aalbaphd@verizon.net.

TITANS AT HEART: Pictured from left to right are Rick O’Brien, Albert Alba, Steven Einhorn, David Gravino, MaryAnn Gravino Soares, blank Lori Brosnahan, Debra O’Brien and Cindy Martin Trahan. Together they are hosting the Toll Gate Family Reunion 2015, which will bring together various alumni from the high school, spanning different generations for a reunion at Iggy’s Boardwalk in Oakland Beach. (Submitted photo)