LA84XXV – the 25th Anniversary of the 1984 Olympic games held in Los Angeles (USA) featuring a portion of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committe (LAOOC) family.
**John Williams – Official Olympic Fanfare 5 min**
I didn’t have the athletic talent to be an Olympic competitor but I did have the professional talent to become a LAOOC staffer. During my tenure with the “committee” I was provided the opportunity to work in several departments so this blog attempts to capture my interpretation of the 25th Anniversary and a few tidbits you might find of interest.
Anniversary’s, Reunions and events where you come together periodically offer a wide range of emotions. Basically you don’t know what to expect, so there are feelings ranging from anxiety to jubilation and everything in between. Certainly since 1984 there have been several organized reunions of those involved in this historic event…….but 25 years…….. you knew something special was in order.
Like the Olympics, immediately following the games I had to get on with my life so fortunately I was able to put my experience in a capsule and even to this day things are tucked away in my mind and every once in a while something will jar open the capsule and special experiences and moments fill my mind. The 25th Anniversary certainly jarred my memory and since technology has taken on new meaning, this blog is perfect! As a matter of fact it was one of our sponsors, IBM who rolled out the first e-mail platform I had ever seen. Us staffers thought we were on Mars or on another planet.
There was much to share about the 25th – seeing, Peter, Priscilla, Anita, Russell, John B, Rachel, Lucy, Jerry, Jim, Scott, Bill, Ken, Edwin, Tom L, Barbara, Carol, Evelyn, Mary Lou, Mike, Amy, Peter V, Wyomia, and many others I connected with as well as hundreds of other faces I remember but after 25 years their names have temporarily escaped me. Isn’t that the reason for anniversary’s???????
The event was truly fantastic and done in the same fashion which made the 1984 Olympics such a historic event. I forgot the exact numbers but of the 40,000 or 50,000 people involved in organizing the games, not including the athletes who attended I simply did now know what to expect…….but surely God willing…… Judith and I made sure we would be in attendance. The final count that attended the majestic event was a bit more than 1,000 but the number is not as important as the content of the anniversary. The layout in the peristyle was perfect and the seating allowing the scoreboard and torch to be used which resulted in the perfect backdrop.
The only hiccup, and I must admit as sophisticated a person I want to be, certain menus go way over my head, and the one that evening did just that. Anyway, enough said as the meal was the meal, but it was the discussions at our table and simply seeing everyone engage in positive conversation which made the event worthwhile. Oh yeah, the dessert presentation was featured after the formal program ended and it was also done in very good taste with the perfect setting adjacent the plaques near the entry of the Coliseum.
Here is a sample
Rachel - Fred - Priscilla - LaVon - Judith
Rachel - Judith - Peter
Fred - Judith - Tom LaBonge
25 years later - everything looks new!!!
Coliseum Peristyle
Fred & Scott
VIDEO FOOTAGE HAS BEEN UPDATED
