Although TK Krumenacker left his hometown more than 30 years ago, Greenport High School — and the people he attended it with — still hold a special place in his heart.
“You graduate, you go off to college or start your career and you never hear from your classmates again,” said Krumenacker, who has lived in Florida since he finished college. “That, to me, is very sad.”
In 2011, it was nearing 30 years since Krumenacker graduated from Greenport High School. When he found out that no one had taken on the job of planning a reunion, he volunteered.
“I decided I wanted to do something different,” he said. “I didn’t want to be like all the other reunions where you pay $75 for dinner and a couple drinks to see a few of the people you went to school with.”
That’s how the Greenport High School All-Class Reunion was born.
“I wanted to have all classes, every grade, every Porter,” he said.
In 2012, the first ever GHS All-Class reunion kicked off with more than 600 people in attendance. In 2014, the second event drew four times as many Porters. This year, Krumenacker hopes to do even better.
“The growth was incredible,” he said. “I think this year we can definitely top it.” He expects more than 3,000 people to turn out this year’s event.
The third bi-annual GHS All-Class Reunion will be held on July 16 at Greenport’s Fifth Street park. The 12-hour event, beginning at 8 a.m. and concluding at 8 p.m., will include food, drink and music — all at no cost to attendees.
“Everything is donated,” Krumenacker said. “From the food itself to the Dumpster, we get everything donated by local businesses.”
The day will also include a raffle, featuring donated gift baskets and certificates, as well as GHS All-Class Reunion merchandise for sale.
“The raffle itself lasts about an hour, we have so many donations,” Krumenacker said.
After expenses, the money raised goes to a cause all Porters can get behind: the Greenport Union Free School District.
“At the end of the summer, when the school year is starting back up we send a letter out to all the department heads to find out what they have planned for the year,” Krumenacker said.
“We find out what they need, when they need it and how much it costs and then we try to help make that happen,” he explained. “Last time around we were able to donate $900 to help the Garden Club build a shed.”
In 2014 the event raised $$3,600 after expenses. This year, Krumenacker expects to raise even more, hoping to gross around $15,000.
But while raising money for his old school district is certainly a worthy cause to Krumenacker, he says there’s another reason he has taken the project on.
“To me, the greatest thing is seeing people getting back together,” he said. “I walk around and hear ‘oh, I haven’t seen you in twenty, thirty years,’ and that’s the best feeling — when they say, if it wasn’t for this reunion, I would not have seen this person — that’s a good feeling. ”
The importance of keeping in touch with old classmates is personal to Krumenacker, who recently lost his brother, a fellow Greenport graduate.
“The sad thing is, since we only have them every two years, in between the events sometimes we lose people,” he said. “It really shows how meaningful an event like this is, how important it is that we all get together.”
Anyone looking for more information can visit the GHS All-Class Reunion Facebook group. Local businesses interested in donating to the raffle should email Krumenacker at tk@twfg.com.
Correction: a previously published version of the article listed the amount of money donated in 2014 as $4,800; it has been corrected to $3,600.
