Mr. Byrne's EPIC Retirement Party!

11545 Sorrento Valley Road,San Diego CA 92121

07 August, 2021

Description

Come celebrate Mr. Byrne's 32 years at Francis Parker! Former students and fans welcome! CEPA forever! SAVE THE DATE! Saturday August 7th, at New English Brewing's awesome outdoor event space in Sorrento Valley! Free to attend but please RSVP by grabbing an eventbrite ticket, and please consider helping support our gift. Taco truck and beverages (beer and non-alcoholic) can be purchased on site. Please contribute as much as you can to our special thank you gift to Mr. Byrne by donating here on Eventbrite in the ticket section (all money goes toward gift purchase). See more information on the gift below. What it's all about...What a year to retire! After a pandemic muted celebrations large and small, help us not let this momentous occasion go unrecognized!!!! Without a doubt, Mr. Byrne has had an immense impact on our lives. There are few larger-than-life teachers who inspire, who leave that indelible mark, who make us laugh, have your back, give that quintessential impression of high school, who rise beyond the level of teacher, to mentor, friend, confidant... no one more than the God of Hellfire himself.  Mr. Byrne taught us how to process TriX 400 and print silver gelatin prints, how to properly agitate, to appreciate Susan Sontag and David Hockney, and Hitchcock and Maya Deren (we knew about La Jetée well before our pretentious peers in college 'discovered' it). Thanks to Mr. Byrne you know how to properly agitate with the best of them, and DOBURWHERNEC like a pro. You have muscle memory every time you hear DOAC, WODA and FIDO. You can properly CEPA. You've sung Danny Boy and Slipknot in the darkroom. You've filmed doors not opening, and interviews of your parents and peers. You offered to trade your soul for an extra Del Mar Fair ticket, and had late nights with photos spread on the photo room floor to figure out the best ordering for your AP concentration. Nelson's knew you were a Parker student the moment you walked in the door. You know what a Psychocow is, and you've helped to edit, or eagerly awaited for the epic remake of Detour. You were politically supercharged with the Young Democrats (or you fought valiantly yet futilely against one of the Comrades). You went to MOPA. You got to see Bill Mahr live, and meet Michael Moore. You've tried to organize Mr. Byrne's classroom. You've been asked to share an anchovy pizza at a Mona Lisa's dinner. You know the dorm by heart. Or you know the new studio like the back of your hand. You've spent hours hanging at Gelatos. You've scambled to hang prints together for Arts Night and raced slide film to Nelson's so it doesn't turn purple. And on, and on, and on, and on. If you don't remember it all, the memories are sure flooding back by now. But more than all of the experiences, the fun, the learning about photography and cinema, Mr. Byrne taught us how to see, how to understand ourselves by finding our own point of view, in life as much through the lens of a camera. For many of us, Mr. Byrne remains just as important in our lives outside of the classroom and after high school. Mr. Byrne has been there for our college graduations, our gallery openings, and movie screenings, to meet our loved ones and give his blessing, to celebrate our weddings, and he's been there when we've lost a parent.  So let's gather and be there for him, not just to celebrate our (favorite!) teacher and his retirement, but to honor Mr. Byrne and the lasting impact he's had on all of our lives. CEPA! Our collective thank you gift!Even if you can't make the event itself, we ask you to please contribute toward Mr. Byrne's very special and unique retirement gift. Mr. Byrne never once had the yearbook dedicated to him, so we're going to do one better. We're going to have a professional coffee table sized photography book custom made, filled with photos from our portfolios, snapshots with T.C.G. himself or us in his class, and our favorite memories. If you want to see what it'll look like, you can check it out here: https://www.milkbooks.com Please send us ONE (1) photo from your portfolio and ONE (1) story from your time in Mr. Byrne's class, or simply a personal message. And please consider donating $15 or more here on Eventbrite to make it all happen. It does cost money, and we seriously need everyone to help chip in. Email both photos and stories to: [email protected] Because this has to be designed, printed and shipped before the party, we need everything ======>NO LATER THAN FRIDAY JULY 9TH<======= That's it. Simple. All we're asking is that you take 10 or 15 minutes out of your day for the teacher who devoted 32 years of his life to us. And if you have photos of you and/or friends, and Mr. Byrne from your time at Parker, definitely send those too. Along with any and all videos you have from his class. We hope to have a projector going playing all of those on the wall of the party. And they may even wind up in the book too!