I will attempt to summarize the reunion activities/experiences so it can put it on the website. When I receive the group picture from Tom Castle, I will forward them for inclusion on our site.
Following is a chronology of events and some comments:
1 We had registration at the CL Library on Thursday the 5th and it was a boisterous occasion with a lot of hugging and expressions of "good to see you" or "who are you". Julie MacDonald and Shirley Stoyles were the registrars/greeters and I hung around to see old friends.
2 We had a second registration at 5pm at the Half Moon restaurant and a meal. This was well attended and beverages were imbibed.
3 On the 6th at 8:00am we had a buffet breakfast at the VFW club. There were some questions to the committee about who had set the early hour for breakfast. I think some would have preferred 11am. Everyone seemed to have a good appetite and I believe enjoyed themselves. This event was also well attended.
Note: While I'm thinking about it, I don't have final statistics on attendance, etc. so I will 'turn that in' later.
4 The next event was the banquet/program: The choir performed 3 numbers and gave an outstanding performance which received a standing ovation. The choir had 3 practice sessions with Allen Koepke who directed the performance. He gave an excellent and lauditory introduction to the choir. He told of this being a one of a kind group and this being his 1st experience with anything like this. I'm sure either Don Funte or Nance Elliott will express the class's appreciation to him. I would also like to include that Don Funte also gave an eloguent introduction to the guests and choir. Speaking of guests, we had several members from classes on either side of the 57'ers and I thoroughly enjoyed having them join us and hope they will again. Jane Pedelty (1956 grad) was the accompaniest and played a huge role in making the choir event happen. So again, thanks to Don F, Nancy E, and Jane P for giving us the opportunity to enjoy this wonderful musical group.
5 We also had 2 classmates (Larry Lepley and Jerry O'Neill ) perform some 50's music on guitar. Our thanks to them as well.
6 Larry (Andy) Andersen emceed the program and related many humorous stories about our classmates and gave illustrations of how life was in the 50's. In our opinion, there will never be a better era to have grown up and to be able to survive all the dangers surrounding us (like lead paint, BB guns, etc) and to be able to survive without all the modern conveniences including ball point pens. None of us knew what a minefield we were traversing.
7 On Saturday the 7th most of the group gathered at the Lady of the Lake for a 1.5 hr cruise. It was a beautiful day and the weatherman cooperated during our entire reunion period (someone must like us). During the cruise, the class had a short ceremony to honor our departed classmates who now number 15. A rose for each classmate was dispersed overboard to the lake by Jane Coyier. It was a sobering and touching experience.
8 Following the cruise at 1:30 pm on the 7th, a group of 13 golfers tackled the Arrowhead course by State Park. There were 3 trophies awarded. Jack MacDonald received the "Medalist" trophy (honest, the event was not fixed), Bill Stoyles took the "Blind Bogey" trophy in a chipoff with Gary Lowman (this may have been fixed) and Dick Tarr took the "Showed up" trophy for a fairly high score and taking approx. 5 hours (on a cart) to complete his 9 hole round. For people who don't play golf, a normal 9 hole round should take about 1.5 hrs.
This concluded the scheduled events and Arlene Rodenbeck Radcliffe and her husband Cecil hosted an informal gathering at their home on the Lake. This group rounded out the day with a few more beverages and refreshments.
As I said earlier in this epistle, pictures will follow.
Jack
