I had the pleasure of attending my 40th High School Class Reunion in Eaton Rapids, Michigan this weekend. The coordinators did a fabulous job of pulling the weekend together with a variety of activities to keep people on the move. This was especially nice for those of us traveling in from out of town, especially those traveling from out-of-state.
This is my bulleted list of memories of the weekend.
- Meet-and-Greet at Eaton Rapids Medical Center Conference Room.
- Great desserts!
- Friendly conversation with classmates.
- Tammy (Ball) Albright’s face sign
- Olive burgers and beer at Abies Bar
- Woman’s bathroom is small with two toilets, no stalls.
- Breakfast at Darb’s Patio, always yummy!
- Glitch in planned tour of high school – Honor Society students are prepared to do tour, school is locked and they don’t have keys.
- Classmate makes a couple calls and resolution is on the way.
- Dave Johnson, teacher when we attended, later principal, now retired, has master key to school and comes to rescue, conducts the tour, and does an awesome job of sharing the way it was when we attended, and what changes have been done over the years.
- Touring the high school after 40 years brings back memories, including these mentioned during tour:
- The Cold Tongue
- The smoking bathroom
- Pep Rallies
- After home game dances
- Band/band camp
- Typing class
- 1-2-3 Roll’em Ferndock
- World History class lectures in auditorium
- Theater performances in auditorium
- Mr. Phillips math classes
- Mrs. Lohrke, English teacher
- Mrs. Shimnoski and Mrs. Tuthill, Business/Secretarial Block teachers
- Various athletes, coaches
- Teachers and counselors now gone but long remembered
- Library no longer has a comfy seating area of bean bag chairs, chairs, etc.
- Senior Bench (now gone)
- The former layout of the school compared to what it is now
- Non-Reunion Activity: Quick stop-over to visit with my sister for a couple hours
- Walking a block to the Red Ribbon Hall for the reunion because I thought all parking in front was taken; there were still open spots.
- Some classmates’ appearance has hardly changed, very recognizable.
- Some classmates have changed a lot — thank goodness for name tags!
- Being surprised at how many people recognized me immediately.
- Good food, good desserts.
- Good conversation with old friends and classmates.
- 1978 Graduate photo frame for shooting pics
- Fun slide show of “then and now” pictures of classmates.
- Party Favors: Eaton Rapids glass and notepad
- The Red Ribbon Hall has very good acoustics = loud atmosphere.
- A lot of us still drink, but not like we used to!
- Many of us no longer “close down the bar” and left before the party was over.
- Cell phones are great for event pics…I didn’t see a single “real” camera all weekend.
- Facebook sharing of activities and photos on the ERHS Class of 1978 Page
- Sad realization that we have lost 11 classmates, a nice memorial table was set up.
- A quiz of things about our last year of school – presented by Mrs. Wheeler, former teacher.
- Each classmate was to stand and give their name (maiden) now and where living…which grew as it went around the room to name, where living, married/years, occupation, children/grandchildren.
- Amazing how many people have stayed in Eaton Rapids and/or the Greater Lansing area.
- Surprised at how many have moved out of state, or resided in several states.
Time passes so quickly. How is it we have already been out of school forty years? Many thanks to classmates Julie and Jane Brenke, and their sister Jill, for organizing the reunion as well as several others who stepped in and assisted them.
--- LIFE IS A MELTING POT --- Grace Grogan...Writer, Photographer 