I’ve talked to so many people who say they’ve never been to their high school reunion. Because I was on the committee for our 50th Reunion perhaps I was more excited than most for the event.
Our high school, Rockford (IL) West, was built in 1940. By the time we got there it was already an old school. In 1989 the Rockford School Board closed the high school and turned it into a middle school. Middle school??? Oh, they must mean junior high school – like where I went to 9th grade at Roosevelt Jr. High in Rockford, where my dad went to jr. high in 1927.
One of the people on our committee arranged for the school to be open on the day of our Reunion, from 11 – 1. MK and I agreed that we would welcome any classmate who came.
I lived across the street from West all during my high school years. And I mean 30 feet from the parking lot. Yes, I walked to school every day for 3 years – of course it was uphill both ways.
Room 116 houses a “Memorabilia Room”. Yearbooks, pictures, cheerleading uniforms, stuff going back to the 1940s. There is a volunteer group that support that endeavor and it was wonderful meeting those folks. One of the volunteers was on the 1955/56 West High State Championship team. I’d heard his name often and it was an honor meeting one of the players who was on the team to win back-to-back basketball championships.
We took “Hi, my name is” stickers for people to use when they came in to tour the school. As the first couple of people arrived, I was so glad we had them. I didn’t recognize them. Others came that I recognized immediately. A couple people looked IDENTICAL to how they did in high school.
MK even knew some people from our 40th Reunion even though she went to high school in Japan and in California as a Navy brat. Her 50th was this year
as well.
The actual event started at 5 p.m. on Saturday night. We had 150 people there. I had the privilege of emceeing the event which made it even more fun for me.
My best friend from high school, who I looked forward to sitting with that night, called the day before letting me know he was in the hospital. Some complications from his previous knee replacement caused him severe pain and he ended up in the emergency room, then emergency surgery, the day of the Reunion. Rats. Guess we are all approaching 70 after all.
Our football coach, now 89 years old, joined us for the festivities. He was conference coach of the year and our football players really enjoyed hanging with their leader. Our football team in 1972 was conference champs.
There were a couple kids there who I even went to kindergarten with!
What amazed me was the groups of people who wanted their pictures taken together with the other classmates they went to grade school with. We heard the “Walker school pictures over here” and “gang lets go over here for Westview’s picture”. Very cool stuff.
Memories.
This is what I took away from the evening. We still are the West High Warriors, even though it may not politically correct anymore. In fact, the Middle School is now the West Middle School Warriors. The thought of being politically correct never changed who we are. (Living in the Cleveland area now we experience the same thoughts from fans who will always be the Cleveland Indians).
This was a group of people who loved each other, argued with each other, broke each other’s hearts when we were dating, hung together through good and bad. Many of us hadn’t see each other for over 50 years. Others were still tight friends since grade school. About 70 people would have loved to be there that night but were no longer with us. Our committee prepared a special video for those people.
16 different states were represented. When I asked people who lived more than 50 miles away from where we celebrated that night at least half the class stood up. People from California, Arizona, Florida and even a classmate who now lives in Spain.
That’s love!
Ours was a very racially mixed high school. On Saturday night, however, there wasn’t black or white. Even though we had racial riots in our high school halls 50 years ago, today, we were all one – just like America is supposed to be.
Being part of our Reunion Committee was an honor. It wasn’t work. It was hanging with some old (no offense!) friends who I didn’t really know nearly as well as I know them today. Again, how life is supposed to be.
The next time you get an invitation to go your high school reunion both MK and I will tell you that it is worth the time, worth the money and worth getting past your high school angst. Remember, these are memories you can never replace the rest of your life!
