NCHS Class of 1965
35th Reunion -- August 11-12, 2000
THE
THIRTY-FIFTH REUNION OF THE N.C.H.S. CLASS OF 1965:
Eighty-four members of our Normal Community High School Class of 1965, together with spouses and guests, met August 11-12, 2000 for the 35th anniversary of our graduation. On Friday night, we had a buffet dinner in the Old Main Room at the Illinois State University Bone Student Center, only a few blocks from our old school.
For the first hour, we nursed our drinks while watching the door for
new arrivals -- classmates came from as far as California, Connecticut, and
Texas, and brought stories about life away from our hometown. Locals reciprocated
with tales of how Bloomington-Normal has grown. There were also some interesting
displays of memorabilia, such as old Inkspots, photos, newspaper articles,
and even a collection of WLS ("8-9-0, Chik-cog-oh", remember?) weekly sheets
of best-selling records.
A
few classmates were attending their first reunion. Jenna Lane Majors came
from Oklahoma. Bob Hillman traveled from Charleston, Illinois, and Paul Euler
from Arizona. Paul said that he was having a great time and didn't understand
why he hadn't come back earlier. There were also some attending who have been
at all six, starting in 1975.
After an hour, class members lined up for the traditional class photo. Just before the shutter snapped, a latecomer made his appearance, and rushed into his place (just like some of your NCHS classes, right, Jim?). It seemed like the photographer took enough shots to give a different one to each person in the photo, but the best one is included in this web site.
After the
photo, we filed through queues to take our choice of prime rib, chicken, or
veggie lasagna on the buffet table, and sat down to discuss stories about
our careers, travels, children, and grandchildren. Often, people had more
news about their offspring than about themselves, and a few had already
retired.
Once dessert
was on the table, the evening's program began. Emcee Steve Stockton introduced
the main act after explaining the selection process. It seems that the committee
looked at the list of attendees and started to ask classmates to do a "comedic
commentary". One by one, the committee's selections began to find reasons
not to attend -- if that kept up, nobody would be coming. But, two brave (or
foolish?) classmates, Dick "Yogi" Savage and Phyllis Moulic Magnuson, stepped
up to the plate, throwing all self-esteem to the winds, to present their classmates
with a satirical examination of the NCHS clubs and activities of 1965. They
also employed some time-tested props to get a few cheap laughs, as the photo
shows. We think Dick used those in his high school classes to get a little
rest during lectures.
Steve explained how the reunion committee resorted to "telemarketing" to enhance attendance at the reunion. To assure that the reunion invitations were not ignored, the hard-working group called everybody who hadn't responded. Many classmates replied with "Thanks, I almost forgot!", but some only got badgering messages on answering machines. It was suggested that classmates who don't want to be hassled in 2005 should reply promptly to their invitations.
NCHS Principal and classmate Alan Chapman then discussed the future of our high school. He reported on the recent school referendum that funded a new high school building that will replace the facility that we all knew and loved. In about three years, a new NCHS building will be built on Airport Road, a couple of miles east of the old U.S. 66 bypass (now Veterans' Parkway). We remember that as the middle of farm country, but acre after acre has since been filled with new houses and students, and a new high school out there makes sense, especially since another high school was built on the west side a few years ago. The two schools will have a capacity of 3600, many more than the 840 that attended NCHS in 1965.
The
vacated buildings on Kingsley Street will be converted into a middle school.
The original three-story high school building will be razed sometime in the
next four years, leaving only our memories.
Alan also
mentioned tha
t
none of the teachers that taught us in 1965 are left at the school after the
recent retirement of Jerry Hayden. Finally, he recognized retired teacher
Clem (we can get away with calling him that now) Gangler and his wife, who
accepted our invitation to attend the dinner.
Chris
Senior reported on the Class of '65 Fund that has awarded an annual scholarship
since 1992 to graduating NCHS seniors. Our class added over $2000 in contributions
this year to bring the fund up to more than $10,000. Chris discussed steps
to be taken to increase the interest rate received, and the attendees elected
a committee to oversee the process. We're the only class to have done this,
and we've had wonderful letters from students who have been honored with the
scholarships. These scholarships are financially modest, and we're always
looking for donations to build up the fund. Any size contributions are appreciated;
this year, classmates gave anywhere from $20 to $500. See the separate section
in this web site for more details.
Finally, Steve recognized the efforts of the committee that put the event together. There was special recognition for webmaster Tom Meyers, for Kim Miller, who compiled the 35th Reunion class directory, and for Rick Percy's wife Jan, who was the tireless hostess for many committee meetings at their house. Rick and Frank Niepagen also contributed the use of their insurance office's phones for the committee's telemarketing efforts.
After the program, attendees again got back to engaging conversation, which lasted until the room was closed at eleven and we actually had to chase people out. By then, we knew much more about our fellow classmates. Health is becoming more of an issue, as one attendee discussed his heart transplant, another his deteriorating hip, and still another, cancer. But, on the whole, we're in good enough shape to report that we've lost only one classmate to illness.
There were also comments about how many of our class had gone through a divorce. Many have since remarried, and a few are engaged or dating others who attended as guests. Maybe our health class discussions on marriage weren't enough? But, to be fair, there were several couples there that had been together since high school (Alan Chapman - Kathie Campbell, Gary Garrett - Connie Dibble, Dick Hospelhorn - Cheryl Dalton, and Lynn Rader - Linda Whitwood), as well as others who have been married for decades.
On Saturday, we had two hours to return to our alma mater, for what may be one of the last opportunities to see the old building before it is pulled down. Alan Chapman conducted a tour of the facility he now runs. A large addition was added to the south after we graduated, but most of the attention was focused on the portions that were there when we were. The old halls have new ceilings and lighting, and the hall wall outside the old home economics room has a big mural on it. Many of the rooms have been rearranged: the cafeteria moved to the new section and has been replaced with smaller classrooms, there is a second, larger gym for basketball games, and a new library now known as the "instructional materials center".
However, there were many familiar sights -- the auditorium is much the same, and many of us looked for our assigned assembly seats and old lockers. There was also some discussion about exactly where we each were when we heard of President Kennedy's death during our junior year.
The Saturday night reception was at Bloomington's Lakeside Country Club. Heavy hors d'oeuvres substituted for dinner, although one male class member was on a "diet" and avoided food in favor of beer. The big feature of the night was the encore of our class band, the "Runaways", which now does a single concert "tour" once every five years at our reunion. The band's members (classmates Ken McElroy, Bob Keller, Robin Houchin, and Harry Washburn, together with Sue Alexander's husband Dave Streigel) spent one whole night telling stories and found a few minutes for practicing the 13 songs in their repertoire. After actually playing all those songs at our reception, an enthusiastic response persuaded them to start over. But the class didn't mind hearing some songs twice, and the dance floor was jammed as arms raised in unison to the refrains of "Shout". For a moment -- admittedly, a brief moment until our energy was gone -- we were all students again and back at the Inn at the Normal Pool.
After midnight, the fun ended for another five years. Some of the committee went to a local Steak 'n Shake for a critique of the activities, but most of our classmates got into cars and planes to go home, back to their jobs, families, and memories of the school that helped shape their lives.