1. I dashed up to Kellogg High School's Andrews Gymnasium this morning for the closing ceremony of the All-Class Reunion. I walked in the gym about ten minutes before the festivities started and the west side bleachers were almost full, a superb turnout.
The ceremony moved me, mostly with feelings of nostalgia and a love for my school. I was in the choir at North Idaho College with Joy Persoon (many most enjoyable NIC choir memories rushed in) and at some point decades ago she became the choir director at Kellogg High School. For this ceremony, she came out of retirement, assembled a choir, and they rehearsed for several weeks and performed a series of familiar and fun, and sometimes touching, pop songs. "I'm a Believer" and "Stand by Me" got my feelings stirred up. In addition, some great memories from the mid-1980s in Eugene connected to the a cappella group, The Nylons, came flooding in as the choir sang "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". (I'm wondering if Jeff S. remembers how much Doug I. loved The Nylons performing this song on their album, Seamless. Doug's enthusiasm was contagious, he got me hooked, and I bought the album in 1986 or 87.)
To help start this ceremony patriotically, Carol's sister-in-law, Laurie Roberts, sang "The Star Spangled Banner" and, after the choir performed, Mayor Mac Pooler talked a bit about signs of progress in Kellogg, the winners of two 500 dollar drawings picked up their cash, and the ceremony ended with all of us in attendance singing "The Alma Mater" together.
"The Alma Mater" described perfectly how I felt as I headed home: loyal and true.
2. I was indescribably grateful that the closing ceremony occurred indoors.
I had stayed put in The Lounge during the welcoming ceremony and the Saturday catered bbq dinner simply to stay out of the weekend's heat.
Back home, in our comfortably air conditioned little house, I returned to my daily routines -- I got caught up working NYTimes Crossword puzzles and got caught up writing in this blog.
Debbie found a couple of quarts of broth stocked with a lot of beef bits, thawed them, and made a very different kind of beef stroganoff, featuring orzo instead of rice or noodles. It was awesome.
Carol dropped by during our relaxing afternoon to pick up a child's paperwork for the camp Carol and Paul will conduct this coming week.
I really had no idea what Carol had done during the reunion -- we saw each other briefly at registration, but never again, and so she walked me through her time with graduates from the 80s at the Longshot Saloon, her participation in the parade, hers and Paul's performance at the welcoming ceremony, and what a good time she had at the catered bbq dinner, eating, visiting, and enjoying the band.
3. Debbie and I ended the day by going next door to Christy's at about 8:00. Christy had an incredible time from Thursday through Sunday with both the All-Class Reunion and the Class of 1973's 50 year reunion. Christy's class had a dinner at The Timbers on Thursday, met at Radio Brewing on Friday, enjoyed a breakfast at Christy's house on Saturday while decorating their float for the parade, and had a great time being in the parade. Over the weekend, I only saw Christy once, from a distance, as she rode in Butch Moore's truck cab while he pulled their float down the parade route.
So, Christy, Carol, and I had next to no contact with each other during the reunion until the closing ceremony had ended. The two of them nabbed me as I was leaving the gym and Tina snapped a picture of us.
Here it is:
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