The Class of 1962's 40-year Reunion
August 17, 2002
Peoria, Illinois

40-year Class Reunion

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The class reunion started with an impromptu (sort of) Friday night party at Terry & Patty Wilson Fuchs' Sweetwater Bend Ranch. All classmates that could be contacted were invited a couple of weeks before the reunion weekend when, via email interaction, the response to meeting/eating at Aggatucci's was overwhelming. Terry & Patty stepped forward to offer their ranch home as the Friday party spot. Our hosts were gracious and spared no expense, serving a variety of beverages and food [potato salad by Todd Marshall]. Since we were on a ranch, each of us was given a kerchief & directed to wear it. Most of us wore them. A good time was had by all in attendance (50-60 guests).

Next was the Saturday morning tour of PHS led by Sissy Portman, the PHS Alumni secretary and Class of '60 alumnus. There were about 50 people on the tour. Todd Marshall spent time at the tour and at all events taking pictures that will be or have been posted on his website, especially on the Then & Now page. To see exactly What's New, see Todd's What's New page. Susie Hampy's husband, WHS '58 grad, Brad Lentz, was also seen snapping pictures and he shared those pictures with Todd for the website and gave pictures to those who wanted them.

Mt. Hawley Country Club was the setting for the Saturday evening festivities that started at 6:00 p.m. Our Master of Ceremony , Larry Norton, was FANTASTIC! We were all, spouses & significant others included, very impressed with Larry's caring, touching, funny, & informative presentation. He included teacher tributes, school spirit fun, veteran tributes, & a remembrance of our deceased classmates with the help of several handpicked classmates. At the dance, a DJ played tunes from the late 50's & early 60's.
Bill Bontemps did a great job on our name tags which included our senior pictures & our names. Bill also spent much time taking pictures, Saturday evening, of grade school groups, spreads and various groups & individuals. These pictures are posted at Todd's Picture page. Each attendee received a memory book designed & prepared by Moni Gibbs, Marilynn Pelini Hermann & Laraine Wilson Wessels.

Thanks to our GREAT organizers for setting the ball in motion for such a great time: Lee Swardenski [chairman], Bill Bontemps, Rebekah Bourland, Mike Cook, Bruce & Mary Hobin Dimler, Pam Herman Toler, Marilynn Pelini Hermann, Char Stonebock Allen, & Cisty Swain. Thanks to all who worked so hard to make sure we personally contacted as many classmates as possible.

Besides the official reunion events there were other get togethers of special groups from small lunch meetings to football team gatherings to grade school events.

This reunion, to many (most?), was VERY special. There was much talk about not waiting another 10 years to regroup, so look for us to keep in contact via email and plan on getting together as a large group in about 5 years or so!

Those in attendance were: Teachers: Corky & Dee Robertson, Harry & Arlene Whitaker. Classmates: Dennis Ackerman, Beverly Betebenner, David Blanchard, Ralph Bollinger, Bill Bontemps, Rebekah Bourland, Gerald Bowers, Dave Byrkit, Mike Cook, Millard Day, Norm Dial, Jerry Diamond, Bruce Dimler, Bob Drake, Gary Duffy, Bonnie Essig, Keith Flachsbart, Ron Foster, Terry Fuchs, Margie Gallagher, Ramona Gibbs, Jay Grimm, Gary Hagel, Susie Hampy, Joe Hanlon, Pam Herman, Mary Hobin, Marty Horn, Richard Johnson, Tom Jones, Ray Keithley, Susie Lanman, Bev Larence, Francis Lee, Nancy Lien, Tom Leiter, Jim Lightfoot, Earl Maher, Todd Marshall, Lee Marshall, Barb Mason, Mike McCord, Kathy Meek, Bonnie Mensendike, Linda Messer, Chuck Nelson, Larry Norton, Marilynn Pelini, Wayne Peplow, Bonnie Peters, Neil Pomerenke, Larry Rager, Margaret Ring, Kay Ringel, Gary Rubloff, Greg Rushford, Ted Scheinman, Carol Schmidgall, Roger Selburg, Tom Sharpe, Linda Smith, Sue Solomon, Char Stonebock, Roger Sutton, Cisty Swain, Lee Swardenski, Charles Teeter, Sharon Danielle Vansickle, Barbara Walters, Donna Watkins, Dave Weisert, Bill Wessels, Sandy Williams, Laraine Wilson, Patty Wilson & Ann Yates. (77 classmates of 298 or so)