The weather was perfect! Not too warm, not too cool, not too windy. A perfect day for a picnic in Kiwanis Park. And after the hot and stormy weather we’ve had around here for the last month, a day like this was long overdue.
Saturday, August 12, 2006, is a date that about 300 former Riverside-Brookfield High School graduates will not soon forget, for this was the day of the great all-graduates’ reunion picnic.
It all began months ago, when the originators of the idea, RB graduates Doug Rumph and Tom Uhlich were allegedly sitting on a porch, discussing the notion, and Sandi Rumph Bromagen got involved. Then they went searching for other helpers, and got up the RBHS Reunion Picnic Committee, consisting of themselves and Cathy Colgrass Edwards, Carolyn Carter Pann, Meredith Hay Kelly, Trudy Sawtur Franson, Debbie Cross and Dave Fulscher.
Quicker than you could say “We Raise Our Praises All for You, RB,” news of the reunion was being spread over the Internet from grad to grad.
According to Cathy Edwards, 225 people paid in advance, with 71 paying the extra $10 on the big day. That’s 296 people in attendance, not counting any late stragglers.
The whole event began at sunny 3 p.m. Grads and families were encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs, unless they liked to stand and nurse sore legs the day after. Actually, there were a few hundred people always standing, talking, talking, talking, meeting long-lost friends, looking for old friends and exchanging good news, bad news, old news and new news.
Meredith Kelly ran her Stars and Stripes table to collect items and money in order to buy and send needed items to our troops overseas. I was surprised to find out that this was not a national organization with some sort of local chapter, and that it was her own idea, using her own talent and drive. Bravo, Meredith!
Well, when I arrived, I started looking for people I knew, just like everybody else, I guess. For a long while, the only person from my Class of 1970 I’d found was Dan Vejr, who I’d never known, and, for that matter, he’d never known me, either. Later, when the Class of 1970 picture was taken, I met up with others. I asked him if he remembered his old locker number and combination, but he didn’t. I did, however. A-2195, 20-38-32.
There were plenty of people I knew, though, even if they weren’t from my graduation year. Rich Buresh, Class of 1943 and last owner of Buresh’s Lobster House, was there. I sat down and spoke with my good friend, ex-barber Bob Fiala, Class of 1945, and his daughters, Constance Fiala Novotny and Nancy Fiala Zinn.
Ex-Brookfield Police Officer Dan Hull, Class of 1967, was there, too, not to arrest anybody, but just to remember old times at RB. I looked up into the friendly face of “Big Ed” Marcin, and talked a little about the reunion last year of the Hollywood kids, as reported in the Landmark last year.
The great thing about this reunion was that I met people that I’d hardly ever expected to see again. Who should I suddenly see, but Shirley Herman, Class of 1972. She was one of those “Morton Avenue Kids” that I write about once in awhile, and lived just two houses away from me at 3735 Morton Ave. We talked about our families, and recalled a few odds and ends, but there wasn’t nearly enough time to just sit and go on for hours.
Another Morton Avenue Kid I met there was Sandy Orvino, Class of 1980, who may have just been my sister Beth’s best friend in the 1960s and 1970s. I took down her e-mail address and promised to let my sister reestablish contact with her, after all these years.
I took down a few other e-mail addresses here and there, too. It was lucky that I brought a pad and a couple of pens with me. Maybe as part of the next reunion, the committee should give out cheap pads and pens so people can take down e-mail addresses, and the like. I could have probably sold these there and made a tidy bundle.
Well, long about 8:45 p.m., the reunioneers had to be firmly requested to vacate Kiwanis Park, as the event was over, and some wandered over to Eden Lanes again.
Did I have fun? Well, I should say so! Would I go to the next one? Absolutely!