 *** Class of '61 - We all got our $50 worth!!!! If you were at the reunion, then you KNOW how great it was! For those who wanted to come and couldn’t and who asked me to tell them about the event, you will enjoy this “report”. The food was more than ample and really good, the decorations were so pretty on the white cloths, and Ezra Charles and the Works were TERRIFIC. There were lots of dancers. All the teachers who usually come were there, plus Mrs. [Dunn] Raybon, whom I haven’t seen since 1961. I took the buffalo ashtray she made for Daddy to show her that it’s still alive and loved. The teachers had fun, too. There was time for lots of conversation. I couldn’t attend on Friday, but I hear it was great, too, out by the pool with an appetizer buffet. The general comment was this was the BEST reunion ever and that the casual approach was just right. Everyone wants it the same way next time and many want to continue our “mini-reunion” event in Galveston each year. Plan to come!! There were people there who have never attended a reunion and they enjoyed every minute. There were some who haven’t come to many and they were glad to be back. There was such a feeling of love and spirit and friendship the entire evening that I just floated through it. I got to touch almost all of you, but didn’t really get to talk to you. Please write to me and tell me what you are doing, if you haven’t already. I really want to know and especially am enjoying messages while I’m a little showed down. I dislike making personal comments, but many asked me to let them know how I’m doing. I’ve got a lower back degenerative fracture/dish problem [which I would say 99% of those who attended have experienced in some degree!] and I had gotten out of the hospital on Thursday. I missed Friday night’s event, but I was able to go on Saturday, a minor miracle. I saw a surgeon and probably surgery is the end procedure, but he is really trying to avoid that, so I will have another cortisone injection and more PT before we give up. The new med combo he devised has made me pain-free and able to go again just fine! Jack and Darlene and Rusty and Joan are to be thanked for the fact that this reunion happened and it proves that a reunion needn’t take a year out your life. We only started a few months ago and I think it was a marvelous party. They did all the leg work in Beaumont and made all the decisions about food and financial equations. All I did was write to you and beg you to come. They did ALL the rest and I want to thank them Out Loud. When I fell out and didn’t think I could come, Joan stepped in and brought all of the decorations she had provided for her recent reunion and set up the room so beautifully. I’m sure she had other helpers and I thank them, too, whoever they are. Jack had made all the hotel decisions and set up the wonderful buffet, then enlarged it. Rusty handled all the money, and during his last foray to the hotel to set up the ballroom, etc., he made a last minute addition of a small buffet for Friday night by the pool. He even arranged to have a velvet couch for me in the ballroom! These guys and their wives made it happen and come together in a way that looked as if they HAD worked on it a whole year. I had asked Rusty if he would just accept the checks and deposit them. It turned out that he and Jack would be co-chairmen. Problem is, they did it too well and made it look too easy. I heard several, “You all just do it this way again next time!” comments. And a last big thank-you goes to Ezra Charles/Charlie Helpinstill, ’62, for offering his band to us at an FHS price. His music was the cherry on a fabulous sundae. It made the event. The whole thing was fun, fun, fun. Jimmy and Burl Caraway performed with Ezra, as did Vera Hill Ward. You saw, or you missed, the best version of “Cherry Pie” ever performed!! I loved watching people laughing and hugging. We are family and this was like a family reunion. Some of us started together in the first grade, the rest of us merged in junior high school. We saw each other more than we saw our families! I say that we know EVERY thing about each other, warts and all…and we STILL love each other. That love only gets stronger as the years go by. I loved seeing those who came, I missed those who weren’t there, and I hope we will continue to keep in touch and keep our bond.
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