I enjoyed a lunch with several of my former high school classmates at Arni’s Restaurant in Greenwood on Sept. 7.
Shortly after I returned home, Lyn and I loaded Stuart into the car. It was time for his birthday party. We drove to Ritter’s Frozen Custard to get him one of his favorite treats – a cup of vanilla custard topped with a dog cookie.
On Sept. 8 Stuart and I visited South Grove Intermediate so students could read to Stuart. The program has proved to increased the students’ reading skills. When we arrived at the library there was a birthday gift on the table for Stuart.
That evening Lyn and I had settled in for a quiet evening before I received a phone call from my good friend Richard Smith. He and his wife, Marsha, were going to be at our upcoming class reunion for Southport High School’s class of 1960. Richard went into this long story about them being out shopping and wanting to view the inside of my childhood home, which is now The Longacre Bar & Grill.
Well, Lyn and I drove in the pouring rain to the pub. Upon walking in I was surrounded by many former classmates and bus drivers and friends, all of whom had showed up to roast me. I was shocked. Over the next several hours I made several passes through the building and each time spotted someone who I hadn’t seen or had an opportunity to visit with before.
I remember Richard Smith talking to everyone over the PA system. He was telling about the times that I had pulled something over on him. I remember Nancy Wilcox-DeBaun also speaking and remembering our junior high and high school days.
I was presented a T-shirt with the following words on the front of it, “Good Morning. It’s Not Bad for a Monday.”
Our reunion Sept. 9 started with our class attending the Southport-Terre Haute North football game, which we won 52-17. On Sept. 10 we met at the Perry Township Education Center (the former high school) and enjoyed a dinner and tour of the facility. Our class only spent our sophomore year in that building. At the start of our junior year the high school and junior high traded buildings.
On Sept. 11 morning I watched a program about 9/11. One of my best friends, who was a retired Indianapolis firefighter, drove area first responders to New York later that day. A few years later we lost him to cancer.
My tear glands worked perfectly while getting quite a workout over the long weekend. I want to thank all of my great friends and former classmates. You guys and gals are the best.
Shonk is a 1960 graduate of Southport High School, a ’63 grad of Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) and a retired bus driver from Beech Grove Schools.