My sister, Kathy, was supposed to join her 1965 Southport High School class to celebrate its 50th reunion. She was coming from Austin, Texas, and was only going to be able to stay a few days in addition to the reunion days.
To make this more complicated was the fact that my Southport 1960 graduating class had a reunion planned for the same days. What are the odds of that happening?
It took us some time to work out a plan where we could attend our reunions and still have some family time to get caught up. Shortly after our plans had been finalized, some bad news came from Austin.
Kathy’s husband, Paul, had some difficulty with a stress test and might be needing some additional medical procedures. Since it turned out that he will require more surgery, Kathy decided to stay home.
I decided to partially take her place. The first thing on the agenda for her reunion was a tour of the old and current high school buildings. I received permission to assist with the tours of the older brick building at Orinoco Avenue and Banta Road.
It was a fun afternoon. I got to visit with several of my sister’s classmates, including Jackie Ellis, who was a neighbor of ours when we were growing up. I had also seen Jackie at our Edgewood Grade School reunion. I probably hadn’t seen Jackie for 55 years or so and then I saw her twice in one month.
That evening my wife, Lyn, and I headed to Greenwood for a picnic reunion. I visited with Bill Wasson; earlier in the day I chatted with his cousin Don Wasson at the tours of the schools.
The picnic was a lot of fun, and the food was delicious. It is so much fun to visit with former classmates, even those who I didn’t know very well in school. I also enjoy retelling stories with good friends who I have remained close with over the years.
The following afternoon Diane Spaulding-Eberhart, one of my sister’s best friends, came over to our house for a nice visit. She was excited about being able to meet Stuart, our therapy dog.
Both classes had golf outings Friday. Pat Benner-Rau set up the outing for my class, and I heard lots of folks thanking her.
The 1965 class met at Primo Banquet Hall Saturday evening. My class met at The Hilton Hotel Downtown.
I really enjoy these get-togethers ... so many stories and wonderful times recalled. We are already planning one for next year.
This week is also going to be busy as the Beech Grove Fall Festival starts today.
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.