Saturday, October 12, 2019 - Second Day of Our Reunion; Getting Ready to Roll on Sunday

Saturday, October 12, 2019 - Second Day of Our Reunion; Getting Ready to Roll on Sunday

This morning it was 36 outside and 60 inside when I got up.  We turned the main (propane) heater on last night at 68.  It felt much warmer downstairs than it did upstairs in the bedroom.  I can assure you as cold as I was last night, today I will be adding not only the heated mattress pad to the bed but also a quilt.  I did not sleep well at all.  Everytime I woke up I was cold.  I should have at least pulled the quilt out last night and laid it across the top of the comforter until I could remake the bed this morning.  Brrrr!

We did not walk this morning as I had several things to do.  When I picked up the keys for the community center yesterday, Carol told me the event in the west room would start in the early afternoon and she wasn't sure how long they would be there.  Based on that, I called Jamie to see if I could pick up her ice chest this morning.  I was going to take it to the community center to fill it and the container I picked up from Crystal this morning for tea.  She thought we may as well just set up the tables and chairs, as well as the food tables while we were there so we didn't have to come back later.  That worked out great.  As we approached the parking lot we were so happy to see the city had put up a number of signs around the parking lots that the parking lot was reserved for community center parking only.  With Oswegofest this morning and the Demolition Derby scheduled for late afternoon we were not sure if there would be parking available for the two groups who rented the building.  Unfortunately, when we got to the building, the keys I had would not unlock the northeast room that we had.  I could come in the front door or the kitchen, but without a key to the room we rented I could not get in from the inside either.  Fortunately, Carol was still at home (she was going to be out of town) and I was able to borrow her key to get us in.  I dropped Jamie off at her house once we were done and headed home.

Before I left I put a load of clothes in the washer and they were ready to dry when I returned.  While they were drying, I needed to go to the Dollar General.  I realized I was out of scotch tape to hang up the signs I made for the doors at the community center, and I needed to get a plastic table cover for the food table.  I also took the cups I had purchased earlier that we will need for tonight.  When I arrived I was surprised to see about 10-12 vehicles parked in the parking lot at the community center.  Signs everywhere --- as you enter and inside of the parking lot itself at almost every row but people were still parking here.  Two cars pulled in and parked across from each other.  It occurred to me, maybe they were here for the other event, so I asked them if they were here for Oswegofest and they both said yes.  I explained the parking was reserved for two events at the building.  One event will start at 2, so people will probably begin arriving after lunch sometime to begin setting up (if not sooner) and people will begin arriving around 1:30 or so; and the other (our event) will have people showing up about 4:30 or so.  Oswegofest goes until around 3 I believe, and at 4:30 there is a Demolition Derby north of the Community Center.  We asked the city to place signs so there would be plenty of parking for these two events.  Both of the drivers were very nice and moved to the grass parking areas east or north of the community center.  There was still a lot of parking available in these areas.  I hope parking is available for those renting the building when the time comes.  (Update:  while there were several cars still in the parking lot - we did have plenty of room for our group.)

Much of our group met at the park for Oswegofest, but since we were leaving tomorrow I cam home and started preparing for our move to Coachlight RV Park in Carthage, MO tomorrow.  We are attending a rally next week with our Escapees group there.  We have also invited our new full-time friends to attend, Mark & Karen.  I knew if I didn't get as much done as possible today, it would run us late tomorrow.

When Dean came home, we had a quick lunch and then he packed away our grill, chairs and emptied our black and grey tanks so he does not have to do those tomorrow.  I remade the bed, adding the heated mattress pad and quilt, then stored everything I could and still function this evening and tomorrow morning. I was surprised when I checked the laundry hamper - I already had another load of clothes.  How do they accumulate so quickly?  I put them in the washer, dried them for 20 minutes, and then hung them in the shower to finish drying overnight.

At 3:45 Dean and I headed to the former Oswego High School where my classmates and I graduated over 45 years ago.  The School District sold the building about 3-4 years ago to Rodney Kelly.  He now operates a hunting lodge in the building.  We were curious to see what changes have been made since our high school days.

Our old High School - Now Big Buck Outfitters Lodge

What was known as "The Old Gym" when we were in HS.  In the far right corner above is where the Seniors sold candy bars and pop to raise money for the Senior trip.

Our Home Ec room still looks like it did when Mrs. Free taught us to cook so many years ago.

The halls do not look the same....We used to have head shots of each Senior in a group class picture hanging on the wall instead of this.

The auditorium had not changed much except for a few animals.

Dean wanted to see a moose closeup - how much closer can you get?

This was one of our favorite rooms - Mrs. Edmondson's typing/business class.  

Another  view of Mrs. Edmondson's room.  While it may look small in this picture, it looked much larger than we rememberd it.

I believe this was the room to the east of Mrs. Edmondson's Room.  It was the drafting class for most of our high school time.  My Senior year it was a class with Mr. Spigarelli (Coach), Psychology, maybe?

Same room - it looks a little wild now - I wonder if Coach Spigarelli thought the same thing when we were there?

Mr. Tener's Biology Classroom.  We disected a number of things on that table.  We had to collect insects and label them, placing them on a styrofoam board and turning them in at the end of the year for a grade.

Mr. Tener's Chemistry room.  

Another shot of the room.

It was a little after 5 when we left the Hunting Lodge/Old OHS Building.  Next stop was the Community Center.  There were probably 8-10 cars in the parking lots - so there was still plenty of parking for our group and the Demolition Derby had already started.  Fortunately, once we were inside I never noticed it.  I think we were making as much noise as they were.  Lol!  Jamie made the most amazing desserts - two kinds of cookies, individual cheese cakes topped with fruit, carmelitas (amazing!), and individual cherry turnovers.  We love her desserts!  We spent the next hour just visiting with one another until Kenny (Jamie's husband) returned from Chicken Annie's with chicken, baked beans, German coleslaw, bread and butter.  This is one of the famous chicken restaurants from the Pittsburg/Frontenac area near us.  As usual, it was delicious.

L to R:  Connie Barrett Jones and her husband; Bill Jacobs; Ron Wellington; Doug Sevart and his wife Chris; Mark Brannin and his wife Chris.

L to R:  Denise Dawson Sherman; Debbie Moss Smith; Susie Vitousek Coman, and Darrell Franklin.

Jamie Stephens Gott and Melanie Taylor Laughlin's husbands.

Darrell and Penny Johnston Rousseau; Robin (Johnston) and Curt Kindig; Karen Taylor Hubbard
Robin and Karen are siblings to Penny and Melanie - they were in the same class.  We were glad to have them with us.

Mari Anne Ruttgen Hansen's husband and Dean Peine, my husband.

Melanie Taylor McLaughlin; Mari Anne Ruttgen Hansen, Jamie Stephens Gott
Jamie made the desserts.  I'm sorry I didn't get pictures of them.  She had them displayed beautifully!

Front Row:  Doug Sevart, Darrell Franklin, Ron Wellington, Mark Brannin and Bill Jacobs
Back Row:  Cheri Blackledge Peine, Jamie Stephens Gott, Penny Johnston Rousseau; Cheryel McCord Cross; Denise Dawson Sherman; Susie Vitousek Coman; Debbie Moss Smith; Melanie Taylor Laughlin; Mari Anne Ruttgen Hansen

We had a great time catching up and reminiscing since our last get together three years ago.  There were many pictures taken over the course of the evening.  We even sang the school song together.  Thank you Jamie for leading us.  I knew most of the words, but it's been a very long time since I've heard it.  I wonder if our kids and grandkids ever sing it?  I'm going to ask them about that.

What a fun day remembering old times with classmates. Thank you to everyone who came.