The Reunion of the Class of 1953

This was the final day of our time in Freeport.  We had the main meeting and dinner at the Freeport Country Club.  Al has to confess that this is the first time he has been inside the building.

We have attended several of the reunions over the years and the first impressions were that people were showing what they had accomplished in their careers at the 20th.  By the 30th, it seemed to me that we were re-living our experiences with the jocks sitting together, the socialites the same and so on.  But this one was different.  With nearly half the class being deceased, we were just glad to see each other and to renew old acquaintances or to really get to know some for the first time.

One classmate who lives in a suburb of Chicago.

No, she is not a classmate, she is a life-mate.

Someone on the host committee worked hard on this pretzel decorated cake.

Plans are in the works for a 65th reunion in 2018.  We will have to see how we are doing at that time.  It was a fun time and we are glad that we drove the 550 miles to get here.

Freeport, Illinois, first day

We looked around Freeport for the first time in 10 years.  My family moved here in 1949 just before school opened for me at Freeport High School.  We had no relatives here so there was no one we could relate to in family way since my mother moved away in 1992.  

Do you see that figure at the position of the "o" in Freeport?  Yes, this school has the most unusual mascot, one that is portable and may be taken to games and events.  A bakery years ago made pretzels which became the mascot of the high school.

I took the photo on the right from a yearbook dating to my time at high school.  Comments in the yearbook pointed out the tower with pride.  So Al set about photographing what has changed.  Except for some window changes, it is pretty much the same.  One thing greatly changed is guard desk at the entrance and one may walkabout the school unattended.

This is the home that Al lived in during high school.  It was a vacant lot while we rented a place nearby and then the house was constructed and purchased by my parents.  They continued to live there after Al had left for the US Navy, never to return to Freeport to live.

This is a view of the rented house.

This 1949 Plymouth with Al was in the same spot as the truck in the photo above.  

Across the alley from that house on Logan Street was a covered foundation, a little of which can be seen in the nearest corner of the house, and Wayne and Opal living within.  The next spring Wayne, a carpenter, began to build the upper part of the original house.  Al wandered over and became "part of the family".  Their son Jeff continued in the construction mode and still lives in the house.  He added the large section at the rear of the house.

Wayne, a World War 2 Navy veteran, lives in a home nearby with his daughter Marcia is living with him after a career with the Intel Corporation.  She is working on an IT project at the Freeport hospital.

Jeff and Mollie, current residents of the home.

Mollie, an artist, found a similar artist in Sue.  Mollie does decoration and upholstery of chairs, such as the one Sue is seated on, shared fabrics with Sue.

If you take a mule ride down into the Grand Canyon, you will meet Steve, the third member of the family who is head wrangler of the mule teams.

Here is Steve and you can view him on this NBC Today show video;

http://www.today.com/video/today/52295373/#52295373

Finally a little romance.  At the top of the waterfall in Krape Park in Freeport, Al proposed to Sue in 1961.  The park has changed very little over the years.

Travelling to Freeport, Illinois, through Iowa

We left Chanhassen and decided to travel cross-country to avoid the Minneapolis/St Paul traffic.  This led us to US 52 through Rochester, MN, and on into Iowa.  We headed to Dubuque, Iowa, for the bridge crossing the Mississippi river into Illinois.

A sight along the Mississippi river at Guttenberg, Iowa.  Perhaps the colors a still heading for peak color but we took what we found for often a rainstorm and wind fells the leaves prematurely.

Another view of the river.

Sue buying presents for special friends at this entrepreneur at the wayside.  Christmas maybe?

A friendly person at the wayside snapped this picture.

We enjoyed the colors of the fields in the next few pictures.

This photo showed the beutiful greens and bowns of the countryside in Iowa.  Many crops are being harvested.  

Chanhassen, MN, on our way to Freeport, IL

Our first day of our trip took us to the Minneapolis area.  In the north suburbs we found these fall colors.

Some wag said that this is one tourist destination that moves.  Wait in one area in Minnesota and the color will come to you.

Our first stop was to see Joan and Ralph whom we have known for some 22 years.  They have moved to an independent living facility after most of their lives living in a home where their family was raised. In two weeks they will be heading to Arizona where they have wintered for many years.

We will be attending the Chanhassen Dinner Theater tonight where Fiddler on the Roof is featured.  We have attended this theater for 30 years or more when Broadway plays are given.  This church was once the landmark in an unpopulated area where the theater is located.  Now the area is extremely built up.  So a little nostalgia here. 

There were matinee performances at the main and smaller theaters in the afternoon.  We attended the evening performance.

The interior of the theater and Sue is purchasing tickets.

Members of the cast giving an after-performance seminar with some students from Hastings, MN.

A collage of past performances.

We walked out of the theater and here was Russ, a fellow employee of 3M for almost the same dates that Al worked there.  He was driving bus at that time and now has 56 years of experience with the bus company.  Think of the coincidence of seeing him.  Just a few minutes more or less and we would have missed him.  Russ was driving the bus taking the students back to Hastings.