Jim Bennett's article in Normal's newspaper,
"The Normalite"....
The Spectator
by Jim Bennett
10/7/2010
Reflections .... 50-Yr Journey
MAYBE I THOUGHT I was being helpful, but I regretted the decision in about 30 seconds. Along with about a dozen of my aging peers, I volunteered to kneel in the first row for the class picture. I can’t hold that position very long and neither could the others. We urged the photographer to hurry.
The classmate next to me, Martha, a resident of Framingham, Massachusetts, and a woman who had once served as a CIA operative, was also assuming the role of good sport. She said, “You think you’ve got problems? I’ve had two knee replacements.” In high school, Martha was one of our valedictorians.
“Tell me about your life as a spy,” I said.
“I would,” she joked, “but then I’d have to kill you. You’d have classified information.”
Eighty five of us from the Bloomington High School class of 1960 were in position for the 50-year reunion group photo. The photographer snapped the shots as fast as he could. We stood up, some more quickly than others, some with help, but all with some fresh aches and pains.
No matter. Our 50-year reunion, held last weekend at BHS and the Marriott in Uptown Normal, was a rousing success by any measure. The turnout of 85 classmates was nearly half of those still living, a result of careful, long-term planning and an ever-updated database maintained by our dedicated chairwomen, Karen and Zona.
The weather for Friday night’s football game was perfect. That was a matter of luck, but not the rest; careful detail management accounted for the smooth flow of events with scarcely a single hitch.
Those who participated will remember the event for some time to come.
SATURDAY EVENING’S banquet and program delighted all who were assembled. Bob, a popular classmate from Tampa, energized the room by singing three numbers, including a foot-tapping version of Barrett Strong’s early ‘60s hit, “Money.”
Bob then joined a group of a dozen or so madrigal singers who had reconnected and rehearsed briefly. They performed two numbers, both written and scored by a musically-gifted classmate, Suan. Their 1959-60 teacher, Miss Selk, was on hand to direct them through their measures. A standing ovation followed the final note.
The performance of these numbers took work, even though the labor was all about love. Bob confided to me after a Friday rehearsal, “It’s not easy, the stuff Suan wrote. Three-part harmony, lots of time changes and key changes, knowwhat'msayin’?”
I’ve kept touch with him over the years. He’s always been musical. I asked him if he could write and score music like that. “Hell no,” was the immediate answer.
CLASSMATES in attendance came from many states. California was particularly well represented. Some of them I had touched base with occasionally over the years, but others I hadn’t spoken to since early June of 1960.
Dave, from Phoenix, was one of our leading baseball and basketball players in ‘59-’60. Humility has gotten the better of him it seems. At some point over the fifty-year divide, he helped found global health insurance giant CIGNA. He asked if we’d ever heard of the company.
“Uh, yeah.”
But it took his wife to reveal he’d received the Bronze Star for bravery during his 1969-70 tour in Viet Nam.
Another Dave, who has lived in California for many years, was also one of our basketball stalwarts back in the day. He is now retired, but spent most of his working years as a NASA scientist.
His work took him to Japan and other places around the world. Approximately eight years ago, he was project manager for a space station payload being built by the Japanese.
A third Dave, also from California, who was president of our student council, has been a professional tennis player/teacher for the past 40 years. He has won countless tournaments during that time and has been ranked as high as #2 in various age divisions of the California United States Tennis Association.
John, from Alabama, was a starting guard on our ‘59-’60 Raiders basketball team. He is now a psychology professor at Auburn University. Another of our valedictorians (we had four), Barbara, joined us from Arlington, Virginia. She recently retired as a D.C. lobbyist. Nowadays she serves as chairman of a nonprofit agency in the District of Columbia that feeds the homeless.
Rolf, from Houston, was a tennis standout for the Raiders. He’s another former rocket scientist who is now president of his own company working on cutting-edge green energy biomass projects.
ALONG WITH these stories of success and leadership came others of sorrow and loss, health challenges of many kinds, long-term battles with cancer, successful and not. Some of the attendees were in wheelchairs. Not surprising when we remember this was a group of people born in 1942.
More than 40 of our classmates have died, out of a graduating group of about 240. They were honored in a special power point presentation during the Saturday evening program.
Like most others, I found myself at a loss when greeting some classmates; I didn’t remember them. In other cases, 50 years seemed little more than a blink; I was able to speak with them as if conversations has been briefly interrupted, and generated a comfortable momentum held but briefly in suspension.
One person at the reunion remarked to another, “Well, you haven’t changed over the years.”
His reply was, “That’s not surprising; people don’t change.”
I understood the point he was making. Our core personalities are formed by high school, and remain a constant no matter how much hair is left or how big the waistline has grown or how many joints are still the ones we were born with. Still, I found it food for thought.
So I’m left to ask: Is 50 years a long time ago, or simply a pause and effect? I don’t know. I will remember this event fondly, but maybe with more questions than answers. But I’m used to that.
Knowwhat’msayin’?