Checking In

The Class of 1976 Reunion is in the books. Phew! We had a grand time.

Some highlights:

• Paula and Julia came to my house Thursday night and we went downtown to my fave restaurant Alba, and hit Governor's Plaza to get our picture on Cass County - the whole state is portrayed in concrete.

• On Friday morning, we took off for Walnut, taking Highway 6 part of the way to avoid heavy I-80 traffic. The huge antique festival was going on. I purchased a non-antique metal rooster for my front landscaping.

• We took another road trip for lunch to the small town of Hamlin - where the bridge was out, so we took gravel. Paula's truck was up to the task. A nice man in bib overhauls parked at the first stop sign in town, right in front of us and walked back to speak to Paula. He was concerned three gals in a Texas truck were lost. He directed us to Darrel's for pork tenderloins. Yum! #smalltownfriendly
• The route to Anita from there was not easy either - with more backtracking due to roadwork. We had booked rooms in the Anita Grant Motel because the Walnut Antique event booked all rooms for miles around.  
• When we went to check in, the first words out of the hotel owner's mouth were "I've had surgery to have my toenails removed, and you can't have the Brass Bed room after all." That was not a good sign. Sandy Bullock (no relation) proved to have Hotel ADD. The check in process took over a half hour, during which she showed us several rooms. Then she suggested we probably should have booked at Chestnut Charm - the Bed and Breakfast in Atlantic. Hmmm, is the hotel operation bar too high for you Sandy? Sandy told us her new sign had the word Grand removed from the name - because she didn't want people to think they had a pool, or you know - grand stuff.
• When the check in process was complete, I had five keys for the five rooms for everyone in our group - even though half our group hadn't yet arrived. And I didn't even fill out a registration form. Ahhh, gotta love small town Iowa. Julia, Paula and I had a much-deserved cocktail before getting ready for the night's picnic.
• The Class of 1976 picnic at Sunnyside Park was a rousing success. I enjoy the picnic style that allows people to just stop by. I chatted with lots of different classmates that night. I was sorry Cindy Westfall Turner, who was instrumental in planning the event, wasn't able to attend due to an ill family member. There were around 100 in attendance. We stayed until dark and then stopped by a local establishment before heading back to the motel 15 miles away.
• I was a bit disappointed that more classmates didn't join us at the City Park on Saturday morning for the hike. #lightweights! I had a couple minutes to take a photo of the statue honoring veterans, including my great, great grandfather Adnah David, civil war vet.

  

the intrepid walkers

• Thank goodness Todd Pellet hi-jacked my planned walk route. I didn't know about the Quarry - a beautiful area with concrete trails and ponds along the East Nishna Botna river and the confluence with Troublesome Creek, just north of the downtown area and restored Depot. When we were done, my phone said 11,000 steps, some 5 miles!

Trish and Paula check out park information

• We ran errands after that. First stop - Henningsen Locker. Julia's family runs this place that is hugely popular and it was crazy busy. Paula picked up some RollyPolly. That's not really what it's called, but it's something like that. It's sliced, spiced meat that is excellent. And we stopped at Bonneson's Five and Dime. The store just moved to a new location, so there is even more room for bargains. I purchased a butterfly on a stick for Patrick's grave.
• At noon we met Paul at the Super Bowl for lunch. He'd been in Portland for work all week and drove over from West Des Moines to attend the evening event and to see his adopted class - he knows my classmates better than his own! Soon a whole host of people were there for lunch, the '76 golfers and the hikers. The stories started flying, nothing was sacred - Ted Becker, Ted Wickman, our senior party (though nobody else admitted being there - did I graduate alone?), hunting, keggers). It was such fun.

I don't think it was a fish story...

Dave, Jack and Trish listen in rapt attention

Robyn tells of the time Ted Becker removed everything out of her apartment for a prank - down to the toothbrush!

#clean up nice...

We wear a lot of blue

The food was excellent (courtesy Bob's Downtowner) and drinks were good. The stories that night were hilarious. Deputy Bill Ayers missed his calling and should be in stand up comedy. Roger asked a couple of us to speak. Kirk and Dwight had messages that were a bit spiritual, very uplifting. I talked about an electric tooth brush. But in the end I did bring in a message - one I've shared here before. My friendships with some of these people stretches back over 50 years. My girlfriends have been especially important to me. They've been there in in good times and bad. Life can wear us down, empty us out. My friends help fill my bucket back up. It was fun seeing classmates from the first 18 years of my life.

We extended the evening by sitting on the Country Club deck until after midnight. It was a gorgeous Iowa night. Paul Goldsmith was a wonderful designated driver and drove the daisies back to Anita safely. On Sunday we ended up eating Casey's Donuts and breakfast sandwiches at the Anita Park. I did get my quota of laughs in. I care so much about these ladies!

 

Thanks to Roger Underwood, real life Nancy Drew for solving the Case of the Missing Classmates. He's invested a lot of time into our class, genuinely caring about the lives about each and every one of us. Everyone had a great time. 2021 - it's a date. I think Todd Pellet volunteered...