50th Class Reunion

July 25th we set out on a journey to Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin to attend Duane's 50th Class Reunion.  Duane had never gone to the other reunions, and had a blast reconnecting with his classmates.  Amazingly enough, I had just as much fun.  Everyone was so friendly and welcoming.

 

Starting with the plane ride, everything went smoothly.

 

 

 

The first stop after arriving in Sheboygan Falls, was "The Point" where Duane had spent lots of time as a boy.  He couldn't wait to have a double bratwurst on a hard roll. 

 

 

 

The town of Sheboygan Falls is adorable with its old buildings and cute houses.  I could have done a blog on the architecture alone.

 

 

 

Duane remembered each building, and which business that was housed there when he was a boy.

 

 

 

Big Jimmy's Bar has been in the same building (unchanged) longer than any other business in town.  It was owned by Jimmy's father, then his brother, who was a classmate of Duane's. Now that Jimmy owns the bar, he is famous for his Elvis and Johnny Cash impersonations.

 

 

 

Jimmy only performs at midnight, so after the reunion some of us went to see the show.  He chooses the Elvis tune "Viva Las Vegas" for his show.  Everyone sings along, and we had the best time ever.

 

 

At the reunion Duane hung out with his best buddies from school.  Some of the guys were his friends from Kindergarten through High School.  Here is Duane with Kenny Allen, Jeff Deeley, and Donny Peloquin.  Listening to them, you couldn't tell it had been 50 years since they had seen each other.  Incidentally, all of them served in the armed forces during the Viet Nam War.

 

 

 

Oh yes, he also reconnected with his old girlfriends.  Here with Suzanne Hefling who was a cheerleader who married the star quarterback Jim Mattek.  Have we heard that story before?

 

 

 

More girlfriends----I said that between he and his friends Kenny, Jeff and Donny, they must have dated every girl in their class.  The girls couldn't have been nicer, and I felt that I had known them all my life.

 

 

 

Jim Schomberg, another friend of Duane's opened his house to all of us for a pre-reunion party on Friday.  In addition to owning a very successful heating and air conditioning company, Jim is a hunter and taxidermist.  This bear was a spectacular example of his work. 

 

 

 

The pre-reunion party was probably more fun than the reunion itself.  We danced more than we had in years---to our favorite tunes from the 50's and 60's, played on Jim's antique jukebox.

 

 

 

Back to "The Point" for breakfast the morning after the reunion---here we have Duane, me, Kathy (Jeff's wife), Donny and Jeff.  I feel that I have some wonderful new friends, and can't wait to go back.