Remembering Our Reunions
Table of Contents
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8 Years After....
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Two years before our first Class Reunion, the organizing committee sent a survey to classmates whose addresses were on file. Most of us responded, answering a few simple questions and providing a short summary of our lives since graduation.
The survey results were compiled and published in a booklet, titled "Eight Years After...", in late 1971 or early 1972. Bill Szorc, Larry Brucher and Carol Wells were responsible for this project. |
The survey provided some rather interesting statistics which are included here so you don't have to find this probably long lost or forgotten and now out-of-date booklet. After only 8 years (as of December 31, 1971) here's what was found:
Marital Status
Reponding |
Married |
Single |
Div/Sep |
85 Males |
77% |
19% |
4% |
52 Females |
76% |
15% |
9% |
137 Total |
76% |
18% |
6% |
Gender |
Age at Marriage |
Age of Spouse at Marriage |
Male |
22 yrs. 6 mos. |
20 yrs. 9 mos. |
Female |
21 yrs. |
23 yrs. 3 mos. |
Children
Per Married |
Average Number |
Average Age |
Individual |
1.15 |
2 yrs. 11 mos. |
Female |
1.20 |
3 yrs. 5 mos. |
Schooling Beyond High School
None |
Some - No Degree |
B.A. / B.S. |
M.A / M.S. |
29% |
35% |
29% |
7% |
Residence
Average 3 yrs at current residence
Average 3 yrs at current residence
States of Residence
State |
State |
State |
State |
Arizona (2) |
Indiana (1) |
New Jersey (1) |
Tennessee (1) |
California (6) |
Iowa (1) |
Ohio (1) |
Washington (2) |
Florida (1) |
Minnesota (2) |
Pennsylvania (2) |
Wisconsin (5) |
Illinois (79%) |
10 Year Reunion
Our first reunion was held on Saturday, July 14, 1973. This reunion was a two part event.
It started at 11:00 AM with a family picnic at Pottawatomie Park in St. Charles, Illinois. At noon, a lunch was provided consisting of hot dogs, potato chips, baked beans, an ice cream cup, coffee, milk and soft drinks. The park had a lot of things for family entertainment such as boating, paddle boats, swimming, miniature train rides, golf and miniature golf.
A dinner/dance was held at the American Legion in downtown West Chicago. It started at 6:00 PM with cocktails followed by dinner at 7:00 PM. The main entree consisted of hot roast beef, chef's tossed salad, green beans, baked potato, a relish tray, rolls & butter, coffee, tea, milk and cake.
We ended the evening with dancing, starting at 9:00 PM with music by "The Crown Group". Faculty was invited and a lot of reminiscing was enjoyed by all!
It started at 11:00 AM with a family picnic at Pottawatomie Park in St. Charles, Illinois. At noon, a lunch was provided consisting of hot dogs, potato chips, baked beans, an ice cream cup, coffee, milk and soft drinks. The park had a lot of things for family entertainment such as boating, paddle boats, swimming, miniature train rides, golf and miniature golf.
A dinner/dance was held at the American Legion in downtown West Chicago. It started at 6:00 PM with cocktails followed by dinner at 7:00 PM. The main entree consisted of hot roast beef, chef's tossed salad, green beans, baked potato, a relish tray, rolls & butter, coffee, tea, milk and cake.
We ended the evening with dancing, starting at 9:00 PM with music by "The Crown Group". Faculty was invited and a lot of reminiscing was enjoyed by all!
20 Year Reunion
Our second reunion was held on Saturday, July 23, 1983, at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles.
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Cocktails (cash bar) in the Atrium Room at 6 pm, dinner in the Williamsburg Room at 7 pm followed by dancing with a live band after 8:30 pm. The dinner entree was Chicken Cordon Bleu served with rice pilaf and included an appetizer, salad, vegetable, relish tray dessert and beverage.
The cost for all of this was only $18.00 per person. |
30 Year Reunion
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Our third reunion was held on Saturday, August 18, 1993, at St. Andrews Country Club in West Chicago. The cost was $24.00 per person.
The evening started at 6 pm with sign-in, name tags and cocktails (cash bar) in the 19th Hole Lounge. Dinner in the Trophy Room at 7:00 pm included soup, salad, rolls, roast sirloin of beef or chicken ala kiev, baked potato, green bean almondine, Creme De Menthe Sundae, coffee, tea or milk. |
The dinner was followed by conversation and light music (cash bar) back in the 19th Hole Lounge starting at 8:30 pm.
50 Year or Golden Reunion
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Our fourth reunion was held on Saturday, August 3, 2013, at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Carol Stream, Illinois. We had a hospitality room for registration & socializing and a separate memorabilia room for displaying items some of us are still holding on to after all these years.
A "Welcome" packet, including our reunion booklet, a miniature flashlight, a book-marker and an activities schedule, prepared by the late George McGrath, was handed out during registration. |
A Friday evening buffet dinner was hosted by Ralph & Trish Nagel in the Stratford B room. This was a chance for locals to welcome those who had traveled to the reunion, most of whom were staying at the hotel.
Saturday morning, many of us toured our expanded alma mater, visiting the old section, including the auditorium, and Bishop gym, as well as the new indoor pool, the new gymnasium and the latest addition where our track, football field and bleachers used to be.
Saturday evening we gathered for drinks, conversation, Hors d'oeuvres, dinner & dancing in the hotel's Majestic banquet tent. An open bar with butlered appetizers started the evening. Attendees had a choice of Fillet of Beef Tenderloin, Fillet of Salmon Florentine or a Vegetarian Dinner. A three hour open bar and a chocolate fountain were available after dinner.
Based on an earlier class survey of our favorite teachers, the planning committee invited Coach Dick Howard, Mrs. Fredericka Krauss Howard, Coach & Mrs. Dick Kerner and Norma Wissing to be our honored guests. Unfortunately, Miss Wissing was unable to attend.
A professional photographer was on hand to capture portrait style photos of classmates and guests as they entered the tent and later roamed the festivities taking candid photos. These photos were provided to the reunion committee with a copyright release letter from the photographer and are still available. Contact Us if you want one.
Sunday morning several of us gathered for breakfast brunch in the hotel restaurant, Albert's, before going our separate ways.
Thanks to a few classmates who donated far more than their fair share, especially Ralph Nagel, the cost for all of this was only $19.63 per person.
Saturday evening we gathered for drinks, conversation, Hors d'oeuvres, dinner & dancing in the hotel's Majestic banquet tent. An open bar with butlered appetizers started the evening. Attendees had a choice of Fillet of Beef Tenderloin, Fillet of Salmon Florentine or a Vegetarian Dinner. A three hour open bar and a chocolate fountain were available after dinner.
Based on an earlier class survey of our favorite teachers, the planning committee invited Coach Dick Howard, Mrs. Fredericka Krauss Howard, Coach & Mrs. Dick Kerner and Norma Wissing to be our honored guests. Unfortunately, Miss Wissing was unable to attend.
A professional photographer was on hand to capture portrait style photos of classmates and guests as they entered the tent and later roamed the festivities taking candid photos. These photos were provided to the reunion committee with a copyright release letter from the photographer and are still available. Contact Us if you want one.
Sunday morning several of us gathered for breakfast brunch in the hotel restaurant, Albert's, before going our separate ways.
Thanks to a few classmates who donated far more than their fair share, especially Ralph Nagel, the cost for all of this was only $19.63 per person.
Bookmark included with our Golden Reunion Welcome packet.
55 Year Reunion
Several people at the 50 year reunion wanted to have another reunion in 5 years. Some classmates who were not able to attend the 50 year celebration also wanted in on the fun.
Our fifth reunion was once again held at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Carol Stream, on October 20, 2018. We had a BYOB hospitality suite on the second floor starting Friday afternoon and ending Sunday morning. Popcorn, crackers, cheese, summer sausage, dip, and other snacks as well as soft drinks, water, beer and wine were available.
Friday evening, several of us gathered for dinner in the Hotel's new Burger Theory restaurant.
Saturday morning several of us visited the West Chicago City Museum. An interesting & educational visit it was. Miss Mahoney would have been so proud of us! A special thanks to the Museum staff, especially Sara Phalen, for digging out things that might have been interesting to the class of '63, both before and during our visit.
Saturday evening's dinner was in the hotel's Stratford A room. A cash bar and butlered appetizers preceded dinner. Attendees had a choice of Beef & Chicken or Salmon.
Sunday morning, a few of us meet for breakfast in the hotel restaurant before saying our good-byes once again.
The reunion cost was $50 per person. Classmates pictures are viewable on this site.
Our fifth reunion was once again held at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Carol Stream, on October 20, 2018. We had a BYOB hospitality suite on the second floor starting Friday afternoon and ending Sunday morning. Popcorn, crackers, cheese, summer sausage, dip, and other snacks as well as soft drinks, water, beer and wine were available.
Friday evening, several of us gathered for dinner in the Hotel's new Burger Theory restaurant.
Saturday morning several of us visited the West Chicago City Museum. An interesting & educational visit it was. Miss Mahoney would have been so proud of us! A special thanks to the Museum staff, especially Sara Phalen, for digging out things that might have been interesting to the class of '63, both before and during our visit.
Saturday evening's dinner was in the hotel's Stratford A room. A cash bar and butlered appetizers preceded dinner. Attendees had a choice of Beef & Chicken or Salmon.
Sunday morning, a few of us meet for breakfast in the hotel restaurant before saying our good-byes once again.
The reunion cost was $50 per person. Classmates pictures are viewable on this site.
60 Year Reunion
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Our 6th reunion, the 60 Year event, was held on District 94's homecoming weekend September 29-30, 2023 at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Carol Stream.
Friday evening, a few of us attended the Homecoming football game in the new stadium. D94 Alumni set up a tent near the entrance and gave away WeGo Alumni caps and West Chicago Community High School Alumni badges and other paraphernalia. Happily the final score, 21-17, resulted in a Wildcat Homecoming victory! A recap of the game as well as other Homecoming activities can be found on the new West Chicago Voice website. Saturday afternoon many of us gathered in the hotel bar starting at 3:00pm for drinks and conversation until our banquet room was available. Saturday evening's dinner was in the hotel's Stratford A Ballroom where doors opened to the class just before 5:00pm. The Planning Committee added miniature flashlights and alumni pins donated by the D94 Alumni Association at each place setting. Memento Class of 1963 pin-on name tags were given to each attendee. Classmate badges had a wildcat mascot above the name while our guests had the word 'Welcome' in place of the mascot. Appetizers were served buffet style and a ‘cash bar’ beverage service was provided throughout the evening. Tom Aitken gave a well prepared brief 'Welcome' speech after which a plated dinner was served. Everyone had soup and salad followed by a main course of either a Beef & Chicken Combo or a Maple Infused Salmon followed by an Apple Crumb dessert. Carol Huck and Tom Aitken raffled alumni tee shirts, hats and Christmas ornaments donated by the Alumni office to delighted winners. Bill Nolan honored our veterans and thanked the Holiday Inn for working with us over the past 9 months and for upgrading dinner service from a small meeting room to a formal banquet room free of charge. As the evening wound down Bill noted class graduation numbers of 140, the known loss of 37 and the 21 classmates we've lost contact with, leaving 85 (about 60%) that we know of at this time. |
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Name badges for all attendees were provided by Bill Nolan and his son Andy
Carol’s husband Larry Huck had been taking candid photos all evening then took a group picture of attending classmates. After six hours of celebration the banquet ended with a few classmates moving to the hotel bar for nightcaps.
The reunion cost was $35 per person. See the event pictures now.
