Arlington grads reunite 60 years later

Thoughts turned to simpler times last month when members of the Arlington High School Class of 1951 gathered for their 60th reunion.

Bobby socks, poodle skirts and doing the jitterbug were all the rage that summer, and a hit single by Nat King Cole was on its way to No. 1, “Too Young.”

Of the 187 members of the graduating class, 27 returned for the milestone reunion, adding up to a group of 32 with spouses. They met at Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria in Buffalo Grove, where they relaxed over lunch and leisurely reminisced and caught up.

“I think we’ve gotten closer together as we’ve gotten older,” says Barbara Roberts Moellenkamp, one the graduates who went on to teach sixth grade in Palatine Township District 15.

“We’re all one group now,” she adds. “We’ve gotten beyond all the different groups and cliques.”

Moellenkamp was among the organizing committee for the 50th, 55th and now 60th reunion. Others included: Jim Lee of Arlington Heights; Nancy Gallagher Hartwig of Elk Grove Village; Jan Behrens of Rolling Meadows; Don Larsen of Barrington; Jack Clark of Huntley, Dave Dornan of Itasca; Tom McAuliffe of Marengo and Nancy Dallia and Elira Goebbert Guenther, now both deceased.

As one of the post-World War II classes, and during President Harry Truman’s final years, their graduation came at a time of great optimism and economic growth.

“Most of us went onto college and many of us became teachers,” Moellenkamp adds. “Just about everyone did well.”

In looking back to their graduating year, Lee remembers that Arlington High School’s Grace Gym was under construction and was not completed in time for their graduation ceremony.

“That was a big disappointment,” he remembers. “We had to graduate in the old gym, and the Class of 1952 was the first to use the Grace Gym.”

Their class did record one first: They held their prom off the school’s campus, going to Medinah Country Club.

“Homecoming was even bigger, with all the floats and the parade,” Moellenkamp adds. “Except for prom, all the dances were held in the gym.”

There were few decorations at their most recent reunion and no more scrapbooks or artifacts. However, they did look at photos of one of their cherished memories — their senior class trip, when they traveled by bus into Chicago’s Chinatown, where they had dinner and then went to the Ice Capades show.

“It was a wonderful trip,” recalls Lee, who was a percussionist in the marching and jazz bands. “All the girls got very dressed up for it.”

In looking back, they could not think of any standout athletes, artists or musicians. Graduates each had their talents and accomplishments, but as a group they prospered and held tightly to their high school years at Arlington, where they received an education, they said, that prepared them for life.