Maine East Class of 1955 reunites for night to remember
On June 26, the Maine East Township High School Class of 1955, held the kickoff event for its 60th class reunion at the Park Ridge Country Club. Class members, now mostly 78 years old, returned from 19 states and one foreign country.
Of the 600 original classmates only 22 are unaccounted for; 188 have died, 100 attended the reunion. 63 of the 100 were classmates; 37 originally from Park Ridge and 26 from Des Plaines. Classmates were given Senior Picture name tags to help with identification from all those years ago. They also received a DVD slideshow from their 1954 and 1955 class yearbooks entitled, "Long Ago But Not Far Away".
The country club banquet manager, Chris Vellios, coordinated the serving of a gourmet buffet dinner where executive chef Glenn Zamet and his staff permitted each person to select their own stir-fry selection prepared to perfection. The dining room overlooks the first and 10th fairways. Class member Milt Nelson and his wife Loretta, who was a member of a later class, and who are members of the club, were sponsors for the event.
Class members reminisced and renewed friendships. Some hadn't returned since graduation 60 years ago. A special board picturing and honoring their fellow deceased classmates together with a binder of obituaries was prepared by Nancy Wright Meyer of Des Plaines, who was in a much later class at Maine West. The obituaries told some of the great achievements by those classmates. Many with outstanding leadership and national recognition.
The class has a website with more details at classreport.org/usa/il/mainetownship/mths/1955.
Large maps of the United States and the world were displayed on easels and classmates were encouraged to mark where they lived now and in the past and where they had traveled. At the end of the reunion on Sunday, a review of the maps showed that the Class of 1955 had traveled the world and visited 31 countries on all seven continents. They had lived in 23 states and 31 countries. Truly world travelers!
The common remark by those attending was that they felt lucky that they had grown up at the "right" time and lived in a wonderful place. They remembered their childhood as a time like no other. They believed it would be impossible to duplicate in today's world. They felt lucky and thankful.
On Saturday morning more than 26 returned to Maine East for a tour. They were amazed to see all of the changes in the facility.
The Garden-Inn Hilton-O'Hare was the hub for activities where many from out of town stayed. An informal Saturday evening event was held at the hotel to allow extra time to enjoy one another's company.
While this reunion was the "last official" reunion, the classmates were given addresses and emails of all classmates to encourage continued communication. Everyone had a great time.