Let's toast the most! It was a fine party.

And that was the Reunion That Was!

After a rousing start on Friday, the reunion attendees (some 200 of them) gathered at the Four Points Sheraton in Milwaukee on Saturday evening. There were plenty of toasts, a lovely dinner, lots of stories of the good old days, and also a moving moment of silence for those of our class who have passed away. I hope perhaps the pictures say it best, because it's hard to find the words to describe how pleasant it was to rekindle the memories of those days (between the wars) when somehow things seemed so much more simple and less threatening. I'm afraid our grandchildren will not have it as easy as we did. I can only hope that the strength and wisdom we can impart to them will be sufficient to match the increased challenges and complexities of the 21st century.

Cheers and best wishes. Drop a line if you can. Retirees have plenty of time to write.

Casmir Pulaski Still Reigns

The fiftieth reunion of Milwaukee's Pulaski High School class of 1955 got off to a grand start yesterday. We arrived in town in mid afternoon, settled in at the Airport Best Western, and then drove over to Pulaski. It was innundated by a herd of busses taking students back to various places all over the city. Found a place to park on a side street and strolled on in. Front hall looks pretty much the same except for the console in the center manned by a guard. Several TV monitors for security. Sort of like entering a modern office building. Did not see any metal detectors. Maybe they hide them after everyone gets in. Principal's office still to left on entering, the little cubby to PA announcing was still to the right.

We headed past the security fortress and down a few steps to the library, which also looked pretty much the same except for several tables of computers. Tours were organized from there and we were able to see the gym, the pool, some classrooms, study halls, and the cafeteria.

Back to the library for some chatting and wonder of all wonders some cookies and Leons Frozen Custard. It tasted just the way I remember it.

From there it was out to 51st and Oklahoma to the Serbian Hall for an old fashioned traditional Milwaukee fish fry. More grease in an hour than I have had in the last ten years. But the beer was draft and only a buck and a quarter a glass. Better by far than the five buck quaffs at the Peoria Country Club. The place was jumping. Hundreds of cars--some waiting in drive up lines.
We looked in at the bowling alley. Not sure if the main dining room was the place where we had our post prom party all those years ago. The atmosphere seemed about the same, but unlike the school, Serb Hall seemed bigger than I remember it.

Touched base with a fair number of folks including Terry Rose, Ron Pechauer, Marilyn Webb, Jerry Freitag, Jerry Albert, and others. So far so good. It was nice to ease into this with smaller groups so the big gathering tonite will be a little easier to handle. Fifty years of separate paths--each one a life full of marriages, kids, good times, bad times, travels, victories, defeats, and all those things that move you forward. Lots of puddings here. All of them well stirred. More tomorrow.

Peoria High School Fifty Year Reunion of Class of 1955

Here they are in all their glory--The Peoria High School Class of 1955 in the year 2005. In a day when "classic" status is attached to anything that lasts more than a month, it is refreshing to know that some things can really go golden. My wife spent a marvelous two days reliving old stories and hearing many new ones. I was the fifth wheel so to speak, but fully enjoyed the event as well. The meals were great, the people were delightful, and it was fun to learn little things that I had not known about my spouse of 46 years. She will return the favor next week when we travel to Milwaukee to celebrate my fiftieth at Casmir Pulaski High School. No oysters on the half shell there. Kielbasa on toast and plenty of beer I would guess.

There's Nothing Like a Parade

The Prime Beef Festival Parade has been a Warren County Fixture for over 40 years. It's the kind of parade that you just have to enjoy as it is full of your friends and neighbors as well as the kind of things that go along with the collective memories of all small towns everywhere. It ain't Macy's Thanksgiving or the Rose Parade, but it's ours and we love it.

Hurricanes and the Arts

We can only attempt to feel the frustration of the thousands of homeless in the South today. It is so easy to play the blame game with response times, but the reality seems more and more one of folks and governments doing about all they could do with a 90,000 square mile disaster area--a size unparalleled in any disaster this country has experienced since the New Madrid earthquake. That one literally changed the course of the Mississippi River and had it occurred now rather than in the early 19th century we might have seen an equivalent size and population impact.

It is both amazing and frightening to see how thin the veneer of civilization is when the electricity goes off, the computers die, and the phones (even cellphones) stop working. Who could imagine New Orleans looking like a 3rd world city within twenty-four hours of a levee failure. Angry people looked for instant rescue just as they see it on TV where the help always arrives in less than sixty minutes minus commercials. The truth is that the situation was more like “Lost” than “Law and Order.”

The good thing is that most of the agencies seem to have a handle on things now. That doesn’t mean it’s over, but we can hope that the hurt can begin to be converted to healing in the weeks and months to come. God bless you if you have given in some way to the recovery, and God bless you even more if you are one of the survivors.

On another sad social comment scene, I refer you to a piece by the Chicago Tribune Art Critic, Alan G. Artner, that appeared in the paper last Sunday. For full article go to:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/arts/chi-0509040499sep04,1,4359726.story?ctrack=1&cset=true He sees the audience for serious arts continuing to diminish as people continue to grow old without growing up. Noone is maturing and putting away childish things anymore, says Artner. Pop culture, that people used to grow out of, has achieved an improbable staying power. Sixty year old rock stars and their fifty year old fans seem to be forever trying to reify and re-capture their youth rather than moving up to more complex levels of experience. Arrested development on beyond Medicare--the Hugh Hefner Syndrome perhaps. No matter, it sure does seem to have redoubled the pressure on art, classical music, and serious literature and drama.

What's in the future? This writer is up for jury duty this week for the first time in his life. We’ll let you know what happens.

Buchanan Center for the Arts Hosts OFTA Sept. 14

Imagine the following situation. A truck pulls up to the back door of your place of business and an hour later you have several dozen assorted sculptures and drawings scattered in disarray on the floor of the gallery. These items vary in size from six inches to six feet and in weight from a few ounces to a hundred pounds. In the next two days you must somehow make some sense out of these objects and turn them into a pleasing and unified exhibition.

If you have ever wondered how the director of an Art Gallery approaches this problem, you will want to attend Mike DiFuccia’s talk titled “How Do You Mount an Art Exhibition?” It will be presented at this month’s OFTA (Old Farts Talk Arts) at 10:00 AM Wednesday, September 14th in the gallery of the Buchanan Center for the Arts on the square in downtown Monmouth, IL.

Mr. DiFuccia faced the challenge described above just last week when the sculptures and paintings of Skip Willits and Kristin Garnant arrived at the Buchanan gallery prior to the opening of their show titled “Steel Kimono & Other Objects.” To see how DiFuccia met and solved the puzzle of hanging and arranging these objects, you will have to attend his presentation and of course view the completed exhibit itself.

The formal opening of the Willits-Garnant show will be Friday, September 16th from 5:30-7:30 PM. More refreshments and the artists will be present at that time.