"On the 29th of August, 2010..."

On the 29th day of August, 2010, an unknown number of graduates of the Atlantic High School, located in the Cass County seat town of Atlantic, Iowa, will gather to toast old friendships and old memories as reminisces are exchanged along with photos of the kids and subsequent generations of progeny. With reservations still "pouring in" (and how I am tempting the weather man on that one!)I am excitedly looking forward to greeting and hugging "old classmates" (and I am tempting scowls from Dale Anderson and Dorothy Schwartz and Dorothy Skow and Janice Clithero and Fred Vorrath and Wayne McFadden and Wayne Ullerich and Howard Paulson, and hopefully even more, with that aside!) and, as of this writing, have pretty much crossed off a long list of "to do" stuff prior to packing the one bag, taking Sadie to her "home away from home," locking the front door at 5529 and comfortably settling into the lush back seat of our GoShuttle private GoSedan, heading for the LAX airport and the Allegiant airplane that will wing daughter, Mary, and me to the smaller Des Moines airport on the 16th day of August, 2010. (I will go to any lengths to help our little "nervous nellie" enjoy her airplane ride, short of a Virgin Margarita!)

It will, also, be a day of "forgiveness, settling old scores, apologizing for some scurrilous past deeds, paying off monetary indebtedness, getting "tipsy"...taking the "girl/boy of your teen-age years' dreams" into your arms for one more dance! You know, "happily ever after" sort of stuff! Another scenario: For posterity's sake, what would be "better" than having one's name in the next day's issue of the Atlantic News Telegraph as being the instigator/and/or/hero of a rowdy situation while celebrating an All-Class Reunion? "Better" meaning "notorious!" "Worse," of course, would be seeing one's name on the Police Blotter, paying a stiff fine and slinking away in the dead of night!

No, No, No! Forget that second paragraph, folks, that only happens in the movies or in some Harlequin Romance Novel (which, incidentally, should NOT BE READ by anyone over 65 years of age and if you read Harlequin Romance Novels, you know EXACTLY why I write this!) Methinks I feel a "slow stampede to the Library" coming on! Upon rare occasion, I will take book in hand for "medicinal purposes"...jumpstarts the heart!

Anywaaaay, weather permitting, or better yet, in spite of the weather, the 29th of August, 2010, promises to be a day that will gladden many a heart of those "kids" who once strolled the halls of Atlantic High School, those "kids" being in the neighborhood of 70 years and growing. All of the responders/attenders have graduated from the High School that was an important WPA project completed just in time for the Class of 1943 to attend the complete six years since it also contained a Junior High School for Seventh and Eighth Graders. And, dear Reader, if there is any kind of shenanigans that takes place, I promise to Blog you! My Needle (school paper) experience will not go to waste. For once, mebbe, just mebbe, Mrs. Elmer Busse will smile my way! :)

But, mostly, Dale, Dorothy and Dorothy, Janice, Fred, et al... will remember those 1943 classmates who will not be in attendance this time but who have left an indelible imprint on my heart. We will call to mind and heart Richard (Dick) Pagel who served with Dale Anderson (Class President) and me (Class Treasurer-Secretary) as Vice President. Dick brought honor to AHS as a member of the Hawkeye Six Press Club 1943 First Team. (Those guys looked so cute in their sweaty uniforms at the end of a game!)

We will remember and smile at the unforgettable spontaneous antics of Richard (Dick) Johnson, Ronald Jones and Dale as members of The Dripolators; these three never failed to perform at the 1943 reunions, and we never failed to clap. (Dale, even then, had that intimidating eyebrow-lift thing he does so well even today. One of the reasons I cast my vote for him for President. Ok, this information does not translate as well as seeing the actual "lift!" Just take my word and that of his lovely wife, Ev...)

Even today, my heart is stilled when I remember Jaynee Cousins singing "Ave Maria" at one of our Christmas Assemblies. Her so-lovely voice is stilled today as she has the Julie Andrews problem with vocal nodes. I have only to close my eyes and her voice fills my soul....

So many kids, so many memories. The young girls who have been part of my life since Grant School in the early 1930's. June Wright, Shirley Woolsey, Twila Parrott from my end of town ... we were inseparable except on the days when three "was a crowd!"
"Four" was, of course, perfect.

Needless to say, the Class of 1943 has been diminished but only in numbers. What will never be diminished is the heart-and-soul of the Class of 1943, "The Best Ever" as Dale is wont to say, and we have the Banner to prove it. If I know Dale, he will have that Banner rolled up and ready to haul out on the 29th of August, 2010, at the Community Center in Atlantic, Iowa! In the meantime, I am going to practice on that "eye-lift" thing...better yet, I do a really good "Greet and Hug" bit that might need a little polishing.

I'll let you know how "that works for me!"

P.S. And now that I find I can tear myself away from Farmville on Facebook (tho' I do miss the lovely guys and dolls I have newly met there) without too much grief, I will be back another day to tell you more about Atlantic (my new friends call it "Atown" and that will take some getting used to, but I will) and that one-of-a-kind Class of 1943! (As far as I know, not a "jailbird" amongst us, but that can change on the 29th of August, 2010!)