Events from our 45th Reunion
Friday, August 13, 2010 (the mixer):
Classmates started arriving at OP’s around 6:00 PM for dinner. OP’s stands for the Other Place and is a bar/restaurant located on the SE corner of Victory and Lincoln which is across the street from City Park. They have an outdoor patio area where everyone gathered and socialized until around 11:00 PM. Then some went home to bed and others went to Mather’s. Of course there were a couple of classmates that showed up whom we didn’t recognize, like Carol Crozier and Cliff Morrison. Then there were the ones that never change like Deems Utzinger and Esther Jo Self. We just sat around or stood and talked and talked all night. Another reunion was going on at OP’s (Class of 1970) but it appeared they didn’t have a very good turnout. A few of them seemed to have gravitated over to our area as we were having the most fun.
Saturday, August 14, 2010 (the school tour):
A tour of our old high school, which is now the middle school, was scheduled at 10:00 AM. Approximately 25 classmates showed up for this tour. The principal (Mr. Bill Toovey) and the assistant principal (Mrs. Jill Hafey) provide the tours as we split up into two groups. Now let me tell you about Mrs. Hafey! She was about 36, blond and very attractive. All the guys said that they wanted to go back to school, get into trouble every day and beg their teacher to be sent to the assistant principal for disciplinary action. Anyway, back to the tour, the only parts of our old high school left was the gym and auditorium. Everything else has been removed and rebuilt to modern standards. The front door is now located on the south side and the building almost stretches to Yampa Ave. on the west. The drainage ditch has been covered up, the little foot bridge is gone and of course our school sign has been removed. All the rooms have the latest equipment, computers and lab equipment. There is now a cafeteria for the kids, a workout room, art classroom, special education room, testing rooms, break rooms, and a new band room. These students are very fortunate to have this facility and faculty. The tour was enjoyed by all and brought back many memories. We took a group picture and broke up around 11:00 AM.
Saturday, August 14, 2010 (the dinner):
Our dinner was held at the new Hampton Inn and was catered by Brothers Meat Packing. Classmates started to arrive around 6:00 PM for the social hour. Our registration fees provided for free wine, beer, soft drinks and coffee. At around 7:00 PM we were asked to take our seats and Chaplin Jeff Hamilton said grace. Our dinner consisted of green salad, pasta, tri tip, chicken, vegetables, dinner rolls and carrot cake. After dinner a program was lead by Charles Lieber. First on the agenda, Larry Henderson (our class president) provided a welcoming address and some other profound words. All the girls in the class came up front and sang the school alma mater. Of course none of them could remember the words so copies were provided. A slide show of our departed classmates was presented. As we now have 16 members that have died, memories and comments for each were shared. This turned out to be one of the more memorable and special moments of the reunion. A reunion quiz was left upon each table for classmates to fill out. Questions of the quiz and there winners were as follows:
One who traveled the farthest – Larry Jackson (1300 miles)
One married the longest – Richard Sadvar (44 years)
One with the most grandchildren – Val Atwood (22 grandchildren)
One with the most great grandchildren - Jim Gardner (7 great grandkids)
One who never left Craig – Kelvin Stehle
Female who change the most – Carol Crozier
Male who change the most – Val Atwood
One who changed the least – Deems Utzinger
Applause was given to those classmates that contributed to making the reunion a success:
Marie Gray & Esther Jo Self for the decorations
Caryon Wooley for the name tags and directories
Deems Utzinger for being the CFO
Linda Gooch for quiz organization and prizes
Karen Paulson and Marie Gray for advance facility scoping
Deems Utzinger and Larry Henderson for newspaper articles
Glen McPherson for bringing his Reserve Grand Champion wine from the Fair
Charles Lieber for building our website and organizing the reunion
A class picture was taken and then people just sat around and talked with each other until about 10:00 PM when everyone started to leave. It was a great night, good food and of course excellent company.
Sunday, August 15, 2010 (the brunch):
About 35 classmates attended the brunch held at the Tin Cup located within the golf course club house. We had a buffet style breakfast consisting of eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes, waffles, fruit, muffins, juices and a lot of coffee. We ate and talked for about an hour then discussed our 50th reunion and the class website. Charles Lieber (after doing this reunion) felt that the reunion should be organized by someone in Craig in order to have face to face conversations with the hotels and eating establishments. He also felt that the $30.00 price we have been trying to adhere to is going to have to increase for our 50th reunion. Facilities are charging more and food is costing more; then along with stamps, envelopes and mailing costs and decorations, we just can’t put on a reunion for $30.00 anymore. It was unanimous that we continue with our class website and everyone in attendance pitched in $20.00 to help support the site fee. The brunch broke up around 11:30 AM with everyone bidding farewell to each other and vowing to see each in five years.