No, not the song by The Turtles from 1967, although that is a good song! This is about getting together with family and friends to renew old connections and make some new connections.
The connections started Friday night when Captain went to our local brewery, South By Southeast, for a mixer as part of his 40th class reunion. I was otherwise occupied providing security in the Fine Arts Open Class Building at the Dodge County Fair. I am pleased to report there were no brou-ha-has that I needed to address.
Captain and his classmates had what looked like a lovely time, at least judging by the pictures on Facebook. For a class of 60 to 65 students celebrating 40 years, they had a stellar turnout! In fact, they had so much fun that some of them kept the party going at the local bar & grill, The Trailhead, after the brewery closed for the evening.
I was home by 9:30, and at 10:45 I texted him to see if he would need a ride home. The answer "no" came quickly, so I went to bed. Captain arrived home before I actually got to sleep, so I got up to hear about his evening. I bet he said at least a half dozen times, "It was just a really nice night." That made my heart happy.
Saturday morning, Captain joined some classmates for a tour of the middle school/high school building. When these folks were attending Pine Island High School, the building was a K-12 building. Since then, a new pre-K through 4th grade building was built out of town a mile or two.
Captain's comments were that the wood shop and metals shop didn't look any different and brought back some fond memories for him. The biology lab also didn't appear any different than back in the day, but he said that room brought on PTSD flashbacks for him. Apparently biology wasn't his thing. This surprises me, actually.
My Saturday morning and afternoon were spent preparing for and attending the Prokasky family reunion. I started this last year with much success, and this year was no different. In fact, this year, the oldest living cousin of my mom, Duane Whipple, drove with his wife, Monarae, all the way from Moore, Idaho. Pals of mine, he will be 91 years old in August; can we give him a round of applause!! I hope to be that active and able-bodied at that age.
We had some new faces at the Prokasky reunion this year, in addition to Duane and Monarae, I got to spend time with my cousin, Keith Prokasky, and his family bonding over camping stories, as they were camping at Oxbow Park for the weekend. I think maybe we might plan a camping trip with them in a year or two!
Captain passed up the golfing activity part of the class reunion and was able to join the ranks for the tail end of the Prokasky reunion and since there was plenty of food left, he got to have lunch as well.
I have mentioned before about wanting to write a family history of the Prokasky family, so this is fair warning to any Prokasky peeps that I'll be reaching out to you for photos, letters, diaries, newspaper articles, and memories over the foreseeable future!
Captain and I went home to do chores before heading back to Pine Island for the class reunion dinner at the legion. Let me give a shout out here to the kitchen crew at the legion: they put on a wonderful meal with a choice between beef tips and smothered chicken. Captain had beef, and I had the chicken and both were very tasty!
Once the meal was over, people began to mingle and the stories started! At some point, two retired teachers stopped in to say hello and visit with their students of 40+ years ago. And once again, this class of 1985 that has always opened their arms and hearts to me, welcomed these ladies into the celebration wholeheartedly.
I've said this before and nothing has changed my mind: the Pine Island High School class of 1985 puts on the BEST class reunions! If my memory serves me right--and correct me if I am wrong--Captain and I have attended every reunion that has been held and have enjoyed each one of them immensely. Not only do the classmates all get along but so do the spouses. I am so glad to have been welcomed and accepted by Captain's peers, and I absolutely look forward to the next reunion!
