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It's hard to describe how well the reunion weekend turned out. The turnout was terrific. Would you believe that 74 classmates and 47 spouses attended? Bud and Rita Justis made name tags for everyone (that included yearbook pictures), and passed out almost all of them Friday evening.

It was great to see Cedar Falls since I had not been there since the 35th reunion. Seeing everyone there was even better. Perhaps I'm getting nostalgic in my old age. As Rita Craver said in her talk, it makes us feel young again. In any case, it was wonderful to see people I hadn't seen for at least five years and, in many cases, 40 years or more. I'm already looking forward to the next reunion. Sue Wells, Margaret Cranston, Rita Craver, Judy Garth, Jim Fogdall, and everyone else behind the scenes did an incredible job of organizing this event.

On Friday evening, we met at Jim Fogdall's RV Center to build the float. It was awfully nice of Jim to open his facility to us. Now, you might ask, how can 121 people all build a float? Simple. A few experts who know how to swing hammers, plus Rita Craver, Rita Copeland, and others wielding air-driven staple guns, built the float. The rest of us gossiped over pizza. It was non-stop reminiscing until 10:00 PM, maybe later.

The float was not what I expected. When Margaret mentioned a flat bed truck, I pictured something too small to hold everyone. It turned out to be an 18-wheeler-size flatbed (do we thank Jim for the truck?). The float experts put a black skirt around the bed of the truck with some terrific signs that Rita Craver made. They put two rows of hay bales down the middle for us to sit on.

A short but impressive thunderstorm moved through the area Friday, so we crossed our fingers for good weather on Saturday. Sure enough, we woke Saturday morning to a steady rain that lasted until mid afternoon. But that certainly didn't stop the parade. The Budweiser Clydesdales rode the parade inside their trucks, but we, the bands, and everyone else just got a little wet. Well, OK, a lot wet. It was certainly better than hot and muggy weather, and the tangle of umbrellas on our float will add to the memories. The rain didn't seem to reduce the crowd--lots of people over the entire parade route. Rita Copeland led the singing of our CF High fight song that I hadn't heard for 40 years. We should have practiced! The beer song was a bigger success.

After the parade (our float was number 11 so we finished fairly early), a bunch of us headed for the Maid-Rite. After over 40 years, they are still going strong. Judy Garth received an order of their home-made catsup. If you haven't had that treat, stop in and ask for some (I had one at the 35th--not easily forgotten).

Then it was up to the High School for a tour with Dean Dreyer, the current principal. He showed us the expansion plans for the next ten years, and then showed us around. Some people haven't forgotten anything--Bud Justis went right to his locker, but discovered that someone had changed the combination during the last 40 years. There was so many new areas that I found it difficult to get oriented. A lot of memories poked through, but I must have gone from class to class in a haze 40 years ago.

Another highlight of the reunion was, of course, the dinner Saturday evening at the Supervisor's Club. It was a very nice facility with plenty of room. Two of our teachers, Norm Swanson (English) and Doris Fry, attended. I believe that Norm said that we were the first class that he taught. He and Doris recognized many of us and stayed the whole evening. After dinner, Jim Wisby was the master of ceremonies. Jim explained how he got roped into the job of MC, and thanked the class for putting him through four years at ISTC, being class treasurer and all :-). Tom Davis recited a great poem about getting up when one falls down, and Rita Craver gave us a wonderful 1950s tour of Cedar Falls. I don't know how she could have topped her " History of the Class of 1960" at the last reunion, but she did. It will be tough to top this one in 2005.

Yes, the group made it clear that they want another reunion in 2005. As we all approach retirement, there should be a whole new collection of stories to pass around and maybe even more people can come. Some of us might not wait that long--the west coasters talked about getting together before 2005 (in which case everyone else will be welcome, of course).

The evening concluded with dancing to music that we all remember from our junior and senior high days and, of course, more reminiscing. Some in the class didn't lose their voices until after midnight.

It was wonderful to renew friendships and to bring back memories. High school, I think, was a very special time. Wouldn't it be great to be able to re-live those good times? Perhaps the reunions are as close to that as we can get.

I hope to see all of you in 2005, if not sooner. My thanks again to all of the organizers and to all who attended, everyone who made it a reunion to remember for a long, long time.

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I also had a great time and rain did not dampen my spirit but even gave me more! The rain only added to the memories of the 40th I felt.

One thing you could of added, that everyone looked good and quite healthy I thought.

If you thought it rained hard in Iowa, you should have been with me in Wisc. and Minn. as I had to pull the car over to the side of the road many times in my travels after the reunion. The positive, all was safe and arrived back to the the starting point.

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As always, I loved seeing everyone again. It is so much fun visiting and giggling with everyone, just as if we had seen each other last week.

The part that I thought was most interesting was watching everyone standing around talking and making the pom-poms as if it was something they did everyday. I was glad the float making was a success because that can be kinda iffy.

I was glad to see everyone, including spouses, and am looking forward to 2005.

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Hello to Sam and all the others who posted photos and memories,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to experience a virtual reunion. I especially was glad for the names on the pictures, as I would have been hard put to figure out who was who without them. It's interesting - it seems that some people have changed very little, others, a lot.

I'll add two memories to Rita's fine list. I was often embarrased at the sand-bottom swimming pool. Since Sigrin is such an unusual name, I was used to turning whenever I heard my name called. Trouble was, there was a georgeous stacked blonde named Sigrid at the ISTC school. Whenever she was at the pool, I'd hear someone yell " Sigri." , I'd turn - but they were never shouting for me.

I also remember a little hamburger joint down towards the power plant from the Junior High. Since I don't remember its' name, I'm not sure if Rita mentioned it. We used to walk down there on lunch hour - great french fries, long before the first McDonald's came to Waterloo.

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Hi Everyone......

Just want to add a couple thank yous to Sam's............Marilyn Stoddard Gordan helped tremendously with our plans; not the least is that when no one had remembered to register us and our parade float, she convinced the person in charge to give us a spot (in JUNE!)

All the dancing to music that we all remember from our junior and senior high days was a big contribution from Jerry Riker who has stores of CDs to pick from...the hardest part, he says.

Bill Achenbach arranged for the cab and driver and Dear Frank Bescher arranged for the flatbed.

The whole party was fun because you all came......