Somehow I came upon the "Let's catch up on what you've done since graduation" reunion booklet for Manson (Iowa) High School, Class of 1966. I don't know these people but I found myself reading what they wrote in response to a survey from a reunion organizer (or booklet organizer).
The first respondent says he can't respond to the survey because he doesn't see the point in it. He then goes on to tell about his life during the 40 years since graduation. He has lived abroad almost the entire time so what he writes is interesting.
There is some poignancy in the booklet. There are the yearbook pictures with the words "Last known address." There are obituaries in lieu of survey responses. One classmate sends her regrets because she was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer of the appendix (she did not get well). Another classmate, in response to the request for marriage info, gives his ex-wife's actual name and then calls her Lucretia MacEvil (daughter of Satan).
Mrs. Vetter (some of her students also remembered her first name, Muriel) seems to be the teacher remembered most fondly by the Class of 1966. Her name crops up over and over to the queries about "favorite teacher" and "what teacher you would most like to see at the reunion."
My favorite bit of advice: "Observe events and do not let the bad ones happen to you."
My class put together a 40-year reunion booklet, too. Would I want to see it posted on the Internet? My motto is: Don't put anything in writing you wouldn't want anyone else to read. So I wouldn't have any problems with publication as long as I knew beforehand that publication was planned. A benefit is that I'd be able to find the booklet easily. My hard copy version seems to have legs.
The first respondent says he can't respond to the survey because he doesn't see the point in it. He then goes on to tell about his life during the 40 years since graduation. He has lived abroad almost the entire time so what he writes is interesting.
There is some poignancy in the booklet. There are the yearbook pictures with the words "Last known address." There are obituaries in lieu of survey responses. One classmate sends her regrets because she was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer of the appendix (she did not get well). Another classmate, in response to the request for marriage info, gives his ex-wife's actual name and then calls her Lucretia MacEvil (daughter of Satan).
Mrs. Vetter (some of her students also remembered her first name, Muriel) seems to be the teacher remembered most fondly by the Class of 1966. Her name crops up over and over to the queries about "favorite teacher" and "what teacher you would most like to see at the reunion."
My favorite bit of advice: "Observe events and do not let the bad ones happen to you."
My class put together a 40-year reunion booklet, too. Would I want to see it posted on the Internet? My motto is: Don't put anything in writing you wouldn't want anyone else to read. So I wouldn't have any problems with publication as long as I knew beforehand that publication was planned. A benefit is that I'd be able to find the booklet easily. My hard copy version seems to have legs.