CHS Class of 1980 Celebrates 25th Anniversary!
August 5-6, 2005
Tuscany Center – Lyons Business District
Clinton, Iowa
Although turnout was down from years past, a good time was had by all (well, by most… okay, by some!) The reunion weekend kicked off Friday night at the Plaza Bowl for “Cosmic Bowling” followed up a social hour at the then newly opened “New Gil’s Ballroom”. Like the original, the new Gil’s is located amongst the corn stalks, but not in Andover, but adjacent to the Clinton Memorial Lawn Cemetery (fortunately the proximity to the bone-yard was notan omen of what was to happen over the weekend!) At the time recently constructed and under the management of fellow classmate Ron Coder, Gil’s was still “cutting its teeth” this being only the second event booked there. The smell of fresh paint and construction adhesive wafted through the air (it also explains why certain unnamed classmates were seen on the floor inhaling deeply, but that may have been the beer, speaking of which….) The beer flowed, and flowed, and flowed; come on, it’s Clinton, what else were we going to do?!
Saturday morning came early for some (too early for others, reference last night) as a tour of the high school building was arranged giving many the chance to see the changes since they had left, most notably the changes to the “Commons”. Later in the morning a golf outing was offered at Valley Oaks Golf Club, another local facility with ties to the class of `80 – Greg Ladehoff, proprietor. The results at the time of this writing are still being tabulated, but as soon as they are done we’ll let you know who won, or at least who reported the lowest score… or not.
Saturday from 11am – 1pm a family picnic was hosted at Eagle Point Park. I could tell you all the lurid details of who was seen with whom and what was said about so-and-so and why he/she disappeared into the bushes only to return later with the shirt/blouse mis-buttoned, but… it would all have to be a tall tale as this writer was not at the pic-a-nic. So if anyone does have the lurid details, drop me a line and we’ll chat, strictly off the record, of course! ; )
Saturday night’s main event of course was the dinner and dance at the also then recently opened “Tuscany Center at Rastrelli’s”. For those who are a little foggy on the point, this is not the “Avanti”, but lies to the north of that portion of the building, the Avanti long since having been absorbed into the Rastrelli’s Family Restaurant. A buffet dinner was proffered, but alas nary a piece of pizza could be found, much to the disappointment of all the Lyon’s folks in the crowd. The masses were sated with a regular smorgasbord of beef, pork, chicken and assorted sides. The evening finished off with dancing, music provided by… I don’t know! Write and tell me.
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