Getting Together

Over the last few years since my last high school reunion, I’ve continued to stay in touch with several classmates, and when they knew I was coming to town, some suggested getting together. I decided to plan a Happy Hour on a specific date and time at a nearby location and let everyone know, and whoever was able to make it…great! I didn’t ask for RSVPs, but once I sent out the notice, word spread like wildfire, and I have to give some credit to Diana who was a great help in contacting people. We met at Hotshots Sports Bar & Grill (HotShots) in Fenton. There were only 76 in our graduating class, and I thought maybe 10 of us might show up, but after the group photo was taken I counted 25 in attendance! There were even gals I hadn’t seen since graduation day! Lots of pictures were taken and at times with all the flashbulbs, it almost felt like the paparazzi was there, and from what I’ve heard, seems everyone had a great time.










The day had finally arrived for the luncheon at Lombardo’s with guest speaker, Gary Pinkel, head coach of the Missouri Tigers football team. The event was the monthly event for the St. Louis-Tom Lombardo Chapter of The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (http://www.stlnff.com/) and was being emceed by “News 4 St. Louis” Sports Director, Steve Savard (pictured at right). Moving around the room taking photos for the website was Jim Greco, a member of the Foundation (and as we later learned, father of former Detroit Lions offensive lineman, Don Greco). Of about 130 attendees, I was one of only three women in the room, and Jim made sure to get a picture of Russ and me. Lunch started with their house salad followed by a chicken piccata that was so tender you could cut it with a fork, served with a side of pasta marinara and green beans…all absolutely delicious. Coach Pinkel arrived shortly before noon, talked for about an hour including a few Q & A, and then had to catch a plane. He did a nice job of keeping the talk light and informative with some humorous lines, and he seems like a pretty humble guy. Someone had brought one of the new Mizzou helmets, which Coach held up at one point, and after it was all over, we wanted to get a close up photo of it. We asked the young man who brought it if I could, and Jim suggested I hold it for the picture. Since he had now taken a couple photos of me, I told him he had to let me take one of him, and he gladly obliged standing with Russ. We adjourned to the bar and spent the next couple hours chatting with Carmen and Angelo. So glad we decided to attend this fun event.

One gathering that had been planned before I got to town was to be held at Dana’s house as a get together with Ellen’s sister, Gail. She was looking forward to spending some time with Ellen’s friends, and we were thrilled to be able to spend some time with her. Joining Dana, Gloria, Diane, Diane, and me were Lynn, Mary, and Mary Ann, who may not have known Ellen as long but definitely had come to know her well in recent years. Dana prepared a ton of delicious food, and we had a fun evening just chatting, sharing stories, looking at photos, and toasting our dear friend.

Over the last couple of weeks Russ got in a couple more rounds of golf, and on Friday we finally made it out to the American Legion Post 338 Fish Fry (www.thomanboothepost338.com/fish-fry/) in Russ’ old neighborhood meeting up with Rick and Bob for lunch. This place holds lots of fond memories for Russ as his dad used to be one of the cooks at the weekly fish fry, Russ played Legion baseball there, and his sister’s wedding reception was held in the hall. Afterwards Rick had to get back to work, but Russ, Bob, and I drove down the street to the VFW Post hoping to meet up with another friend. Though he wasn’t there, another friend, Mike, stopped by on his way to work since we hadn’t seen him yet on this trip.

We only had a couple more days left before it was time to move on, but we have to say this has been a great month.