by Ethan Johnson
November 14, 2007

It's official: Everyone who hates me is now here. - Nathan Detroit (Guys and Dolls)

At long last, the 20-year Hinsdale South High School Reunion has come and gone. For my part, I was more interested in seeing as many Marion Hills Elementary School alums as possible, and out of a rough count of, mmm, 65, only 14 made it to the reunion. I was disappointed that certain people weren't willing or able to take part, but perhaps we'll toss together a Marion Hills-specific event and attract more classmates. Anyway, let's get right to the photos and commentary:

Someone brought their old school jacket (I assume one of the members of the reunion committee). Having the added bonus of attending two different high schools, it was wild to see one of these again after 20+ years of not. One of my John Hersey classmates (at the time) had a custom jacket made that said "Hersey Spectator". I don't recall seeing the guys wearing these (certainly not the yellow ones) without it being labeled with a sport, like football.

I tried not to be the first alum to the reunion, but thanks to a ringer for what could arguably be the 38-ish version of an old classmate that was actually attending one of the many weddings at the Drury Lane Oak Brook, I got suckered into arriving at the registration desk early. Outside of the reunion committee people who were staffing the table, my first alumni contact was with Mark Kuehl. He read my name tag and said he remembered my name, and I confessed that I've slept since 1985 (and don't have any of my yearbooks anymore) so he'd have to jog my memory as to a specific experience we might have shared. I assume we had gym class together, or similar. Gym class was fairly bloated compared to the formal classroom stuff, and could have been something of a catch-all for "remember the name, not the face" types. Mark wrestled for the state title back in the day. I might have heard something over the PA about it. Anyway, Mark seems to be doing well, and he passed along a story about Steve Folkens rushing up into the bleachers looking to beat him up for slights real or imagined. Mark said that despite being on the wrestling team, he was afraid to get into fights. Well, Steve was an intimidating guy, and I always thought the narrative flowchart would branch off into the "but he had a heart of gold" path. No, I'm told he either is or was in jail. D'oh.

First Contact with an actual Marion Hills alum came in the guise of Bobby Trujillo (pictured above with his lovely wife Margaret McClellan). For nostalgic purposes, I called out "¿ Bobby... estas aqui?" like his mother. Bobby and I had a long conversation a few months prior to the reunion but it was great to renew the old bonds in person. I wished Marlena were there, but we collectively agreed to make plans to get together next time we're in town. Margaret was especially helpful in trying desperately to herd the Marion Hills crowd into a corner so we could get a group photo. And after further ado, here it is:

Click here for the larger sized image.

Left to right: Jackie Bull, Steve Nelson, Donna Folkens, Missy Bishop, Margaret Crichlow, Mike Bushen, Lisa D'Angelo, Tammy Gillespie, Dave Spera, Gretchen Schwenker, Me, Bobby Trujillo, the Honorary Elias Family Rabbit Ears since Marlena wasn't there.

Mike Bushen and his girlfriend told me that they made my Red Pepper Soup the night before so they'd have a fresh memory of how it tasted. "It's got kick." See, I'm the worst person to opine about "kick", as "Thai hot" food isn't floating my boat, nor is habanero salsa. Glad to hear the recipe was a hit.

Actually, it was pretty surprising to hear how many Marion Hills folk had breezed through this here site and read one or more of my previous reunion-centric stuff. When Missy Bishop, who struck me as being busy with other things told me she liked the site, I was pretty stunned. Anyway.

It was good to see Margaret [Crichlow] again. I should note here that I am using maiden names not to be offensive to say, her spouse, but partly to protect privacy and to frame the personalities in terms of how I remember them. And like it or not, Bobby will always be Bobby, even when he's 99. Same with Missy, really. Plus it helps the old Google traffic.

Jackie Bull was part of the reunion planning committee, and did a great job helping to pull the event together. There were some venue-specific problems here and there, but they were minor, and an open (free) bar heals all wounds. However, it doesn't lend itself to getting people to scrawl in a notebook for use in a scrapbook layout or whatever. I figure enough embarrassing stuff was said out loud, let alone being committed to paper.

Rick Tworek (thanks Margaret - I thought that was his last name!) missed out on the group picture, so we pulled together for a scaled down version. That's him with the cast on his hand. Again, for Marlena's benefit the rabbit ears made an encore.

Jeannie Komarek and spouse were there, but I think they ducked out early. I tried my damndest to find them (even blowing out my vocal chords announcing to the room that the MHES photo shoot was about to start) but no such luck. So Jeannie, if you read this, I really wanted you to be part of the photo and am sorry to have missed out. I didn't want to take "candids" during the night partly because roving camera-toters had those bases covered somewhat, and partly because someone kept screwing around with the dimmers. All the more reason to herd everyone into the hallway and out of the banquet room.

Tammy Gillespie's husband has the special significance of being "that guy who beat me up along the side of 75th street" way back when. I don't remember all of the particulars, but I remember he pissed me off, I in turn escalated the conflict, I managed to get away at the time, only to get beat up later. No apology necessary, I figured, as it was a stupid escalation and we mutually agreed that I was for sure beaten up and he had for sure beaten me up. It was surreal - we got up, brushed off the dirt and grass, and went home. I wasn't sure how our meeting would go at the reunion, and it went fantastically well. He's looking great. I laughed inwardly when I overheard him saying that he saw so-and-so in the hallway and apologized for giving him a bloody nose.

I heard that Marion Hills was indeed bought by a private academy. I high-tailed it over there yesterday and got the greatest shot ever:

Quick, before they tear up the floor. The woman who escorted me to the gym said they can't afford to tear up the floor - yet - but figured some day they will. Memo to the photogs: Don't second guess yourself in this digital age. You can always delete stuff later.

While I was at it, I got a clean shot of the infamous lunch tables, now secured for safety after breaking Mrs. Sorgenfrei's leg. Steve Nelson told the story of how he was in harm's way when one of the benches fell forward, and she pushed him out of the way only to do a "sliding into second base" move and snapping her leg. Holy crap.

That's enough for now. I'll have at least one more article to wrap things up within the next 30 days. If you weren't at the reunion, or you were, drop me a line (use the contact link at the top of any page on this site or leave a comment below) and say hello. While you're at it, what's your take on having a Marion Hills-only event? Maybe next year? Think it over and let me know.

Thanks everyone - it was great to see you. Thanks to the reunion committee as well for pulling this beast together. Bravo! <EM>