20 Years

Last weekend was a fun-filled blast from the past as my graduating class celebrated their 20 Year Reunion.

And guess who was co-chairman?

That's right. Me.

I am only now recovering.

I learned a lot from this experience, including:

1. I would rather just show up than plan an event. I get too stressed about the details.

2. Although I prefer not to do so, I have the organizational and creative skills to put something like this together.

3. It becomes much easier when there are people to help (my classmates were great at volunteering).

4. Some people change a lot in 20 years.

5. Some people don't - and this isn't necessarily a good thing.

6. You can't please everyone, so stick with what you've planned and just go with it.

7. We have a really, really fun class that still rocks it after all these years!

We planned the reunion to take place over Labor Day weekend, which also coincided with Hurricane City's Peach Days celebration. Here is a brief outline of our activities:

Friday night: Classmates only event. I didn't bring my camera, so I don't have any pictures. We met at the high school parking lot, where we had a potluck BBQ, decorated a float for next day's parade, and did a lot of reminiscing about the good ol' days. Afterwards, many of the classmates drove up to the "H" and changed the numbers from "09" to "89". Love it!

Saturday 6 a.m.: Classmates could participate in a 12k "fun run". No, I didn't run - 5k is about the limit for me. Anything longer isn't much "fun".

Saturday 9 a.m.: Peach days parade. Look at the peach tree we put together the night before - isn't it great?
Here are a few of the classmates on the float as we waited for our turn:


Saturday 11a.m. - 1p.m.: Family swim and picnic at the Hurricane Pool. We had rented the entire facility, and it was fun to see the families. Several of the classmates had "mini me's" running around - it was so cute!


Saturday 5:30 p.m.: Tour of HHS. They will begin work on a new school within the next year, so classmates had one last chance to look at the old building before it's torn down.

Saturday 6p.m. - 10 p.m.: Reunion dinner


We had a great time. Due to the generous donations of certain classmates, we were able to have a nice, catered dinner and still keep the cost at a minimum. We had a welcome activity, then ate dinner. Afterwards, we held a special tribute for deceased classmates. We have had 8 classmates die already, which is a staggering amount considering the small size of our class (129). This was followed by an 80's trivia game, special awards, and class photo.

Over 50 classmates showed up that evening!

Can you find me in the above picture? If not, here's a clue:

Yes, that's me with the long hair. I am wearing the extensions I bought for "Annie Get Your Gun".

Here's a picture of me with two of my very best friends from high school, Brooke and Suprena:

That's my old boyfriend in the middle, Ryan. He is actually a cousin of Del's; there must be something about that family I find irresistible:

This is Craig and Tiffney; the three of us are second cousin's on my Grandma Barrick's side. We have another cousin in our class, but she was unable to come:

This is Kathryn, my good friend from school and the other co-chairperson of our reunion, and her husband Matthew. Our husbands were such good sports about the whole thing!

Just before it became time to nominate the next committee, my husband asked me what I'd do if they didn't select anyone to take over.

The answer was easy. "Then we won't be having our 25th reunion."

Because as much as I love my classmates, I don't love them THAT much!