At class reunion time, live in the past

Keep remembering those good times.

Someone once said, “You can’t go home again.” While it’s actually the title of a book by well-known American novelist Thomas Wolfe, the phrase likely speaks to all of us.
    It certainly is appropriate to think about that phrase during Memorial Day weekend, which here in Imperial, also includes the annual high school class reunion each year. Maybe some have that feeling, “You can’t go home again,” as their class reunion nears.
    That wasn’t the case last weekend as a couple hundred former students and guests took part in the Chase County High School reunion events on Saturday.
    While some couldn’t make it or intentionally stayed away, it looked like a lot of fun reminiscing was taking place with more than 200 in attendance. I sure had a good time and I didn’t even graduate from CCHS!
    There’s just something about remembering the good times, isn’t there? I especially enjoyed visiting with members of the 1978 class, who were back for their 40th. Those folks, who are nearing their 60th birthdays by the way, were seniors when I first arrived here fresh out of college.
    Many of them, in particular Marlon Kunnemann and Kerry Bernhardt, “enjoyed” helping educate this Omaha girl about agriculture, livestock, the Chase County Fair and FFA. They reminded me Saturday what a slow learner I was, too. Mary Lou Beard-Cohen was also part of that 40-year class. I got to work with her here at The Imperial Republican, “training” her to fill in for me while I was on maternity leave with our first child the summer of 1981. But anyone who knows Mary Lou, knows she isn’t one to be “trained.” What fun it was visiting with her again.
    It brought back a lot of great memories and reminded me that people like those three are among the reasons I’ve stayed here so long, got married and raised my own family here. They represent all that’s good about Chase County and why people constantly remark how friendly and welcoming people in this area are.
    Some say you shouldn’t live in the past. That’s a good rule to live by for the most part, but at class reunion time, that phrase needs to be tossed out the window. Keep remembering those good times.

 

The Imperial Republican

308-882-4453 (Phone)

622 Broadway St

PO Box 727

Imperial, NE 69033