Another 60th Reunion Picture

Delores Evans sent this, and also many other pictures that are on the 50th and 55th reunion pages, as well as the group pictures from our High School days.

Memories of the 60th Reunion

I had intended to go to the 55th reunion five years ago and was all set up with a plane ticket and Hotel reservation at the Hotel across the street from Paula's cafe.  I think they called it the Super 8 then.  Then my sister Amy passed away a month before the reunion and I changed my ticket to go to the funeral.  I never made it to the reunion that time.

 

So for the 60th, I was ready.  With the invitation to bring family members, I invited my cousin Neil Leum (class of 52) to come along, since he would know everybody anyway.  That way we could hang out in the Mayville area a couple days and get re-acquainted with relatives.  Neil lives in Lakewood, MN near Minneapolis, so we met Friday night at the hotel across from Paula's cafe, now the Mayville Home Town Inn, which turned out to be very good and very handy.

 

We toured the Mayville area bars that night and the cemeterys, Mayville museum and relatives Harry Leum and my brother Willard's farm the next day.

 

We arrived at the reunion and saw a group that I didn't recognize.  It turned out to be Corrine (Skarperud) Dahl, Nels Lande and some others.  After figuring out who was who, Neil and I went to the back room bar and had a beer with Robert Von Ruden.  I also, about this time, ran into Arlene (Tunseth) Olson who said she needed to go out for a smoke.  Since my wife also smokes, I am very tuned into this and went out with her.  Arlene and I started country school together in the first grade (at Norway #2) so we have a long history.  We had a good discussion out in the smoking area.

 

When I went back in, most of the group had arrived.  I found a seat near Wyman and Helen Holland and Milt Winger.  This was great since these were my old friends.  When the dinner orders were taken, I warned Wyman not to order the steak because Neil and I had tried it the night before and it was the toughest piece of meat ever.  So we had the Walleye.

 

I saw Duane Nysveen and mentioned that the last time I saw him at the 40 year reunion he had a full beard.  He seemed to deny this.  Was I wrong and it was not him?

 

I also ran into Helen Hanson Olson, who I also started first grade with.  She said her daughter is now at the Juilliard Music School at Lincoln Center in New York.  Was I impressed!

 

The program was good.  It was about being on the honor roll, which I have come to think is not very important.  Anyway it was good. 

 

I also sat next to Bernie Kyllo.  Bernie had brought a photo album containing most of the original high school graduation portraits.  I lost mine a long time ago, and also can't find the yearbook anymore.  I suggested to Bernie that we should scan those old pictures and put them on a web page for our class.  Bernie was agreeable to this and we did this later.

 

At the last part of the reunion, we lined up for the group photo, which you can see below.  After the reunion, Neil and I headed over to the Top Hat.  Since we could walk to our hotel and the Top Hat from Paula's it was very convenient.  At the Top Hat we had a final beer or two with Arlene, Gladys, and I think some others.  It was all very enjoyable.

 

Bob Van Wechel