Mishawaka High Class of 1968
45 years after MHS
September 13, 14, 15, 2013
The thrills began on Friday the 13th at a home football game.
The main event was at Castle Manor, all day on Saturday.

Front row, from left: Connie Shaffer (from Florida), Marty Zemialkowski, Kathy Klotz (from Arizona), Carole Signorino, Peggy Sinkovics, Christina Nicholas, Jimita Baldoni. Back row: Jim Locke (from Texas), Victoria Long, Randy Smith in red baseball cap, Eve Thompson (from California), Andy Palatinus, Darlene Lennox, Steve Cunningham (from southern Indiana).

-- photo by Keith Cooper

It was a "Come on home" kind of weekend!

Forty-five years out of high school, the thrills began on Friday the 13th, with MHS vs. Riley football, at MHS. Many from MHS '68 gathered at the 20-yard line and saw MHS beat Riley.
On Saturday, we had Castle Manor for the entire day. Terry DeMaegd opened the doors at 7 a.m., and we filled the place & the grounds with old friends and enormous quantities of excellent food. At least 80 from MHS '68 were at Castle Manor, and most had guests. In addition, Dr. Reed and Mr. August Baetsle stopped in.
Saturday evening, many of us were at American Legion 357 to hear Dave Hoskins' band and to dance.
On Sunday, 23 folks joined for a goodbye dinner, with Don Plummer offering grace.

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PHOTOS
The weekend had six parts that were open to all.
The photos are separated into those six parts.
The main event at Castle Manor was so big that it has several pages:

• Friday tour of high school
• Friday night football game
• Saturday morn tour of Main Jr. High
• MAIN EVENT: Saturday at Castle Manor
  • Overview of the day at Castle Manor
  • People inside
  • People outside
  • Spouses, family, & friends
  • Cars & motorcycles
• Saturday night dancing to Dave Hoskins' band
• Sunday goodbye dinner
• Mugshots from the weekend

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Details of the weekend:

High school tour: Before the Friday night football game, MHS Principal Jerome Calderone gave a tour of the high school to about a dozen.

Football!

Main Jr. High tour: Eve Thompson arranged a tour of the old Main Jr. High building for Saturday morning.

Door prizes on Saturday at Castle Manor! Andy Palatinus donated $100; Dan Nicolini donated $50. They told Terry DeMaegd to "do something special." Terry used the money for door prizes, all day long. There were drawings every hour thruout the day, but folks had to BE THERE to win.

Food at Castle Manor! The spread of food rivaled the feast in the wedding scene of the movie "Steel Magnolias."

Old cars at Castle Manor! Six classic cars were on display at Castle Manor, arranged by Bob Van Arsdale.

Canoeing on the St. Joseph River! Pat McGee brought a canoe, paddles, and life jackets, and she took a few folks out on the St. Joseph River.

Birthday cake! It was Becky Smith's birthday. In the evening we had birthday cake from West End Bakery and ice cream from Bonnie Doon's, and we sang "Happy Birthday" to Becky.

Party favors! Bottles of bubbles and MHS '68 decks of cards, from Eve Thompson.

Sparklers & fireworks at Castle Manor! When it turned dark, we had sparklers, & fireworks, & little hot air balloons to float over the river.

Dancing in the evening! Dave Hoskins' band played at American Legion 357. About 25 or 30 from MHS '68 (plus guests) were there.

Goodbye dinner on Sunday: Nineteen from MHS '68 and four guests joined for dinner at a nice little restaurant in downtown Mishawaka. We had the place to ourselves.

THANKS to Terry DeMaegd
for signing the rental contract!
Cost of rental for the day was covered by advance donations, and needed supplies for the day were donated by MHS '68 folks.

At least 17 traveled more than 200 miles to be at Castle Manor.

The weekend could NOT have happened without the involvement of many, many people. First were eleven people who volunteered to contribute to cover the cost of renting Castle Manor. And there was Terry DeMaegd, without whom the day could not have been put together: There had to be someone whom others would trust to send their $$, who could be trusted to use the $$ to rent the space, who would bother with actually getting to where he needed to be to sign the forms, and who then would actually show up to unlock the door.

Every time something was added to the list of "donations wanted," someone immediately volunteered to donate. And every person who volunteered to donate came through. And the food for the day?  Mamma Mia!  If you were not there, you would not believe it, and no description would be adequate: Folks came through with generous, wonderful food contributions for the potluck table. The spread looked like something out of the movie "Steel Magnolias." You name it, and we had it!  Even pink lemonade in a fancy dispenser! Someone brought the best sausage ever -- large links in a big aluminum pan. Meat balls to die for! Hungarian noodles. More desserts than you would find at a restaurant. The food was fantastic! And behind every dish, there were loving hands that put it together. Drinks? We had bottled water, hot coffee, beer, wine (red & white), chocolate milk.  

Pam Craig deserves a special thanks for some beautiful center pieces.  She cut up her own senior yearbook to make them. 

And time for clean up? Everyone helped some, but Linda DeMeulenaere really did the lion's share of the clean up.  No advance notice.  There was just work to be done, and she started doing it.  She wanted to wash some windows at the end of the day, to make sure that MHS '68 was known as a "clean group"! Who washes windows? Terry stopped her! The place was left spotless.

Please understand: THIS WEEKEND WAS DONE ON ZERO BUDGET!  

On a more sober note, 47 of the MHS '68 folks have passed on. They are named here: Virtual Cemetery, MHS 1968. Thus far in 2013, we have lost three.  In 2012, we lost two.  In 2011, two.  In 2010, three.  In 2009, three.  In 2008, four.  "Each man's death diminishes me." The death of any childhood friend is especially hard; childhood friends serve the purpose of remembering when we forget.