The FHS class of 1979, 30 year class reunion was on July 10, 11, and 12, 2009.  Here is the reunion agenda that was followed:

Friday 10 July: 7:00 PM until they threw us out at 1:30. The Fairbury Country Club was decorated with flamingos and pineapples and I heard the bar tabs hit record highs that night.  The finest selection of Hawaiian shirts that the town of Fairbury has seen were worn by all.  Everyone got Lei'd when they entered.  Many folks enjoyed a dinner early in the evening in the dinner area.  The Country club has recently hired a new cook...the food was excellent. It was a hot muggy Nebraska night, but several classmates endured the heat on the adjoining deck...with frequent trips back inside to recharge their beverages and cool down.  Attendance was about 50 classmates, 3 or 4 that weren't able to attend the dinner on Saturday due to other commitments...so this was our only chance to catch up with them.  A good time was had by all....the stories were so many and loud, that someone complained that their voice was getting hoarse the next day from all of the conversations that they were having. Everyone made it home safe...despite the one lane that was open over the river bridge to get back into town.

Saturday 11 July:

9:30 AM  Motorcyle/Muscle car ride/drive.  Starting location...around the square.  Despite the short night of sleep for many...5 motorcycles and about 15 cars were lined up on the north side of the Fairbury square by about 9:45.  Additionally, two "muscle machines" (also known as bicycles) were present, piloted by Kay Moore Flagherty and Gary Goebel.  Roddy Schoenrock led off the procession around the square and then started on a lap around the loop.  On the second lap the group went west to Maple street and made a loop around the City Park.  Gary muscled his machine toward Steele City after the first lap.  The procession caught up with Gary and he was already past Endicott....running an average speed of 26 mph.  The group rolled into the Salty Dog and ordered lunch.  Several classmates from the Steele City area were there waiting when we arrived.  Around 12:30, many of the golfers left for the Country Club...others stayed for a while longer.

1:00 PM Golf outing at the Fairbury Country Club.  Tom Adams, Kenny Duensing, and Tim Hill (actually Tim didn't...he was driving Tammy's vette out to Steele City, and didn't show up until 1:00) had nearly every golf cart at the country club lined up and ready at 1:00.  Around 30 folks participated in a scramble format, best ball, 9 hole golf game.  I noticed that many golf carts were stacked with coolers.  The weather was cooperative...mostly overcast, which kept the temperatures in check.  There were some strong winds that seemed to affect all of my golf shots, but didn't seem to bother anyone else.  After we finished playing and exchanging many stories along the way, everyone retired to the deck outside the bar (seems like we were just there).  Close to 5:00 PM, the group disbursed to change clothes for the evening dinner.

6:00 PM until 1:00 AM at the Fairbury Elks Club catered dinner.  The menu was roast beef, baked chicken, mashed potatos with white gravy, corn, green beans, rolls, tossed salad, and tea.  The bar opened at 6:00 and classmates and their spouses began flowing in shortly thereafter.  Tammy Swett and Diane Kujath captured everyone's signature in the class reunion guestbook.  Larry Huffman's DJ equipment was poised and ready on the stage, and a dance/presentation area was cleared out in front of the tables.  The tables were decorated with red and yellow baloons and pictures reproduced from the class of 1979 yearbook.  A memorial table was complete with pictures of Patty Busing Lawrence and Doug Pierce towards the back of the room.  Another table was full of FHS 1979 scrapbook items to include the class papers that were published in 1979.  Everyone that attended, received a can of bacon bits compliments of Ron Schacht.  At 6:45 Doug Ward began the festivities with a welcome address.  Jeff Wichman prepared a pre-recorded commemeration of Patty's and Doug's passing that was absolutely wonderful. Kay Moore read a poem that was written in high school by Tammy Tremblay that was very touching, and Monty Scheele said grace.  By about 7:15, most classmates had gone through the dinner line and the plates were full.  Everyone was pleased with the quality and quantity of the food.  At about 7:45, the highlight of the evening began.  Doug Ward played his 30 minute presentation that reviewed cars, music, and other world events starting in 1979.  The presentation then took us through our Freshmen to Senior years with period correct music and pictures from all 4 years of the yearbooks.  Next we saw highlights from the previous reunions, and the last segment was a "then and now" photo parade of every classmate's senior picture followed by a current picture.  Doug spent Friday night, and most all of the day on Saturday tracking down every classmate that attend to get a current picture.  He also used pictures from this web-site.  I heard lots of applause, and at the same time moans and groans from crowdas the pictures scrolled along. He just finished the final version at 6:45 on Saturday. As I said earlier, this was really the highlight of the evening with some folks caught wiping away a few tears as they went back through time in their memories.  Next event was door prizes for everyone that was lucky enough to have a number taped under their seat.  Around 30 items that were donated by local Faribury businesses were passed out to the winners.  Then Dennis Gaston and Jim Remple began passing out awards in several categories...such as whoever traveled the furthest, has the most kids, been married the longest, and who lost the most hair since high school.  Everyone then took a short break while we reconfigured the front of the room for class pictures.  It took about 5 minutes to get everyone staged and looking toward the camera.  When that was complete...Larry started playing...and the folks running the bar were very busy.  Several folks kept sneaking back into the bar area to check the status of the NASCAR race that was on the flat screen TV and classmates were all over the place exchanging stories.  At around 10:30....Gary Goebel and Tammy Swett changed into their 1979 school attire.  Gary was in his Letter jacket, and Tammy was in her full drill team dress while they posed for pictures.  The dance floor started getting more and more people on it around 11:00....and by 12:30 there were at least 10 couples out there.  By 1:00 AM...everyone retired for the evening....and many started showing sadness that it was all over much faster than they wanted.

Roddy Schoenrock opened his restaurant (yes he did it himself) at 8:30 on Sunday.  Around 20 classmates including their spouses were present by about 9:15 enjoying lots of coffee and breakfast.  The group broke up at around 11:00...and many began their trips back home.

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire weekend, my only regret is that there wasn't enough time to talk with everyone as long as I would have wished. 

Clint