October 21, 2002

I used to be a non-reunion kind of guy, refusing to get excited about such things.

If there is someone from my past I wanted to talk to or see, I took the appropriate measures to find them. What good was it to gather with a group of people you do not remember every few years?

My stance was obviously foolish.

Proof my stance was off-base is the class of 1938 from Rock Island High School, and their 64th class reunion held recently at the Rock Island Arsenal Golf Club.

That a 64th reunion was held of any class amazed me. Learning over half of the 316 graduates from the class of '38 are still going strong gave me hope, and that 80 are still local proves this is the right area to set down roots. But when 50 grads from the class of '38 managed to attend reunion No. 64, I realized staying in touch with some old friends is a great idea.

But there is more to the class of '38 than the ability to gather 50 of its graduates 64 years after they bid Rock Island High School farewell.

I learned few groups are as good as the class of '38 at staying in touch. Few have turned over as many stones, dialed as many numbers or written as many letters as the class of '38.

Part of the legend that is the class of '38 began about 15 years ago, when the process of putting together reunion No. 50 was in full swing.

From that 50th reunion, I learned the class of '38 was the first graduating class from the structure that is Rock Island High School. The building at 1400 25th Ave. opened in 1937 and next spring's graduation was its first. Few schools in the country have the facilities Rock Island High has.

When it put together its 50th reunion, the goal of the class of '38 was to know the status of all its graduating seniors. Fifty years is a long time to keep in touch with anyone, but the reunion committee -- paced by Truman Plantz, Ruth Witt Tischer, Marge Cheney Purcell, Wayne Johnson and Barbara Fry Peterson -- took gathering information to great heights. Of the 316 graduates of the class of '38, 304 were located for reunion No. 50.

The class of '38 reached such states at California, North Carolina and Florida, and cities like Bloomington, Peoria, Rockford and Washington, Ill. All were represented at the recent ceremony.

Some, I learned, are still working, like Stanley Goldman of Rock Island. Goldman, the man behind Hyman's Furniture, is dedicated to his city and his classmates. The same can be said for Bruce Polier, who lives in Peoria and works as a pharmacist. And then there is Dr. William Bertelsen, who still performs medical critical care at two local hospitals and serves on the Federal Transportation Board.

The class of '38 sends a semi-annual newsletter to its grads and is doing profiles on each class member for a booklet to be published. This group should write another book on how to stay in touch; it would be a best-seller.

In a world where losing touch comes so easy, it might be best to take a page from the class of '38's book.

It certainly has changed my perspective.

Columnist John Marx can be reached at 786-6441, Ext. 291, or by e-mail at johnny@qconline.com

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