The bus tour, organized by Diana Crabb Buddi & Mary Dilley King, departed from the Auditorium at 9:30 with 14 riders. Several "no-shows" must have partied too hard Friday night! Mary was narrator and dedicated the tour to the memory of Rita Tovar Savant, who inspired the idea.

Circling the city, we saw Chatauqua Park, the new Rivercade site; Lewis & Clark Park, home of the S.C. Explorers baseball team; the IBP Ice Center; and Southern Hills Shopping Center, all on the South side of town. Passing the microphone around and telling about ourselves, we established new, as well as old, friendships.

First stop off the bus was Trinity Heights on Floyd Blvd., with its impressive statues of Christ and the "Queen of Peace", as well as the life-sized carvings of the Last Supper done by a local area wood carver. On to Historic Fourth Street, we saw that the ladies of the night & the winos have been replaced by beautifully restored buildings which now house antique shops, boutiques, restaurants, a micro-brewery, and many other specialty shops & pubs. Other downtown sites were the Convention Center, the Cancer Center & the Art Center, all of them new in the last few years.

Not yet "centered out", we headed for Riverside and the Aqua Center, formerly the Riverside pool; also there is a new soccer complex. We observed a moment of silence as the bus passed the Community Theatre, now housed in the Shore Acres Ballroom, where we once danced the nights away!

Our second stop was at the new Nature Center in Stone Park. Then off to North Sioux City's "Casino Strip", complete with Pat Meacham Fries' description of the area when her Granny lived there! Gateway Computer's huge complex and the Dakota Dunes office & residential developments were viewed next, along with the riverfront trail for walkers & bikers, which will one day encircle the entire city.

Off the bus again, we visited the "Spirit of Siouxland" statue, dedicated to the lost souls, survivors & saviours of the United Flight 232 tragedy. The Anderson Dance Pavillion and the Belle of Sioux City Riverboat Casino concluded the tour. The Belle provided us with a private soup, sandwich & dessert buffet, and few of us visited the one-armed bandits.

Throughout the tour, we had prize drawings, with the grand prize being won by Barb Thieman Stowe and husband, Sidney. Everyone was very impressed with the city's growth, changes, and new developments -- especially those of us who are proud to say we still live in Sioux City!

(Storyline provided by Diana; does anyone have a picture of the group?)

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The golf outing, arranged by Keith Krommenhoek & Tom Brosamle (Sheryl's husband), also began at 9:30. It was held at 27 Flags, located south of the airport and one of the area's newer courses. Participants were Jim Christenson, Paul Hutchins, Doug Morrison, Dale Bjorkman, Alan Pechacek, Tom Brosamle, Linda Lloyd Larson, Vern and Mary Messersmith, and Keith Krommenhoek. The play was 18 holes -- plenty for the day's heat.

Keith's description of the event follows: "Fun was had by all, lots of laughter and badgering. There were a couple of wayward or wrong holes played and everyone followed. True dedication to classmates even though leadership was wrong. Did get back on course and the best hole of the tournament was the 19th. Great fellowship was had by all."

Tom's clarification: He & Al teed off and headed out. The two foursomes started on the wrong tee, went the wrong direction, and they only crossed paths once out on the course. The two of them had a good game, and also a good stop at the 19th hole; but after an hour, they tired of waiting for the others, who were obviously lost somewhere out on the course, so they headed back for a nap to get ready for the evenings festivities.

Of course, we have no pictures. Golfers don't carry cameras!

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Saturday night, July 8th, found over 200 classmembers & spouses gathered at the Sioux City Convention Center for a slightly more formal event.

A display of Ron McKewon's artwork was set up for all to enjoy throughout the evening. The prints added to the atmosphere and were available for purchase. We heard that a few of them found new homes that evening.

Following cocktail hour, we sat down to beautifully decorated tables and enjoyed a delicious dinner. It was heavily flavored with garlic, but at least we all smelled alike the rest of the evening!

Then it was off to the atrium for the taking of the formal photographs -- first the Midyears & then the Junes.

January Class

June Class

(To obtain your own copy of these formal portraits, with identifying names attached, see ordering information on the "Updates" page!)

A short program followed with Ken Biggerstaff & Jim Rocklin acting as masters of ceremonies. Jim's reflections on how things around the city can change and still stay the same were particularly poignant. During Ken's stint on the podium, two prints, donated by Ron McKewon, were auctioned off by Ty Quade (Bonnie Hardy's husband), with the proceeds going to the Castle preservation cause.

Composite photo of Ken holding McKewon print & Ed making intros.

Diana Crabb Buddi shared her observations with us, and then Ed Sibley, our convention chairman, introduced all the commitee members and event helpers. A rousing round of applause followed. After all, everyone was saying that this 40th reunion was the best one yet!

To conclude the program, we all joined in singing the Castle Song, led by Larry Atwood, Ken Biggerstaff, Ginny Gregori Ostendorf, and Jim Rocklin.

The evening continued with more music from our era for our dancing pleasure, but again most of us preferred to simply talk to friends, old and new.

Then it was time to say our good-byes. The weekend had passed so quickly, and many of us felt we had not seen everyone, said everything .....
Well, there is always the 50th!

All of the above photos, with the exception of the formal class portraits, were provided by Ron Dollerschell. Many thanks, Ron!

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Here is another of the Reunion photos, courtesy of Neil Hyink:

Bryant School Midyears - Saturday night:
Alan Pechacek
Judy Mason Bjornsen
Jane Dohrmann Fallon
Jon Springer
John Bylin
Neil Hyink

On their way to the reunion, Neil & Gretchen Hyink stopped in Owatonna for a brief visit with Carol Beebe Carothers & husband Ron, who couldn't join us for the festivities. They look great, don't they?

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