The Idiot – who graduated from Shasta Union High School in Redding, California, in 1966 – is now ready to write a book entitled “How To Prepare For Your 50th High School Reunion.”
Preparation definitely includes a pre-reunion physical fitness regime, a medical check-up, a facial, a manicure that promotes school colors (purple and white), a T-shirt portraying the school name and mascot (wolves) and full-throttle participation in reunion events, from cocktails at Lulu’s (a favorite for the late Merle Haggard) to the dance floor at the Redding Elks Lodge, which was chosen for the reunion banquet venue because it has 20 RV sites with power hookups and a dump station.
It feels good to look good at a 50th reunion which is why The Idiot, who wore a T-shirt with his school’s name and mascot for a week before the event to create “mood,” kicked off the morning of his weekend-long reunion with a pre-sunrise workout at the pool.
(Photo: Abby Kellar)
The Idiot, who had spinal surgery in May and will return to the MedTrek in Egypt in November, visited his chiropractor to assess whether he could do the Alligator, the Twist and a few suave slow dances on Saturday night.
(Photo: Valerie Lauerman)
The Idiot not only had a facial the day before his reunion but also invited his slightly-younger-than-he-is aesthetician to accompany him to the reunion banquet. She passed.
(Photo: Kelsey Sehrt)
Finger nails featuring the school colors are de rigueur for a reunion.
(Photo: Kelly Nguyen)
The Idiot was not, of course, the only one familiar with the contents of “How To Prepare For Your 50th High School Reunion.” Ramona Ely Hill remembered a key element that The Idiot lamentably ignored: Purple Hair.
When almost adequately prepared for such an existential social occasion, The Idiot threw himself into 50th reunion events with abandon and gusto. He visited his old high school, which now lacks private lockers and noisy radiators, with classmates and noted that classrooms are much more animated than back in the day.
A classmate of The Idiot enters the hallowed walls of Shasta Union High School (now home to UPrep, or the University Preparatory School) for a tour of our alma mater.
Classrooms, bland and undecorated in The Idiot’s day, now resemble museums of contemporary history reflecting the teachers’ personalities and experience.
Then, most importantly, there are nostalgic encounters with classmates.
The Idiot with four women and a male classmate from the SUHS Class of ’66.
The Idiot and classmate Ron Lim chat with former school librarian Patricia Stubblefield (who, at 96, has dinner with The Idiot and his 96-year-old mother once a week at the Riverview Golf and Country Club in Redding, CA) at the Redding Elks Lodge.
The Idiot makes the wise choice to join five exceptionally hot female classmates for drinks and dinner at the Redding Elks Club.
Lastly, of course, there’s the action on the dance floor where The Idiot let himself be tossed around like a rag doll.
The Idiot was thrown for a loop on the Elks dance floor.
What’s next?
Don’t worry, The Idiot isn’t completely abandoning his school colors now that the reunion’s over. He’s going totally purple to participate in a Walk To End Alzheimer’s in Redding on October 15. Donate to his The Idiot and The Odyssey Team and/or join him for the walk at the Redding Civic Auditorium at Turtle Bay at 9:30 on Saturday.
Switching his high school purple-and-white colors for pure Alzheimer purple.
The Idiot’s spine is not only ready for the three-mile Alzheimer walk but also the November MedTrek across the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
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