Fifty Years of Friendships
By Michael Hofer
In the fall of 1959, most of the Wolcott Class of 1969 came together for the first time in kindergarten. I was one in that group, in the last kindergarten class that would use the basement in the Methodist Church on the corner of Williams and Eleanor streets, as it was demolished at the end of our school year. There were also kindergarten classes being held in the basement of the Lutheran Church at 114 Hunter Street (now the Thornton Historical Museum). Classes in this building flourished for many more years. The friendships formed in those years have endured for 50 years and will likely continue through our lifetimes. The evidence is the excitement over the upcoming party we are holding this October. I have been hearing about the past few months from old classmates. This is the third major gathering of the class of ‘69 since graduating from the school some 40 years ago.
Many people wonder why it isn't a high school reunion we celebrate. Well the truth is, most of us were together for the nine years from kindergarten through 8th grade. While half the class was together at Parkside (now the Thornton Recreation Center) and the other half at Wolcott, we were all together for the last three years at Wolcott Jr. High, and growing up in the hamlet of Thornton, most of us knew each other almost all our lives.
In high school it was difficult to form friendships. There were thousands of students. I recall it being about 5000, in attendance first at Thornridge, and later at Thornton and then Thornwood as we attended all these schools during our time. There were nearly 1000 students in our class alone (class of ‘73). With so many students, you seldom had more than a class or two with anyone. In addition, the atmosphere, especially at Thornton and Thornwood High Schools during our years there, were prison-like, with security guards armed with billyclubs and mace patrolling the hallways. Racial tensions were high, and the administration only concerned itself with groups, not individuals. Students were not accorded the least measure of respect.
It was a sour experience at best for most of us. Nonetheless, many students went on to achieve high academic accomplishments. That being said, for most of us, there are few good memories of high school. The better times for most of us happened in grammar school, where if nothing else, the teachers paid attention to you now and then.
We have Alumni coming in from all over the U.S. including Kansas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and as far away as California. Why? Real friendships are of value, though we have all been successful in building happy lives away from each other. There is a special magic with old friends who have shared your beginnings one akin to family bonds. You do not choose your family, but you do choose your friends.
There is one more reason we enjoy coming together as well. Although we did not realize it at the time, we were the last ones in the golden era of being a kid. A time when milk carton kids did not exist, and every neighbor watched over all the kids like they were their own. As a kid then, you could leave the house in the morning and as long as you were home for supper, it was ok. Parents never worried. It was a time when the only time doors were locked in your house was when you left for a two-week vacation. No Nintendo Play Stations, but always a lot to do as a kid in every season and with other kids in your community. Flying kites, ball games, Kick the Can; we always found something to do. It was a simpler time, a time when people were kinder to each other.
When we all come together again, it’s almost as if those times are back - and for at least an evening, they will be, as we all remember them together.
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