| United Township High School Class of 1966 East Moline, Illinois Official Website |
Memory Lane - 20 Years Later (from 1986 reunion booklet)...
Some things apparently never change...Janie (Hughes) and Mary Jane (Bare) are still cheerleading.
Rich DeJaegher is a commander in the U.S. Navy and it is this committee's prediction that he is still
sporting a flat top. That is, of course, assuming that he still has hair. Mike Mahan is still a single
stud, but his chest has slid a little farther than the rest of ours. Vicki (DeSoete) is still, in this writer's
opinion, the best looking girl in our graduating class and is maturing gracefully. Frank Perez is still
making tacos, but now owns his own restaurant in Milan, previously relocated Bringer Inn. Wayne
(Poodie) Mathias is still doing massages, and Dan Soots, with his many years of experience, is
trying to figure out how to get into the business. Frank's Pizza still has no competition, although
Pizza Hut's Priazzo is awfully good. Whitey's and Country Style are still fighting it out for the
distinction of making the best milkshake. Moline's Italian Village, the 23rd Avenue McDonalds, and
Hasty Tasty, plus East Moline's Sables Jewelry and Skateland are still doing business.
On the other hand, so many things have changed. Our Alma Mater now has a swimming pool!
There's a Whitey's and a Rudy's Taco within a half a block. Regal Lanes is now Sammy G's.
Ridgewood Drug, Ridgewood Variety, and Geifman's are gone. Adolph's Tacos and Birley's are
still around but relocated. Chandes' Spot, East Moline Maid-Rite, all of the A&W's, the Semri, the
Corral, the Flamingo, Breezy Hollow and Moline's Mister Donut are past history. Downtown Moline is
a ghost town with the introduction of Northpark and Southpark Malls. Thirteenth Street and Third
Street in East Moline are now Archer Drive and Kennedy Drives, respectively. Coaltown Road is
rarely traveled now that we have John Deere Expressway. The Quad-City Airport and Soule Bowl
have had significant face lifts. The Plantation is now Velie's and, together with Sebastian's in the
Bettendorf Holiday Inn, and Governor's Tavern in Moline, is one of the best places to encounter old
friends and meet new ones. High schools kids don't ride the one ways in Rock Island and
Davenport anymore. They park their Z-28's, the Camaros, the Vettes in the parking lots of Sears,
McDonalds, and Eagles in Moline and talk.
It makes good sense, I guess, when you consider gasoline has risen from $.19 a gallon when we
became driving age, to $.90 a gallon now. I still recall that we were driving nine year old '57
Chevys, Fords, and G.T.O.'s with a few new $2,800 Mustangs thrown in. Remember how we tried
to leave campus during 4th period lunch? Today, everybody goes out for lunch and is encouraged
to do so because of limited lunch room space. What do you suppose Miss Calvert or Rubijohn
Gorby would have done if we had strolled into class in shorts and a 'Purple Rain' Tshirt?
Do you think there would have been a place for you on Kivisto's team if you had shown up for
practice with an earring and a braided tail dangling down your back?
In summary, now that I feel like a dinosaur, I'll have to agree with the majority of our classmates who
answered how they feel about nearing forty...it sure beats the alternative! I guess we'll have some
decisions to make in the upcoming years. Let nature take it's course and age gracefully, forget
about vanity, let the chests slide and the hairs fall where they may, or...disguise it! I'll be the one at
the reunion who is blue in the face from sucking in his stomach and with his hair parted an inch
above his right ear.
For those of you who weren't able to attend this year, we hope to see you in 1991 for the 25-year
reunion.
Bill Jefferson Boehler
