The reunion has come and gone, leaving us all re-connected and with great new memories.  If you couldn't attend but would love to know how the reunion was, (or if you were there but your mind is a little fuzzy!), here's a basic re-cap:

Many people met on Friday night at Old Whedon Grill on Main Street.  Walking into that bar, you've never been hit with so much energy and happiness all at once.  Although it was incredibly hot and we were all rather damp and wilted, we had a fabulous time reminiscing with long-lost friends and making new ones.  Some called the night "overwhelming" as we were constantly surrounded by face after face of people we used to know so well.  I'm sure that this bar has rarely heard so many squeals of excitement and felt so much warmth (literally and figuratively!).  Many classmates closed the bar down at 3 a.m., only to get up and do it all over again on Saturday.

Saturday night was the official class reunion, and what a great time it was.  The Lake Forest Country Club was an ideal location:  from the beautiful interior to the great bar and dining room overlooking the lake, it couldn't have been a better setting.  (At least not in Hudson!).  As the mingling began, the cocktails flowed and the hors d'oeuvres were being passed, you really felt like this was about to be  a really special event.  Alums worked on their trivia quizzes, finding out such things as where people were living, what they did for a living, how many children they had and what they have been doing with their lives all these years. 

Before dinner was served, we made an attempt at re-creating the senior class picture on the back lawn of the country club.  Let's just say we're still not the easiest group of people to direct.  The results of that photo shoot will be posted on this web site.  

Dinner was served and Dennis made a very eloquent welcome speech, referring to the fact that the Class of '86 had a fantastic turn out for the reunion, while some of Hudson's other classes had to cancel their 20th reunions due to lack of interest.  We had 155 people in attendance (including spouses), approximately 30 of which were students at Hudson from Kindergarten through 12th grade.  That's a successful reunion!

The meal was delicious.   The wine and cocktails were perfect.   The beer flowed all night long, and best of all, you could overhear roars of laughter from just about every table throughout the entire dinner service.

The trivia contest answers and winners were announced (with some heckling from the crowd!), and winners received a bottle of wine made by our own Steve Eiken.  Dennis Wolff was presented with his own "Presidential Pinot Noir" emblazoned with his senior picture across the label as a thanks for unwittingly devoting his entire adult life to reunion planning when he ran for class president way back when...

After trivia winners were announced, the members of the "HHS Minnow" in attendance did a re-enactment of their senior year Talent Show skit with still-hilarious Lori Shea at the microphone singing her heart out.  It gave us all a great laugh.

The music played on (a lot of 80s music was heard that night), the cocktails flowed and the conversations and laughs went on all night.  At the end of the night the big question was "Where to now!?" as we weren't quite ready to say good-bye.  Many people headed to Kepner's or to the homes of their lifelong friends, and more importantly, many asked "Can we do this again in 5 years?"  

It was a great time...THANK YOU to everyone who came and helped make it so special.  It was so wonderful to see you all.  Please keep up the message boards and the photo albums, and look for information on keeping the web site up past February.