Friday night at Marty's
HORLICK 60-YEAR REUNION finally happened, after being postponed last September due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reunion Booklets were sent out to classmates, however, so everyone could stay current with where people lived, phone and email addresses and, sadly, to learn of classmates who had passed since our 55-year reunion.
FRIDAY NIGHT ACTIVITIES: Everyone enjoyed Marty and Donna Defatte's beautiful home, gardens and backyard. People started registering at 4:30 p.m. and the party began. Pizza from Bernie's Pizza (the chef was from the old Brusha's restaurant), fruit and veggie trays, snacks, kringle, ice cream bars, a beer truck on site and other beverages were offerred. Please go to "All Reunion Photos" for a slide show of classmates/activities.
SATURDAY NIGHT ACTIVITIES: This event was held at Meadowbrook Country Club and registration began at 4:30 p.m. Classmates also put their name 'in the hat' to win a beautiful watercolor painting donated by classmate Sue Spangenberg Wolff or two prints of Racine scenes painted by Melody Wohlust Carter's father, Kerry Wohlust, and donated by Bob Carter. Updates to the Reunion Booklet delivered last year were given to those attending. The rest will be sent out by USPS. We had a wonderful meal--either a Filet Mignon or Chicken Marsala, and then were treated to "The Voice of Elvis", John Van Thiel. He gave over an hours presentation to an appreciative audience! Please go to "All Reunion Photos" for a slide show of classmates/activities/Elvis.
SUNDAY BRUNCH: A smaller crowd attended Brunch at the Maple Table in downtown Racine. Several classmates who could not attend either Friday or Satursday, including Barb Morgan White and David Judd, made a special trip to meet up with classmates. Please go to "All Reunion Photos" for a slide show of classmates.
SUMMARY OF THE 55-YEAR REUNION: Another successful Horlick, Class of '61 reunion come and gone! We had a wide variety of activities scheduled: a golf scramble, pizza party at Infusino's, a tour of the SCJohnson buildings, Party on the Pavement (Downtown Racine), the dinner-dance at Meadowbrook Country Club and the Sunday Brunch. All events were well attended, and hopefully enjoyed by our classmates. Please take the time to look at all the pictures posted on the All Reunion Photos page. If you have additional photos that you took and would like displayed, please send them to Judy Wilda Amundsen, jwamundsen@aol.com in jpeg. format. We hope to see you in another 5 years.
The Reunion Committee: Judy Wilda Amundsen, Bob Carter, Melody Wohlust Carter, Judy Cloutier Chiappetta, Sue Miller Christensen, Marty Defatte, David Litrenta, Nubar Musurlian, Darlene Bogdanoff Patrizzi, Kathy Kottal Sheehan, Alex Sabo
Clockwise (l): Marty Defatte, Bob Carter, All Sabo, Dar Bogdanof Patrizzi, Judy Cloutier Chiappetta, Dave Litrenta, Barb Griffith Eckert, Mel Wohlust Carter, Sue Miller Christensen, Kathy Kottal Sheehan. Taking the picture: Judy Wilda Amundsen
55-year Reunion Committee hard at work: Our first meeting was on June 2, 2015 at Marty Defatte's house. We needed to set dates for the reunion and decide where we wanted to hold the various events. We usually start working about 1 1/2 years before the actual reunion, to assure we get quality places on the dates selected.
Get-together in Phoenix, AZ, March 2014: Barb Griffith Eckert, John Blackmar, Judy Wilda Amundsen, Nubar Musurlian, Al Sabo, and (in back) Gene Banucci.
Horlick Reunion Committee organizes several 'mini' reunions after the 50-year reunion: See more pictures in the "Past Reunion Photos" -- Mini Reunions.
Summary of the 50-year Reunion: Greetings, Classmates! Well, WE DID IT!!!! The Class of '61 has successfully celebrated 50 years of being out of high school!!! Those who attended at least one of the 6 scheduled events hopefully came away with a renewed sense of appreciation for our fellow classmates and for the fine education we obtained while at Horlick High School. The School Tour was a great success. Over 40 alumni toured in 4 groups, viewing the many new classrooms, library, natatorium, field house, cafeteria, etc. We searched in vain for the old Girls Gym (now classrooms) and found that the old Boys Gym was now a weight training facility and that the bleacher sections had all been sectioned off into classrooms. Most of us did find our old home rooms, viewed the main office and even got to go up/down the spiral staircase.
The Informal Social at Spinnakers Restaurant down on the waterfront was attended by approximately 100 alumni/guests. Sponsored by Gene Banucci, this free event featured plenty of food, fun and a chance to visit with friends.
Saturday morning, 40 people toured the Johnson Wax Administration Building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and also the new Fortaleza Hall, which is a magnificant glass structure (and more) that houses the Carnuba airplane that Sam Johnson and sons flew down to Brazil. This free tour is offered weekly and is WELL WORTH your time. Saturday afternoon featured the Racine Downtown Party on the Pavement, which showcased stores/museums and musical talents throughout the day/night. And then we dined/danced....but mostly talked, talked and talked at the Kenosha Country Club. What a great way to renew old friendships!
Sunday Brunch, for those 50 people who still had the energy to party, was super! Marty Defatte arranged to have a whole section of the Charcoal Grill to eat and continue talking. Henrietta Welch, our old (she is now 97 years old) Orchestra/Choral teacher at Washington Jr. High School, held court with all her former students. It was a blast! I don't know who had more fun, Mrs. Welch or her students.
Judy Wilda Amundsen, Bob Carter, Melody Wohlust Carter, Judy Cloutier Chiappetta, Marty Defatte, Barb Griffith Eckert, David Litrenta, Nubar Musurlian, Darlene Bogdanoff Patrizzi, Al Sabo.
Horlick History: Horlick High School first opened its doors to students on September 17, 1928. The school was named after William Horlick, the original patent holder of malted milk, who had donated the land for the school ten years earlier. The school was first introduced to the public during an open house in mid-December, 1928, but was not officially dedicated until January 1929. (Judy Wilda Amundsen's father, Clarence C. Wilda, was the first Student Council President and accepted the school on behalf of the student body.) At that time, the school had 33 rooms, 16 full-time and 7 part-time teachers, and an enrollment of 407 students. The school was constructed at a total cost of $721,176.
The early students at the school were referred to as "Northsiders" because of the school's location in Racine County. This resulted in an association with the North Star, as shown in its incorporation in the school's emblem. The school's annual, Polaris, is also named after the star.
In 1931, Horlick donated 5 acres of additional land, increasing his total donation to 17 acres. The additional land was used for an athletic field.
The year 1961 signaled the start of a two-phase expansion plan, slated to cost $3.1 million. In that year, 45,500 square feet of floor space was added, providing room for 22 additional classrooms and a library at a cost of $757,954. In 1962, when the first phase of the expansion had been completed, the school had 80 teachers and a student population of 1785.
The second and final phase of the expansion began in 1963, with the addition of a gymnasium, pool, a theater with seating for 600, art and music rooms, 17 teaching stations, and a cafeteria with seating for 700. These new additions added 110,228 square feet of floor space and cost $1.8 million. By the time of the second expansion's completion in 1965, the student body had grown to 2,277 and the teaching staff had expanded to 110 teachers.
In addition to the two-phase expansion, a field house was added in 1964. The field house contains an L-shaped pool with six Olympic-sized lanes, an indoor track, three tennis courts, nine volleyball courts, a basketball court and six badminton courts.
With the addition of the field house, the original gymnasium (The Boys Gym) had become obsolete. Starting in the early 1970s much of it was slowly converted into additional classrooms and offices. This conversion was completed in 1987, after 10 classrooms and a weight room had been added. As a result of these conversions, a new women's locker room was needed, and this was added to the field house during the 1990s.
The informal Friday night event will be held at Marty Defatte's 'Party Barn', located at 519 Island Avenue in Racine. This is where we held the 'Everyone is turning 75' Birthday party several years ago. Enjoy snacks, pizza, kringle and beverages as you talk with fellow classmates.
