Mary Kapp and Kathy LaMotte “spear headed” the Underwood Class Reunion! It was a big success. There were about 100 people in attendance.
Sally Stillman summed up the afternoon with the following: “There were many good conversations, certainly delicious food and great music, a successful dessert auction, a chance to enjoy the Underwood Gardens, and a special tribute to former students of the Underwood School. Also, I appreciated the ‘advance maintenance work’ on the landscape prior to the occasion.”
Mary Kapp writes: “We were pleased to honor 10 former Underwood School students. The one-story building was finished in November, 1917. Needing more room, the building was raised up in 1922 and a full story added underneath. In 1931, a gym was built. This is the building that is now used as a Community Center. In 1944, the school building was vacated and the students traveled to other cities for education. In the early 1960s, the Underwood school was torn down.”
Sunday’s entertainment was from Malcolm Brown’s band the Willy & Nelson from 2 to 4 p.m. or so until the potluck dinner started. The musicians of the band are: Bill Nielsen, Lisa Marie Nelson, Malcolm Brown and Jose Maya. Maya did not play his drums because the “Community Center is not drum friendly.” The band was joined by guest musicians: Jon Cyparski, Pat Haley, and Mike Stillman.
Heidi Diestelhorst had outside games planned for the kids and Cam Thomas had planned a cricket demonstration. Both had to be canceled because of the heavy rain. Organizers are looking forward to these events next year!
For an event of this magnitude, there are many people who work behind the scenes. Some of these people are: Keith Fredrickson for organizing the picnic and picking up Dickey’s corn and providing cold pop; Lisa Brown for supplying a gas grill, for getting the plates, cups, etc. and for making a large quantity of great tasting lemonade; Paul and Sally Newell for donating the salmon along with the large charcoal grill and a big pot and burner for the corn; Bob and Melissa Wittenberg for supplying a gas grill, donating some of the hot dogs and buns and cooking them; and lastly, but not least Paul Newell and Kevin Murphy for the perfection of the cooked-barbecued salmon and corn.
Caroline Elliott had a lovely display on a table representing the Underwood Community Garden. Tomatoes from some of the gardeners were there for anyone who wanted to take some home. Christine Bluestone tagged the potluck dishes that were made from fresh ingredients that were grown in gardens.
The dessert was auctioned by Cam Thomas. The money raised will be helpful in implementing some community projects.
The next item on the agenda was that Keith Fredrickson called the official UCC meeting to order for the purpose of electing new officers. All of last year’s officers along with all newly elected officers were present.
Newly elected officers are: Kathy LaMotte, secretary; Malcolm Brown, webmaster. Re-elected officers are: Lisa Brown, secretary; Darla Johnston, vice-president. All were voted in with no dissenting votes. All officers were elected for a two-year term. After the vote was taken the meeting was adjourned.
Nothing could be more apropos than what Fredrickson wrote following the potluck: “All of us who worked to make this happen are humbled by the attendance at our event and thank all of you for taking the time to make a gloomy fall day into a memorable experience for all of us.”
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