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Milton Wombats, Reunite!

As Milton High School freshmen, we were dubbed the Wombats, due to our perceived general diminutiveness. We were also called the worst class in the history of Milton High School.

And now, 30 years later, we're reunited.

When the word started to spread about the Milton Class of 1980 reunion, I was leaning against going. I had gone to the 15-year reunion, and quite honestly, didn't have a great time. It felt like all the old social groups re-formed, nobody really mixed, and so what was the point? I ignored the last two reunions, including the major celebration of our twenty-fifth. The past is the past, I figured; let's all move on.

Thanks to the social networking miracle that is Facebook, it was a little more difficult to hide this time. A reunion page was formed, I was found, and all of the sudden, the friend requests were pouring in from people that I hadn't seen in a very long time – in some cases, since the day I strolled across the stage in my cap and gown.

An e-mail thread formed between me and some of my old high school friends that I do still keep in touch with. Should we go? We hemmed and hawed, and kicked around the idea of having our own mini-reunion at Miller Park instead. In the end, the Brewers game idea died and my friend Larry and I decided to go to the reunion, while the others in our chain opted out.

Both of our wives wanted to go with us, but Larry and I put the kibosh on that. His explanation why was priceless: “We want to avoid the embarrassment of introducing you to people whose names we don't remember.” (It turned out to be a moot point, as everyone wore a name tag.)

As the date for the reunion approached, I experienced a mixture of excitement and dread. I enjoyed chatting with some of the old classmates that found me on Facebook, but I wondered how the event itself would pan out. Larry and I met up beforehand, yearbooks under our arms, to review all of the senior pictures and jog our memories about folks who disappeared from our lives three decades ago.

When we arrived and saw that name tags were indeed being used, Larry and I decided to have some fun and wear the names of our friends who couldn't make it. I actually fooled the first person who came up to greet me, but got busted immediately after that. It probably wasn't smart to don the name of someone whose sister was also in our class.

About 60 people from our class of 190 showed up. Despite my pre-event concerns, name tags weren't that necessary. Most folks were recognizable to me, even with the natural effects of aging that added glasses, gray and grams. Of course, there were a few genetic freaks of nature that looked like they hadn't changed at all; our very own clock-stopping Milton versions of Benjamin Button.

Interestingly, we had people come into town from as far away as Hawaii and Florida to attend, but a lot of people who still reside in Rock County didn't.

And you know what? I had a great time. I hadn't planned on staying much past the dinner, but by the time I rolled out, it was well past midnight. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing and talking to many of my old classmates, and whatever had soured me about the 15-year reunion was nowhere to be found.

As it turned out, several of the group stayed out until the wee hours of the morning, capping off the evening with a painting of the Milton High School rock. The Wombats have reclaimed The Rock...all is right with the world.