Crete-Monee School District 201-U

CMHS All-Alumni Reunion a Success!

The first-ever CMHS All-Alumni Reunion took place on October 3, 2009 at Balmoral Racetrack and was a great success by all accounts.

The event went above and beyond the expectations of All-Alumni Reunion co-founders Jill Ratajack Hayhurst and Pam Howard, CMHS graduates of 1974. Over 900 CMHS alums traveled from 25 different states to attend the first annual all-alumni reunion. "Since this was only the first year, I thought how exciting it would be to have 500 people show up. When I found out that over 900 people attended, I was ecstatic! I couldn't believe it," Mrs. Hayhurst said.

The event came to fruition when Mrs. Hayhurst and Mrs. Howard began planning for their 35th year class reunion. "Pam had the idea. We had siblings and so many friends that graduated a different year than us. We thought it would be nice if we could have an event that we could all attend," said Mrs. Hayhurst. "We said let's do graduating classes of the seventies, but we didn't want to leave the eighties out, and it just grew from there," she added. When it was all said and done, the reunion played host to Crete-Monee graduates from 1955-2006. The co-founders assembled a committee of eager 1970's classmates to assist with the arduous task of collecting names and addresses of graduates.

The planning committee wanted to keep the event local and decided to host the event at Balmoral Racetrack in Crete. The over 900 graduates enjoyed a wonderful evening renewing old friendships, making new ones and reminiscing about the good days at Crete-Monee. So successful was the event, that already the planning committee has decided to make it an annual one. The 2010 All-Alumni Reunion will be held on September 25, 2010.

Thank you to Mrs. Hayhurst and Mrs. Howard and Mrs. Ziegler-Hirsch and the rest of the committee for their tireless efforts.

Please visit the website at www.cmhsreunion.net or on Facebook at the Crete-Monee High School All-Alumni Gathering Group page as more details will be posted there as they become available.