GALION – Jeannette Fox has a way with reunions. Class reunions, that is.
She’s the program pro. The planning prodigy.
Jeannette, or “Nettie” as she’s affectionately known, has helped organize every reunion but two for the Galion Senior High School Class of 1949. Now, she’s finishing the invitations and finalizing preparations for yet another celebration – her class’s 70th anniversary.
“We’ve had so much fun over the years,” said the former Jeannette Evelyn Lucius, one of 94 who graduated back on June 2, 1949. “I’ve always felt going to a class reunion was a privilege, you know, because my mother and father didn’t graduate from high school.”
From the 10-year reunion on, Nettie has brought spunk – and sometimes surprises – to the regular summer gatherings, which have been held every year since 2009. A sit-down dinner with music to follow just wasn’t the norm when Nettie was in charge of the program.
For the 25th reunion, classmates and their spouses were asked to dress in 1940’s attire. And they did, sporting rolled up jeans, poodle skirts and bobbie socks. They ate from boxed lunches and reminisced at the Crawford County Coon Hunters and Sportsmen Club.
In 1994, it was “Hats Off to the Class of ‘49”, a video written and narrated by Nettie and videotaped by her husband, Homer Fox. Everyone attending had a starring role, and everyone took the stage donning one of Nettie’s homemade hats.
With microphone in hand, Nettie passed out dozens of hats and props for the production, which kicked off amid laughter and music from the Wizard of Oz. One by one, classmates were transformed into Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Lion and other characters from the iconic film.
“When we made our movie, it was so much fun because everybody had to participate,” she said, recalling the 45th celebration held at the former Galion Country Club. “And they all had a wonderful time, a wonderful time. And that’s what you want.”
For the 60th reunion, 25 alumni and their guests grilled their own T-bone steaks at St. Joseph’s Activity Center in Galion. The steak fry featured an enormous dessert bar prepared and served by Nettie’s family, who traditionally pitch in, as well as a performance by the GHS “Showtunes” group.
Class treasurer Don Ryan remembers that reunion and others because he’s never missed one yet.
“We didn’t have one for the first 10 years because most of the guys were in the service,” he said. “I enjoy the people a lot. We were very close to them.”
Ryan, 87, who has been master of ceremonies for some of the get-togethers, is assisting Nettie with this year’s big event, set for Aug. 10 at Ralphie’s.
“I suppose I’m the co-chairperson, but she does all the work,” he joked. “We’d be lost without her.”
Because Nettie, who also has perfect attendance, is known for getting the job done, and for her reunion ideas, even if it’s simply incorporating old class pictures and group photos into two-sided placements – mementos for those attending.
Because after 70 years, there are plenty of memories . . . of “the Cage,” the old Galion High School on North Union Street . . . of “the kids,” her former classmates who roamed the halls there . . . of the teachers, coaches and staff whose faces fill the black-and-white pages of “The Spy,” the high school yearbook.
“We’ve just had a great bunch of people,” said Nettie, who is quick to credit other volunteer helpers over the decades. “It’s just been fun. A lot of fun, and a lot of memories.”
