The Bob Evans Summit of 2011
A nd so I made the journey. Â From the west side of Cleveland to Medina. Â From Medina onward to Burbank. Â I had to stop in Medina to drop off my son, Zach, at my sister-in-law’s house, where Mary was visiting her mother.
Even after all these years in Medina and Cuyahoga counties, finding my way in some places is still a challenge. I drove through parts of Medina I hadn’t driven in 15 years or more. Â I drove down parts of Lafayette Rd I’m not sure I ever drove. Â I over shot Burbank. Â I missed a key turn into Lodi and ended in West Salem. Â But then again, Route 539 has an entrance there. Â Okay, so, I had to back track a bit.
Some of you may be unfamiliar with Bob Evans Restaurants. Â (Some of you may be unfamiliar with the roads between Medina and Burbank, but that didn’t stop me from writing the last bit.) Anyway, it’s a lovely family style place. Â Warm. Â Homey.
I meet up with Dan, Joe, Noreen and Jan. Â We had come together to discuss plans for the 40 Year Reunion of Cloverleaf High School Class of 71.
Okay, okay. Â Who are these people and why is it I am doing this again?
Dan was the Senior Class President.  I actually ran against him for the Presidency. As I recall. my slogan was something like “Why Not Vote for Me?”  There was a rumor floating around one of the previous reunions that I may have received more votes than I was credited for.  Oh, well.  It was like having my grade point average carried out to four decimal points so that i wasn’t quite an honor student.  But I’m not bitter.  No really. (Oh, that doesn’t really have anything to do with Dan.  Just got carried away.)
Joe was the Vice President. Â You know, all I can say about Joe is that he’s a likable guy. Â I always liked him. Â We didn’t hang out much, but i liked him.
Noreen is “an interested party”.  I mean that Dan and Joe are part of the official reunion committee.  Noreen is part of this because she wants there to be a nice reunion.  She was kind of shy in high school as I remember.  I’m sure we talked.
Jan is another interested party. Â And very much in the know.
I brought along a Xerox of the senior section of the yearbook. Â We went through the pictures, identifying who we thought we could contact, or might be able to contact. Â Yeah, and who had died.
We came up with a date, more or less. Â We came up with a concept, a theme. Â (That was good. Â Cheap and Casual.) Â Dan will start looking at places. Â Places within or at least close to the Cloverleaf School District.
It was interesting. Â I haven’t seen Joe or Noreen since the 20 Year Union. Â Although I have no particular memory associated with it, I’m sure I saw Dan and Jan five years later.
And so it goes.  On the drive home I thought that back in high school I might have been voted Most Likely to End Up in a South American Prison.  Just a thought.