News & Updates
Valeri DeCastris
5/28/23
Update
3 high schools and 5 colleges! BA and MS from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Left the Quad cities after freshman year here for my hometown of Rockford and worked and lived in Carbondale, Springfield and Rockford, Illinois. Married to fellow Saluki and retired from environmental scientist government work. We’re splitting time between Rockford, Illinois and the Central Gulf coast of Florida. Miss the years that my father Val Eddy performed with Homer Carlson (jazz duo for 50 years!) at the Plantation in Moline where we lived upstairs when I was a young girl. Magical place and time. Love the QC’s!
Al Emery
4/7/24
Alleman Class of 74
Some Thoughts on the Alleman High School Class of 1974
August 2, 2009
I had a six hour drive home following this years 74 Class reunion. On the drive home I thought a lot about my reunion conversations, observations and experiences. My first thought was to thank all of you. I appreciate the opportunity to spend time with a group of people who share my experience growing up in the same location, time, and faith. For me, meeting with all of you is a good experience filled with enjoyable moments and positive memories
I also thought it important to put in writing my impressions & observations of the class of 74. I reviewed the 1974 Year book the evening before the reunion and found the tone of the comments about the 1974 graduating class to be offensive. The Year book comments left me with the impression that we were a rather apathetic class that really did not accomplish much. Well, it has been 35 years, who are we really?
Through our conversations I heard you say that we are married, some of us for more than 30 years. Some of us have spouses that we loved deeply, lost to death then grieved the loss deeply. Others have lost spouses to divorce then suffered through that loss intensely. Some have loved again and re-married. We are Mothers and Fathers, Grand Mothers and Grand Fathers. We have children long on their own in their early 30s and preteens still at home. We have birthed children, adopted children, fostered children, and loved our children with our actions of both discipline and affection.
You also said we serve others through our careers as teachers, teaching Health and Phys Ed to American Indians in the Dakota’s and Business to high school students in Iowa. We help others as social workers providing counseling for the mind and emotions, and hands on care for people in need. We build are nation by supervising the construction of large buildings, installing Wind Energy Generators, building tractors for our farmers, and designing systems to control diesel engines with computer chips. We make life better for others by maintaining our schools, providing in home X-ray services for the elderly, sick, and injured, selling and maintaining cars. And we protect others by serving as military leaders and as County Prosecutors.
And what did I observe; we are the people who at the Mixer provided peer companionship and a sympathetic ear for strangers. Two men our age, one whose wife just asked for a divorce, his Mother is dying of Cancer, and he just lost his job and is being sued. The other spends almost all of his time caring for his 90 year old mother who is suffering from dementia. He gets 60 minutes away from his role as caregiver couple of times per week. Both had a better day because of us. We showed each others how to celebrate life. One of our classmates celebrates life as he survives a life long and life threatening illness, another tells others how he enjoys life after surviving a heart attack.
So were we apathetic? Well maybe, a little. But we also did something right in our selection of a person to represent our class. We chose a person of good character who is capable of inspiring us with her words, infecting us with her passion, and if that fails to motivate us, then she well irritate us with her persistence. Apathy will not be among our responses.
So back to the question, who are we? First who we are not, we are not the class that runs the world. Who we are as a class turned out to be more important, we are the class that makes the world run. The class of 74 I believe, in many cases, is the hands and feet of Jesus to our world.
And who am I? I am honored to be part of the Alleman High School Class of 1974
Al Emery
Al Emery
4/7/24
Missing a Classmate who passed
Pat McGuinty Eulogy
Honor
Yesterday I read the post announcing Pat McGuinty’s passing. The death of a classmate always touches me but This time the loss affected more than in the past. The McGuinty’s moved in across the street from the Emery’s in the late 1960s. The neighborhood was full of children now known as Boomers. The neighborhood kids were all pleased to have a neighborhood household change from no Kids to a houseful of just the right age children. Pat, Cathy, Mike and more, it was great. The McGuinty’s were from Canada and had interesting accents. Pat and I were in the same grade and both of us attended Sacred Heart School. Pat was friendly, adventurous, observant, outgoing, helpful, charming and a leader.
I joined the Dads Club Baseball in 6th grade. Pat & I were on the same team. I knew nothing about Baseball and during one of my first practices the coach instructed me to step out of the Batters Box. When I did not comply the coach eventually walked over to me, put his hand on on shoulder then gave me a lecture on how we would “only get along if I followed instruction”. Walking home with Pat after the practice I told him I did not know what a batters box was. He said “I know Bric”. Then he spent the rest of the summer mentoring me about baseball. Pat spent many hours training me on how to throw the ball and instructing me on the rules of the game.
Pat had many good ideas. At Christmas time he convinced a group of us to go Caroling from house to house around the neighborhood. People started giving us money. Well that encouraged us to bring a donation can and move our Caroling efforts to surrounding streets. The money was donated to a Christmas charity managed by the Moline Newspaper. Our donation was listed as “The Carolers”
6th grade at Sacred Heart was a tough year for both Pat and myself. The Nun teaching us should have retired several years prior to our 6th grade class. At the end of the school year all I wanted to do is get as far away from her as possible. Not Pat, he suggested the two of us return to school and assist Sister with closing up the classroom. So we did. Sister was so pleased that a week later she invited us separately to receive a Thank you from her. Pat suggested we go together so we did. Poor Sister was a little flummoxed. Turns out she had A different gift for each of us and was concerned that we would be jealous of one another. Pat and I worked that one out with hardly a blink.
That summer they were recruiting Altar Boys to serve Daily Early morning Mass. Pat suggested we do it together with the added benefit that we would get our day started early. We served together and yes our summer days did start early and were longer.
Pat was a charmer. Some how he convinced a group of young, pretty and close to a decade older nursing students to participate in touch football games with our neighborhood group of middle schoolers. They joined us for touch football on an empty lot in the neighborhood. Not just once but on several occasions.
I believe a few years ago there was a television show called “The Wonder Years”. That was what it was like with Pat as my friend.
Regret
Pat would occasionally say or behave in mean ways towards me. When that happened I would avoid him for a short time. Then we would resume hanging out together. I was and still am not certain if Pat was being especially mean or I was especially sensitive. Eventually I realized that I could no longer tolerate any more mean words or behavior from Pat. I considered Pat my friend and I could not accept having my feelings hurt on a too frequent basis by a friend. I concluded that I could no longer be friends with Pat and set out to end the relationship. I was very angry that my friendship with Pat had to end and so I determined to provoke Pat into a fight with me to both end the friendship and express my anger. Pat was bigger, stronger, and faster. I was going to lose this fight and I knew it. Pat really did not want fight with me but eventually the fists were swinging. I was knocked down several times and bleeding. But I kept going after Pat. I must have landed a few blows because eventually Pat realized that his shirt was bloody with my blood. I could see from his words and the look on his face that he was clearly upset by this. That was enough for me and I walked away. No longer angry but just sad from the loss of a friend. I suppose Pat had no idea why I provoked a fight with him that day but for me it was the end of a friendship that I valued highly.
I do not recall exchanging any words with Pat during our four years together at Alleman. I did notice that he seemed to have great success in attracting the young ladies of Alleman and they were always very attractive.
I did inquire about Pat probably at one of the reunions several year’s ago and as I recall like many of the Class of 74 he was successful yet still lived through some heartbreaks.
What I regret now 50 years later is never moving beyond inquiry to contact. I suspect a friendship would not have developed but possibly some recognition on both our parts at how valuable was that time we spent together in the late 1960s.
Rest In Peace Pat.
Your friend, Bric