ETHS Class of 1966 Planning 50th Anniversary Reunion

EVANSTON, IL - Evanston Township High School's class of 1966 is planning a 50th Anniversary celebration at the Doubletree Hotel in Skokie in September.

The reunion will be held on the weekend of September 9-11 and feature several activities, including a reunion dance at the Doubletree's lavish rooftop Monaco ballroom, a Friday night get-together at Hackney's in Glenview and a Saturday tour of ETHS.

Miles Zaremski, one of the planning committee members who a few years back was inducted into the ETHS Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the school's 1965 state championship boys' soccer team, described the pride he feels for his alma mater in a Huffington Post article in 2012.

"The ETHS Athletic Hall of Fame has become more than getting a plaque installed in the athletic wing of the school for its inductees," he wrote. "It has become, metaphorically speaking, a house where our past rekindles a present avenue to inspire and motivate those still in school to seek and maintain excellence, knowing that life’s challenges may still be on the horizon.

Zaremski - and the several others attending September's celebration - will likely feel a similar sense of pride during the reunion festivities.

A "wonderful attendance" is expected, thanks to a "core of diligent" ETHS Class of 1966 alumni working on putting it all together.

According to 1966 ETHS alum and planning committee member James Belcher, the party will be the one classmates “will remember for always.”

“The Planning Committee has been meeting monthly for a year and has done an outstanding job building anticipation for a party that has been 50 years in the making,” said Belcher. “The committee has also done an outstanding job locating and contacting classmates, letting them know that the game is on and it is time to show up and show out.”

Belcher holds that the Class of 1966 is “the greatest class to have ever graduated from any high school anywhere,” and that only ETHS could have “produced such an outstanding group.”

The reunion will only be more evidence supporting ETHS' claim of greatness, according to Belcher.

Grads from 1966 won't have to wait until September to celebrate that greatness, however. Class representatives are invited to march in the city's 4th of July Parade.

The deadline for RSVPs is June 30 before the price increases. Find out more on the Anniversary's website, www.eths1966.com.

Photo 1: A group of 1966 Evanston Township High School alumni gathered recently to work on 50th anniversary reunion plans.

Photo 2: Miles Zaremski