Chester Center Alumni Association

04/07/2023

The 2023 Chester Center Alumni Banquet will be held on Saturday, April 22, in the Southern Wells Cafetorium starting at 6 pm. Reservations are due in to Marilyn Maddox by Friday, April 14. The cost is $14 per person. To make a reservation, contact Marilyn at (765) 728-2604 or email her at [email protected]. Hope to see you there!

04/28/2022

2022 Chester Center Alumni Banquet was held on Saturday night, April 23, in the Southern Wells Cafetorium. Over 100 alumni & guests were in attendance.

03/28/2022

Finally! We’re having an Alumni Banquet ~ the 4th Saturday in April as always ~ April 23rd! I wasn’t sure what to do for a while. Southern Wells stopped allowing anyone to use their facility, BUM caterers decided not to cater anymore, and our president, Bill Morris, who I’ve come to rely on, moved to Kansas. Then along came COVID, and we were all to old to take a chance, soooo…….

But now ~ Southern Wells has agreed to open the school for us, we’ve found a new caterer that seems to be a good replacement, and I still miss Bill, but life goes on.

I’ve always wanted the Banquet to continue until 2024, since that would be 100 years after the first class graduated from Chester. We’re getting close, but time will tell whether we can make that goal. A lot of that depends on how many people can make it to this year’s meeting.

According to my records, which can never be perfect, there are around 200 of us left who graduated from Chester Center. Some of us live too far away to attend a banquet, and some are physically unable to attend. Then there are those who would like to be with us but lack transportation. If that’s your situation, please let us know, and we’ll try to find a way for you to be with us.

If you know someone who didn’t receive a letter but would like to attend, let me know. Because of postage costs, there are people I don’t send to because they’ve told me they aren’t interested, or because they haven’t been to a banquet in a long time.

Bill left the video with me that he has shown before, and we’ll check that out once more.

I hope to see you there.

Marilyn Maddox

04/03/2020

Just a quick heads-up on the 2020 Chester Center Alumni Banquet: We are cancelling this year's gathering out of caution for everyone's health & safety. In addition, due to the closing of all Indiana school's we are not able to rent the Southern Wells Cafeteria for the event. Please stay safe & healthy. We will be back in 2021!

04/28/2019

04/28/2019

The 94th Annual Chester Center Alumni Banquet was held in the Cafetorium at Southern Wells on Saturday, April 27. Approximately 100 graduates and their guests were in attendance.

04/04/2019

March 2019

Hi Everybody, it’s that time again ~

Writing this letter is always a reminder to me of the passing of the years. I think we all have those reminders - holidays, birthdays, anniversaries both happy and sad, that let us know how quickly time is passing. And I have this reminder when I remember that it’s time to start getting ready for another Alumni Banquet.

Our 2019 Banquet will be held on Saturday, April 27 at 6 pm in the Southern Wells Cafetorium. Honor classes are 1939, 1949 & 1959. Reservations are due by Friday, April 19. The cost is $14 per person. If you didn’t receive an invitation in the mail, let me know by either calling 765-728-2604, or email me at: [email protected].

Each year for the past couple of years, I’ve had the thought, ‘Will this be the last banquet?’ I have a goal, but I’m not sure it’s realistic. If we can have a banquet this year, and for five more years, the spring of 2024 will be the centennial of the first Chester Center graduation. That would be a good time to celebrate and close it down.

On the other hand, that would mean 6 more times of having to deal with my fellow officers. Last year, President Bill Morris tormented me with a toy rabbit while I was trying to read the secretary’s report. And Vice-president Leon Gaiser told the crowd that I’m bossy and opinionated but that he likes working with me! That just doesn’t sound like me---okay, maybe a little.

They say all good things must come to an end, but not yet. Hang in there everyone, and let’s make this another good banquet.
~Marilyn

05/02/2018

Photos of the 2018 Alumni Banquet can be found in the "Photos" column (left).