ALTON - Cathy Weirich is one of the administrators of the "All '60s Class Party" Facebook page - a group dedicated to keeping the Alton High School and Marquette Catholic High School classes from the 1960s in touch via social media.
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Each year, Weirich said she issues a challenge to the ever-growing page, which now claims hundreds of members. This year, she wanted to see how many turkeys they could provide to those in need in the upcoming holiday season. In her mind, she imagined 300, a rather large number, she believed. She price-checked turkeys at ALDI's, and discovered one could be attained for about $20. To get that many turkeys, Weirich's Facebook group would have to raise at least $6,000.
To her surprise, the group was able to pull through and do much more than that.
Altogether, the group was able to raise $12,860, which will be liquidated into 643 $20 gift cards to ALDI's. Those gift cards will be provided to several food pantries across the area near the end of October. Weirich said Catholic Charities, Operation Blessing, the Community Hope Center and the Crisis Food Center were going to be recipients of the cards.
Two classes in particular raised a significant portion of the more than $12,000.
"When we threw out the challenge, two classes ran with it," Weirich said. "The Marquette class of '65 and the Alton class of '64 really took off. They sent mass emails to their classmates and they heeded the call."
Those two classes will be awarded for "having the biggest hearts" at the All '60's Class Party party, which will take place at Mac's Timeout on Sept. 30. The party this year is expected to be large enough the group petitioned the city to block the portion of Belle Street between Mac's and the Riverbender building.
Weirich said there will be street food being served by Mac's, including brats, hot dogs, tacos, chicken sandwiches and the $4 "Red Bird Special. Music will be provided by the band, Nightlife, who will be playing until 10:30. Seating for as many as 500 will also be made available. Classic cars will also be on display.
The party is not exclusively limited to members of that Facebook group. Weirich said classes from the 1970s and the 1950s are also a part of the fun, and promised everyone who attended would be able to dance in the streets.
