Rather than have a surprise birthday party that is seldom a surprise anyway, Nellie Symm-Gruender decided to have a "Baby Boomer Birthday Bash" for her husband, Eugene Gruender Jr., and all his friends who would be turning 60 this year.
With the help of Jeanine Perkins, who graduated with Gene, they were able to locate some of his Hickman High School classmates to join the celebration; some had known each other since grade school. Nellie, from Decatur, Ill., said she is constantly amazed how many of Gene’s friends have remained in or returned to Columbia. That’s because we’re one of the best places to live in the country, Nellie.
The get-together was held May 20 at the Gruender home, located between Sturgeon and Harrisburg, with 40 people — not all turning 60 — in attendance. "Crazy" Charley Blackmore, who graduated a year earlier than the honorees, provided the music while guests leafed through their 1964 Cresset yearbooks reminiscing about places they went that aren’t around anymore, the cars they had and who they took for rides in them, and many shared "teacher stories."
Kewpies enjoying this trip down memory lane along with Gene were Larry Coleman, Larry McAfee, Darold Davis, Henry and Jeanine Perkins, Gary McGruder, Linda Hudson and David McBride. Each person celebrating a birthday got to place a candle in their birth month on a special Kewpie calendar birthday cake. Instead of exchanging gifts, everyone was asked to bring a donation for either the Central Missouri Humane Society or Rainbow House.
They might be getting "up there," but at the end of the evening everyone agreed the boomers still know how to party. In fact, part of this special day’s fun was sharing what they planned to do for the next 60 years!