June 28-30, 2002
Quad Cities and Aledo, Illinois

Everyone had a wonderful time at the first all-class reunion ever held in the Aledo area.  The chance to visit the campus really made this one special.  Luckily a number of cadets brought their digital cameras to record the events and the cadets, faculty, family members and friends who attended.  The Times-Record  of Aledo also published a number of articles on the reunion. 

We have grouped the photos based on the various events which took place over the weekend. Just click on the groups below.  If there is no hyperlink shown, the page is still under construction and will be added as they become available.  The pictures are all "thumbnail" images.  Just click to bring up the original, larger photo. (You can also save the photos to you computer...here's how.)

• In the registration room, it was the first chance for people to get to say "hello" to old friends...and some new ones from earlier or later classes..

• The registration room contained a large exhibit of RMA memorabilia.

• An icebreaker was held in the hotel bar that evening.

• On Saturday, the reunion moved to the old RMA campus for a picnic.

• During the picnic, there was plenty of time to look explore the old campus.

• After the picnic, we visited downtown Aledo to see how the town had changed and to look at the RMA memorabilia put on display by some of the shop-keepers.

• There was also time to visit the Essley-Noble Museum operated by the Mercer Country Historical Society.  The original ceremonial gates from the front of the Administration Building highlight the Roosevelt exhibit at the museum.

• The Saturday evening banquet was the high point of the weekend.  RMA alumni Hugh O'Brien was the featured speaker.  Dancing--and some interesting hijinks--lasted until midnight.  (There was at least one informal party that went on for several more hours after the music stopped, but apparently everyone had more sense than to record those activities on film or disk.)

• The reunion ended on Sunday morning with a breakfast where everyone said good-bye and talked about  future reunion plans.  In a vote, it was decided the next all-class reunion would be held in Las Vegas in June of 2004.

CREDITS

Special thanks go to the following people and organizations that made this reunion such a fantastic success: