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ST. CLAIR SHORES — Lakeview alumni from the graduating classes of 1969-1972 had a blast on their Best of Italy trip from Oct. 5 through Oct. 18.
Chuck Hall, a 1970 Lakeview graduate, said the idea came about at a class reunion for the Class of 1971. The Class of 1970 was invited, Hall said, because their reunion was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They sent out an email and pretty much everybody that went on that trip was at that reunion,” Chuck said. “And that’s kind of like where the egg got hatched because we were all talking about traveling and what we want to do.”
The trip was the first time Chuck, Veda Hall (Class of 1971), Fred Springer (Class of 1970) and Sue Springer (Class of 1971) traveled to Europe.
Chuck brought a copy of the St. Clair Shores Sentinel to keep up with his grandson’s Lakeview football scores. They took the featured group photo at Lake Maggiore, with the Alps in the background, located about 15 minutes from Austria.
“When we looked across that lake and it was clear, we could see all the snow starting to form in the Alps in Austria,” Chuck said.
The 14 alumni who went on the trip knew of each other or were mostly all in the same friend group in high school, the four said.
“Lakeview is a pretty tight crowd,” Chuck said. “We’d be at the football games on Friday nights. Still am.”
Sue and Veda said while they knew of each other before, they know each other so much better now. Chuck said the reunion helped to get them all together.
Sue said when they were at a hockey fundraiser, she told one of her son’s friends about her trip.
“And he goes ‘Why doesn’t that surprise me,’” Sue said. “He goes, ‘Lakeview, there’s just something about Lakeview. You tend to hang out.’”
She added that it’s got to be some Lakeview thing.
According to an itinerary sent by Veda, the alumni group took stops in Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Venice and much more. All of the places combined totaled around 14 stops. Most of the group flew into Rome and went from there, Chuck said.
Fred said during the trip they stayed one or two nights in each hotel and had to have their luggage ready at 7 a.m. the next morning.
“It’s not for everybody, but we loved it. We did,” Sue said. “We got to see it all.”
The terrain is different from America, Chuck said, with many hills and very little flat areas.
“You’re either going up a hill, up a set of steps or down a set of steps to go downhill,” Chuck said. “There’s no real flat areas that you go to.”
Chuck said no one fell behind on the trip and there were no major aches and pains for the duration of the trip. He attributes this to the exercise most of the group members do in their daily lives.
“We did a lot of that before we took this on,” Chuck said. “So pretty much, we all were ready to go when we got there.”
Fred said it was common for the 14 people, 12 of whom were couples, to split up and go separate ways during the trip. Veda added there were 48 people in total on the bus and they were always together in everything they did.
“You were with everybody,” Fred said. “Sure, you tried to be with your spouse, but a lot of times you’d end up, you didn’t even know where she is and you’re with somebody else.”
The group used Trafalgar Tours and had a tour guide who was born in Sardinia. They said he was very knowledgeable about the history of the areas they visited and has guided tours for around 30 years. The tour guide also got members of the group gifts for anniversaries and birthdays.
When they visited Pompeii, they learned more about the history of the city and saw the plaster and resin casts. According to pompeiisites.org, the casts are of those who tragically died in the volcanic eruption that buried the ancient Roman city in 79 AD. They were made by filling the holes left by victims who were buried under layers of calcified ash, according to the site.
Chuck said it was a mindblower and Veda got a little emotional learning about it all. Veda and Sue didn’t know the whole story.
“When I was there, I was like, ‘Really?’” Sue said.
All four are proud to be Lakeview Huskies. Sue and Veda said it was a trip of a lifetime and Fred said it was everything they wanted.
