'A one-night do-over': Band, classmates from 1973 jam for Adams reunion

Kathy Borlik
·4 min read
Attendees for the class of 1973 50th reunion gather for a portrait outside Adams High School in South Bend.
Attendees for the class of 1973 50th reunion gather for a portrait outside Adams High School in South Bend.

The band was hitting all the right notes for the Adams High School reunion for the class of 1973. Fifty years. Is that possible? It happens.

A reunion is a time to reflect about good friends, music and memories.

Let’s go back to the music. The band members were buddies back in the ‘70s when they jammed in basements and garages. A few continued their music careers. Others took a different direction.

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They came up with a great band name, the 1973-2023 Balding Eagle Band. The band rehearsed on Aug. 10 and performed on Aug. 12. That’s the entire career for the follicle-challenged Eagles. Maybe the 55th for a return engagement?

The band was a hit, and they had a good time. The whole weekend was crafted to get people involved. There was an all-class reunion Friday at Chicory Café, a tour of the high school and a golf outing. The reunion had about 150 people gathered at Riverside Terrace in Mishawaka.

The major planner was Judy Miller, who now lives in Boston. “I started to talk to my best friend (Janet Steinmetz Amphlett) from high school about a reunion in December.” Judy made some calls, talked to another good organizer, Pat McGann, and found a site. “I organized by default.”

Judy Miller and Patti Milliken Spice hold the high school photos of the Balding Eagle Band, which is rehearsing in the background. Miller and Spice are 1973 graduates from Adams High, as are most of the band members.
Judy Miller and Patti Milliken Spice hold the high school photos of the Balding Eagle Band, which is rehearsing in the background. Miller and Spice are 1973 graduates from Adams High, as are most of the band members.

Through the wonders of the internet, she connected with 70% of her classmates. She knows the location of more than 80%. The class started with 445. About 64 have died.

Janet said her best friend, Judy, made a real effort to contact everyone.

A few appreciative classmates came to the rehearsal, including chief reunion organizer Judy. The rehearsal attendees clapped appropriately and cheered them on. They were excited for the chance to meet up with friends.

Let’s get back to the band again. The idea for getting the band back together came from Tibor Spiegel, who was a foreign exchange student from Yugoslavia. Today he is a citizen and lives in New York City. Tibor received a phone call in May from reunion organizer Judy Miller. “She asked if I was the Tibor who graduated from Adams and if I would be interested in a reunion in August. I immediately said yes. Are you kidding me? Who would say no to that?"

Riverside Terrace was the site for the Adams High School reunion for the class of 1973.
Riverside Terrace was the site for the Adams High School reunion for the class of 1973.

“I’ll be there, count me in. And if you don’t have live entertainment, do you mind if I reach out to my buddies that I used jam with and ask them if they would be interested in entertaining our classmates,” he said. “Judy loved the idea. After I hung up, I called Dave (Mester), he called Dave B. (Borlick) and Eric (Atkins) and Bill (Stinchcomb) and Ellen (Bencsis) and Mark (Benzur), and we ZOOM-ed twice, picked out over a dozen songs of the era.”

Note: Dave Borlick is a distant cousin of this writer and has an extra letter in his name.

Eric Atkins is a member of The Whistle Pigs. Mark Benzur plays in a Beatles tribute band that has performed at Disney World and was leaving South Bend after the reunion to play at the Beatles Museum in Liverpool, England.

Tibor was a foreign news correspondent and continues to work in the media. He also plays the keyboard.

The music selection? Put a few quarters into the jukebox or turn to WLS. There were a few Beatles tunes, War, Deep Purple, Neil Diamond, Roberta Flack and Alice Cooper. School’s out forever, according to Alice. Makes sense.

Tibor said 50 is a big number and should be celebrated. “If I never came to South Bend, but stayed in Yugoslavia, I would have been activated as a military reserve during the civil war in the 1990s and probably killed somewhere on a battlefield in Bosnia or Croatia," he wrote in a letter to The Tribune. "The better outcome would still be a miserable life of a Hungarian ethnic minority in present Serbia. So you see, this is why the South Bend John Adams HS reunion is so meaningful to me.”

Tibor and Gloria Spiegel enjoy the reunion for the Adams High School class of 1973. Tibor was a foreign exchange student from Yugoslavia. He later became a naturalized citizen of the U.S.
Tibor and Gloria Spiegel enjoy the reunion for the Adams High School class of 1973. Tibor was a foreign exchange student from Yugoslavia. He later became a naturalized citizen of the U.S.

Tibor added that he was blessed to have a wonderful host family, John and Barbara Brickley, and such great memories. “I am blessed that destiny brought me to the United Sates of America, State of Indiana, City of South Bend and found me a very supportive and wonderful family to live with, placed me amongst other teenagers at John Adams High School and made my American Experience not just memorable but life changing.”

Janet said a 50th reunion gives classmates a chance to talk and connect. “There was a wonderful sense of perspective, forgiveness, rejuvenation and renewal. You get a one-night do over for high school, and I’m here to tell you it is wonderful.”

Kathy Borlik
Kathy Borlik

Contact Kathy at Kfborlik@yahoo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: High school reunion for Adams '73 brings band back together