In the 1960s, a beer was a quarter.
If it was a weekend, ladies could be out to enjoy these beverages until 12:30 a.m., though they better be on time getting back to their residence halls.
“I’m here to tell you that if you brought them in twelve minutes late, you were really going to get it,” said Jerry Popelka, a 1963 alumnus.
Popelka is one of about 30 alumni from the Class of 1963 who will be coming back to Ohio University to remember these golden years.
Popelka graduated with a degree in business administration and has been back to campus only a few times since he donned a cap and gown in ’63, but he said the prospect of a road trip and walking through College Green again was what encouraged him to make the trek from the South.
“We don’t see the change of colors in Florida … and the Alumni Association has done a really great job of promoting this thing for us,” he said. “So we thought ‘what a good time to drive a thousand miles and enjoy that.’”
The Ohio University Alumni Association brought members of the Golden Class back to Southeast Ohio to celebrate 50 years of post-Athens life. These graduates will lead the Homecoming parade on a trolley as the parade’s marshals.
Other weekend activities will include VIP seating at the football game and a dinner thanking the alumni for joining in the Homecoming events, said Ashley Archer, outreach assistant for the OU Alumni Association.
The university reserved rooms at Burr Oak Lodge and Conference Center in Glouster for the alumni, although it did not cover the costs of the rooms.
Golden reunions were a tradition of the past, but low attendance led the Alumni Association to dedicate Homecoming celebrations and regional events to reaching out to the “golden alumni,” said Dawn Werry, director of Alumni Association’s external relations.
“It’s more to ensure that we’re having a significant number of folks coming back and that we can add adequate and significant programming instead of just for small groups,” Werry said.
Regional events will continue the festivities into the winter months, with Bobcat reunions in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, California and Florida and in the spring in Athens with the On the Green Weekend.
Though Popelka and other returning alumni make up just a fraction of the 1963 graduating class, the Alumni Association is excited to host the Golden Bobcats as they reminisce on their college years, Werry said.
Those were the years when jukeboxes were in Baker University Center, Chubb Hall was the place of late night library study sessions and The Ridges still housed patients.
“Plus we had a lot more bars,” Popelka said.
But it was more than just the bars that Popelka said made his college experience different than current OU students.
“I think we had more fun than they have now. I see everyone is on their electronic device, but we didn’t have any of that,” he said.
Instead, the hair was shorter, the skirts longer and the Hocking River significantly more powerful.
Regardless, Popelka is looking forward to being back.
“I am excited to see those old things again and kind of reminisce,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what’s old and what’s new.”
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