About 90 Hinsdale Central High School graduates gathered Saturday, Sept. 19, at Dolce Restaurant & Wine Bar in Westmont for the Class of 1996's 30-year reunion, according to reunion organizers.

The planning committee rented out the entire restaurant for the evening. Tickets covered a buffet dinner and appetizers, with a cash bar available from 6 to 10 p.m.

For Tania Haigh, a committee member who helped organize the event, the night carried a meaning she didn't expect.

"I didn't leave high school with a big friend group but this event allowed me to reconnect with people I haven't seen in 30 years because we were pre social media era," Haigh told the Hinsdale Journal.

The reunion was the centerpiece of a full Homecoming weekend. Classmates kicked things off Friday evening with a bring-your-own-beverage gathering at Golfview Hills in Wiseman Park followed by the Hinsdale Central football game against Downers Grove South.

The Homecoming parade was canceled due to weather, according to the reunion's website. Organizers posted that all other weekend events, such as the school tour and dinner went on as planned.

After the dinner at Dolce, classmates headed to Whiskey Hill Brewing Company in Westmont for an after-party.

A highlight of the evening was an acoustic set by Rob Russo, a Hinsdale Central social studies teacher who also runs the school's Guitar Club, according to organizers. Russo is a familiar face in the HC hallways. A 2024 profile in the student newspaper The Devils' Advocate featured him discussing his teaching career and his music. His students know him as a self-described "budding Rock Star."

Nine committee members organized the weekend: Lily Barcelona, Erik Brown, Jenna Fowler, Tania Haigh, Rahul Kalsi, Johnny Kloster, Carrie Liboon, Tiffany Reuther and Lizzie Whittaker.

The after-party at Whiskey Hill ran late into Saturday night, closing out a weekend that brought classmates from the pre-social-media generation back together under one roof.