They called themselves the Maple Street Crew.
The women lived together as dorm-mates in Maple Hall in the late 1960s. Now, they meet once a year for lunch to reconnect with each other — and to relive old memories.
"You never saw one of us without at least some of the others," Diane Moore Grandey (ʼ68) says. "People said, 'Here comes the Maple Street Crew.'"
During their first year, the girls were not allowed to wear pants or shorts on campus. They had to wear a skirt or a coat over clothes even to go to the gym. The dorm had just one phone per wing on each floor, and there was a strict curfew — 10:50 p.m. during the week and midnight on Saturday. Many girls squeezed through the door just as the dorm mother was locking it.
"You just made your own fun," Patty Johnson Sayers ('68) says. "We got real resourceful on the weekends."
They hung out at the UB — the Union Building. They had parties at Lake Dallas. On Sundays, when the dining hall was closed, they headed to Zeke's Drive-in, a restaurant across from the dorm on Highland Street and Avenue C.
The girls often stayed up late, trying on each other's clothes, putting together funny outfits, playing cards or just chatting. And they started a tradition. They sat around in a circle and passed around a maple leaf, which stopped with the woman who had an important announcement. Grandey remembers sharing the news of her engagement, and many pinnings were announced this way.
After graduating, many Maple Street Crew members participated in each other's weddings and then became busy raising their families and working. Some stayed connected through Christmas cards. But as email made communication easier, they reconnected and began meeting annually in 2004. They were scheduled to tour UNT in June to see how the campus has changed.
"We still feel like we never parted ways," Karla Kautsch Hutcherson ('68) says. "The memories we have keep us attached."
Editor's note: We'd like to feature more alumni who are staying in touch or reconnecting. If you're part of such a group, send us an email and let us know.