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Burr Ridge woman helps organize Hinsdale South reunion
Pam Paziotopoulos of Burr Ridge graduated from Hinsdale South High School in Darien in 1982 and is participating in the 30th Reunion of classmates on Sept. 22. | Ryan Pagelow~Sun-Times Media
30TH CLASS REUNION
WHO: Hinsdale South Class of 1982
WHERE: Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket, 645 Joliet Road, Willowbrook
WHEN: 6:30-? Sat., Sept. 22
COST: $25, at the door
CONTACT: Diane Zary, ibdzary@hotmail.com
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Updated: October 21, 2012 1:09PM
DARIEN — Among the many accolades and accomplishments listed on attorney Pamela Paziotopoulos’ resume is her role as senior vice president of Forest Advisors.
It’s not the first time the words “vice president” have been associated with the Burr Ridge resident’s name.
Paziotopoulos also was vice president of the Hinsdale South Class of 1982 and is busy working to bring her classmates back together as they celebrate the 30th anniversary of their graduation.
“We want to laugh and get back in the moment,” Paziotopoulos said of the casual gathering she and classmate Diane Zary have planned for Sept. 22.
The women are working hard to make the evening at Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket in Willowbrook fun, memorable, and more than a little nostalgic.
“It is going to be decorated like a high school dance,” Paziotopoulos said.
Guests will wear nametags bearing their high school portraits, which no doubt will include some regrettable hairstyles.
“She had big hair. Feathered,” Zary recalled of Paziotopoulos.
Voted friendliest member of the class of 1982, Paziotopoulos admitted to studying the yearbook in preparation for the occasion.
Never one to watch from the sidelines, Paziotopoulos wasted little time making herself known when she transferred to the Hinsdale South as a sophomore. She quickly became one of the first students to don both an athletic uniform and a cheerleading skirt.
“We kind of made some waves there,” Paziotopoulos recalled of her efforts to form two cheerleading squads — one for football and one for basketball — so that girls could cheer for one season and play a sport in the other.
Graduation wasn’t the last time that Paziotopoulos, who only recently moved back to Burr Ridge, had an impact on her alma mater. An accomplished attorney and expert in domestic violence who has appeared on CNN, CNBC and the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” she received the school’s first Distinguished Alumni Award in 2000.
But life hasn’t all been awards and television appearances. Soon after graduation, Paziotopoulos fought and won a battle with lymphoma. She still is grateful to the group of classmates who showed up at the hospital to help her ring in the new year in 1983.
Recently, Paziotopoulos beat cancer again. This time, the enemy was breast cancer.
With renewed health and a new life in her hometown of Burr Ridge, Paziotopoulos is looking forward to an evening filled with old friends, old memories and new stories of what has transpired for her fellow Hornets over the last three decades.
