Grad 76 40-Year Reunion August 6, 2016
Reunion Report – Approximately 90 grads plus spouses, friends, relatives, and one teacher, Bernie Monteleone, gathered in the Okanagan Room of the Sandman Inn in Kelowna on Saturday, August 6, for an evening of reminiscing and reconnecting with KSS Grads of ’76. It was heartwarming to see so many enthusiastic outbursts when people reconnected with schoolmates they had not seen in decades. The Sandman Inn staff took great care of us and I thought the food was really good, especially those butter chicken bites!
It was a slightly different crowd than the previous two reunions in 2006 and 2011 so good to see some new faces. It seemed like the Chapman parking lot gang was well-represented. Maybe it’s because we’re getting older, but people seemed a lot more keen to try to stay in touch with people they re-connected with. I am really happy to have made some re-connections with long-lost friends. As always happens, some regulars were unable to attend due to life’s hiccups but hopefully we’ll see them next time (see Next Reunion below).
A big thanks to Janice Bobroske for putting together that great slide show on short notice (more about this under Photos below). Thank you to Wayne Mattioda for helping me put up signs, Barb Taylor for doing a great job with decorations, all of the reception desk volunteers including non-grads Dennis and Dave who took extra shifts so that grads could spend their time mingling, Cathy Morton and Dennis Braam who helped with logistics and tracking down fellow grads, other grads who helped spread the word, and my long-suffering wife Linda for being a sounding board, volunteering at reception, and putting up with all the time I spent organizing. My apologies to anyone I have missed acknowledging.
Mike Cates showed up for the Sunday morning run and we had a great visit running along the Mission Creek Greenway while Linda followed behind on a slower pace run.
Thirteen people showed up for brunch in the meeting room of the Creekside Pub (www.creeksidepub.ca) on Sunday morning. We had another great visit with our fellow grads, and some personal stories were shared.
Submit Your Photos – Janice Bobroske has offered to collect reunion photos and find a way to make them accessible to everyone. If you have any photos from this year’s reunion, from other grad ’76 reunions, or any photos from back in 1976 that might be good slide show additions, please send them to Janice at janicebobroske@shaw.ca. Thank you, Janice!
Deceased Grads – Deb Fortune (Woronchak) has taken it upon herself to develop a list of grads who are no longer with us with a view to creating some kind of In Memoriam record that might play as a slide show or display at a future grad reunion. If you know of any grads of ’76 who are deceased, please pass their names, and details (e.g., obituary) if possible, on to Deb at pdfortune2@gmail.com. Thank you, Deb!
Next Reunion – At Linda’s urging, I was not planning to organize any more reunions but Jackie Kimmie (Arbogast) is keen on organizing the next one, and she thinks it should be a 45-year reunion in 2021 because we’re not getting any younger. Therefore, I will be passing the reigns on to her and you can expect to receive future communications from her. This years’ event got costly because it included dinner, so I’m thinking maybe a lower-cost, post-dinner event next time for all the fixed income seniors but that will be up to Jackie to decide. If you have any ideas or would like to help, you can contact Jackie at sewjlcreations@yahoo.ca. Thank you, Jackie!
Well, that’s it for now, I think. For those who attended the reunion on August 6, I hope you had a super time. I know I sure did.
I hope you’re all having a great summer and that your lives are going in a good direction.
Gerry Naito, Vernon, BC
