No matter how angst-ridden and stressful high school years are, they’re also among the most formative and, thus, the high school reunion. A time to catch up, put the years in perspective and, let’s face it, see who’s aging the best, reunions themselves are a marker in our lives.
I have noticed that once past the 40th reunion, classes start to have reunions every five years, in large part because the losses of class members start increasing, and no one knows how many will still be alive in a decade. That was the case for Durango High School’s Class of 1970, which held its 45th reunion over the weekend of Aug. 7.
These graduates happen to have been seniors when I was a freshman at DHS, so they were cool and I was lowly, as that seems to go. So it was nice to see their faces all these decades late, when we’re all just adults.
The reunion was quite the labor of love. Chairwoman Alice Ferguson had started almost a year earlier trying to locate classmates, computerizing it all with the help of Terry Puffer. Their task was not made any easier by the fact that they went back to elementary school to track earlier classmates who would have graduated from DHS with the Class of 1970 had their families not moved away, which added 100 names to the list. Becky Heizer joined in the hunt, tracking down 270 names for the list.
While she was tracking down people, Heizer also tracked down memorabilia, creating large displays at every venue during the weekend. She had items representing all the school organizations, including Vocational Industrial Clubs of America, Crucible, Presidents’, French-German-Spanish and “D” clubs, the choirs and bands, cheerleaders. pompom girls, Future Homemakers of America, Future Farmers of America, 4-H and GAA, which, according to Mr. Google, stands for Gaelic Athletic Association, but I don’t remember anything like that. Then there were all the sports teams.
Bob Horvat’s 1969 baseball warm-up suit, Scott Wallace’s and Dave Ferguson’s 1970 letter jackets and the Durango Pride jersey from late classmate Wayne Lee were just a few of the items she collected.
Debbie Hicks Bahr made the dozens of nametags, including those of the 44 class members who had died, one of the sad parts of reunions like this.
The weekend started with registration and a reception at the Lost Dog Bar & Lounge, a recurring theme in this column and in this community. It will be a sad day when the restaurant closes at the end of the month.
On the Saturday of the weekend, the class held a picnic at Santa Rita Park sponsored by class member Bruce Heller and his Helmur Corp. They invited community members who knew folks from the class, which expanded the fun.
Saturday night closed with a dinner and dance at the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks Lodge No. 507. Antonia Clark arranged for The Yellow Carrot to cater, and Tom Bartlett played “their” songs to fill up the dance floor.
I’m thinking members of this class could successfully work as private investigators. Not only did they track down classmates, former classmates and memorabilia, class member Charlie Seeley Dell managed to gather countless photos of then and now for a slide show that played continuously during dinner.
All told, about 160 people attended, including lots of locals with names well-known in the community: Greg Hamilton, Greg Anesi, Karen (Price) Crane, Jayne (Turner) Griffith, Bob Duthie, Carl Stransky, Debi (Downey) Marti, and on and on.
Many traveled to be here. Dan Kartchner and his wife, Ingrid, drove 1,000 miles on a motorcycle to participate. Ed and Helen Ballantine Healy came in from Kansas, David and Tina Neal Lam are here for the summer from Michigan, Paul Parkinson made the trip from Missouri and Bob and Gloria McKelvey hailed from the Lone Star State. Many traveled from warmer climes such as California and Arizona.
One newly minted great-grandmother said it was impossible to believe they had reached this age. (Y’all are a few years older than I, but no kidding.)
I have to say, while 1970 and 1973 both end in the “ee” sound, you guys came up with a better class slogan. Ours: “All so mighty, full of glee, we’re the class of ’73.”
But wow, “The greatest class ever to be, we’re the class of ’70,” were some mighty big aspirations.
Whether they changed the world in small ways or large, one thing’s for sure. For one weekend, they were 18 again and remembering growing up in a much smaller and closer Durango.
HHH
Enjoying long weekends for their birthdays are Pat Emmett, Carol Bruno, Ginny Dignum, Wendy Lasher, Mary Butler, Sharon Kuhn, Nate Verow, Jackie Honold, Dottie Anderson, Donovan Forsyth, Karen Boots, Jessica Widder, Colton Winn, Mark Fleming, Robin Southworth, Jana Goldstein, Barbara Fiddler, Chelsey Helling and Rasanga Ranasinghe.
Richard and Cindy Cortese may have moved to Littleton, but she’s celebrating her birthday this week, and I want to send her greetings. In the more than a decade they lived here, they made a significant difference, helping organizations like Durango Friends of the Arts, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Colorado and the Women’s Resource Center (Cindy), leading the Edgemont Ranch Home Owners Association in developing its water reservoir and bringing natural gas to its residents (Richard). They will always be a part of the Durango community because of the legacy they left.
HHH
This summer, I had the chance to check out Dogster’s Spay and Neuter’s traveling operating room. It is an example of efficiency in motion.
What D-SNiP does is important because one big way to stop canines and felines from ending up at the La Plata County Humane Society or Annie’s Orphans is to stop unplanned litters. (Yes, I know the organization is named after Mark and Karen Zempel’s friendly Dogster, but there’s no discrimination against cats here. In fact, Karen Zempel tells me they work with several groups in spaying feral cats, a major source of unwanted litters.)
It seems so easy, but so many people don’t take care of their pets this way, which is too bad. Spaying and neutering can also make your pet more pleasant to be around – it reduces spraying and marking, roaming and aggression – as well as giving you more time with your pet – it reduces the risk of some cancers and has been shown to increase lifespans from three to five years. Anyone who’s ever lost a furry friend would treasure getting that extra time.
So here’s your chance to support the work Dogster does around the Four Corners.
From 4:30 to 8 p.m. today, they are holding a silent auction at the Lost Dog Bar & Lounge, 1150 Main Ave. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for kids under 10 and include dinner, dessert and a beverage. There’s no where more appropriate for this event than the Lost Dog.
If you are looking for an affordable way to spay or neuter your pet, contact the humane society, which will help you schedule an appointment for the next surgical day.
And one has to love Dogster’s slogan: “Prevent a Litter ... Fix Your Critter.”
HHH
In addition to enjoying rhyming, I have a weak spot for alliteration, albeit a strange alliteration in this case. The idea of wolves and wine struck my fancy. The event combines wolves from the Wolfwood Refuge and vino courtesy of Four Leaves Winery from 5 to 8 p.m. during the First Thursday Art Walk. That would be tomorrow, in case you don’t have a calendar handy.
Select red and white wines will be for sale, featuring, and this is one of the cool parts, labels with artwork of the wolves and wolf/dog hybrids who have found a safe place to call home at Wolfwood. Four Leaves will donate $7 for each bottle sold to Wolfwood. Purchase four bottles and receive two Wolfwood wine glasses as a thank you.
Putting the event over the top will be an ambassador wolf from the refuge. Just make sure he’s well-fed before he makes his visit!
And because it’s an art walk, Four Leaves will be displaying art for a week until the upcoming Fourth Annual Wolfwood Art Auction, which will take place from 2 to 6 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Lost Dog Bar and Lounge.
The artists who donated art include Edward Aldrich, Roni Alexander, Kelly Black, Mimi Bonkowske, Laura Bruzzese, Peggy Cloy, Rebecca Kloepen, Juanita Melendez, Crystal Hartman, Joyce Heuman, Pat Howard, Bradley Kachnowicz, Melanie Kirkpatrick, Rhonda Polsfut, Janice Reich, Susan Reed, Hannah Shook, Ann Smith and Claude Steelman.
Representatives from Wolfwood will be on hand to answer questions and sell tickets for the auction, which includes food, drink, music and, if I understand it correctly, one or more wolf or wolf/dog ambassadors. Now that’s making an auction unique.
HHH
There’s a possibility of stormy weather for these folks’ anniversaries, but that doesn’t mean they won’t have some fun – Nick and Sandy Blaisdell, Duane and Judy Danielson, Kevin and Tabitha Heckman, Steve and Andrea Owen and David and Nancy Shipps.
HHH
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