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Organizers: All-Class Reunion successfulBy Joel Stottrup The Princeton All-Class Reunion that took place last week, the second one since 1995, was a "huge success" in the words of Shirley Wilken, one of the steering committee members. The rest on that committee - Jane Hanson, Carole Orton, Meilan Haehn and Becky Cartwright - agreed with Wilken about the event that had 1,222 preregistrations, plus others that showed up. People came from across the United States and it reunited many who had gone to school together in the old building that once had all 12 grades, plus the normal school for teaching training. Now part of that building (the former middle school) is a health and fitness center and the rest is being remodeled into senior citizen apartments. The reunion was Thursday through last Saturday but a major fireworks show preceded the reunion's start, and a community church service followed the day after the reunion. The fireworks, which took place in front of the fairgrounds grandstand, drew so many people that the grandstand bleachers were filled, plus many sat around the fairgrounds property and around the city watching from yards and streets. Fireworks organizer Mike Haehn said the fireworks turned out better than he could have planned, with the way the fireworks 25-minute display turned out, and with the attendance. The fireworks cost $10,000. Donations covered about $6,000 of that, with reunion revenue subsidizing the rest. Haehn said that he and others were thinking after the successful conclusion of the fireworks that maybe Princeton could have that every year and add some daytime Fourth of July festivities. The fireworks was "awesome," reunion organizers Orton and Hanson said. Wilken said the fireworks gave her "goosebumps." All the organizers agreed that the fireworks was a good sign for how the reunion would turn out. The reunion began with a welcome-home indoor picnic and continued with three major banquet gatherings for groups of classes starting with 1927 and going through 2000. There was also an alumni/faculty banquet, a jazz band/choir concert made up of mostly PHS alumni, a dance to the Rockin' Hollywoods on Saturday night and a parade earlier in the day. A community theater group also put on the musical "Grease" all three reunion nights, plus a matinee on Sunday. (See separate story.) "The musical was very nice," said organizer Carole Orton. "It was a complement to everything." Reunion committee members who attended the jazz and choir concerts said they were impressed with the performances, considering how little time there was to practice. Organizers complimented Lee Peterson for rehearsing and conducting the jazz band and Laurie Nord for rehearsing and directing the choir. Hanson liked how the choir ended its concert with "Happy Trails." Most of the committee members attended Sunday's community church service and estimated the crowd at 300 or more. Orton reflected on guest minister Arlan Koppendrayer's message about the qualities of the various classmates he saw at the reunion and how people can do things for each other in a community. Koppendrayer also called his invitation to speak at the service one of the highlights of his life, and an honor. Reunion organizers are not sure how the reunion came out financially. Putting on such an event includes a lot of expenses some don't realize, committee members said. Among the expenses were the mailings ($8,000 alone), rentals, insurance, food and dance bands. "We hear a lot that $30 [for the preregistration] was a lot of money," Orton said. But people receive a lot for that fee and organizers let people know about the reunion nearly two years in advance so someone could save up a little more than a dollar a month for the fee, she added. Orton also noted that during the 1995 all-class reunion, there was almost $20,000 in donations, while only a relatively small amount was donated this year, plus the registration price stayed the same. Organizers, therefore, are "sticking their necks out" in putting money up front to cover all the expenses and then hoping that enough people will show up, Orton said. When organizers met Monday to recap some of the highlights, Hanson called the alumni/faculty banquet as "really good." When the meal was completed, a microphone was passed around for the former teachers in attendance to tell when they taught in Princeton and where they have been since. Organizers also mentioned side activities that took place during the reunion or near that time. They noted that the walking garden tour put on by Rum River Health Services was well attended. They also brought up the ice cream social at the Elim Home, the piano music by Fran Barg and the root beer floats sponsored by Elim Oasis. "We really tried hard this time to involve the community more," said Wilken. "That was one of the reasons for the fireworks and the church service. "We need community support to make this a success." Organizers said that of the 1,122 preregistered, 350 are from the Princeton area and said they wished more locally would have attended the reunion. "You get disappointed," Haehn said about there not being more local PHS graduates attending. Hanson rationalized that having a less-than-hoped-for turnout of local people is not uncommon at reunions across the country. Nevertheless, some from out of town asked about local graduates who did not attend, she said. But the organizers did not seem displeased at what they saw take place during the reunion among those who attended. Roger Ruis, who came from the state of Virginia to attend, said he wouldn't miss it for anything, Orton said. That was also the sentiment of Clarice (Teigen) Kucera, who arrived for the reunion from Georgia, said Wilken. Ruis and Kucera are from the class of 1958. It was the classes of 1958 and 1951 that had the most attending. One of alumni was Jack Berggren (Class of 1939) who drove from California in a motorhome, towing his Chrysler PT Cruiser. Berggren could be seen driving the "woody" style PT Cruiser around town. "He was everywhere," Wilken said. Another attending was Conrad Hopperstad (Class of 1949) of Irving, Texas. Cartwright, who was helping check people in for the reunion, remembers Hopperstad as being "so cute." When he arrived he was in a suit and tie and when he went to the table where reunion souvenirs were being sold, he asked people there if he was a little overdressed, she said. Someone assured him he wasn't, said Cartwright, who redid his name tag to say Connie Hopperstad because he thought people might not otherwise know him. Orton said it was enjoyable just to "stand back and watch" the graduates reuniting. It was "so endearing seeing the friends reconnecting in all ages," she said. "I could just be in a corner and sit back and smile." Cartwright, who didn't graduate from Princeton High School but has taught there many years, said she enjoyed placing the names she amassed for the registration with the faces. "I thought everything went the way it was supposed to," Cartwright said. "It all fell into place. All the committee chairs did their job. It went well from the beginning." "It started with family, fireworks and community involvement," said Orton, "and ended with that." Most of the organizers had also spearheaded the 1995 All-Class Reunion and some of them indicated recently they wouldn't do it again after this one. But, when asked Monday, they all agreed it was too early to conclude, so shortly after finishing up what was a lot of work, whether they would do it again. They would make some changes if they did, they said, such as having just light snacks rather than full-fledged banquet meals. It's difficult to say, they agreed, to know now how they might feel in a year or more about heading up another reunion that, while it has required a lot of work, has also produced a lot of good memories. Princeton Union-Eagle |