Saturday Slight

This weekend 400-plus Sandpoint High School graduates from the 1950s are getting together at the Bonner County Fairgrounds.  

My friend and blog editor Helen has served as the central organizer for the event, and I know she has worked extra hard for months to see that every detail is covered to ensure a positive experience for the SHS alums.

Yesterday afternoon I spent about an hour at the reunion as graduates filed in and picked up their registration packets.  I knew before showing up that many of these folks---even though they graduated in the decade before I did---would have very familiar faces.

And, that proved to be the case.  Many who had come through the doors early were longtime neighborhood friends.  In a couple of cases, I hadn't see some of the neighborhood reunion attendees for more than 50 years. 

Take JoAn DeGroot McBride and Jake Robinson, for example.  

For the past couple of years or so, I've known JoAn from Facebook associations.  Back when the DeGroot family lived a mile or so up North Boyer from us, I saw JoAn only a couple of times.  

She was the oldest of the four and had left home soon after the family moved to their farm, which is now owned by the LaGrace family.   

Seeing Jake Robinson and knowing him immediately was a pleasant surprise.  He looks so much like his dad, only without the cowboy hat. 

Lloyd Robinson worked as a fireman for the City of Sandpoint and shod horses.  Plus, he was a good friend of my dad's.  

Jake's mother Betty was a much beloved teacher at Lincoln School.  My sister Laurie still talks about the wonderful experiences Betty provided for her students.  Betty's efforts toward her students inspired Laurie as a teacher herself. 

Turns out Jake, who spent his career in the Army, with lots of war experience, and as an R.O.T.C. instructor at the University of Montana, lives in Tacoma, just a few miles from my brother Mike.  

He shared a few his fond memories regarding our family and my two older brothers.

Our old neighborhood was also represented by Bob Gooby, Carolyn Theodorson Savage, Alice Woolsey Coldsnow and Janice Heath Burnett.  In fact, Janice lived on the same farm on Great Northern Road where we Love's later lived for 30 years.  

I believe that both Carolyn and Alice spent part of their younger days on what we've known for years as the Pennington aka Delamarter place just down the road from DeGroot's. 

Helen and her organizers have done a wonderful job setting up the fairgrounds main exhibit building with abundant nostalgia not only on the tables but also with class by class displays along one side of the building.

The crew from Ivanos Ristorante has provided some extra efforts too.  

I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent at the reunion so much that I announced that I was leaving about 15 times before finally making it out the door. That's how it is when you're surrounded by so many familiar faces from the past.  

The group is meeting again today, so I might find time to go back for some more visiting. 

Great job, Helen.  Happy Saturday all.  Stay cool.