The Owen Sound Sun Times e-edition

West Hill students celebrate 50th anniversary of the class of '70

SCOTT DUNN

It must have been a close group of classmates, the class of 1970.

Members of that West Hill alumni clan have gathered about every five years since they graduated. Fifty of them, plus spouses, celebrated the 50th anniversary of that occasion Saturday, two years delayed by COVID.

The average age was around 70, and the colour of the day was grey. But as time has passed, and some friends have passed away, people who shared their thoughts said they relished the chance to see one another again. Most had attended at least once before.

About 20 years ago or more, classmates were included from the class of '71. They all gathered at Blaine and Pat Courtney's home near Owen Sound, where the event's been held four times.

There were clutches of lawn chairs where people chatted in pockets of garden shade on a perfect summer afternoon. There were coolers and tents, food and a band played.

At the registration desk, Liz Harris wrote out name tags and pulled out yellowed Sun Times newspaper clippings. One had a photo of her, when her surname was Murdoch, giving Blaine Courtney a cookie at a blood donor clinic at the school.

She was student council president in 1968-69, and Courtney held the post in '69-'70. She brought yearbooks filled with black and white photos of their youth. She's helped organize each reunion.

“The older we get, the more important these relationships mean. You know what I mean?” said Gord Harris, Liz's husband, who likes reconnecting with old friends. “They become more important from your past . . . It's just kind of interesting to find out how their life went.”

John Mckay, who was student council vice-president the year Harris was president, recalled the time students walked out of school in protest. The trigger was a math teacher who announced on the day they returned from Christmas holiday that there would be an exam the next day.

“We walked out. We said that's not fair,” Mckay said. “And we sat up in the rocks,” Liz said. The vice principal went up to the West Rocks and talked the students into coming back down.

They were in musicals and on sports teams together, in bands, attended organized events, such as school trips to Toronto, and there were lots of fun parties.

Do they think about the friends who have died as they age? Yes, and every reunion they're remembered with a special moment, as are those who are too ill to come. “I think that we're just glad that we're here. We're grey but we're here,” Liz said. “We have a good group of people. I mean everybody has had their trials and tribulations,” said Kaye Holmes, who has helped organize every reunion too. “But we're all on the same page. We're all happy to be here.”

Jim Wilson graduated in 1971 and this was his second reunion. The last one was seven years ago. He attended the school's 50th anniversary as well, in 2010. Some old classmates he sees weekly at a coffee group, while for others it's been 25, 30, or 40 years. “Recognize most of them. Sometimes I have to look at the name tag,” he admitted with a laugh.

His wife, Tally Mccallum, who didn't attend West Hill, observed this group of students was close. “I think they had a really great time in high school. All of them together. And they've made those connections and they've kept them over the years.”

Wilson agreed: “People said they didn't like high school. Well, I really enjoyed high school. I wasn't a real great academic but I enjoyed the social life.”

Blaine Courtney believes they were particularly good years.

“This is a very special group. They seem to be just in that one or two year period at the high school where we were all involved in the sports, we were all involved in the clubs, and organizing things and we all got along well. We weren't coming through any big social upheaval that would distract us from just having fun and being friends.”

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2022-06-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://eeditionowensoundsuntimes.pressreader.com/article/281573769382479

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