August long weekend was time for the LV Rogers High School class of 1985's 25 year reunion. It was a lot of fun seeing many of my classmates. Thanks heaps to Tonnie Stewart for organizing! We had about 65 out of 235 graduates attending and I think that's a pretty good turnout.
Friday was a social. Saturday was a bit of recovery, exploration, a school tour, and then the dinner dance. Classic line is the facebook status message of one guy urgently asking if anybody had seen his car, which was parked in the hotel parking lot! I'm definitely glad I left at 2 am before the tequila really started going fast. Sunday morning was a bit of a write-off for most of us, and then people gradually showed up for the family picnic. Both nights I had a chance for a huge sleep but I woke up after less than 6 hrs, argh!
One surprising takeaway: most things are smaller than I remember. I rented a bike in one of the many bike shops at about 3pm. I went to the bridge end of town with the lakeside beach, up to the high school, over to Uphill - where we used to live - then pretty much back to town. I stopped at all my old schools, homes, and many interesting sites. I returned the bike and the owner says, "you only wanted it for an hour?" The hills were definitely as big as I remember.
Or perhaps I grew? At least a half dozen people said they thought I had grown taller, to which I said maybe I just wasn't slouching as much :-) The people did seem a bit smaller to me too though. There was one who, like teenage boys are wont to do to each other, terrorized me a fair bit. I was surprised that he was smaller than I remember. I even found myself liking him as he's a nice guy too.
A poignent memory for me was standing outside of Trafalgar Junior Seconday. It was 30 years ago that I started lining up at 7 am to get on one of the 2 apple // computers. 30 years of computing, wow.
Many people had changed and for the better, others have died. Some have done amazing things. One person has studied gorillas with Jane Goodall, and another didn't even mention her amazing triathlon performances in her bio. One has been moved on to doing amazing art since becoming a quadriplegic.
The internet and Conrad Black did in the Nelson Daily News. I was never a fan, even though I delivered the paper for many years. It's not often an institution can thank customers for a century of patronage.
Some things and people haven't changed too. The radio was playing Twisted Sister when I arrived. I haven't seen mullets or women's thongs for some time. I didn't hear about the impromptu soccer game. There's irony because I was at the gym next door at the time. A few of the girls are still, well, perhaps I won't say anything other than they haven't changed.
There were a few sad cases but most people seem pretty happy with their lives and their families. The family picnic at the beach was a nice touch so we could see many of the kids and how the families interacted.
It was definitely worth the time and expense and opportunity cost of a family weekend to go. There's already talk of a 30 year reunion, and I think that is a fine idea.
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