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Coming home: Hillsboro classes preparing for reunions at annual all-school homecoming

Staff writer

Several Hillsboro High School graduating classes plan to attend an upcoming all-school reunion Oct. 1. The reunion will coincide with homecoming.

According to Daryl Penner, a 1971 graduate and member of the reunion planning committee, many classes, especially those celebrating milestone anniversaries, will have their own reunions the same weekend.

One Hillsboro graduate, Irene Seibel, will attend, though there is unlikely to be a reunion of her class. Seibel will turn 100 this year.

Individual reunions usually are before the all-school reunion, a catered dinner planned at Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church.

So far, classes of 1952, 1957, 1962, 1972, 1977, 1982, and 1987 have announced plans to attend.

Lifelong Hillsboro resident Evelyn Regier is organizing the class of 1952’s 70-year reunion.

She and her husband said “yes” because nobody else wanted to take on the task.

“I’ve heard from one,” she said. “He was coming from Oregon. There are two or three from right here in Hillsboro.”

If enough people come, she will plan a group meal at a local restaurant.

“We’re just leaving that open right now,” she said.

Barb Buller is spokesman for the class of 1977. Dale Koop and Sandy Beisel are organizing their 45th reunion.

“We’re getting together at the park at Hillsboro, in the Scout House, and having lunch,” Buller said.

Pizza and homemade ice cream prepared by the Koops are on the menu.

So far, 25 people have made reservations. There were 86 in the class.

“We were always the problem class,” Buller said.

Other classes had fewer students. Teachers had to work around the class size.

“We always had a boat of us in each class and teachers who didn’t quite know what to do,” she said. “One year, they put us all in a country school and tried to team-teach us. They didn’t do that again.”

The classmate who will drive the farthest is coming from Pagosa Springs, Colorado, Buller said.

Penner said his class was not having a reunion this year but he estimated that 150 people, including spouses, came whenever the class of 1971 came together.

“Classes usually ask why they have not had more reunions,” Penner said. “I think in general, it’s a great way to reconnect with people they haven’t seen in a long time.”

Penner said he had noticed that people who never associated with each other during school sat together during reunions and talked as if they were best friends.

Weekend festivities include:

  • 11:30 a.m. Sept. 30 — Visit to Hillsboro High School. Alumni will meet in the middle school lobby at 11:30 p.m. Lunch will be at 11:50 a.m. at the school. Cost is $4. Those who don’t want lunch will be able to meet in the lunchroom at 12:30 p.m. for a building tour. Students will make presentations from 1:15 to 2:30 p.m.
  • 2:45 p.m. Sept. 20 — Homecoming parade and a pep rally on Main St.
  • 5:30 p.m. Sept. 20 —Homecoming events will include a tailgate meal at the stadium. Cost of the meal is a separate charge. The homecoming game will begin at 7 p.m.
  • 5 p.m. Oct. 1 — The all-school reunion banquet will be at Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church. Doors will open at 5 p.m., dinner will be at 6 p.m., and graduates will have time to visit starting at 7 p.m. Cost of the banquet will be$30 a person.

Optional annual alumni association dues are $5.

Last modified Sept. 14, 2022

 

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