Kim Campbell Morrissey spearheaded the 50-year reunion of Wichita Heights’ class of 1974 in five quick months. That’s because it wasn’t until this past spring that she discovered a reunion wasn’t in the works.
“My thought was that it’s kind of a milestone that we should not let go by without celebrating,” said Morrissey, a retired physical education teacher.
For Sandra Ott and two of her classmates from Wichita South’s class of 1974, on the other hand, it’s been an every-five-year ritual they started in 1979.
Their efforts to celebrate the half-century since they graduated came to fruition this fall. The 50th reunion for South’s class of 1974 was held in late September while the Heights reunion happened in early October.
Making connections is the best part of a reunion, said Ott and Morrissey.
“We had a class of 600 and the school had 1,800 with three classes, so we didn’t know everyone. Now we can reconnect and make new friends,” Ott said.
“In high school, you have your groups … but when you get to the 50th, you don’t have groups anymore, and you’re happy to get together,” Morrissey said. “We reignited some friendships and got to know others.”
And sometimes reminiscing results in surprising revelations.
“I found out one of my classmates streaked down one of the halls,” Morrissey said. “How did I not know that?”
Locating classmates and keeping current contact information when you’re part of a graduating class of several hundred people is a major challenge.
In the early days of organizing her class reunions, Ott recalled calling landlines and sometimes parents to find classmates.
Now, social media, including school alumni pages or class-specific groups on Facebook, has become a way to find classmates.
One of the Heights’ reunion organizers was a former collections agent who used her tracking skills “to find people all over the place,” including Australia, Morrissey said.
“But we’re on the search for about 300 people we don’t have information on.”
Both reunion weekends included tours of their respective schools, which received major improvements in the 2000s with voter-approved bond issues.
Finding affordable venues for the other weekend activities of a mixer at a local casual-dining spot and a bigger Saturday night dinner event proved challenging, Ott and Morrissey said.
“We struggled this year a little bit to find venues,” Ott said “We wanted to make it affordable. All of us are 67 or 68 so pretty much we’re not working anymore, and we’re on Social Security and our retirement” savings.
The South reunion mixer was held at Hurricane Sports Grill, while the Saturday festivities were held at the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadway.
The short planning period for the Heights group was an extra hurdle since many venues book out several months or even longer, Morrissey said,
The Heights classmates met at Bronx Pizza & Pints for their mixer and booked the Roadhouse Venue for its Saturday night event. The Roadhouse, which was the former Coyote Club, wasn’t only affordable, it was also appropriate.
“Plenty of our classmates had spent the better years of their youth there,” Morrissey said.
About 100 people attended each of the reunions’ Saturday night dinners.
Ott and Morrissey say they’re going to plan future get-togethers for their classes, but the reunions will likely be pared-down versions.
“We won’t do another huge one like the 50th,” Ott said. “It’s a lot of work.”
Contact Amy Geiszler-Jones at algj64@sbcglobal.net.
