844 students graduated from PGSSS (Prince George Senior Secondary School) in 1974.
Now, 50 years later, hundreds of alumni are returning to Prince George from across the globe to celebrate the milestone, reconnect with old friends, and raise money for the next generation of graduates.
Dan Robin and Carolin Phillips (formerly Olsen) are two of the alumni who have worked to try and track down the nearly 1000 people who walked the stage together that year.
“It is unbelievable… it feels like time has dropped into a bucket and we are teenagers, reuniting in the same place,” said Phillips, who was the class valedictorian.
While tracking down old classmates organizers found just over half of the class is still in Prince George, but others have scattered across the globe.
Robin said some are have returned for the reunion from as far as Australia, Sweden,
Mexico and Hawaii.
“We contacted 70% of the 844 people, and we are quite happy to have over 300 people attending this weekend,” he said.
The reunion is being held at the Coast Inn of the North, formerly the Inn of the North, which is where the ’74 grad party was held.
“It is an honour for many of us to have been found and brought back by [Robin’s] committee,” Phillips said.
“This is an opportunity to rekindle friendships,” Robin said, mentioning smaller reunions in Calgary, Vancouver Island, the lower mainland, and of course, Prince George, have been taking place over the last 9 months to prime people for the main event.
“People that haven’t seen each other for many, many years were ecstatic. After this reunion weekend, we are positive that many old friendships that were lost through time will be rekindled, in our old age it is nice to have familiar friends from school years,” he continued. “Our goal is to make sure everyone has a good time and these friendships and memories this weekend will last the rest of their lives.”
Phillips said alumni have donated over 100 items to a silent auction for the weekend.
The proceeds from the sale will help establish what they are calling the ‘Looking Back, Looking Forward Legacy Fund,’ which will support current PGSS graduates.
“It will benefit PGSS, specifically their scholarship and bursary fund for new grads coming through 50 years later – and if any funds are left over – for much needed equipment at PGSS,” Phillips explained, adding the school is welcoming their contribution “with open arms.”
Gerry Van Caeseele, a local alumni, said one of his best memories of attending PGSSS was in September of 1972 when class was dismissed so the students could watch the Canada vs Russia hockey series.
“It was a brand new school, they had amazing shop classes. If you were looking to be a millwright or electrician, they gave you the basic information to do that,” Robin said. “I ended up being a career industrial electrician, the seeds were planted in high school.”
Not all memories from the ’74 grad year are fond ones, however.
In May of 1974, eight PGSS students (Dave Walker, Murray Sales, Brian Weaver, Paul Trudeau, Ian Rice, Dwight McFarland, Bob Haney, and Jeff Pick) died boating in Willow River. Six of them were set to graduate the following month, the other two were in grade 11.
Robin said a small group of alumni visited the river earlier this week to pay their respects.
“Losing 8 friends was a very big deal.”
Once the team of organizers started tracking down alumni, they learned over 100 of their classmates have passed away.
“We are making it a very big deal to honour them. We have a memorial room that the alumni will be able to see pictures, obituaries, and a slide show,” Robin said.
The reunion will take place over two nights, tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday.
Robin said many classes don’t ever get together for a reunion, and felt blessed the class of ’74 has had multiple.
“This is the golden anniversary,” he said. “There probably won’t be a gathering of this magnitude with our class ever again.”
Despite that, said some members of the class are already making plans to hold annual regional meetups, gathering in smaller groups across western Canada and beyond.
You can learn more about the reunion and find the full PGSSS class of ’74 yearbook here.
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