Big reunion for Class of ’73

A 50th high school reunion is a major event in most peoples’ lives. So it is with Storm Lake High School’s Class of 1973, which will get together Sept. 15-16 to rehash old times and brag about their grandchildren. The dates coincide with the Storm Lake Tornadoes football Homecoming game against Perry here on Friday, Sept. 15. Mark Eliason, a member of that August class and a running back on the football team, told us about all the events that are planned that weekend, including the football game. There were 141 in the class, of whom 21 have passed away. Eliason, one of the organizers along with Jim Fritcher and Susan Dickey Leach, says they expect about 75 people, including partners. On Friday evening there will be a reception at Sunrise Pointe Golf Course, with the tour of the high school Saturday morning and dinner at Lake Avenue Lounge Saturday evening. Eliason lives in Red Wing, Minn., Fritcher is in Edina, Minn., and Leach is in Gunnison, Colo. For more information, you may call Eliason at 763-228-9745, Fritcher at 602-463-9087 and Leach at 817-992-8073. By the way, the Tornadoes’ football team, under coach John Swanson, finished with a 7-2 record that year.

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ST. MARY’S Class of 1973 is also celebrating that weekend, but we don’t have any information about that. Let us know if you’re in that class. I was a member of St. Mary’s Class of 1968, and we tried to get a 50th reunion going five years ago but it just didn’t work out. There were 45 in our class. At the time we were the largest in St. Mary’s history, but in later years there were bigger classes. To the best of my knowledge, there are three members of our class still living in Storm Lake: Dan Smith, Gloria Lyster and myself. My apologies to anyone I’ve overlooked. There are a few in neighboring towns, but if I tried to recall them I’d no doubt forget someone and then I’d be in trouble. I did attend my college 50th reunion last year. I remember as a student wondering why all those old fuddy-duds were still hanging around campus, trying to relive their youth. Then I found myself among those fuddy-duds thinking I could still hang with the college kids. Not quite. If your high school class has a reunion, send us a photo and we’ll print it in the Times Pilot so all your friends can see how well you’ve aged. John Cullen is the founder and retired publisher of The Storm Lake Times. He can be reached at news@stormlake.com.