Submitted by Nicole Kohnert
On July 28, 2018, the Barriere Secondary School (BSS) graduating class of 1978 came together after 40 years to meet old friends, reminisce and share stories of their lives from 1978 until 2018.
The event was held at the Lac Le Jeune Wilderness Resort, in British Columbia, and was organized by members of the 1978 grad class; Sherry Braithwaite (Moore), Joanna Rainer, Nicole Kohnert, and Janice Davis (Lovgren), with assistance from many others who lent a helping hand.
Grads who attended the event included: Len Perry, John Cartwright, John Wayne Johnson, Randy Bugera, Lee Clearwaters, Willi Fortier, Walter Luison, Norman Fennell, Robert Fraser, Wayne Blohm, Joanna Rainer, Nicole Kohnert, Sherry Moore, Janice Lovgren, Marlene Kruger, Joni Scott, Wendy ??, Debbie Clough, Kathy Peterson, Valerie Walls. Valerie Irving, Corinne Lapin, Cosette Krawec, and Dawn Hickey.
Here are some comments from the event by those who attended:
“Saturday morning we decorated the lodge with the BSS colours and set out memorabilia and lots of photos from elementary school to the third reunion photos.”
“The organized festivities started at 4 p.m., but as class members showed up at the Resort everyone got hugs and the laughter never slowed down until the last person left the Resort the next day.”
“Sherry and Len provide an extensive song playlist with all the great hits we loved from the 70s and much more, and a delicious barbecue was catered by the Resort. The no-host bar was very busy until 1:00 a.m.”
“Having an auctioneer in our midst, and several grads who donated items to auction, John Wayne helped us raise over $300 with Val Walls playing Vanna. We all agreed that some of the money should go to the bar for the grads to enjoy, and some to Linda Fowler since she couldn’t attend due to a serious illness.”
“The next bit of fun was provided by Nikki reading off a list of fun facts provided by anonymous grads and everyone guessing who the grad was. The crowd was only stumped by two grads’ fun facts. We also threw some fake facts into the list to throw folks off. The one that had everyone going was, “I’ve been in and out of prison three times since graduating”. Ask Wayne Blohm about that one.”
“Joanna put together a very funny reading made of excerpts from the letters she wrote to Sherry when she was 15. Sherry went to Revelstoke for grade 10 and we all got our letters back recently. An excellent look back at what 15-year-old girls were thinking and feeling back in 1975. Willi was prominent in the letters!”
“Cosette shared Danny Proulx’s class historian speech as she had managed to find a copy of from grad night. Danny was killed in a car accident shortly after Grad, so the reading was bitter-sweet.”
“Wally was a terrific MC and kept the festivities moving along. He even dug deep and got a couple things off his chest, calling Nikki out for ratting on him about laying rubber in front of the school. She insists she didn’t tell her Mom who did it.”
“The after party (there always must be an after party), was at Deb and Greg’s cabin. We’re not sure how long that went on into the night. Needless to say, the next day some heads were a little sore.”
“Everyone able helped clean up and continue the reminiscing, and trying to identify all the little kids in the class photos from grades 1 to 7.
“This being our fourth class reunion, we thought, what the heck, we might as well have another one. The plan appears to be to have a big 60th birthday party for everyone at Wally’s. His neighbors may want to leave town that weekend!”
“There are so many positive words one could use to sum up this fabulous 40th class reunion. Being already a very tight and close class, even with the 20 plus that couldn’t make it, it was like stepping back in time to a simpler, more carefree time where we could pretend we were teenagers again; laughing, dancing, drinking too much, complaining about parents, sharing family stories, and playing; simply put, having fun!”
“We can’t wait for the next one!“