CHS class of 1972 held their 50th reunion

The class of 1972 was one of the larger graduating classes from Chinook High and they held their 50th class reunion two weeks ago. According to Evelyn (Jergeson) Schubert, one of the reunion's organizers and presenter at the official welcoming, "Our class graduated with 64 students. Eighteen of those are deceased and of the 46 remaining, 30 attended at least one day of the two-day reunion." She added, "We had 28 at our 40th reunion."

Kick-off gathering on a Friday

The reunion kicked-off with a meet and greet at the home of Inez (Michaelson) Halseth in Chinook. She'd been working all summer to spruce up her backyard to host her classmates. There were lots of surprised looks and gasps as classmates reconnected. Evelyn Schubert said, "It was really fun to see everyone and find how they and their families are doing." About the high turnout, Inez noted, "We've always had good turnouts for our reunions. I think we were close classmates."

Honored guests at the Friday night kick-off were Millie and Gary Smith and Chuck Hewitt. Gary was the principal during the years the class was in high school and Millie and Chuck both were teachers. Asked if he recognized most of the students from the class, Chuck said, "No. Many of the guys had certainly changed from scrawny boys when I knew them. Some of the students were involved in school plays when I was the drama coach."

Gary Smith explained, "This is the first reunion Millie and I had attended in a few years as we were often traveling. I was delighted they invited us. I had to ask the kids to introduce themselves, name tags would have helped me." He laughed when he caught himself referring to the students as "kids." Millie commented, "They were all very welcoming and gracious and I was impressed with the turnout."

Saturday evening dinner

and dance

Late Saturday afternoon the class of 1972 gathered at the Chinook Golf Club for more socializing, the awarding of some prizes, a pitchfork fondue and trimmings (by Doug Mitchell and Don Swenson) and a dance. Classmate Laurie (Doughten) Rigg created the floral decorations featuring chrysanthemums, the class flower.

Evelyn Schubert welcomed her classmates reminding that, "Chinook and the Hi-Line are definitely unique." She shared several "You know you're from the Hi-Line if..." one-liners like "There's always a snow shovel by a building's main entrance no matter the season." She then reviewed some significant events going on their senior year 50 years ago such as: The first episode of the "Price is Right" with host Bob Barker aired; the average U.S. salary was $11,800; Richard Nixon was President and that fall the Dallas Cowboys would hand the Miami Dolphins a hefty defeat in Super Bowl VI.

And on the matter of Chinook's changes since they were in school Evelyn shared the golf course now has grass greens as well as fairways, upgrades to the swim pool and the accompanying playground are in the works and a proposed skate park is also being planned. Evelyn added in her opening remarks, "The Class of 1971 made a donation for the pool and playground upgrade and are challenging the Class of '72 to make a donation as well." Nothing like a little interclass contest to get the blood flowing.

And there were some awards as well. For who travelled the furthest, the award went to Lance Elias from Florida. Pauly Miller, of Chinook, got the prize for the most grandchildren and Rick Davies and Inez Halseth won prizes for "the least changed guy and gal." Music for the dance was provided by the Big Sky Drive band from Chester. Earlier during the opening welcome a moment was taken to recognize and honor the group's deceased classmates.

Closing her remarks to fellow classmates Evelyn declared, "The Class of '72 has made life richer because we contributed to something greater than ourselves. We're the best class ever! Enjoy the evening!" And from the smiles on all the faces in the photos, they were enjoying the evening.