Are you a student, teacher or staff member who was at the Selkirk Comp in 1975? If so, you’re invited to take part in a class reunion that’s being organized this summer in Selkirk.
“As you get near the 50th, a lot of people start suggesting (a reunion) but it always seems like it would be a gigantic job. And all of a sudden, one of them phoned me and said that they were out for dinner with another fellow graduate from that year, a couple of people I both know, and they said, I think we should do something, and we decided to go ahead with it,” said Jim Schreyer, Class of ’75 graduate.
That’s how the Class of ’75 Reunion Committee was born and they’ve been busily trying to locate all of their fellow graduates as well as organizing a get together this summer so that everyone can catch up in person.
To that end, Schreyer and some other graduates, including former student council president Garth Sandercock have put together a Facebook page to share photos and memories from the class of 1975. So far they have over 100 people who have joined the group however, Schreyer said that you don’t necessarily have to be a graduate to be welcomed by the group.
“We’ve put up the Facebook site and we’re finding that there’s a few people that are the yearbook who didn’t graduate that year, but they were attached to the year. So we said anybody who was involved in that final year for 1975 you know, for even the school year. They’re welcome to come if they feel that they were part of that year going to school,” he explained.
They are also trying to track down administration from that time as well as any lingering classmates who haven’t been connected with yet so if there is anyone from the community who is or knows someone who would be involved with the Class of 1975 please let them know to reach out to Schreyer or Sandercock. You also don’t have to be part of the Facebook group to attend the reunion.
Schreyer, having gone back to the Comp as a teacher after working his way through as a student has been able to connect with many people who he knew from his professional life as well.
The reunion itself is taking place on July 18 and 19.
On July 18th there will be a tour of the school and on the 19 the main event will take place which will be a banquet at the Selkirk Golf Course.
“We’re going to have a tour through the school, just to show everybody how the facility has changed. It’s been a long time (since we’ve seen) it. And there’s going to be a meet and greet, it’s just a sort of, wine and cheese without the wine. It’ll be a little event that everybody and we’ve asked teachers to come to, and we’ll just get to say hello to each other. That’s on Friday the 18, and then on the Saturday, we’re at the Selkirk Golf Course, and that’ll be a catered banquet. There’ll be different events on there as we have the evening,” said Schreyer.
For people who didn’t graduate in the class of 1975 or might be a little younger and not know what Selkirk was like at that time, Schreyer says it was a great year to be a graduate.
“The school was amazing. The forethought there was in putting that school together, I think it was built in 71, and we entered after the first year, but it was why I wanted to return and be a teacher there. The high school had unbelievable facilities. The theatre, it seated 300 people. It was a beautiful theatre with the lighting and a back area for changing, for props, and everything else, which led to the band room, which was a beautiful facility where they could host different events. And then for me, I was a phys. Ed. teacher there for years, and I was on the sports teams (as a student). The facility for sports was unbelievable, it was the only school in Manitoba (with) an attached swimming pool. There was an underground track, I eventually moved the fitness area downstairs too. But there was an archery range, a rifle range and outside was the eight-lane track,” he said.
He said it was a school that everyone was very proud of.
“We also had a great teaching staff. They all came in almost right out of college. And it was a very young teaching staff that was only about four or five years older than us. They were amazing in the stuff they supported us to do and suggested for us to do. We had all sorts of events. We had one called Climax ‘75 which was kind of a strange name, but that event was run by Student Council, and it went on like for all night and all day,” he explained.
There were also some negatives to being part of the class of 1975 for example smoking was allowed in the cafeteria and Schreyer explained that there was a puff of smoke that would escape when you opened the doors.
Schreyer hopes that people connected to the Class of ’75 have a chance to get out to this reunion and have a great time.
“We hope that they can just get to see each other and enjoy the memories of growing up there and enjoy seeing what they’re what we’ve all done with our lives now, and share that and shake hands and say hello,” he said.
More information will be coming out in the future about tickets for the reunion so make sure that you are part of the Facebook group or reach out to Garth Sandercock at garthsandercock@telus.net or Jim Schreyer at js1975reunion@gmail.com to keep up to date.
“It would be great (to see everyone) because we’re now 67 years of age, and it gets tougher and tougher, to have this type of activity take place where everybody gets to see each other again. We’re at kind of a key part of our age where we can all, sort of healthily, travel and enjoy each other’s company. I hope they remember their years and want to just reach out and see some of their old friends,” said Schreyer.
