Glenwood City to host all-school reunion in 2017

By Cara L. Dempski

GLENWOOD CITY — A committee of former Glenwood City students and graduates is planning an all-school reunion to coincide with the city’s 2017 Rustic Lore celebration.

Committee chairman Doug Hill said the reunion would likely include classes from the 1930s through the class of 2016. The reunion, scheduled for September 8 – 10, 2017, will be third one held.

There was an all-school reunion held in 1985 to celebrate Glenwood City’s centennial, and another one was held in 1993 to celebrate the 100th birthday of Glenwood City High School.

The idea

Hill said current Chamber of Commerce president Joan Bartz sparked discussion about an all-school reunion with a 2014 post on Facebook. Boyceville had just held an all-school reunion, and Bartz asked if people were ready for another one in Glenwood City.

Hill and his wife, Arlene, had been involved in planning the 1993 event and contacted Bartz to let her know they would like to work on the committee for the upcoming reunion. The couple was out of town for the winter, but kept in touch with Bartz.

“When we got back in the spring, we met a couple times,” Hill said. “The next thing we knew, we were spearheading it.”

Arlene said she and Doug had a good committee and great community members assisting them. The couple tried to find committee members to represent classes from different decades. Doug called it a “committee of consensus” because there was not total agreement on every aspect of the celebration.

For instance, Doug thought scheduling the celebration for late July or early August would be best so no one would need to worry about working around school schedules. The rest of the committee thought holding it in September would be best because it could be held in conjunction with Rustic Lore.

The group had access to sign-up sheets for the previous two all-school reunions and noticed the older groups of people leaned heavily toward a date in September. With that in mind, Doug and Arlene said the committee went ahead with the Rustic Lore weekend.

Doug said Rustic Lore organizer, Nancy Stack, was glad to work with the committee, and he said everyone hopes the event can give Rustic Lore a boost for one year.

The committee

While Doug and Arlene Hill led the committee, local residents Nancy Graese, Carol Teigen and Julie Lee all stepped up to help.

One of the group’s first tasks was obtaining current contact information for as many former graduates and students as possible. There are many student records on file with the local school district, but the committee was still far shy of the number of people they knew graduated from Glenwood City schools or attended school there.

With people from different decades on the committee and the number of people now using social media, the group was able to get the word out to people to get updated names and contact information for a wide number of people.

As the group began contacting people to gather further information, it was often treated to unique stories. Arlene Hill said it was interesting to find people who graduated in the 1940s and 1950s. She said the people she spoke with had wonderful memories.

“I think they had more fun in school back then than kids do now,” Arlene said.

The committee heard stories about youthful pranks that were considered all harmless fun. Arlene said many of the stories she and Doug heard did not involve bullying other students or creating significant harm to other people or things.

“It really was all in good fun,” Doug stated.

The couple estimated 1,500 letters were sent to those they had information for, and a further 1,100 were contacted via telephone or electronic means (email, social media). The list of people is far from complete, and Doug and Arlene asked those who received a letter, email, message or phone call to pass the word on to those who may not yet have received an invitation.

“We really want everyone to know we want them there,” Doug said.

Julie Lee was able to secure funds to help defray some of the mailing costs after she applied for Thrivent’s “action team” project. The organization donated $250 to the committee, which has helped with a lot of postage costs. Other funds have come from the Glenwood City council and alumni donations.

“We have tried to email as many people as possible, because that’s free,” Lee said.

She said, though, that older alumni do not always have access to a computer, much less an email address. Lee has created computer spreadsheets with updated addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.

Carol Teigen, who left Glenwood City in 1972 and returned in 2014 after the death of her first husband, said the city has changed since she was younger.

“Main Street is a lot quieter,” Teigen said. “In the seventies, there were three grocery stores, two hardware stores, and a drug store.”

Teigen is happy to be back in Glenwood City and wanted to be a part of the committee. She said the committee members were great to work with because everyone had different ideas.

“Even if I didn’t have a good idea, someone else did,” Teigen said.

The Glenwood City school district has been working with the committee to create some programming and offered district facilities for events. District students will be working on history projects and posters about one-room schools that eventually consolidated into what is now the Glenwood City school district.

Nancy Graese is the committee member in charge of gathering school memorabilia for display during the reunion and Rustic Lore events. She is starting to put feelers out for items like letter jackets, cheerleading sweaters, flags, pennants, or other items people may have on hand that showed Topper spirit in the days past.

The plan

Doug said right now the weekend’s plans are still tentative, but there will be plenty for attendees of all ages to do since the celebration is being held in conjunction with Rustic Lore weekend.

The committee is anticipating that Glenwood City’s population will double during the 2017 Rustic Lore celebration. The 1993 all-school reunion drew in between 1,500 and 2,000 people, and Glenwood City’s population is 1,242 as of the 2010 census.

In addition to the weekend’s usual festivities, which include a car show, apple fest, garage sales and an opening picnic, reunion attendees will be treated to window displays of the items Graese gathers. She also hopes to have enough to display at the school during the reunion program scheduled at 3 p.m. on September 9, 2017.

Reunion attendees have been extended a special invitation from the Glen Hills Rods & Rides Car Show committee. Attendees are invited to show their cars, bikes or trucks for a special Best of Show, Alumni trophy. Participants are also invited to spend time in the tent and take part in the Grand Parade on Sunday.

The youth of Holy Cross Lutheran Church have planned a pancake breakfast from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturday morning. This event will be held in the community center, located west of First Street on Main Street (across from Nilssen’s Foods). Later that afternoon, the ladies of Glenhaven Auxiliary are offering coffee and treats, and will gladly provide tours of the new facility.

The main entrance of the high school will open at noon on Saturday for anyone wishing to take a tour of the new buildings and for people to sign in.

The Glenwood City History Center will be open all weekend and will have special school displays.

Doug and Arlene Hill would like any local, and not so local, alumni to contact others they know to make sure as many people as possible know they are welcome to come. This includes anyone who is a former teacher or administrator, or knows someone who is in contact with former teachers and administrators.