Carol Kruck, a member of the Portage Collegiate Institute class of 1975 reunion committee, says the milestone gathering has been months in the making.
She explains that the day includes registration, a tour of the school, professional photography, and even a drone photo to capture the class together again.
“There's 12 of us in our committee,” notes Kruck. “And then there's another 70 or so classmates coming, and then about 40 guests.”
A special milestone
Kruck says the celebration marks a half century since graduation, making it a particularly meaningful event.
“This is the class of 1975 from Portage Collegiate Institute,” she says. “And so that's a 50-year reunion for us, so it's pretty special. We've all been able to get together, and we have a great lot of people attending.”
Dawn Cherkas, another graduate, highlights the significance of the turnout.
“There were 82 of us; the largest graduating class in 1975,” says Cherkas. “So we are gathered here. I think we have 80 to 89 graduates present and 24 guests. That's pretty impressive.”
The class has gathered before, including a 10-year reunion and during major anniversaries of the school itself.
“There have been large reunions,” adds Kruck. “Our class had a 10th-year reunion. And then there was the 75th big reunion of PCI and then the 100th reunion as well.”
Memories and reconnections
The reunion officially began the night before with a casual meet-and-greet at the Royal Canadian Legion in Portage la Prairie.
“Last night, we had just a casual meet and greet at the Legion to break the ice,” says Kruck. “Some people are coming in that haven’t seen other people for 10, 20, 50 years. So, it was great. We probably had about 40 or 50 people attend.”
She continues that the committee has spent the past nine months planning, giving them time to reconnect before the full class arrived.
Among the reconnections, one woman chatted with a fellow grad whose brother was her first crush at PCI, and asked how he was doing.
Looking ahead
For Kruck, the highlight is seeing friendships renewed after decades apart.
“I’m just so thankful that we’re here to do this,” she says. “It’s pretty special when you can make friends again with your high school friends that you haven’t really necessarily kept in touch with. So, it’s pretty special for all of us.”
Bev McDonald, another member of the class, expresses gratitude to the committee.
“We would like to thank the organizers for the very good job they did of getting us all together today. Thank you,” says McDonald.
When asked if future gatherings are in the works, Kruck smiles at the thought.
“Well, we’re thinking about it,” she adds. “We have to get through this one first.”
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