Wyndmere School Reunion

Newsletter

The Class Reporter

Wyndmere High School Alumni Association

Volume1, Issue 1

October 14, 2006

Contents

2010 Reunion Ahead

Class of 1956 Holds 50 Year Reunion

First Reunion, revisited

We Will Miss

A note to our alumni family

The Wyndmere High School Alumni Association newsletter is hot off the press and we're very proud of it.  The decision to publish a newsletter, at most annually, was made after it was realized that we needed to maintain contact with our alumni base and keep active every year, not just every five years.

2010 Reunion ahead

With the 2010 Reunion looming in the not-so-distant future, we felt that the time was right for starting our endeavor to keep up with you!  It is our wish that you will share your stories with us, for future publication or for the website.  We'd love to know where you are and what you do, and possibly your memories of WHS and of the City of Wyndmere.

We know that many of you share fond memories of conquests on the football field, the basketball court, in drama, band and choir.  We want to hear your stories of glory and sorrow!

Perhaps you have a great story (able to be published, of course) of a teacher or administrator!

As 2010 will also be Wyndmere's 125th Anniversary, we are looking for stories about our town and the people whom have lived in it.  Wyndmere may have quieted down a bit since its glory days, but most of us have great memories of yesteryear ~ no matter how silly or sad.  We, in turn, will keep you posted with your stories, your successes, and of course, the passing of our alumni family.  Return to top.

Class of 1956 Holds 50 Year Reunion

On September 11 & 12th, 2006, the Class of 1956 held its 50th reunion in Wahpeton, ND.  Monday, the festivities were held at "The Grillroom" at the Bois de Sioux Golf Course and Tuesday's activities were held at Prante's Restaurant.  Each evening, the group went on to have an evening of conversation and reminiscing at one of the meeting rooms at the Hospitality Inn.  According to my source, JoAnn Solberg, a wonderful time was had by all.  In attendance were 17 WHS grads & former students: Karen (Fluto) Zimmer, Byron Johnson, Clint Kurtz, Nick Poss, Roger Stallman, Eileen (Hendrickson) Holte, Roger Lonbakken, JoAnn (Frisk) Solberg, Corrine (Jordheim) Anderson, Jeannette (Kurtz) Breuer, Don Haertling, Kathleen (Klosterman) Campbell, Earl Simdorn, Nancy (Carver) Link, Jackie (Friskop) Krieger, Richard Lekang, and Julie (Staber) Moorhead and accompanying spouses.  Return to top.

First Reunion, revisited (Click for photo of Lois Stallman, Kay Schram and Jeannette Nagel)

On a beautiful September Saturday, I had the privilege of interviewing three WHS alumni, Kay (Staber) Schram '34, Lois (Jensen) Stallman '46, and Jeannette (Jensen) Nagel '48, about the very first WHS Alumni Reunion, which was held on June 23, 24 and 25, 1962.  Each had a vivid memory of this reunion and each shared their stories for this article.  This event would prove to be the first All Class - All School Reunion held in the state of North Dakota.  In conjunction with the reunion, and perhaps the very reason for its inception, was the dedication of the new high school building. Officers for that first Alumni Association were Robert McMichael '44, President; A.H. Berg '28, V.President; Jo Gannon '41,Treasurer; and Ellen Dahl '19, Secretary.  This was an auspicious occasion for the school district, which was experiencing great growth after consolidation with other schools and the opening of a brand new school.

This reunion provided style and class that all future reunions could only hope to accomplish. Co-chairing the reunion, were Mrs. Kay Schram and Harriet (Mrs. Douglas) Rhodenbaugh.  Kay was instrumental in putting together the menu, and it was a menu that would impress even the most discerning palate!

For the monumental price of $3.50 per person, alumni and their guests were treated to punch and hors d'oeuvres, which consisted of two identical tables featuring smoked King Salmon, cold giant shrimp, which were displayed on cone-shape trees designed of chicken wire to Kay's specifications, and two giant watermelons, carved and filled with fresh fruit. In charge of the hors d'oeuvres were Dorothy Klosterman, Madelyn (Moulsoff) Haberman '40, and Elaine (Mrs. Ed) Sellner. Fifty pounds of shrimp were consumed that night! Kay, not satisfied with the unpainted cement block wall as the backdrop for the hors d'oeuvres tables, "wallpapered" the walls with painted corrugated cardboard decorated with palm trees to make a more pleasing background.

The first course was a garden salad with sliced tomatoes. The main course was Prime Rib Roast, baked potato, glazed carrots, and peas. Dessert was Key Lime Pie. Of course, coffee flowed like water. Condiments were on each of the tables in the gymnasium.

Now, this all sounds delectable and fun, but behind the scenes some pretty wild things were happening! Early on, the issue of what to use for tableware emerged. Certainly, all the churches could be asked for their dinnerware, but then there was the issue of sorting it all out. So, Kay went to the Rosemeade Pottery Plant in Wahpeton and asked them if they could make 750 five piece place settings of dinnerware. That was a little beyond their capabilities, but they knew of a plant in Ohio that could make the sets for little or nothing. The Rosemeade people told Kay that they would design a decal featuring the new school and dates of the reunion and affix it on the dinnerware and glaze it one more time. A price was set and plans were in motion. Kay, having had a lot of experience with the food industry, put her knowledge to work. She ordered two 3' x 2' blocks of sanitary ice from a company in Minneapolis and had it shipped by rail. From the blocks, punch bowls were formed with WHS carved into the sides. Nothing but the best, for Kay! Then came the dilemma of food preparation. The cafeteria was not finished in the new school, and the only running water was in the chemistry room ~ you remember ~ the gooseneck faucets! Salad could be assembled in that room, but not much else could be done. So, once again, Kay put her wheels in motion. Kay ordered the food items through Dick Kelly (Kelly's Steakhouse) in Wahpeton. The bakery in Wahpeton was secured to bake the Prime Rib Roast and the bakery in Breckenridge was secured to bake all of the potatoes. Nick Schmit II fashioned shelves in the back of his pickup with 4' x 8' sheets of plywood. Eva Kelly (Dick's mom) stayed at the bakery and watched over the roasts. When the roasts were almost done, Nick flew down the road to Wahpeton, picked up the roasts, slid them into the shelves, drove quickly over to Breckenridge and picked up the potatoes in big washtubs, and proceeded to drive 90 mph back to Wyndmere. Remember, Highway 13 was not paved at that time. Can't you just see the dust? The trip was just enough "standing" time for the roasts and they were ready to be carved upon delivery to the school. A butcher from Lisbon came over and cut the meat in the Vo-Ag shop. Kay particularly wanted glazed carrots for the vegetable, but wasn't sure how to prepare them, so she went and purchased a cookbook for $20, and used their recipe.

Prior to the reunion, area ladies had made 125 Key Lime Pies and froze them in the locker plant in downtown Wyndmere. They did make one concession and purchased the graham cracker crusts pre-made in aluminum pie tins, and utilized the one working stove in the new school for the preparation of the Knox Gelatin, egg yolk and lime juice cooked filling.

Kay, Harriet and their committee of every Wyndmere woman they could recruit, assigned 20 high school girls to act as waitresses. They wore black skirts and white blouses. Several high school boys were chosen to wear black pants, white butcher jackets, white chef's hats and black cardboard mustaches. The boys placed the meat on each plate. Jack Olson, of Olson Jewelers, stood at the doorway to the gymnasium and gave each loin of meat a squirt of alcohol and quickly lit it, so each plate glowed as it was brought into the gym. What a sight this must have been! Elegance, beyond belief!

Kay said that one of her biggest mistakes was not having enough coffee! She had procured Oscar Stai and Jim Kelly to make the coffee, because word had it they really knew how to brew a mean cup of joe! They just weren't quite brewing it fast enough, because they ran out a couple of times.

The flowers that decorated all the tables were gathered from every flower garden in the area. Jo (Blazek) Gannon and Harriet Rhodenbaugh were in charge of the decorating.

A photographer had been hired to chronicle the event, but he apparently had one too many in Fargo and never showed up, so Virginia (Vaplon) Goerger, at the ripe old age of 21, took candid pictures of the event.

At the end of the evening, rather than washing dishes, alumni were given the chance to purchase their place settings sitting in front of them for the vast price of $1.00! Plates were simply wiped off, and taken home!

This had been one grand event! There was a "transportation" committee consisting of Howard Frisk '54, William Kuchera '31 and Curt Anderson '61. Milo Olson '41, was in charge of chinaware sales, memorabilia rooms were taken care of by Adelaide Wodarz '44, Margaret (Springer) Matthews '26, and Ruby (Hanson) Reiter '17. There were planning, membership, registration, decorating, reception and program committees. In total, over 121 persons were named to committees ~ spanning Richland County and perhaps further!

And, so, although this reunion could never be re-created, it can certainly be remembered as a fabulous event with wonderful, dedicated people at the helm of it all.  Thank you, Kay, Lois and Jeannie for your great stories and thank you to all the great people who helped pull off this "King" of all reunions!

Kay (Staber) Schram is currently enjoying leisure living in her apartment in Fargo, ND.  At 90 years young, she is vibrant, fearless and has a fabulous memory. This summer she went rafting down the river at the base of the Cascade Mountains in Washington State.

Lois (Jensen) Stallman is currently enjoying residing at Riverview Place, a retirement community in south Fargo. She enjoys reading, playing cards, keeping track of her children, ten grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and volunteering at the Riverview front desk.

Jeannette (Jensen) Nagel spends her leisure time in Wahpeton, ND.  Jeannie also enjoys reading, traveling, spending time with her grandsons and volunteering at St. Francis Hospital in Breckenridge, MN.  Return to top.

We Will Miss...the following have passed on since the last reunion

Return to top.

A note to our alumni family

It is our constant endeavor to keep our alumni database as concise and up-to-date as possible.  We can only do that with your help. If you are aware of an address change, email address change, WHS Family death, or would like to submit an article for the next newsletter, please write:

Renee Sander

3834 Kensington Drive

West Fargo, ND 58078-7907   (Renee Stallman Sander '74)   

or email us at:  info@wyndmerereunion.com

I'd love to hear from you and welcome any information that you might have!

Please send us your email addresses! We can email our newsletters to you for free!  Postage & printing costs for this mailing alone were $850. We welcome any donations to the WHS Alumni Association to help defray the cost of keeping you informed.

Return to top.