One heck of a party
Photo by Paige HH Photography/ The Teeters Field grandstands packed with Kellogg High School alumni during the All-Class reunion last weekend.
Photos by Stephen Shepperd The Kellogg High School Alumni Band during the KHS All-Class Reunion Parade last Saturday.
KHS All-Class Grand Marshall Phyllis Williams is escorted to the stage by her daughter Sandy Martin. Williams graduated from Kellogg High School in 1934.
Kellogg mayor and KHS graduate Mac Pooler with his wife drive a Corvette during the parade.
KELLOGG— The City of Kellogg doubled its population last weekend as the Kellogg High School (KHS) All-Class Reunion took over the biggest city in the Silver Valley.
“We had 800 alumni who paid and registered, but I would say we had double that with people who came, but didn’t register,” reunion organizer Lori Sawyer said. “But if you count spouses and family members we had a lot of people come into town.”
The event has been hailed as a great success by those who attended, volunteered, organized the event.
“I am still hearing people say how much fun they had,” Sawyer said. “The class meetings were great, the opening and closing ceremonies went terrific, and our parade, our parade was one of, if not the best parade we have had in Kellogg in a long time.”
With most reunions of this magnitude, there tends to be a few people who imbibe a little more than they should and/or find themselves in trouble, but that was not the case at this reunion.
“We had a police officer come to our registration booth on Saturday morning and we all thought that we were in trouble,” Sawyer said. “But that wasn’t the case, other than some minor events we didn’t have any problems. So that was a huge relief.”
That sentiment was echoed by the local law enforcement agencies.
“Overall it was a pretty good crowd of people” Kellogg police officer Paul Twidt said. “They did a excellent job of policing themselves.”
Local businesses were able to use the weekend as a means to give their businesses a boon.
Using a fun ‘wooden nickel’ system, every registered person received four wooden nickels worth $5 each, that could be used at participating businesses.
The way they worked was that they could be redeemed at the businesses.
If someone used a wooden nickel for something that was $2.50, the business did not give change, but still gets fully reimbursed the full $5.
“The wooden nickels were a hit,” Sawyer said. “I wrote a check today for over $12,000 just for wooden nickels. I heard from a lot of businesses that told me that this was the best weekend that they have had in a long time.”
Sawyer remained absolute in her stance that above all, this reunion wasn’t about money or the number of people who showed, it was about reconnecting.
“I watched as people who hadn’t seen each other in decades run into each other at the registration booth,” Sawyer said. “I watched hugs happen and tears flow and it really showed why this event was so important. I’m so thankful I got to be a part of it.”
The next KHS All-Class Reunion is slated for the summer of 2023.
Kellogg legend George White summed the weekend up perfectly.
"That was one heck of a party."