LHS Class of 1975 Holds 50-Year Reunion

Photos by Tom Burkhardt

The Laurel High School Class of 1975 always knew how to have a good time, and on October 3 we proved that spirit was still alive when 73 LHS alumni and guests rocked at the Savage Fire Department to celebrate 50 years since graduation! Some classmates had come from as far away as Las Vegas, Alaska, and Scotland, while others were still relatively local; most of us needed no convincing at all to make the decision to attend such a milestone event.

Class members received a tour of Laurel High School, where they enjoyed seeing what had changed (and what hadn’t) in 50 years.

LHS Tour

The reunion festivities started Friday with a tour of Laurel High School, led by Social Studies Department Chair Brian Wenk. Principal Mike Dinkins also greeted the alumni. The first stop on the tour was the auditorium; although the paint and tables were different, class members said the room felt the same to them. Class members were impressed by the new stadium behind the school, with an artificial turf field, great press box, and a very special welcome to the Class of 75 on the electronic scoreboard. The group also walked over to the newest addition on the site where Margaret Edmonston Elementary School had been—another school some of the class members had attended.

We Thought We Might Never Pass This Way Again—But We Did!

Alumni and guests enjoyed food, danced to music played by LHS Class of 1973 alum DJ Bobby Walters, selected door prizes—which included copies of Lost Laurel by Richard Friend—and viewed a slide show to the music of the class prom theme, “We May Never Pass This Way Again.” We spent time catching up with old friends and getting acquainted with new ones—in a class of more than 400 there is no way anyone could have been close to every classmate during high school. At every reunion I have attended, I have had the opportunity to hold a significant conversation with someone in the class I had never talked to before, because after 50 years there is no such thing as a clique. We also had an opportunity to honor the memory of class members who had passed away, with an “In Memoriam” book. It was very humbling to learn how many of our peers were already gone.

The reunion committee minus Sue Keadle Slebodnik at Oliver’s: Ken Smallwood, Debbie Coleman Smith, Ginny May Geis, Cheryl Meehan Simmons, and Terri Koontz Cohen

Multi-Class Gathering at Oliver’s

Saturday evening, we gathered with our classmates and members of other LHS classes in a more intimate setting at Oliver’s, where an annual multi-class reunion takes place the first weekend of October. LHS alumni from several classes reminisced and marveled at what everyone had accomplished since graduation. Some people looked exactly the same, but I had to identify others by discreetly peeking at their nametags!

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Virginia May Geis is a native of Laurel and a graduate of Laurel High School, class of 1975. After a few decades away, she has been a Laurel resident again, since 2018.