Scott Swanson
They aren’t as numerous as they once were, but members of the Sweet Home Union High School Class of 1939 still has plenty of vigor.
Eight of the original 43 graduates got together Wednesday, July 6, for their annual reunion, held this year at the Skyline restaurant. This was No. 72.
Present were Velma (Vitek) Cosler, Arlene (Sorseth) and Tyke Sportsman, Jessie (Myer) Burnett, Doreen (Rice) Cookson, Lela (Morehead) Cole, Ron Fogle and Lucille (Paddock) LaLonde. They said five other surviving classmates were missing: Ivan Groshong and Reva (Hughes) Jeffreys, who were under the weather, Mark Kessel and Norma (Thompson) Moxley of Salem, and Bruce Wells of Southern California.
All are moving into their 90s, but they seemed to have lost little, if any, of their mental acuity. They cracked jokes and pondered the reasons for their longevity – but not for long.
“Just must be the air,” said LaLonde, who lives in Springfield.
Burnett said the class numbers have not dwindled much.
“At the 50th and 60th reunions, there were still quite a few of us,” she said.
She noted that only one member was a casualty in World War II, Fred Wodtli.
Cole, who went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education at Albany College (now Lewis and Clark College) in Portland before and after raising her family, said she remembered the quality of Sweet Home schools, particularly the high school.
“When I went to college in the fall of 1939 I found out very fast that I had received an excellent education,” she said. “Other students did not know their parts of speech. I was shocked.”
Cole also recalled the epic spelling bees held at the high school, with students from the 13 districts in the area competing for the top prize: a box of 24 Butterfinger bars – “the big ones, not the little ones we have now,” she said.
“Reva Jo (Jeffreys) and I were the top finishers,” she added, noting that they two dueled until teachers finally called it a draw.
The group, along with family members, enjoyed some lunch and took full advantage of one modern convenience – digital photography – to record the moment.
Fogle noted that he will celebrate his 90th birthday later this summer.
“It feels good to be here,” he said.
“He’s got me by a few months,” said LaLonde, who was sitting nearby.
“I’ve outlived my share,” Fogle said. “I’ve had 22 surgeries. I’m living the good life.”