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‘Living legends’ celebrate 60th class reunion
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .Marilyn Royal (front left), Jane Ann Lesher Riehl, Joan Owens Neumann, Joan Owens Neumann and husbands; (back left) Ron Royal, Gordon Reihl and Douglas Neumann are all Boardman High School alumni. Jane Ann, Douglas and Ron graduated in 1950.
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .Boardman alumnus Joen Pritchard Kinnan was the only former cheerleader that attended the 1950 class reunion July 17. She cheered for three years during high school.
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .Boardman High School's class of 1950 held its 60th class reunion last weekend. The two-day event included museum tours, formal dinners and social gatherings.
In 1950, the Korean War was initiated, the credit card system was introduced to America, the first organ transplant was performed and a class totaling 123 students graduated from Boardman High School.
The class celebrated its 60th class reunion in a two-day event July 16-17. Daily and evening festivities included a formal champagne brunch at the Youngstown Club, museum hopping from the Butler Institute of American Art to the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor with a finale at Caff ® Capri in Boardman.
More than 30 classmates attended the reunion with their spouses. Some Boardman High alumni have remained in the area, while others commuted from California, Florida, Texas and Illinois.
The class, now totaling 81, calls itself “living legends.” Thirty-four members of the class are deceased with an additional eight who cannot be located.
Of the 25 faculty members who worked during their graduating year, Dorthy Longwell Tidd, 94, is the only one who has been found. The current count for faculty members at the high school totals more than 100.
Boardman alumnus Lucille LaMarca Antonelli said many of them started in grade school together and remained together through high school graduation. The small class, compared to Boardman’s 2010 graduating class totaling more than 350 students, share a unique bond that has remained strong over the decades.
The next class get-together is being planned by reunion planner Dale Johnson for 2015. He has been orchestrating the reunions for the past two decades. Specifics for the upcoming reunion are unknown, but each reunion makes way for rekindling childhood friendships, regardless of what events are planned.
“It is always nice to get together with old friends and celebrate our close memories,” Antonelli said.