Organizers of an upcoming HJ Cody High School reunion are hoping the event will offer a kind of connection not quite possible through social media.
A reunion is slated to take place July 24 to 26 for the school’s graduating classes of the 1980s, and while Facebook and other online outlets are being used to spread the word, meeting again in person in an increasingly digital world will be special, assured co-organizer Kelly Resvick.
“We can talk on Facebook and that sort of thing, but to actually sit and connect face-to-face with some people will be quite emotional,” she said.
Resvick graduated from the school in 1986 and said the average grad class size around that time was between 32 and 36 people. She said the town’s comparatively smaller size back then allowed for a very close-knit community.
“It was a small town and we were kind of all friends,” she said. “Everybody knew it as a farming community and that sort of stuff, so we were a close-knit group within the year that we graduated.”
The event will give alumni the chance to reconnect with their old classmates, and with graduates of other years. That means some attendees will see their old classmates for the first time since graduation.
A particular highlight will see alumni taken on a tour through the school — for many, including Resvick, it will be another first since graduation.
“Some people have kids who have gone to the school, but I haven’t been there since we graduated,” she said. “It will be interesting to see how it’s changed.”
The event will be held at the Benalto Fair Grounds where the students enjoyed plenty of good times together, Resvick added.
A tailgate party, picnic, gala, dinner and dance will all be part of the reunion’s lineup of events.
And excitement is quickly spreading into the community.
“There has been a lot of interest in the community in terms of help and donations and that sort of thing, which is nice,” said Resvick.
Many graduates from that era, she added, still reside in the area, though she expects some will travel from afar in order to attend.
Further information is available on the event’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/hjcody.