Class Reunion Goes Beyond Mere Tradition

When Lind High School’s class of 1930 got together for its 10-year reunion back in 1940, just about everyone had a good time.

Let’s do it again, someone said. And they have. Again and again and again.

Saturday the class of ‘30 held a 65-year reunion at the Lind Senior Center, a couple of doors down from the Golden Grain Cafe in the heart of the wind-swept Adams County farm town.

Interest in the hors d’oeuvres and green punch ran a distant second to the lure of catching-up conversations.

“This used to be a drug store,” said George Nickell, a retired real estate man who lives on Spokane’s South Hill.

“A lot has changed,” said Ruth Wahl, a retired teacher whose home is outside Lind. “A lot.”

But not their interest in one another.

The class of ‘30 made a decision to stay in touch. And they kept their word.

They’re in their 80s now.

Nickell, pointing out a classmate seated near a dining table, said “He’s the fellow with white hair.”

Then he paused. A smile crept over his lined face. “I guess we’ve all got white hair, don’t we.”

The phone-and-address list keeps getting shorter. “It’s happening,” said Wahl. “We miss them terribly.”

But Frances Crosby’s scrapbook bulges with reminders of their youth.

There were 18 seniors that year. One beautiful girl died of pneumonia a month before graduation. Ten classmates are still living.

Eight showed up for the reunion Saturday. “There’s a special bond,” said Crosby, who lives in Seattle. “These are special friendships.”

One reason they get along is that they had to back then. There wasn’t much choice. A class that small left little room for cliques and snobbery.

They were the first Lind graduates to wear cap and gown.

Their school building was demolished more than 30 years ago. So, later Saturday, when they would all troop over to the high school for the annual all-classes alumni banquet, they would be stepping into a structure built long after their teen memories were made.

But when it came time to introduce the class of ‘30, there would be clapping and huzzahs.

“If there isn’t,” said Crosby, “we’ll applaud ourselves.”

That’s what they’ve been doing for 65 years. You can ask any of them, and they’ll tell you. It’s a sweet, sweet sound.

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