Joan Rusenstrom has been spending an awful lot of time with her 1970 Pontiac Protestant High School (PPHS) yearbook lately, which she recently dug out from a box in her basement, tracking down the names of her fellow classmates from her graduating class.
The trip down memory lane is fueled by more than pure nostalgia for Rusenstrom – she’s one of a team of nine PPHS grads working to organize a high school reunion this summer, for all students who graduated from the school between 1969 and 1973 or who were at some point members of the classes that graduated in those five years.
The reunion will be taking place Aug. 2, 2025, at the Shawville Recreation Association. The event, which costs $60 to attend, will include a tour of the school (now simply Pontiac High School), group photos organized by graduating class, a cocktail hour and a roast beef dinner.
“We have the yearbooks, so that’s kind of how we’re [finding] the people that were in each class at the time,” Rusenstrom said, from behind her desk at the Clarendon municipal hall, noting she’s working with Dorris Tracy Beck to track down the 1970 year.
The reunion’s nine-member committee is led by Mary Elliott Zakordonski, who also organized a get-together in 2013 for the PPHS class of 1971.
She meets with two high school friends monthly over FaceTime, but this year wanted to expand the invitation to the high school’s first five graduating classes.
Her motivation, she said, came in part from an article she read from the Mayo Clinic, which cited strong social connections as supportive of healthy aging.
“We’re all aging. I’m in my seventies now, but some of the gang are in their mid-sixties. We need that social interaction. So that was sort of the catalyst in getting this whole thing going,” Zakordonski said.
Zakordonski has fond memories from her years at the Shawville high school, including her time playing for basketball and volleyball teams, on the sidelines as a cheerleader, and most notably, her time with the school band, led by former RCMP musical ride director Edwin Lydall.
“We totally lucked out when Mr. Lydall came from Ottawa [ . . . ] and became our music teacher. He would find us tickets at the National Arts Centre. Never before had I even imagined we would get that in school,” she said. “We had such a great community and some lifelong friends were made.”
Zakordonski moved out to Alberta in the ‘80s where she’s lived ever since, but still considers Shawville to be home and is looking forward to reconnecting with whichever former classmates make it to the reunion.
In the meantime, she said she’s welcoming door prize donations from local businesses for raffle to help cover the costs of renting the RA and hiring a caterer.
Those wishing to purchase tickets can do so by sending an e-transfer to pphsreunioncommittee@gmail.com or by sending a cheque to Kathy Wickens, 331 Somerville Drive, Perth, Ont., K7H 3C6.
Organizers are requesting that, with each ticket purchase, former students include their name (as it appears in the year book), the name of their guest, their current address, email address, phone number and year of graduation.
Space is limited to 150 people, and registration for the reunion closes Apr. 30.
