By Angie Sullivan
Sutton District High School welcomed almost 200 former students to their 50th Anniversary Reunion on June 7.
The Lake Simcoe Arms was packed to capacity as past students gathered in Jackson’s Point. Attendees travelled in from all over Canada, including from as far as Nanaimo, BC.
The main event of the reunion centered around the opening of a time capsule placed at the school in 1974. All proceeds from ticket sales went to The Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
Gary Wheeler, one of the main organizers, said, “I did not want to host an event in the school’s courtyard that would be like Geraldo Rivera using two hours of prime time TV to open Al Capone’s vault, only to find that it was empty…”
The organizers encountered a snag when they discovered water ruined the contents of the capsule but Wheeler explained they still revealed an ersatz capsule containing replicas of some of the things in the original.
Wheeler said, “Just as Christmas still came to the Whos in Whoville even after the Grinch had stolen all the presents, so should a gathering come to us even though the Grinch of water damage has stolen our capsule. Because this reunion really isn’t about opening a bunch of relics from the past. It’s about reopening friendships with people who were once at the center of our lives.”
The recreated capsule contained essays from 1974 students on “The World in Fifty Years”, a 1970’s flyer from the Simcoe Theatre, A CHUM chart from June 1, 1974 showing “The Streak” by Ray Stevens as the number one song, cassette and 8-track tapes, a golf ball from the Briars, old-fashioned gym shorts, and even vintage issues of Playboy and Playgirl to name a few items.
Michael Hurley brought his camera and snapped tons of photos. Hurley said, “It was fun to reconnect with old friends and reminisce about past times. As well as catch up with what people have been doing in their lives.”
To watch a video about the time capsule, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5D9oCkxES4
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