Class of 64 reunites with a mission
<p>The Class of 1964 stands with their former adviser Alan McCoy and their former music director Gerald Larson. </p>
PLAINS – After 50 years, the graduating class of 1964 was once again reunited, sparking old memories and sharing laughs of reflection, while brainstorming ways to better the P Hill.
The planning stages for the reunion began almost a year ago and for the last five months the organizing committee has been having monthly meetings to ensure everything was ready for the gathering.
The group met at Fred Young Park to kick the long day of events off.
As the group reflected on the times they shared, they also had a new project in the works – upgrading P Hill.
The night before the reunion, a group of the alumni trekked to the top of the P Hill to straighten out a lopsided P.
In a letter to the editor printed in the Clark Fork Valley Press, Merle Johnston, part of the organizing committee wrote that he was shocked by the sight of the P, which at one time “was the pride of Plains High School and was as famous as the M on Mount Sentinel in Missoula.”
He deemed the P as pathetic and began to strike up a conversation on how to make the P the pride of the town again. The group of alumni has been picking up steam towards a goal they have placed.
The group hopes to have a cement P placed on top of the hill.
“I’ve already had five people offer me money,” Jane Bates, part of the organizing committee, said.
In approximately ten days after the reunion, the group was going to receive an estimate for how much it would cost to permanently plant the P. Although some progress has already been made, there is a lot of work left to do.
“We have to make definitive plans that aren’t complete yet and find out what kind of resources we have,” Rich Harter said.
Harter was a graduate of 64 and was also part of the organizing committee for the reunion.
The hope is that people within the community will come together to ensure the success of the new project.
It would also stop the countless attempts of rivalry schools that have taken it upon themselves to mess with the P in order to get a little revenge on Plains High School. The friendly rivalry has been alive and well ever since Bates’ mother was a child.
The P is not only a letter, but it invokes a sense of belonging and rekindles many warm memories for the alumni.
“The night before P day (when then the freshmen painted the P), all the classes would go up there and you’d wrestle, wrestle literally, to see who could get their number in the P,” Bates recalled. “It was always a good day on the P Hill. It means a lot to a lot of people.”
The new project has strengthened the bonds of the classmates and will continue to do so until their project is complete.
“Hopefully we get a lot of alumni interested,” Bates said. “We’ve never failed at anything and we’re not going to fail at this. If we can go up there when we are almost 70 and move rocks around, we can do this.”
Bates sentiment was shared with others on the organizing committee.
The day did not end at the park. The alumni later went on to the golf course for a banquet and those who stayed for an extra day were invited to breakfast at Harter’s home on Sunday.
In all, only six of the living 24 graduates did not attend the reunion. The class was also treated to some of their old teachers who came and celebrated the reunion with their previous classmates, who have now become peers.
Alan McCoy, former science and math teacher at PHS as well as the class’ advisor, was happy to be a part of the day.
“It’s wonderful to be able to see everyone and see what they’ve reached in life,” McCoy said. “When we see each other, it’s always great.”