The Prince George Senior Secondary Class of 1968 is holding a ‘Reconnect’ on August 17-18, 2018 and although considerable progress has been made to date, work is still proceeding on contacting as many grads as possible.
It’s been 50 years since the Class of ’68 graduated from what was then, a brand new school. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the current campus of PGSS. The building was targeted to open at the beginning of the school year in September 1967 but was not completed until mid-winter. On February 1, 1968 a ‘great trek’ occurred wherein the entire staff and student body marched en masse from the old building on Ross Crescent to the new building.
At that time, Prince George was in the first years of a phase of enormous expansion that accompanied the arrival of the pulp mills and this new state-of-the-art building was a great source of civic pride.
The year 1967-68 also marked the beginning of the counter-culture movement and changing social mores and Prince George was not immune. Within PGSS there was much discussion around “academic freedom” and “student power” to which the administration was resolutely opposed and so tensions arose from time to time including around the planning of the graduation ceremonies and celebrations.
“Fifty years later, it doesn’t seem quite so serious,” says John Aitken, organizing committee member and class president. “Most of us have survived and thrived. Some of us left Prince George, some of us stayed and some of us returned later on. I fall into the latter category, having recently returned after 50 years away. Now it’s time to celebrate.”
The ‘Reconnect’ for the Class of ’68 will feature two days of events.
Friday, August 17: Bentley Center, UNBC, 5-12 p.m., dinner, dancing, reconnecting, etc. for grads and partners. The evening will be largely informal but the class valedictorian and others have been invited to make a few remarks.
Saturday, August 18: L’Heidli T’enneh Park, Bandshell area, 1-6 p.m., picnic and social for grads, partners, families, friends, PGSS grads from other years, etc.
The Class of ’68 had about 360 students, of which about 250 attended that year’s graduation ceremonies. About 180 have been contacted so far about the ‘Reconnect’ with about 70 confirming attendance and another 70 contemplating attending. In addition, six former teachers are also confirmed to be attending.
If you would like more information, contact John Aitken at bcbcjohn@hotmail.com.