The ties that bind: Elk River Class of '38 reunion

The Elk River High School Class of 1938 still remembers, if somewhat more haltingly these days.

The reminiscences come from pictures and newspaper clippings being passed around the table, gentle proddings and reminders from classmates and other memories that link to one another in a lengthening chain of association. Names are forgotten, then remembered, events at first hazy gain clarity, and remembrance of who was in the school musical turns into a live rendition of one of the songs. The topics of conversation haven't changed much over time.

"It's what we used to do, 'Do you remember this?,' and what's happening in town that we don't like," said Gladys Plude, who organized the 71-year reunion for the Class of '38, held last Wednesday at the Elk River Perkins Restaurant.

Of course, the number of participants has dwindled. A photo from the 50th reunion, held in 1988, shows the majority of the 60-member class gathered at the Elk River American Legion Post for a group photo. Wednesday, 10 class members attended, accompanied by two spouses, one son and one daughter.

Over the years, the biggest single cause of death among the class was World War II, which claimed the lives of 10 members. Another classmate, Jack Bade, was a test pilot who died in a crash shortly after the war. Reunion participant Helen Benson reckoned as many as 20 members might still be alive.

'We've kept in touch'

Plude said reunions aren't held every year. It's more like every five years or so when there's an official reunion and invitations are sent out. Anyway, it isn't a matter of old acquaintances seeing each other for the first time in years. Accounting for attrition, pretty much the same group has been getting together much more frequently for decades.

"Most of us were born and raised here in Elk River," Plude said. "And then, for our whole lives, we've kept in touch. And here we are, 70 years later, and we still get in touch."

Plude herself didn't start coming to the reunions until the 50th, after her husband died, but that wasn't any big deal, since she saw her old classmates regularly anyway. There has been a little moving around since high school days. One classmate at last week's reunion lives in Osseo. Another moved to Rogers. Another lives in Minneapolis. There's one who relocated to Wyoming (Minnesota, that is).

As they dove into their hamburgers, salads and turkey wraps, members of the Class of '38 recalled the 50th reunion as a rather active affair: brunch at Kathryn Cornelius' home, a bus tour of district schools, then dinner and a dance at the Legion hall. With advancing age taking its toll, Wednesday was a much simpler, more sedate affair: lunch and conversation. And a surprise visitor, Elk River schools superintendent Mark Bezek, stopped in to present the class with little congratulatory plaques and gave a brief talk peppered with reminders of what life was like in 1938. A new car cost $750. A gallon of gas cost 10 cents. Orson Welles broadcast his notorious "War of the Worlds" faux news flash. Heads nodded at the mention of the show.

Ages of the remaining members of the Class of '38 range from 88 to 90. A few have gotten hard of hearing. Most had to be driven to the reunion. Age certainly hasn't staunched curiosity, strong opinion and a certain black humor. Plude chuckled when she remembered the last reunion, also held at Perkins, last October.

"When the waitress came with the food, half of them forgot what they ordered," she said.

Milking trumped cheering

Going back to the well of old memories can bring back little disappointments.

"I couldn't be a cheerleader because I had to milk a cow," said Cornelius. That observation rang true with the group. Back in the '30s, lots of Elk River students came from farm families. The group recalled the class valedictorian, who became a judge, and another classmate, who became a pastor. Someone observed that no one married a classmate, though one married into the class behind them, and another married the bus driver. Someone mentioned that Plude made the best lemon pies in home economics class. Another touched on going up to "the dam" during school, though the secrets of the dam remained veiled to an outsider. Among the group, there is the sense that their camaraderie is not shared by the generations that came after them.

"Our kids probably went to one or two of their reunions, and that's it," Benson said. When asked whether there will be a 72nd reunion, there's some understandable hesitation to commit.

"If I'm alive, yeah," said Douglas Scharber.

"I don't know if this will be the last one," Benson said.

Norman Draper • 612-673-4547