FORMER CLASSMATES CELEBRATE 57-YEAR REUNION

BENTON -- It's been more than 50 years since they sat behind desks in the classroom at the top of the stairs in St. Denis School in Benton, but the room still looked much the same.

Chalkboards still line the wall and the teacher's desk still sits at the front of the room. But some things have changed over time. There are computers. And now the chairs and desks seemed smaller.

"I don't think we'd fit behind them now," said Francis Diebold as he looked at graduation photographs, attempting to name all the students.

Diebold and his former classmates gathered for a reunion Saturday at the school. They later attended Mass at St. Denis Church and had dinner at a classmate's home in Kelso.

Ten of the 11 members of the eighth-grade class of 1941 returned for their 57th reunion. The 11th classmate is deceased.

While they traded stories and looked at photographs, the former students remembered their days at the school. They were the first class to graduate from the "new" building, which was built in 1941.

But they also reminisced about their days in the old building that burned when they were in sixth grade. Most remembered the fire that destroyed the first school because they were in class at the time.

Shortly after their return from Christmas vacation, a fire broke out in the school's attic and the building was destroyed. Diebold remembered that his books and desk were saved from the blaze.

While the new school was being built, the class met in the jury room at the county courthouse. Other classes were scattered throughout the town, they said.

Meeting next to the jail meant "we got to hear all kinds of language," said Sister Loretta Vetter of Springfield, Ill. It probably wasn't the best education at the time, she said.

But those days were filled with memories for the students. And after more than 50 years the group finally gathered once more to relive them and to swap stories about their lives.

Though a 57-year-reunion isn't traditionally celebrated, it was momentous for this group because it was their first.

Since most of the students who attended the Catholic school ended their education at eighth grade, they seldom saw each other after their graduation.

Occasionally, they would see each other at weddings or funerals, said Rita Klipfel Jansen, who hosted the dinner.

Actually, the reunion was sort of her idea. And with a little prodding from her daughters, Marcella and Linda, she was able to pull it off.

"I had talked about it and wanted to get together since I didn't have a high school reunion," she said. "My daughters said we could do it."

And they did. Most of her classmates stayed in Scott County or had relatives close by so contacting them wasn't too difficult.