A group of Jackson High School alumni -- graduates of the years 1960 through 1970 -- hope to bring together about 1,000 of their classmates for a huge reunion this fall.
About 15 Jackson alumni, each representing their graduating class, are compiling mailing lists and readying invitations for the 1960s reunion, tentatively set to take place Nov. 24 at the Holiday Inn in Cape Girardeau.
Pete Statler, a Cape County associate circuit judge and a member of the Jackson class of 1960, hopes that the timing of the gathering -- to be held on the Friday following Thanksgiving -- will make attending more convenient for members of the class, many of whom will already be in town visiting relatives.
"I think it will be fun," said Statler. "We are hoping to get together maybe 500 to 1,000 people. We are hoping that a lot of people will already be in town on the day after Thanksgiving and by Friday they would be sick of turkey and sitting around and be ready to get out and meet a few friends."
Statler is representing the class of 1960 and has taken on the responsibility of contacting his classmates and making them aware of the reunion.
Statler and the other class representatives have already drafted an invitation letter and, according to class of 1966 representative Vickie Litzelfelner Abernathy, these letters should be in the mail sometime in July.
Abernathy said the job of organizing the huge reunion has been made easier by the fact that each class has maintained good records concerning the whereabouts of its members. In addition, representatives of each class have stepped forward and agreed to be responsible for contacting the members of their respective classes.
The reunion remains in its seminal stage at this point, said Abernathy.
"We are just getting it into people's minds," she said. "We will be getting letters out the first of July with the name of the person they can contact for information."
The organizers hope the event will be attended not only by class members who have moved out of the area, but also by those who have remained in Southeast Missouri. This has not been the case in the past, said Statler.
"There is a core group of people who have remained in the area," said Statler. "We've found from past reunions, though, that the people from out of town drive in for the reunion and those that live in the area stay home."
Readers who wish to take part in the reunion and wish to be placed on the mailing list for an invitation should contact the representative of their class. Class representatives: 1960, Pete Statler; 1961, Barbara Hurst, Pat Randol Conley and Mary Schoen Stanley; 1962, Emily Poe Tuschhoff and Rhonda Walters Wallis; 1963, Janet Nelson Ludwig; 1964, David L. Ludwig; 1965, Alice Nitsch Benton; 1966, Vickie Litzelfelner Abernathy; 1967, Pam Priest Whaley and Mack Illers; 1968, Sharon Stover Strack and Jill Piepenbrok Macke; 1969, Jackie Lewis Johnson; and 1970, Patty Stroder Reisenbichler, Mary Beth Prill Williams.
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