It was 1969! Prime Minister Trudeau was our leader. Singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot was topping the charts and Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon. Free spirits gathered at Woodstock where they smoked marijuana. A White Paper was written to try to correct wrongs done in the past to First Nations people.
It was a busy year even in southern Saskatchewan where sixty-six individuals, one of the largest classes ever, graduated from Indian Head High School.
The graduating class consisted of a varied group of individuals, ranging from sixteen years to twenty-one years of age. Some had spread their high school learning over a period of time that was beyond the traditional four years while others had been accelerated, taking their first four elementary grades over a period of three years. Several had been bussed to the school each day from their homes in the nearby town of Sintaluta.
The group consisted of many who had grown up on a farm and others who were raised in town settings. Their skills and interests varied and were nurtured by the options offered in sports, music and academic programs at the high school.
When graduation arrives in a person's life, dreams and goals begin to materialize. Some grads planned to go to university, while others were seeking jobs. A few were going to stay on the family farm or join the family business. Many had hopes for starting families of their own. And because of this, the sixty-six would never again live in the same place.
Even with change, some things stay the same over time.
It is almost fifty years since our class of 1969 graduated. Our present Prime Minister is named Trudeau. Gordon Lightfoot is still entertaining and the newly-released movie "First Man" tells the story of Neil Armstrong's life and accomplishment. Recreational marijuana is now legal and despite our efforts, we continue to struggle with correcting the wrongs done in the past to First Nations people.
Some of the grads from our class have been talking about having a fifty-year reunion and are on a quest for connection. A Facebook page that is headed with the class photo has been set up so that information can be shared. One of the grads who had kept a Program from the Ceremonies as well as a yearbook helped to form a list of those in our class, but we don't have contact information for everyone.
Yes, we will be returning to our home town of Indian Head in 2019. You see no matter where we have been or what we have done over the past five decades, we still value our shared history and the wonderful foundation that we were given there.
Do you have a quest for connection? If so, what are you going to do about it?