Undrunk beer discovered in Saguenay, Homecoming bucket bash set for 2014 Hey, gang! We’re baaaaack…. More than three decades after a little ragtag bunch of homesick believers got together in 1982 to begin a two-year slog to create the still-notorious Homecoming ’84 Saguenay Valley reunion, we are forced to concede that age has not brought wisdom—and we’re at it again. Welcome to Homecoming 2014 (The Blueberry Bucket Bash) the third and likely last of three reunions (following 1984 and 1989) built roughly around the SVHS class of 1964, the first full-year group that graduated 50 years ago as of next June. We emphasize “roughly” because the ’64 class wasn’t big enough to provide the 120 people who attended the 20th-anniversary riot in 1984. Then, as now, this is not one of those massive all-years high school reunions where you can’t find anyone you know, but rather has always been based on an ever-expanding list of declared participants under the headline “this is who is coming—if you would enjoy partying with them, join up!” In short, this is an event that will attract ex-pats not just from SVHS, but those of us from all over Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean who hung out together in the late 1950s to mid-1960s. More than 70 showed up for a Kenogami Teen Town reunion last year. A similar number attended a Riverbend event. We expect most of those will be back for Homecoming 2014 and lot more from active Facebook groups linking 1950s and ’60s people from our home towns of Kenogami, Arvida, Bagotville, Riverbend, Dolbeau, etc. Thanks to the modern wonders of Facebook and email, we won’t have to spend two years investing a small fortune on stamps and long-distance phone calls. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and so all else will be much the same. The last two Homecomings were based around the July 1 long weekend because we were all working then. Most of us are retired now, but long weekends still determine a lot of our plans. So Friday June 27 to Tuesday July 1 is it. That leaves us with the normal Friday evening reception June 27 at whatever hotel we choose as our focal point for events, Saturday night dinner-dance featuring “our” music and Sunday barbecue or brunch. It would normally be a farewell Monday breakfast after that, but we have that extra day, so who knows. This leaves lots of time for exploring or organizing other events for those interested. For example, we had a tour of SVHS in 1984, but didn’t repeat it in 1989 (because most of the same people attended both reunions). That could be done again, if there is a demand. A fair number of participants took Saguenay River cruises in 1989. We will NOT be organizing a golf tournament, but you duffers can gauge interest for your own event through this Facebook site. We are fortunate that members of the organizing committee for the first Homecoming bash in 1984 are still with us. Tom Turnbull, Dave Sangster and Gord Lovelace got together Saturday for beers and unwrapped amazingly detailed notes from previous events. We’ll be after more old and new volunteers in the coming days. This first announcement will also be going out by regular email to a lot of contacts we know are not on Facebook. We invite everyone to spread the word to those on their own lists and keep us posted on the response. Forget all that other minor stuff on your bucket list—Homecoming 2014 will top them all.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 17:20:44 +0000
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