Submitted by John Reque, SV Class of ‘49
BALDWIN, WI – “Quite a group!” commented Carol Karnes Bevill who served on the reunion committee with me who sent the photograph from the reunion last Friday. This is a follow-up to the notice of the reunion we published in the July 18, 2024, Sun-Argus.
Seven members of the Spring Valley High School (SVHS) Class of 1949 gathered for their 75th Annual Reunion on Friday, August 2, 2024, at the Phoenix Restaurant in Baldwin, Wisconsin.
“We believe we are the first SVHS class to hold a 75th reunion,” said John Reque, who with Carol Karnes Bevill served on the reunion committee.
Of the 57 class members who graduated in 1949, nine are still living, three men and six women. The committee expected an attendance of between four and seven classmates. And seven alumni were able to attend this fun get together.
“It was just lunch,” said Reque, explaining that the event coincides with annual SVHS reunions at the Phoenix on the first Friday of August. “We’ve had 13 reunion gatherings – every five years since our tenth reunion in 1959 – and we’d like to keep them going.”
The largest SVHS class of ’49 reunion was the 50th, in 1999 when 32 grads met for a weekend that included a banquet at the Coachman Supper Club, tours of the old and new high school, and a St. Croix River brunch cruise.
1949 was an interesting year. It was the 10th and last year of the 1940s decade. On January 20, 1949, Harry S. Truman was sworn in for a full term, as President of the United States. In was on March 2, 1949, that the B-50 Superfortress “Lucky Lady II” landed in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight (it was refueled in flight 4 times).
The 21st Academy Awards Ceremony was held on March 24. The movie “Hamlet” wins the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was on April 4, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., creating the NATO defense alliance. Israel is admitted to the United Nations, as its 59th member on May 11, 1949.
Yes, 1949 was quite a year!
It wasn’t too long after that when 57 class members of Spring Valley High School graduated in 1949.
Congratulations to the remaining members of the Class of 49’ on your 75th Reunion!
