Staff writer
Two longtime favorite former USD 410 employees will be honored Saturday as alumni of Hillsboro High School gather for their annual All-School Reunion banquet at Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church.
Registrations for the event continue to trickle in, Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce office manager Pam Riesen said.
“It’s been going well, we’re climbing. We’re close to 150 now,” Riesen said.
“We do expect a few walk-ins, so that if someone hasn’t registered they can come,” Chamber president Cynthia Fleming said.
The banquet has been an annual affair since 2004, and this is the third consecutive year it will be hosted at Hillsboro MB Church.
Fleming, a member of the reunion planning committee, said Paul Janzen, a science teacher with the district from 1958 to 1992, and Lynn Penner, maintenance supervisor from 1972 to 2002, will be honored during the banquet.
“We try to think about past teachers, past staff, and who we would be interested in hearing from, and who a lot of those in attendance would relate to,” Fleming said.
The reunion banquet was created as a way to give HHS alumni opportunities to attend an event every year where they could have class-specific activities as well as the opportunity to see friends from other classes.
“This is what the committee puts together, and it’s up to the the 5-year and 10-year classes to branch off of that and plan other events,” Fleming said.
“There are some years some people can come back, others can’t,” Fleming said. “We decided we wanted to do it every year, and we highlight those classes that are having 10-year reunions.”
This will be the third year class video slideshows will be a part of the banquet.
“We’ve been doing videos of the various 10-year classes with pictures of the graduates taken out of the yearbook, along with other pictures from that time, put to the music of that era,” Fleming said.
The attendees at past banquets have been skewed toward older classes.
“Until they’ve been out of school 30 years, they’re not as interested,” Fleming said.
The banquet starts at 6:30 p.m., but Fleming said they have planned for early arrivals.
“We usually open the doors at 5:30 so people have time to visit before,” Fleming said.
Pre-registration for the event has closed, but walk-ins are welcome, and the $30 cost per person will be collected at the door.