Waterville All-School Reunion June 25-26 continues to add events
Plans continue to progress for the Waterville All-School Reunion, which is open to anyone who ever attended or was affiliated with the school, June 25-26.
In 1960, when the Waterville High School closed with students going to Waukon, the student census at the Waterville School for kindergarten through 12th grade was 323. Today the town of Waterville has a population of 143, but one can imagine that Saturday, June 25, when all roads lead to Waterville for reunion activities, that population will be bursting at the seams.
Activities will begin at 10 a.m. when the school, library, city hall, fire station and former Lutheran Church will be open for visitors to “remember when.” Perhaps reunion-goers were baptized, confirmed, married or attended church and Bible School at the church on the hill. City Hall and the library, whose sites connect, are home to the graduation class pictures. The City Hall will also be hosting a display of “old days in Waterville.”
Along with a visit to the school and remembering the first day of school, the chemistry lab, the “little gym”, or the baseball diamond in back, visitors will get to enjoy watching “Granny Basketball.” This game was brought to life in Lansing, and teams from Lansing and Harpers Ferry will have a game before challenging the “Waterville All Stars" (Grannies or Grampies) to a game. Visit the reunion website, Waterville.Weebly.com, to sign up.
The Fire Station will have on display fire engines and EMS vehicles. Lunch will be available there for a free will donation, hosted by the Waterville "Parents for Progress” organization. Connie and Jay Halvorson from Eagle's Landing Winery in Marquette will host a wine tasting at the fire station.
To avoid parking issues, two area men have volunteered to ferry guests from site to site in their wagons outfitted to do just that. They are guaranteed to be more comfortable than the horse-drawn buses used in the early days of the Waterville School.
Waterville’s first graduating class was in 1923. The daughter of one of those first graduates is planning to attend the reunion.
A program is being planned for those attending the banquet Sunday, June 26 at the Waukon Banquet Center. There will be memory joggers, music, laughter, and time for visiting with former classmates and friends.
More information, including lodging, Granny Basketball sign-up, and reservation forms, is available on the reunion website at Waterville.Weebly.com. Reservations for the banquet are requested by May 1 and can be made by sending the registration fee of $25 per person, made out to “Waterville Reunion,” to Cletus Mathis at 506 Fifth Avenue NW, Waukon, IA 52172.
Those attending are sure to remember that community pride is at the heart of what has always made, and continues to make, Waterville and her school something to brag about.
