It’s amazing that even after 50 years, memories of our school days and growing up in Silver Bay are still so vivid. When you think about how blessed we were and how magical those years were, there is really no comparison with what the world is like now. You sure can’t kiss your mom good bye in the morning and head for the woods to play with the understanding that you just had to be home before dark. J I think the class of 1971 was truly an exceptional one. We were so lucky that we got to know everyone in that class, especially since the majority of us had known each other since kindergarten! I feel like we were all such good friends and had so much fun together! When I look through our yearbook, it brings back such fond memories of our amazing high school years. Our teachers were incredible… Mr. Frahm, who developed in me my love for Shakespeare and who had the honor and challenge of doing behind the wheel training for Kathleen Smrekar and me at the same time! J John Salls, who taught me what “My Philosophy of Life” was when I didn’t have a clue what philosophy even meant! Fred Mismash, who would sit back in his chair, twirling his pencil and just shake his head at all our craziness. Mr. VanDuzee, who we tortured in band every day but he stuck with us! Art Pryzbilla, who taught us how much fun and rewarding the art of drama was (remember My Fair Lady?)! The wonderful thing about these teachers is that they encouraged us to be ourselves, to explore and be inquisitive about life, and even though I’m sure we drove them crazy, deep down inside I think they really liked us!
Special memories I hold dear are our senior class trip, our band trips, the night we took the bus to Duluth to see Romeo and Juliet (with the Righteous Brothers, Young Girl, playing on the radio), standing in the lunch line in the cafeteria, weekend movies in the school auditorium (which looks fabulous after the renovations!), dances at the Union Hall, hockey games in the new indoor arena, the Malt Shop, wearing wool shorts in the middle of winter and freezing my knees white walking home from school carrying my French horn, the after Prom dances...I could go on and on… But in closing I guess I’m trying to say that I treasure these memories, and I want to thank my ’71 classmates for making those years so, so special.
