On Saturday, June 6, the Wessington Springs High School (WSHS) Class of 1974 gathered for their 50th year class reunion. With a full day of tours throughout various new and updated buildings around Springs, the group of 32 kept busy reminiscing about their high school days.
Tours of WSHS, Jerauld County Pioneer Museum and the Springs Rec Center addition were enjoyed by all.
“The whole class was really impressed with the tours. A lot has changed since high school,” said member of the Class of ‘74, Darrell Deneke.
The tour of the Rec Center in particular brought back memories from the WSHS basketball team that had a stellar season in 1974.
“We had the starting five from the class of 1974 out there shooting hoops and we talked about the season we had that year. We narrowly missed a trip to state after being defeated at regions,” remembered Deneke.
At 6 p.m. the class met at Springs Inn for a program and meal.
They started out with a bittersweet program honoring the 15 of 63 classmates who had passed away with a slide show created in their memory, followed by a moment of silence.
“When we were freshmen, there were 74 of us in the Class of ’74. That was our motto ’74 in 74,’” recalled Deneke. “When it came time to graduate, the class size was down to 63 students.”
After the memorial, Steve Lee (class president), asked his fellow classmates to share a memorable event or a nugget of wisdom they may have learned over the last 50 years.
“We talked about how many of us moved to different states and what we’ve been up to since high school,” said Deneke. “We have classmates that now live all over the country. Idaho, California, Washington, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and the furthest away is Alan Budahl from Alaska. I know I forgot some other states, but a great time was had by all.”
The last time the Class of 1974 held a reunion was in 1999 for their 25th class reunion. Many have stayed up to date with each other via the Facebook private group put together for their class. (Class of 74’ Wessington Springs).