Gordon Bell grads still meeting 70 years later

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This article was published 10/10/2012 (4962 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Imagine still getting together with your high school friends 70 years after graduation.

A group of women who graduated from Gordon Bell High School are doing exactly that.

The women, who graduated in 1942, meet for lunch twice a year in May and October.

St. Norbert resident Doreen Girling said after having such a great time at the school’s 50th reunion in 1992, the alumni still living in Winnipeg decided they should stay in touch.

The women arranged to meet for lunch twice a year, and have been getting together for lunch now for the past 20 years. On Oct. 4, they met for the second time this year at Rae and Jerry’s Steak House on Portage Avenue.

“We started out with about 12 to 14 women, but since (we started), naturally, there’s been death and illnesses, so now there’s eight of us that meet,” said Girling, 87.

“We just don’t want to lose touch. We think it’s important to keep in touch as long as we can. There’s really no other purpose, it’s strictly a social meeting.”

Girling said she’s amazed the women are still meeting.

“We had considered quitting, but a couple of the women phoned me up and said we should continue,” she said.

Girling said she usually takes a photo at each of the lunches and thinks it’s important for the women to continue to meet.

“I like to keep in touch with some of my female friends, so that’s one of the reasons I do it. I think a lot of (the other ladies) feel the same way,” she said.

In 1992, Margaret Morse was the one to get things moving on the ladies’ first re-uniting, their 50 year reunion.

“It seemed that it was an important thing to do. A lot of us hadn’t seen each other since graduation,” said Morse.

She said ladies came from as far as Montreal and California for that first reunion.

“It was interesting to see what careers (the women) went in to,” Morse said.

Like Girling, Morse said it’s important to her to keep up the semi-annual meetings.

“(They) bring back a lot of memories. It’s nice to keep in touch with (everyone),” she said.

Morse said she hopes she and her classmates continue meeting as long as they can.

“I think we’ll continue meeting as long as we’re all well enough to come,” she said.

 

danielle.finch@canstarnews.com