Kelvin’s 100th anniversary reunion on horizon

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This article was published 07/03/2012 (5180 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kelvin High School will mark its 100th birthday with an action-packed reunion weekend later this spring.

Numerous celebrations and events will be held between Fri., May 25 and Sun., May 27 at the school, located at 155 Kingsway and the Winnipeg Convention Centre.

Organizers say events will include an evening concert, open house and a gala dinner hosted by former students and current radio personalities Roger Currie and Fiona Odlum.

There will also be a football game, car shows, a sports hall of fame and an era room.

Jim Pappas, 100th anniversary committee co-chair and a graduate of 1959, said the school’s centennial is something to celebrate.

“Not a lot of schools reach their 100th birthday. That’s a long time,” said Pappas, who lives in River Heights and works at Kelekis Restaurant in Winnipeg’s North End.

Pappas said part of the school’s status, success and longevity has been due to strength in numbers. He said, as a “war child, our class when we reached Grade 10 was one of the biggest in the city.”

“It’s a big school with big sports teams. It’s a big outlet for students with very diverse backgrounds to get to a higher level,” he said. “We’ve produced lots of doctors and lawyers.”

Flicking through the pages of past Kelvin yearbooks can, at times, seem like reading a who’s who in Canadian culture.

The list of former students includes entertainer Fred Penner, philanthropist Gail Asper, journalist Andrew Coyne and three-time Stanley Cup winner Mike Keane.

And then, of course, there’s music icon Neil Young — who didn’t graduate, but honed his musical skills in the halls of the school.

Committee co-chair Richard Bracken, a graduate of 1965, was in the same year as Penner and Young.

“I had two good musicians in my class. They went on to do some pretty interesting things,” said Bracken, who used to walk to school with Young, as the pair lived close by.

“He was a very, very nice fellow,” said Bracken, who is chair of Royal Canadian Securities, noting that a 1964 graduate, Shirley Caldwell, went on to become the first female president of Princeton University.

Bracken said the 75th Kelvin reunion in 1987 was a big success, while Pappas said the response to this reunion has so far been significant and far-reaching.

“We’ve been running for a year so far and have more than 2,000 names on the list. We’ve had responses from as far as Australia and in the past few days we’ve heard from people in their eighties and have a 92-year-old coming from Victoria.”

For more information, or to register, visit www.kelvin100.com.

simon.fuller@canstarnews.com