Westboro alumni, friends gather for reunion
Alumni and former staff of the Westboro High School gathered at the Westboro VFW Hall in September for their 2023 all school reunion.
The event organization was led by Bernie Wahl who thanked all those who helped getting addresses and contact information.
“Special thanks to Diane(Hill) Niggemann, Arla Jean(Borgemoen) Krause, Joan (Mayer) Tlusty, Sharon (Wahl) Coenen, Joyce (Leischer) Peterson, Dolly (Wahl) Feira, Mary Wahl and the late Karen (Wahl) Olson. And all the others who helped provide addresses and answered my inquiries,” Wahl said.
In 2012, 489 Alumni and teachers were still alive. Today that number is 301. Alumni from Westboro live in 26 states and four countries, but most still call Wisconsin home. Wahl said that 218 have a Wisconsin address, 117 live in the immediate area, 41 have a Westboro address.
The alumnus who traveled the farthest to attend the reunion was Marjorie (Anderson) Kelly and her husband from London, England.
There were 94 alumni at the reunion, one from England, one from Tennessee, three from Minnesota, four from Illinois and the remaining 85 still call Wisconsin home and over half are in the immediate area.
Commemorating 60 years in attendance are Kathy (Neimi) Kloehn, Larry Walters, Larry Peterson and John Annala. 70 years Delores (Fenno) Peterson and Lucille (Wahl) Sauder, Betty (Lageman) Reichert 79, Robert Dums 78, Bonnie (Grittner) Dohm 76, Grace (Kuchenbecker) Schlais and Delores (Zimmmerman) Krahl 75. Teachers attending included Lorna Spreen, Eva Bergman, Joyce Baker and Ted Czech.There were 52 spouses and guests in attendance.
Those in attendance also remembered their classmates who were no longer with them. Wahl has documented 124 deaths since the gathering in 2017. Sharon (Wahl) Coenen has organized them into binders.
The meal was catered by the Phillips Cafe.
During the reunion, former classmates took time to reminisce about their time in school and some of the changes between then and now.
Air travel was only for the rich and famous.
Computers were bigger than a building and did less than your phone.
Phones were a box with a crank on the wall, then rotary, touch tone and now look what we have. Now your phone does everything except go to the restroom for you.
Gas was less for a tank full than we pay for a gallon today.
Motels over $5 were a luxury stay. Newspapers were daily and had the latest local news.
Wahl noted that almost all of those attending are above average in age, depends on who did the study, but the ladies’ chances of outliving the men are greater.
