By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The long table buzzed with conversations of high school pranks, classmates come and gone, and an uncanny camaraderie not seen in most graduating classes.
They shared stories with the ease found in people who have known each other for more than 80 years.
They are the Bowling Green High School Class of 1954 – and they are proud of it.
While many classes struggle to get continued interest in five- or 10-year reunions, this class has been meeting regularly for nearly 70 years.
“We try to meet once a month. We’ve been doing this since we graduated,” explained Shirley Potter Sheldrick.
Many of the classmates, now nearing 90, started out together at the elementaries on South Main, Ridge and Church streets. They advanced to the high school that sat where Wooster Green is now. Classmate Don Charlton made sure that his fellow students got bricks from the old building when their alma mater was demolished.
They are more than classmates. Long ago, they became friends and family, and make an effort to continue those relationships.
“We were always a close class,” Sheldrick said. “We talk about memories, of what was, and how our families are doing.”
Together they started school when World War II began. And together they experienced the end of World War II, the dropping of the atomic bomb, the Korean War, and the start of the Vietnam War.
They began school when female teachers couldn’t marry, so most were spinsters. Though in later years, they recalled one teacher making the bold move to marry.
“She broke the mold,” Sheldrick said.
Some of the classmates were studious. Some were athletic – though there we no girls team back then. Some were cheerleaders and some wanted to be.
They grew up to be doctors, nurses, teachers and government officials.
“Our class was full of people who made a go of it,” said Eileen Avery, who became a teacher.
Many of the students were children of BGSU professors.
“We were a very studious class,” said Gerrie Welch Cole. “We didn’t drink back then. We didn’t smoke back then. We were just kids. Most of us minded our Ps and Qs.”
“Who are you trying to fool,” someone at the other end of the table piped up good-naturedly.
Ed Lockmiller admitted he could have studied a bit more.
“I was probably a troublemaker, I think the teachers would say,” said Lockmiller, who worked for 37 years at Libbey Owens Ford. With a grin, he explained that he got As and Bs in Latin, but Cs and Ds in English – which he could not account for.
The monthly mini reunions are important to Lockmiller.
“I like to get together with classmates,” he said. “It’s a special day for me.”
Pat Koehler, who was development director for WBGU-TV for more than 20 years, feels the same way.
“It’s just a wonderful camaraderie,” said Koehler, who was a freshman cheerleader, in intramural sports, choir and art club. Though not all of them were close in high school, they have become friends over the decades, she said.
“We still love each other,” Margie King Bottorff said of her classmates. “We get along as famously as we did in school. We have lots of stories to tell.”
After 70 years, all have grayed and walk a little slower. Some have changed more than others.
“I was the opposite of what I am now,” said Bottorff. “I was very shy.”
The woman she became was an art teacher and gallery owner. And she is not too old to wear glimmering bright pink barrettes in her wild hair.
In high school, Bottorff recalled joining the BG Beanies cheering group.
“We were the cheerleader wannabees. We couldn’t do cartwheels,” she said with a giggle.
The group is getting smaller each year, with the absence of some classmates being felt very deeply.
Such is the vacancy left by Jack Whittaker, a retired dentist, who is no longer able to attend.
“He was full of vinegar,” said Sheldrick, who was a village clerk. “It just breaks my heart that he can’t come.”
Remaining spouses of classmates, congenially referred to as “leftovers,” are more than welcome to continue coming to the lunches.
“We encourage spouses to continue,” Sheldrick said. “Over the years we’ve gotten to know them.”
One of those spouses is Dorothy Ward, whose husband, Phillip, played basketball, football and track in high school. They moved to Florida for 40 years.
“I moved back and these people invited me back,” Ward said.
The stack of cards to send to classmates in nursing homes gets a little larger each month. But they know the importance of maintaining their luncheons, especially for those with no family, like Cole.
“There’s fewer and fewer of us, I’m sad to say,” Cole said. “It’s like they became my family. I’m proud of our class. We really stuck together.”
Attending the November luncheon at the BG Country Club was new Bowling Green Superintendent Ted Haselman. When he received the invitation to the gathering, Haselman said he quickly made the decision to cancel a meeting scheduled for the same time.
“This is just such an awesome story,” he said, noting that the luncheons began at a time when staying in touch was more difficult. “You didn’t have Facebook. You didn’t have cell phones to help you get together,” Haselman said with a grin. “This says a lot about your class.”
