Co-organizer Carla Stockton said the Class of 1965, in particular, dispersed throughout the United States. Some SLHS and Pius graduates will be traveling from as far away as California and Florida to attend the reunion.

Co-organizer Gail Gallagher said there is still a lot of warmth when they get back together. The miles and the years seem to melt away.

The children of the baby boom are in their 70s now, and have a lot to remember.

Stockton said this will be a “low-key event” — some of their class are getting too old to travel.

Charlie Green’s Market is one of the hang-out joints embers of the Saranac Lake High School and St. Pius X Class of 1965 reminisce about at their reunions. (Provided photo)

Enterprise records show a graduating class of 81 that year at SLHS. Stockton said the public high school started off with more students than the number who graduated. Pius graduate Tom Clark said the Catholic school’s graduating class was 55 that year, based on the number of photos in the yearbook.

Stockton is a graduate of SLHS. Gallagher is a graduate of Pius, where she admits she was often in trouble with the nuns.

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The way it was

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Saranac Lake High School Class of 1965 President Dick Amell, right, and Vice President Judy Brewster. (Provided photo)

Though they attended two different schools, Stockton and Gallagher said, in a small town, they all had deep relationships, regardless of where they attended classes. They all walked the same direction to school.

“There was very little distinction, except we walked into different buildings,” Gallagher said.

They were in Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts together, attended the same churches and skated at the high school rink together.

Still, Stockton said, at reunions, the boys always talk about how Pius robbed them of some of their best football players. Pius opened in 1959, right as they were entering high school. The class of 1965 was the third Saranac Lake graduating class to be split between the two schools.

They grew up in times of change.

Members of the Saranac Lake High School Class of 1965. (Provided photo)

“Let me state the obvious: It was a very different time,” Gallagher said. “The basic human factors remain the same, but in terms of the way of life — much more simple.

“We were on the cusp of the changes during the ’60s,” she added. “It was, I think in some ways, an end of an age of innocence.”

They had grown up in a time of prosperity after World War II brought industrialization, innovation and a baby boom. There was poverty and anguish in the country, but in Saranac Lake, she felt they were sheltered from it.

“My father was a history teacher (at SLHS) and he was very aware of the Vietnam War,” Gallagher said. “I was very aware of my senior prom.”

She felt that change after high school.

Gallagher said Stockton was always very aware of what was going on. The draft was one of the first things she mentioned in her interview on Monday.

“We were the first class to get hit hard by the draft,” Stockton said.

She believes the first person from here who died fighting in Vietnam was her classmate George Swentusky. He sat in front of her for four years at school.

At every reunion, she said a large percentage of boys stand up and say they fought.

Stockton said each reunion also brings at least one story about Winter Carnival. They all participated in the many carnival events throughout their high school years, playing in band, singing in the chorus, being in the parade.

“You know what always comes up? The beach,” Stockton said, talking about the long-removed Lake Flower Beach.

The removal of the beach and movement of the official village beach to Lake Colby was controversial when it happened, and still remains controversial today.

“How dare they close the beach? Who wants to swim at Lake Colby?” she said people say.

When they were teens, Lake Colby was for fishing, not swimming.

Stockton said she and her friends went to the beach every day in the summer. Others remember hanging out at Charlie Green’s Market and Teen Canteen.

At their last reunion, there was a bit of talk about where they “parked” to make out.

Stockton said driving was a big deal for all of them and they loved the Sara-Placid Drive-In Theater. This was also back when the train tracks connecting the Tri-Lakes were used daily.

“Some of us would take the train to Lake Placid just to go have lunch and come back,” Stockton said. “Those of us who played hooky.”

The main sports that come up at reunions are golfing and skiing. Stockton said skiing was a part of their physical education class and they were taught by the legendary local skier Natalie Leduc, back when she was “Nat Corl.”

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The agenda

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The events kick off Friday evening, Aug. 22, with a gathering at the Voco Waterfront Hotel at 6 p.m.

To RSVP for this event, email Stockton at carlastocktonwrites@gmail.com. The gathering will be inside and outside. She recommends dressing for the weather and bringing a lawn chair for outside.

Saturday is being deemed “A Day of Conviviality.”

At 10 a.m., a group will head to the Saranac Lake Golf Club in Ray Brook to play a round. Contact Tom Feinberg at tom2bits@verizon.net to make a reservation.

Golfers can choose to stay at the course for lunch or join a group for an informal lunch at Blue Moon Cafe. Those eating at the cafe are asked to RSVP to get everyone close to each other.

On Saturday afternoon, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., Stockton will hold a free reminiscence and memoir workshop at the Adirondack Center for Writing. This workshop will also be open to the public.

Her memoir, “Too Much of Nothing,” was published last October.

“It’s something I can do, it’s something I do well and its something I can offer to my classmates,” Stockton said. “More importantly, I can offer it to my town. … I owe a lot to that town.”

She said there’s a surge in people her age wanting to write a memoir.

“It’s not that complicated,” she said. “What I offer at my workshop is just a way to get started. … All you need is a pen and paper, and together we will engage in the first steps toward building you’re own personal written legacy.”

Saturday evening will bring dinner and drinks on the porch at The Belvedere at 5 p.m.

There will also be a brief program with a “surprise host” and video entertainment and Stockton said she was grateful to the Belvedere owners for giving them the porch area all evening until the restaurant closes.

Plans are still in the works for a goodbye breakfast on Sunday morning.

Gauthier’s Inn is offering a 10% discount for people booking rooms for the reunion.

A slide show of photos produced for the class’ 50th reunion can be viewed at tinyurl.com/363y28ed.