West Lebanon
“The Class of ’44 wanted to have a reunion so they started talking about it. Well, when the other classes found out about it, they decided they wanted to get in,” Langley said. “So they started in ’64, and we’ve kept it going ever since.”
The alumni association celebrates the old high school, which closed in 1961, and its former students. It held its annual parade on Saturday and close to 100 people — alumni and their families, Lebanon Mayor Georgia Tuttle and Assistant Mayor Suzanne Prentis, as well as performing groups hired for the parade — took the annual route on the warm day.
Led by the American Legion, the parade started from what is now Mount Lebanon School, and then took to Main Street to the base of Seminary Hill, just yards from their old school, made a left Maple Street and returned to Mount Lebanon School.
Spectators were treated to a live performance float from the Upper Valley Band and dancers from Dancers’ Corner, as well as clown riders from Sinai Joe’s Clown Unit, mini choppers and classic cars — all while children in the parade gave out candy. Langley, Class of 1952, drove a brown 1975 Chevrolet Caprice Classic.
Other cars and trucks in the parade honored veterans. Taking up the rear was a firetruck and Smokey the Bear.
Despite the strong turnout, Langley said, he knows the challenges the association faces representing a high school that has been closed for so long.
“We don’t have any more graduates coming. Ours is a dying organization,” Langley said. “It’s going down every year and eventually we’ll have to phase it out. There won’t be anybody.”
That isn’t to say everyone is going away just yet.
The oldest alumnae, Anna Romano, a member of the Class of 1932, just turned 103. While she did not attend the parade, Langley’s sister Janette, who is the secretary of the association and a member of the Class of 1955, was part of a group that presented her with a bouquet of flowers.
While many alumni are still local, including Langley, who has been in Lebanon for 60 years, there were others who traveled farther, including Pete Belisle, who lives in Florida but says he comes up for the parade and to visit his sister.
“She’s 10 years older than I am,” he said. “She’s Class of ’41, I’m Class of ’53. I’m the baby of the family.”
Both Belisle and Langley estimated 62 alumni would attend the catered banquet dinner at the Listen Community Dinner Hall, scheduled to take place Saturday night.
The association relies on donations from alumni members to pay for the parade, as well as the reception dinner. Despite the ongoing challenges it faces, the association was still able to award nine college scholarships to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of alumni — something the group has done since the beginning.
This year, Langley said, the scholarships were $500.
“Sixty years ago it was $50,” he said with a laugh.