PCHS Class of 1971 skips reunion and donates funds

Times correspondent

PEKIN - It's been 35 years since the Class of 1971 graduated from Pekin Community High School.

To mark the occasion, class reunion committee members decided to do something different: They decided not to have a reunion.

“In lieu of a reunion, we decided to have a fundraising effort for TAPS,” said committee member MaryAnn Godby.

“We're at that age where we decided to give back to the community. We know that TAPS is building a new facility and a lot of us care about the work they're doing, so we decided to donate,” she said.

Organizers were expecting about 200 people to attend the Saturday night event, held at the Pekin Moose Lodge and scheduled to coincide with the Marigold Festival, a weekend many out-of-town classmates would already be in town visiting.

They came from places like Hawaii, Colorado, Florida and Texas, and by the time the evening was over, they had raised about $1,000 to donate to TAPS.

They raised the money through cash donations and by raffling off class reunion-related items, such as souvenir glasses.

A computer slide show played in one corner of the room, flashing pictures from past class gatherings and other mementos from the early 1970s.

A wooden dragon was joined on the dance floor by two stuffed dogs, and the TAPS doghouse donation boxes were placed in the center of each table.

Committee member Dan Rose said the committee considered several organizations before deciding as a group to focus on TAPS.

“I'd say (the TAPS building project) is probably one of the most publicized and recognized fundraising events in town right now. We wanted to jump on board and help where we could,” he said.

“We wanted to do something for the city of Pekin,” he said. “It's gotten tremendous feedback from all classmates, especially out-of-towners who'd like to help out their hometown.”

Susan Baker Kunitake came from Kaneohe, Hawaii, just outside of Honolulu.

She hadn't been back to Pekin since her 25th reunion 10 years ago.

She said she was surprised when she first heard of the change for this year's gathering, but was happy to see how well the idea turned out.

I think it's a good idea,” she said. “I think we should do it again for different causes.”

The class of 1971 has traditionally held a reunion every five years.

While some classes struggle to cover the many costs associated with planning and holding a reunion, Rose said their committee is in a secure enough financial situation that it was easy to turn their traditional reunion into a fundraising gathering instead.

“Once you're established it's a lot easier,” he said. “Our class has been very successful and generous over past reunions. It made it a little easier to pull this off.”

He said the committee will likely return to a more traditional reunion in five years, but probably with the added element of a fundraiser for some organization.

“We certainly hope to continue it,” he said. “This is getting tremendous response and this could be an ongoing thing every five years because the class of '71 is very Pekin-oriented.”

And, Godby said, they're also very close.

“I get a little sentimental about this class because we've always been a close-knit group,” she said. “We've always had a good turnout. We were close in high school, we still are.”