Magee59 Class Reunions


Magee High School, Vancouver, BC, Class of 1959


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Fifty Years Celebrated at Three Venues
(Vancouver Lawn Tennis, Tanelot, Hollyburn)



Is it just me, or can it be that the older we get the more enjoyable our reunions become? Perhaps it has something to do with distance and time - and a different perspective as we mature (is that the right word?), but this reunion was without a doubt the most enjoyable I've been involved with.

Here are some numbers. Our actual grad class had 252 members. (Remember 252 or $2.52? - the price of a crate of suds in our day.) We identified 16 more who had dropped off or moved, for a gross class list of 268. Of those, 46 are known to be deceased and 14 can't be found. Of the remaining 208, 15 do not have email addresses, and an amazing 193 do.

We had 128 grads (plus several spouses) in total involved at this reunion. Of those, 51 were from outside the Lower Mainland. We had 29 from other parts of B.C., 4 from Alberta, and 7 from east of Alberta. There were 9 from the U.S. And one each from St. Bart's and Australia. To each of you, a hearty thank you for making the special effort to be with old classmates and friends.

Total attendance was 282 people at the 3 events. Considering that we had capped the Whistler event at 50 (or so we thought - it ended up at 58) these numbers were pretty spectacular. And, equally incredibly, the weather cooperated throughout the entire three events (thanks in no small part to Lloyd's membership in a higher order, plus his polished negotiating skills).



Aside from a defunct sound system at the Vancouver Lawn Tennis Club, the first event on Thursday evening went smoothly. There were 122 grads in attendance. My practiced eye detected nobody unengaged, and the noise level was near-ballistic. The bar enjoyed considerable traffic (so I'm told) and the food was beyond description. Stan Webber's '61 Healey graced the entrance - top down - and attracted considerable attention. When I slithered home about 10:30 the party apparently continued unabated. Hats off to Davie for ensuring that this was a resounding success!



Friday afternoon, 36 fortunate souls joined Don and Heather Moore on a luxury touring bus for the journey to Lord Tanton's lair near Whistler. (Another 20 arrived by private vehicles.) Immediately upon departure from Park Royal South, they were accosted by Messrs. Moore and Northcott, and "invited" to purchase Magee '59 baseball hats and beer, and the bus was soon awash in cheesies and chips. The scenery was spectacular and the company highly amusing. We disembarked at Pinecrest Estates at precisely 4:00 p.m.



And Lord Tanton was well prepared. Tray after tray of hors d'oeuvres were passed and after all glasses were charged, guests moved outdoors to the garden by the lake where the feast was revealed. A "beef and bun " - my butt! The Louisiana pulled pork with magic dust was complemented by wild mushroom meatballs, rib eye roast with glazed onion sauce, BBQ chicken, marinated snapper, sauteed prawns Provencal, BBQ'd steelhead, and caesar, potato and yam, and tomato and bean salads. Desserts were a choice of homemade strawberry and apple pie or a fruit and cheese platter. Music from our era provided a background throughout the house and garden, and upstairs a video of an enchanted 1989 voyage around the British Virgin Islands by several classmates provided a unique entertainment option. When the bus pulled away at 8:15, no-one had room for more. With groaning guts we headed back to prepare for the final event.



The Saturday brunch attracted 102 people. Pat and Laurie had provided beautiful centrepieces at each table, and the brunch buffet was exceptional. Although the omelette stations slowed things down a tad, nearly 100 were served in under an hour. The Class Chronicles (a Powerpoint slide presentation of 378 images with iPod accompaniment and my narrative) provided the finale for what was a somewhat spectacular weekend.

My heartfelt thanks and gold medals to all those who were involved on our committee. They are:

Local phones - Judy Greenberg, Bob Koo, Sarge Berner, Brooke Campbell, Don Moore, Laurie Morrison Andrews, Cynthia Cowan Hou and Bill Harvey
Vancouver Island north phones - Harry Holland
Vancouver Island south phones - Dave Tierney
B.C. Interior phones - Bill Stephens
Alberta phones - Lloyd Northcott
Central & Eastern Canada phones - Ed Inouye
Washington and Oregon phones - Jill Kirwen
California phones - Marilyn Smith Brock

Vancouver Lawn Tennis Club host - Davie Rae
Vehicle - Stan Webber

Whistler Tanelot host - John Tanton
Whistler transportation - Don Moore

Hollyburn host - Brooke Campbell
Hollyburn Club liaisons and coordinators - Pat Howie Clark and Laurie Morrison Andrews

Name tags - Dayle McPherson Farenholtz
Photography and scans - Bob Koo
Reunion Treasurer - Brooke Campbell
Database - Brooke Campbell and Bill Harvey
Overall coordination and video production - Bill Harvey

So you can see that it took a lot of people (21) to organize and execute this reunion. And it took the special efforts of all who attended to make it a success. Thank you all.

Reported by: Bill Harvey



Bill Harvey's Quiz Results

If you could not hear the results of Bill's quiz, here they are again:

1. Which two female classmates were originally known as "Alice"?

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2. Which two female classmates took up musical instruments in their 40¹s, and are now regularly playing with professionals?

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3. Which two male classmates spent most of their working lives flying commercially in Quebec?

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4. Which two former classmates renewed their high school romance 45 years later?

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5. Who was the last person in our class to father a child?

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6. Which of our classmates was a former Miss Vancouver?

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7. Which member of our class chaired the Vancouver Public Library board when the present library was being constructed?

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8. Which two classmates drove Jaguars during high school?

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9. Which classmate represented Canada in the 1962 British Empire Games in Perth (silver medal), the 1963 Pan American Games in Sao Paulo (gold medal), and the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and is in the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame? And what was the sport?

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10. What was the name of the counselor who was with our class at Maple Grove, Point Grey and Magee?

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11. Which two female members of our class enjoyed careers as university deans?

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12. Which three guys from our class married classmates? (and they¹re still all married!)

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