Before class comes to order, this announcement from Mr. Neiles’ office: A select group from the reunion will receive certificates stating: “I survived the boat ride!” A special certificate will go to Faye for being both the hottest (that bright blue hat) and the coldest boat passenger -- and for persuading the crew to shorten the chilly cruise.

Can you picture Georgia Morse dancing up a storm at her 50th reunion, maybe to something like “Alexander‘s Ragtime Band’’? Me neither! I bring up the beloved Latin teacher’s name because of a visit I made during reunion weekend to the Summerside family plot at Riverside Cemetery. Nearby was Miss Morse’s gravestone, and I noticed the birthdate (1891, I think). It dawned on me that when we were in high school, she was about the same age then as we are now. And I thought she was one of the oldest people I knew!

Now after watching the Pierre High School Class of ‘57 in action during the fall of ’07, I’m convinced that we’re a younger group of “older” people than the senior citizens of a half-century ago. And it’s not just those lively post-dinner dancers at the Legion Cabin that made an impression at the reunion. Many of our gang may fit the official definition of “retired.“ But many are still working hard, volunteering for numerous causes, traveling the world and in general enjoying life while riding out the storms of life.

And then there’s the special joy of a school reunion. It isn’t universal of course. Some who don’t come back either have lost interest or may have unpleasant memories that they don’t wish to revisit. But for those who do reunite, there’s a unique “high” gained from recognizing long-unseen faces, renewing friendships and cramming decades of stories into a few days of conversations.

This 50th gathering may have been the best for several reasons: a golden milestone that was far out of sight when we marched out of the City Auditorium in May of 1957, great Capital City tours, food, entertainment and hospitality provided by the 2007 hosts, and a DVD that makes a wonderful memory book (thanks again, Lee). Most of all, this Class of ’57 is a bunch that genuinely seems to enjoy one another’s company.

Several of us said during the reunion that Pierre in the ’50s was kind of a cocoon for kids, isolated from the woes of the world. The nation was booming during the Eisenhower Era, and Pierre was thousands of miles from such concerns as the Korean War, the Cold War, nuclear bombs and racial strife. Today, with 24-hour TV news, the Internet, jet travel, etc., isolation is difficult to achieve. A reunion can still restore that warm cocoon feeling, if only for a short while.

An online alumni directory on pierreeducationalfoundation.org can be mined for interesting nuggets about the Class of ‘57. About 84 of us have submitted information to the site. Thus the numbers don’t give a complete picture, but of those replying: Sixteen live in the Pierre-Ft. Pierre area, and 16 elsewhere in South Dakota. The call of the West attracted far more grads than the East. Eight list California home addresses, and five each are in Colorado, Arizona and Washington. On the other side, four are in Iowa and three in Minnesota.

Occupations? We have ranchers, a rocket scientist and a restaurant chain owner. We have teachers, a college professor and a university athletic administrator. We have a casino cashier, a prison chaplain and a former state legislator. We have nurses and a doctor of nuclear medicine. Twenty-four alums, by far the largest group, are or were in private business. Ten are listed in education, six in agriculture, five each in engineering and government, four are lawyers, two are physicians and two each are in the nursing and ministry fields.

And how about this indicator of the value of a small-town education (at least the one we received at PHS): Sixteen of the grads have advanced degrees -- master’s and doctor’s.

Another impressive number: Fifty years after graduation, our class already has at least 18 great-grandchildren. (This fourth-generation figure made a how-time-flies impact on me when I looked backward four generations: My great-grandfather fought in the Civil War!)