Participants in Dunsmuir High School’s Class of 1958 50th reunion came from near and far, and others who couldn’t make it requested copies of the event booklet and photographs.
Held Aug. 2 and 3, the reunion drew 39 attendees for an opening dinner at the Piemont Restaurant in Mount Shasta which lasted into the night as classmates talked about old times.
It was organized and planned between Kaye (Tucker) Hall, Phil Carey and wife Bobbie, Verni Carter, and Judy Cottini, owner of the Piemont.
Folks came from Dunsmuir, Mount Shasta, Weed, McCloud, Redding, Klamath Falls, Canyonville, Walnut Creek, Shasta, Nevada City, Ukiah, Livermore, Red Bluff, Bakersfield, Vacaville, Phoenix Ariz., Bullhead City, Ariz., and Coupeville Wash., which is on Bainbridge Island.
Others who could not attend live in Pennsylvania, Idaho, and Mexico. Class member Ulla Berntson currently lives in Sweden.
The reunion continued on the Aug. 3 in the Dunsmuir City Park with a barbecue of tri-tip and chicken catered by Tony and Eileen Congi. The event went on for hours as the classmates caught up with each other.
Finally, on Aug. 4, many members of the Class of ’58 traveled to the Win-River Casino in Redding to take part in the Boys and Girls Quarterly Luncheon. The event, started by Stan Harris and Don Molk, includes all graduates of Dunsmuir High School and grows larger every year. This year saw 160 place settings.
After the reunion, Class of ’58 member Kaye Tucker Hall offered these recollections: “There are only two items that pop into mind [about high school days]. Some of the men pulled the hinge pins that held the door where the teacher entered the class room. When he opened the door it fell to the floor. He didn’t think it was very funny, but everyone else just roared with laughter.
“One of the best was the guys talking about how they figured out a way to get a mouse into the dressing room of the girls. The hand rail was hollow and they put a mouse  into the railing up stairs and the mouse would run down the inside of the railing and fall out on the floor into the girls dressing room.”
As to the 50 year reunion, Hall offered,
“I hadn’t seen my closest friend, Rayola, during my school years, for over twenty years and had trouble making contact with her to be sure she was going to attend the reunion. About a week before the reunion she finally called.  She hadn’t made contact earlier due to being evacuated because of the California fires west of Redding. Her house was saved and nothing was lost. Rayola Hanlen Pratt and I really enjoyed catching up on our lives over the three days we had to talk and talk and talk.”
The Class of ’58 hopes to meet again in five years time.