The Montgomery County Fairgrounds is set for a big reunion for Montgomery County High School graduates this fall.
The Montgomery County R-II All-School Reunion returns on Oct. 4 at the Merchants Building and is open for anyone who graduated from MCHS either before or after the consolidation of the R-II School District. Even the class of 2025 is invited.
On Aug. 9, a committee of 12 people – all MCHS graduates – held a meeting at the Montgomery City Public Library to talk about the plans for the all-school reunion. The committee is led by Cathy Nickens, who graduated in 1968.
Nickens said the all-school reunion has been held off and on for the last 11 years.
“Some years we had it, some years we didn’t have it because of COVID and we stopped,” Nickens said. “We reignited this last year because of Bob Schlanker. He called me and said his class wanted to help and look at what happened.”
The other members in the committee are Carrie Kleinsorge (Class of 1972), Audrey Naughton (Class of 1953), Schlanker, Patsy Duren Speight and Paul Johnson (Class of 1967), Mary Carroz (Class of 1969), Linda Hunn and Joe Garrett (Class of 1973), Becky Reagan (Class of 1963), Karen Harding Shy (Class of 1964) and Jamie Hemeyer (Class of 1995).
For about an hour, the committee members discussed items such as tour guide, memory tables, class picture area and volunteers. Another meeting is scheduled for Sept. 27.
A tour of MCHS will be offered from 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. on Oct. 4. The reunion is scheduled from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. that day.
Nickens said years ago, Bob Hoffman – who owned the old IGA store at the same building that is currently the library – held an all-school reunion for students who attended Montgomery City High School.
“He was the one who started it and it was on Memorial weekend,” Nickens said.
The all-school reunion for Montgomery County High School graduates is always held during the fall. Nickens said Kenny Briscoe, a 1966 MCHS graduate, helped organize a R-II all-school picnic in 2014. The picnic was later changed to a reunion format.
“Give Kenny Briscoe kudos because he got people together,” Nickens said.
Nickens said the purpose of having an all-school reunion is to honor the accomplishments of R-II graduates.
“Years ago, in southeast Missouri, this was what all the schools do down there because they are smaller in a lot of them,” she said. “They just have an all-school reunion every year and everybody comes in. I worked at a big school in the city and we had an alumni association and tied it with homecoming. Now, we have a hall of fame that is associated with that and we raise money for scholarships. So I was hoping that we would eventually get this done and we would have an all-school reunion to recognize graduates who did well.”
Nickens said she enjoyed her time as a student at the R-II School District. Long before she graduated from MCHS, she attended elementary school in New Florence.
“I’m so happy I went to R-II because I had wonderful teachers,” Nickens said. “We learned about the love of reading. We had such good backgrounds for learning and good people went to R-II.”
The reservation deadline is Sept. 20. Contact Nickens at 314-623-6110 or Schlanker at 314-341-1777 for more information.