The Montgomery County R-II All-School Reunion will be back for another year on Saturday at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds, and organizers are hoping for a bigger turnout than last year’s event.

The reunion will be held from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Merchants Building and is open to former Montgomery County R-II students and their spouses, as well as current and former staff and support staff. There will also be a tour of Montgomery County High School at 10 a.m.

A year ago, the reunion drew about 200 graduates, most of them graduated from the 1960s. Cathy Nickens, who leads a committee of 12 people for the All-School Reunion, said people have been calling last year’s attendees to remind them about the 2026 event and she has been contacted to get more information on it.

“I feel like we’re going in the right direction,” Nickens said.

Nickens graduated from MCHS in 1968. She was one of nine people from her class who went to the All-School Reunion last year. Her class has been holding reunions every five years ever since its first one in August 1973.

Bob Schlanker, who graduated in 1967, plans to do a welcome presentation and the National Anthem at noon. Class pictures are scheduled between 1 p.m.-2 p.m.

The All-School Reunion has been held off and on for the last 12 years. The event is always held during the fall.

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.

Years ago. Bob Hoffman, who owned the old IGA store at the same building that is currently Montgomery City Public Library, held an all-school reunion for students who attended Montgomery City High School.

A total of 95 people who graduated from the 1960s – including Nickens – came to last year’s event. Eleven of them were from the Class of 1965.

A total of 53 people who graduated from the 1970s visited the reunion. Twelve of them were from the Class of 1973.

The 2025 reunion had 15 attendees from the 1980s. Five members from the 1990s were in attendance and a small number from the 2000s attended. The event raised $950 in scholarships.

Nickens said there could be some members of the Class of 1981 attending on Saturday.

“I received a call from one of the young ladies,” Nickens said. “A newspaper article (about the reunion) was sent to her. Then, she called me and said she was going to contact her classmates to see if they want to have a reunion then because they haven’t planned anything yet. My dream was other people would start having reunions the same day and see other people from other classes they went to high school with in addition. That would be nice if people could do more of that. I know I’m planning our class reunion in a few years around that purpose so that we don’t just see each other that we know, but people we used to know.”

Nickens said anyone who wants to help set up the event can come to the Merchants Building at 2 p.m. on Friday.