CARIBOU, Maine — Forty individuals from Caribou High School’s Class of 1968 gathered outside the Gray Memorial United Methodist Church on Thursday evening for the first of many reunions and activities to be held throughout the weekend.
Former classmates came from as close as Caribou to as far away as New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, California, Colorado, Florida and Nevada to catch up with old friends, many of whom they had not seen since they graduated 50 years ago.
“There were 218 of us that graduated in 1968 and 78 are coming up for the full weekend. In total we have 133 family members of the graduates who are coming as well,” said Gretchen Uhas, one of the class reunion organizers, who now lives in New Hampshire.
“When we realized that our reunion weekend was happening at the same time as Thursdays on Sweden Street, we thought this would be a great opportunity for those who live locally or who have already arrived to get together,” she said.
While the Class of 1968’s official reunion will be held on Saturday evening, Uhas and her fellow event organizers, Paula Rockwell and Cathie Moore, who now live in Florida and New York, respectively, have planned out a full weekend of events that will include a tribute to military veterans at the Maine Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery, tours of both the former and current Caribou High School and a meet and greet on Friday, golfing at the Caribou Country Club and a mass at the Parish of the Precious Blood on Saturday, and a breakfast meal at the Caribou Country Club on Sunday.
On Thursday night, many former class members took advantage of the opportunity to mingle before the weekend activities and catch up on what everyone has been up to since their high school days.
Dave Bell, now of Jacksonville, Florida, went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Maine at Orono and then spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy. He later earned two master’s degrees — one in management and another in mathematics — and now teaches mathematics at Florida State University in Jacksonville.
“This is the first class reunion that I’ve come up for and it’s been great to see how everybody is doing,” Bell said. “A lot of the city looks the same, but I don’t recognize most of the businesses now.”
After high school, Susan Titcomb attended college in Bangor and had a long career with Verizon before retiring early. She now lives in Bangor and said she would not have missed the chance to attend her 50-year class reunion as well as visit her mother and sister, who still live in Caribou.
“Many of us don’t live locally anymore, so the reunion is a good way for people to see old friends,” she said.
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- Caribou High School Class of 1968 graduates Susan Titcomb (foreground, left) and Dave Bell chat during a get-together held outside the Gray Memorial United Methodist Church in conjunction with Thursdays on Sweden Street on July 19. (Staff Photo/Melissa Lizotte)
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- Caribou High School Class of 1968 reunion organizers Gretchen Uhas (left), Cathie Moore and Paula Rockwell catch up during a get-together held outside Gray Memorial United Methodist Church on Thursday night. Forty classmates came out for Thursday evening’s event while 78 out of the 218 graduates are expected to return for a full weekend of reunions, school tours and other activities. (Melissa Lizotte)
