50 years later, Sidney's Class of '65 reflects on changes

Tom Wilson was the Sidney High School Class of 1965’s lieutenant governor. The class will be holding its 50th reunion in town this Friday and Saturday.

In 1965, Sidney High School graduated 128 boys and girls and set them off on a journey of becoming young men and women.

The majority of our classmates had no real clue on what pursuits, or destinies, lay ahead of them. The results of their journey, however, led some to become doctors, military personnel, lawyers, teachers, musicians, homemakers, farmers, ranchers, administrators, accountants, salespersons, beauticians, engineers, entrepreneurs, and several more careers – too many to mention.

The Class of ’65 grew up in an age of innocence. A time where houses were never locked at night; cars were left on the street with the keys inside; and kids were allowed to roam around town freely as long as they were home in time for dinner.

But times were changing rapidly as we were at the onset of the war in Vietnam; peace protests; burning of draft cards and bras; and the invasion of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones with songs that would change our music lives forever.

Marijuana was also evolving as an option for alcohol in order to get high (“I never inhaled,” said Bill Clinton). Speaking of alcohol, do you think our parents knew that some of our classmates made a short trip south to visit the “Hot Spot” in Peetz, Colo., where drinking 3.2 beer was legal for 18 year olds. DUH!!!

When you look at technological advances since 1965 it is astonishing! Back in our day we used an actual telephone with a rotator dial on it to communicate; televisions were black and white with small screens; sending a man to the moon was just beginning to become a reality; automobiles could actually be distinguished with each new model year; we had to look something up in an encyclopedia on research projects; we walked or rode a bike to get somewhere; medical remedies were minimal; and no one knew what a “big box” store was.

Now we have mobile devices that holds your calendar, contact list, weather monitor, email receiver, music player, navigation system, newspaper, game center, video maker, stock and bonds tickler, website provider, flashlight, camera, and an encyclopedia all in one (Oh, yeah, it is also used as a phone); our televisions are now high-definition color and big enough to cover a wall; we have sent several men and women to the moon and back; automobiles are all starting to look the same and are indistinguishable from year to year; kids are shuttled from place to place in a car; we now do our shopping at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Home Depot, Costco, and Cabela’s (what an incredible hometown American success story); and our classmates are now aware of more medical terms and conditions that we ever wanted to be.

Television programming has changed dramatically as well since 1965 going from Ed Sullivan, Perry Como, Hawaii 5-0 (oh wait, Hawaii 5-0 is on again…”Book-em Dan-o”), Dick Van Dyke (where Rob and Laura slept in separate twin beds…what was with that?), Bonanza (where a father and three sons lived on a ranch with no women around????), The Andy Griffith Show (holy crap, Opie is 61 years old and bald)…to now, with today’s shows being “reality” TV that rule the airwaves, along with detective, police, undercover government agents, talent shows, and weird game shows running the gambit (“I’d like to buy a vowel, Pat”).

And, commercials have no limits as to the products being sold. We can only imagine how our grandmother’s would gasp and blush today if they saw a Victoria Secret or Viagra ad.

Enough tongue-in-cheek remembrance of the class of 1965, it’s time to remember some of our classmates.

Class officers were: Governor, Mike Bragg; Lt. Governor, Tom Wilson; Secretary of the Treasury, Jean Olinger; and Secretary of the State, Susan DeVier; Gary Thompson was Homecoming King and Susan DeVier was Homecoming Queen; Kelly Wood was Cotillion King and Jean Olinger was Cotillion Queen; Sharon Benzel was the 1965 Sweetheart; Diane Tobin was the class Valedictorian; Jean Olinger was the Salutatorian; Dan McKay was the All-Around Senior Boy; Connie Schnell was the All-Around Senior Girl; Athletic Awards went to Ken Mayer – Wrestling, Dave King – Track, Dan McKay – Basketball, Gary Thompson – Football, and Tom Wilson – Golf; Music Awards went to Bob Jay and Jim Selzer; Science Awards were given to Lloyd Oliverius and Bill Gilgren; Bookkeeping Award went to Greg Reisner; Perfect Attendance Award was earned by Terry Adams; Speech and Journalism Award went to Bob Jay and Gary Boye; and Gary Boye and Diane Tobin co-edited the Hi-Life student newsletter and the Trail annual.

Principal George Hinn and Vice Principal Bill Fankhauser oversaw the administrative elements of the school and were overseen by Superintendent William Pedersen.

Now, it has been a never-ending question as to whom, or why, did someone decided to nickname our sports teams the Maroons? Were they “marooned” on an island not to be rescued until they came up with a name? We had to put up with most of our opponents calling us “Morons.”

On the other hand, knowing our beloved Huskers were once nicknamed the “Bug Eaters” would lead us to think the people making those decisions must have been smoking some corn silk.

Finally, we would be remiss if we didn’t remember those classmates who are no longer with us: Sherri (Burrows) Anthony, Yvonne Bauer, Luanna (Herboldsheimer) Bell, Cynthia Benzel, John Bergner, John Bilby, Richard Davenport, Kathy Dier, Gregg Fitzgerald, Jim Fleenor, Wayne Gerdes, Norma (Schmidt) Goldstrap, Jim Henzel, Linda (Stacy) Holloway, Charles Irwin, Pam Jacobs, Maycel (Richards) McGee, Dan McKay, Lynn (Robinson) Rundstrom, Lynn Sentenney, and Susan (DeVier) Shaver.

Our heartfelt thoughts go out to their friends and families.