1972 LDSS grads looking for classmates

By Mark Ribble

It’s not often that you can get together with classmates from 50 years ago, but a group of former Leamington District Secondary School (LDSS) grads are holding a 50- year reunion of the 1972 class (Grades 12 and 13) on the weekend of October 14-15-16. They are also asking the 1971 and 1973 grads to join in their celebration.

Nick Lutsch, who is spearheading the effort along with a dedicated group of former classmates, says the most important — and hardest — thing is getting the word out so nobody is missed.

“The hardest thing is finding people,” he said. “We used to be able to use the phone book, but now everyone has cell phones.”

The same group held a 45th reunion in 2017 and now that pandemic issues have eased a bit, they feel it’s time to get the group together again — and then some.

The weekend will kick off with a casual meet and greet in the atrium at the new LDSS, featuring appetizers from the current LDSS culinary students mentored by Joe Youssef, a former student himself. That event will be followed by an after-party at Jose’s Bar and Grill and then Saturday morning will begin with a pickleball tournament at the Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Complex, followed by a golf tournament at Kingsville Golf and Country Club and an afternoon picnic at Seacliff Park.

The fun doesn’t stop there, as there will be a reunion dinner Saturday evening at the Roma Club Pavilion, with the weekend wrapping up Sunday morning with breakfast at Lakeside Bakery.

The weekend promises to be fun and entertaining with a large dose of nostalgia thrown in.

Journalist Larry Cornies, a 1972 graduate, wrote a piece for the London Free Press after the 2017 reunion.

“It took most of us a few seconds to identify each other — even with the help of name tags bearing our likenesses from our ’72 school yearbook. But after those uncertain moments, recognition set in, first as a flicker, then a flame, then a full-on bonfire — and we laughed about why we hadn’t known each other at first glance,” he wrote.

“And amid all the reverie was the sobering realization that next time — if there is a next time — our numbers will almost certainly be fewer,” he added.

If Nick Lutsch has anything to do with it, those numbers will be greater — and yes, Larry — there is a next time.

If you were a Grade 12 or 13 student at LDSS in 1971, ’72 or ‘73, Nick Lutsch would like to hear from you. He can be contacted through email at lutschnick@gmail.com. You can also visit the reunion’s website and register for any of the events at ldssreunion72.weebly. com. Dozens of photos are also on the site as well as a download opportunity for the 1972 Pheobus.

All photos courtesy of Nick Lutsch

The 2017 45-year reunion held at the Kingsville Golf and Country Club.

Five LDSS students on the boardwalk at Point Pelee in 1971. From left are Hilda Reidl, Dennis Staudt, Dennis Miller, Gerhardt Krahn and Karen Seefuss.

Blackboard work in French class, from left, Frank Ehrenreich, Ron Molzan and Dennis Staudt.