SHS Class of 69

Craig Bakay | Sep 12, 2019

They call themselves The 69ers and last Sunday about bunch of them got together at the Inverary Golf and Country Club to celebrate graduating high school 50 years ago. In those days, Sydenham High School had far fewer students than it does today, but with memories fading after 50 years, nobody could really remember how many there were. Most estimates place the number as more that 400 but fewer than 600.

And that few students led to a particular bond forming — one that continues to this day.

“Don Wowk (owner of the Golf Course) was a member of our graduating class and he donated the space for us today,” said Brenda Crawford, one of the organizers. Most in attendance agreed that Crawford hasn’t changed much since high school. She’s still organizing things and “telling people what to do.”

“Brenda brought me here,” said Sharon Allen (nee Dahms), who was Miss SHS for their graduating year. “These guys work tirelessly to keep everybody in touch.”

“I have a lot of good memories of high school,” said Don Sleeth, who was Mister SHS. “It was a small close-knit school and you knew all the students.”

In fact, they actually invited a lot of students from other years to this reunion because everybody was so close.

“We were a big family,” said Crawford. “There were a lot of intermarriages (between years).

“In fact, my husband Ron was three years behind me and I had to wait until he became old enough to legally marry him.”

Another one of those not-quite-69ers is Coun. Randy Ruttan, who sits on South Frontenac Council currently. Rattan was class of 1970.

“I bleed Scarlet and Gold,” he said. “One of the very cool things about being at Sydenham was you knew everybody — we all played sports together, played music together and partied together.

“I have been principal at much larger schools and there’s a big difference. I think the smaller numbers made everybody closer — teachers and students. And the connections we made allowed us to remain close.”

“We were a big family,” said Crawford. “The ’60s were a time of change and that showed in curriculum and teaching methods.

“We’d go to the ends of the Earth for each other.”

And that showed in the way they decided to celebrate as well. Not only did they include representatives of other years, they opted for a low-key get-together. Another organizer, Terry Crawford said they’ve been doing this for three years and attendance has been steadily growing.

“Three years ago, we had 30-35 people,” he said. “Last year, there were 65-70 people.

“This year, it’s 72 or 73.”

“We talked about a big sit-down dinner or a dance and then everybody decided we just rather have a few drinks and have a chance to talk and tell stories,” Crawford said.

One of the stories Crawford shared was memories of “Ma” Helms, who owned a Five and Dime store near the school.

“If you were having a bad day, Ma had a room in the back of the store where you could eat your chips or just sit,” Crawford said. “If somebody came in looking for you, Ma would say: “haven’t seen him. Don’t know where he is.”