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Smiles were plentiful in Ely this week.
It didn’t matter if one was at Saturday’s Rock the Park concert, the heritage day and mixer at Pioneer Mine on Monday, the sports hall of fame event on Tuesday night, or the school campus on Wednesday, it was hard to find an unhappy face.
The early reviews are in and Ely’s first high school all-class reunion in 20 years is not just a base hit, but a grand slam in every way.
Turnout has been tremendous, with well in excess of 1,000 Ely graduates signing up for the reunion and the early events drawing huge gatherings.
A few reunion-goers remarked that Monday night’s mixer served as a step back in time, with ageless rocker Bill Bulinski and his band cranking out the tunes and couples filling the dance floor.
During the middle of the event, it was elbow-to-elbow inside as classmates from multiple generations mixed and mingled.
We heard of heartfelt moments, with one couple dancing together for the first time in decades and another reunion-goer observing that the event may have marked the final occasion that so many former Ely grads would be all together in one spot at one time.
Numerous other events this week brought Ely graduates together to remember, share stories and salute the community’s rich history.
History was on display Monday at the Pioneer Mine for the Heritage Day celebration, complete with polka music and potica and the latest on the efforts to preserve the Pioneer Mine site as a mining museum and memorial.
Similar sentiments were flowing Tuesday, when more than 250 people turned out for the induction of the newest enshrinees in the Ely Sports Hall of Fame.
Coaches from decades-past including Joe Edlund, Larry Mischke and Bill Braun were among those on hand and honorees stretched from those previously selected from the classes of the 1960s and 1970s, to this year’s honorees - who encompassed the decades of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
Enthusiasm was off the charts regardless of age and it was another event that had people leaving with smiles a mile wide, and talk of hall of fame gatherings into the future.
Ely Memorial High School is a century old but a new era has dawned of sorts, particularly with the renovations on campus that will top $30 million when all is said and done.
Old and new mixed at the school Wednesday, as graduates from years past checked out their old classrooms, lockers and the historic gymnasium, while at the same time getting a glimpse of the brand-new addition that links the Memorial and Washington buildings.
We’re sure the fun will continue this weekend as individual classes gather and Ely celebrates the Fourth of July and closes this reunion out with another Rock the Park event.
All-class reunions are massive events and take many volunteers and much behind-the scenes work to pull off. This year’s group has certainly stepped up and filled the shoes of those who organized previous Ely all-class events and put together a grand celebration, one that brought people together, rekindled memories and old relationships and created countless smiles.
A job well done.
