Registration starting soon for Riverview’s 60th anniversary reunion

It’s going to be a celebration 60 years in the making. Next summer, the Riverview Alumni Association will be hosting a 60th anniversary, all-years reunion for graduates of Riverview Collegiate from Aug. 9-11.

The Riverview Alumni Association has previously held all-years reunions for the 25th, 40th and 50th anniversaries of the school.

“We would like to have 800 alumni,” said RVCI 60 organizing committee co-chair Mary Lee Booth. “The last (reunion) was our 50th and there were 630 registrants, so we’re hoping to top that.”

The event, A Summer To Remember, will feature events at the Convention Centre on the Exhibition Grounds on the first two evenings.

Friday will open with a hospitality evening with entertainment and a meal. Saturday morning features a pancake breakfast at Riverview and will provide attendees with a chance to tour the school. Saturday night the festivities will return to the Exhibition Grounds for a banquet, dinner, dance and social with a live performance by the Bromantics. There are more events being finalized and some that are still being kept under wraps.

There is some free time, so attendees can spend time seeing the city, as well.

Booth graduated in 1978 and her graduating class has had their own class reunions over the years.

“We’ve stayed in touch, but these big events are very fun because you get to see people from the years previous and the years after. It’s just that much more fun,” she said. “A lot of folks that are our age or older are on the planning committee. This might be the last all-years reunion, so we really want to encourage people to come.”

The Riverview Alumni Association was formed in the early 1990s and has helped keep Royals in touch with one another since.

Riverview opened on South Hill in 1959 to serve the growing population on that side of the city, as well as the growth of 15 Wing Moose Jaw to the south of the city. When the school opened, it had approximately 250 students and grew to a population of nearly 600. Those numbers have dropped considerably in recent years as students have become less geographically-tied to where they attend high school.

“We’ve seen it evolve over the years. During my time, I graduated in the late ‘70s, I think there were about 600 kids. We had 106 in our graduating class and I think the year before us had 120. Now that’s the enrollment of the school is 120. The school has really changed. About 10 or 15 years ago now they went through the (block) system which was an interesting time too. They flirted around with that and went back to the semester system.

“It is interesting how it has evolved. And now it’s home to the life skills program.”

The RVCI Alumni Association would love to see more recent graduates get involved and take part. “There seems to be more interest in the older generation than there is in the younger generation, in keeping in touch with our classmates and being nostalgic,” Booth said.

“What we need for people to do is register with us in our database. Our major contact is through email,” explained Terrence Walker RVCI 60 organizing committee treasurer.

They can do that by clicking on the subscribe button on the front page of the Riverview Alumni Association home page (https://www.riverviewalumni.org).

“Then they’ll be getting updates and the latest information,” added Walker.

Registration for RVCI 60 will begin early in the new year. Interested attendees can register online, though there will be email and a mail-in option for people who aren’t online.

Visit Moose Jaw provided strong early sponsorship and support for the event and the Prairie South School Division has also supported RVCI 60. The organizing committee are still looking for corporate sponsors who may want to offer prizes or coupons and promotions for the homecoming attendees.

RVCI 60 is also looking for service groups who may be looking at doing a designated driver fundraiser who can help transport people to and from the events.

There are 22 people on the planning committee who have spent 18 months already organizing the event, but they added that they can always use more volunteers as the event gets closer.

“We will be looking for additional volunteers to help with some hands-on things like the registration table, set-up and tear-down,” Booth said.