By Matthew McCully
Tina Pelkey and Judy Frost are just two short weeks away from hosting around 270 graduates from Richmond Regional High School for a reunion weekend.
The event, inviting grads from when the school first opened in 1968 until 1980, took 14 months of planning, according to Pelkey.
And like most largescale events, this one started with a harmless email.
Pelkey said her intention when she first reached out to RRHS grads was just to compile an email list to help people connect.
After over 500 email addresses were registered, “Somebody found somebody somewhere, for sure,” Pelkey joked in a phone interview.
And then when she toyed with the idea of organizing a reunion, she thought it would just be a one-day thing with a quick visit to the old stomping grounds, and then a celebration dinner.
But with interest from people as far away as Australia, and ranging in age from 60-72 years old, Pelkey thought it would make more sense to organize a full weekend of activities, to make the trip worthwhile.
So, registration will take place at the Melbourne Golf Course Friday night Aug. 4, and don’t worry, name tags will feature graduates’ yearbook photos to avoid guesswork. “I went to a funeral recently, and I didn’t recognize people,” Pelkey explained.
On Saturday, RRHS will be open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. so guests can see how the school has changed.
On Saturday night, there will be a cocktail and bbq supper at Richmond fairgrounds, and a farewell brunch à la sugar shack will take place at Melbourne golf course on Sunday, Aug. 6.
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