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JL Jackson grads of 1957 seek to reconnect for 65th anniversary reunion

Committee wishes to get in touch with graduates living in Salmon Arm and area
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Members of the JL Jackson graduating class of 1957 are in this photo of the school’s Senior High Council. A 65th anniversary reunion is being planned for the grads of ‘57, with the event taking place in Salmon Arm in late August, 2022. (Contributed)

By Barb Brouwer

Contributor

Sixty-five years ago, some 50 students said goodbye to JL Jackson Junior High School and the friends they had made there.

Now five members of the 1957 graduating class are hoping to gather as many of those students as possible for a 65th anniversary reunion on Aug. 23 and 24.

The event will kick off on Tuesday, Aug. 23 with dinner at the Prestige Harbourfront Resort.

A variety of activities will be scheduled on the afternoon of the 24th, with a tour of local wineries, none of which existed 65 years ago, a walk through Salmon Arm to see the many changes that have taken place, and a visit to R.J. Haney Heritage Village and Museum.

“We were the first class that graduated from JL Jackson after attending the old Salmon Arm High School for all those years,” said Allan Affleck, a member of the organizing committee.

He said the committee has managed to contact several members of the class.

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“About 20 of them say they are interested, 13 we have not been able to connect with and 24 are deceased,” he said.

The committee has been unable to connect with a number of 1957 grads who may reside in the Salmon Arm area – Sherwood Inglis, Arlene Koski, Mary Price, Vina Roy, Faye Shannon, Elida Sandaker, Marjorie Sawatsky, Mary Silver, Betty Lou Somers, Clarence Stewart and Pat Vandenbosch.

Affleck requests that any of these people, or those who know of them, contact him at 206-351-3944, or by email to adaffleck@aol.com.

On a historical note, Salmon Arm Museum Curator/Archivist Deborah Chapman said the high school opened in 1950 and was renamed JL Jackson Junior High School in 1956.



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