Shorewood High School Alumni Association Plans 2011 All Class Reunion

Shorewood has something unique amongst public high schools in the United States — an organized and active Shorewood High School Alumni Association that is separate from the Educational Foundation of the village. Last year, funds were raised for the Shorewood School District, and first investments were made to start growing an endowment for Shorewood. And a big party was thrown over two days at the high school — and no one was sent to  detention for a hall pass violation.

Just last year, Shorewood had an amazing success in doing the unthinkable — the Shorewood High School 501(c)3 Alumni Association invited every known person who ever went to Shorewood High School in Shorewood, WI, to descend upon the grounds on the same day. And then, it invited everyone else, too.  Billed the All Class Reunion & Community Weekend, this celebration had humble roots. It was started in 2009 by two graduates of the class of 1985, Renee and Rebekah, who had planned lunch but wanted to include friends who’d be in town and who live here, and wanted to be able to include them. The second annual All-Class Reunion became a community and alumni event, blending all layers of Shorewood together to celebrate the center of town — the schools.

The 2010 All Class Reunion became a two-day event jammed with activities. It was also held on school grounds (as district administrators held their collective breath.)  Thanks to the collaboration and work with the Shorewood School District, the Shorewood educational foundation, the PTOs for all four schools, the Shorewood School Board, the Shorewood Men’s Club, village trustees, the Shorewood Foundation and many other alumni like Wick’s liquor donating hundreds of bratwurst, and Sprecher and Kopps donating root beer and custard for floats and many other supportive groups — the event was two days of seeing red, and chanting the Pep Song!

The Friday night concert was a rousing success thanks to the talent that came in for the event, and Saturday’s parade, picnic with live music on two stages, tours and showing of "Airplane" were each successes in their own right. 

Alumni support from far and wide was felt even in the finest details. From the team of professionals who flew in to help execute the array of events, connections allowed for a magical arrival of an enthusiastic Bango the Buck on skateboard, accompanied by twenty drummers in the Bucks drumline to accompany the early morning parade. Flyers were distributed along the route to come greet the school parade, which included the superintendent and alumni president marching from school to school in Shorewood, with the PTO and principal of each school right out front with coffee and home made snacks to greet returning, current and future students of the schools.

The tour of the underground tunnels later in the afternoon was so popular that over a hundred people marched down into the depths under the parking lot, and the lights at the front of the tour didn’t quite reach the last forty folks. The Alumni Association apologizes for the dark, wet underground scare for some, especially the couple that got locked underground in back of the former Applied Arts Building (though it appears you’d been there before, together, and that is perhaps what predicated the student lock-out from tunnels in the first place. Class of 1976 we know you’ve been there before.) If this tour is offered again, waivers will be provided for signature.

This year’s 2011 Shorewood All-Class Reunion will be July 9.  The classes having reunion years are encouraged to build their reunions around the date, as grand tours and picnic events will again be set up under the giant tent for Saturday.  Classes of 1946, 1951, 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, ’96, 2001, and 2006 can contact shorewoodalumni@gmail.com to start to discuss planning for the summer. The Alumni Association will keep alumni up-to-date on the reunion page of the SHS Alumni website, which is www.shorewoodalumni.org.

(Note: This website also has obituaries, news, and other information for Alumni and is maintained by the Shorewood High School Alumni Association).  The School District of Shorewood also has an alumni page — www.shorewoodschools.org/main/alumni/ should be updated by Feb. 15.

This year, the plan is to keep all-class reunion activities to just Saturday, to allow for class reunions to plan getting together in the evenings. However, if a hugely famous other set of alumni would like to throw a fund-raising concert for Friday night, please contact the Alumni Association. The gym is ready for you, Al knows where all the power is, and the superintendent will (maybe) let the Alumni Association have another wild and fun night of rock and roll!