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Classmates get together for 70th Wauzeka class reunion

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Members of the Wauzeka High School Class of 1945 who gathered for their 70th Class Reunion were, front row: Elaine Schmitt of Steuben, Elaine “Brown” Heiar of Bloomington and Ruth “Reiger” Kessler of Onalaska. Back row: Harold “Sonny” Ray of Prairie du Chien and Robert Hazen of Bagley. Class members who could not attend were Elizabeth “Day” Cullison of Danville, Ill., Donna “Garvey” Lind of La Crosse and Shirley Lewig of Montana.

Above is a photo of the Wauzeka High School Class of 1945 taken on graduation day, May 24, 1945. Not all class members are present.

By Ted Pennekamp

 

The Wauzeka High School Class of 1945 held its 70th class reunion on Wednesday, July 8, with a nice lunch at Huckleberry’s Restaurant in Prairie du Chien.

The Class of ‘45 had 23 graduates. Six girls and two boys remain. Five of the eight remaining members were there to reminisce at the class reunion, including Elaine Schmitt, Elaine “Brown” Heiar, Ruth “Reiger” Kessler, Harold “Sonny” Ray and Robert Hazen.

Not only was the class reunion held on July 8, but members of the class and spouses have been meeting at Huckleberry’s the second Wednesday of every month for the past 12 years.

During an interview prior to the class reunion, it was noted that there were nine boys in the Class of ‘45, some of whom left for World War II the day after the graduation ceremony held on May 24, 1945. All nine served in WWII and all came back, said Pat Hazen, wife of Robert Hazen.

The Class of ‘45 had some good athletes, with the boys winning the Kickapoo Valley Conference Championship in basketball and baseball. The girls softball team had some exceptional players as well.

“Nobody could keep up to us,” said Robert Hazen with a grin. Robert noted that because there were only six boys on the basketball team, they all played a lot, were in great shape, and could run all game long. 

“What I liked about it is that everybody got to play,” said Harold “Sonny” Ray. Robert and Sonny said team members often had to take a day off from school in order to cut firewood to heat Century Hall in Wauzeka, where the home games were played. Team members had to build the fire as well, recalled Robert and Sonny. 

There were no buses and, because of the war, there were gasoline stamps. Sonny and Harold said the coach had to drive the team to the away games. 

Sonny remembered when the baseball team sat on planks which were placed on the back of a logging truck so the team could get to an away game. “You were looking down at the drive shaft,” said Robert. 

Sonny and Robert also remembered the big hotel fire in the winter of 1944. “It was mostly high school kids running the hoses,” Robert said. 

“You had to do what you had to do,” said Sonny. 

A small high school is almost like a family and it was estimated that there were about 100 total students in 1945. “Everybody knew every kid in school,” Robert said. Most of the rural students walked several miles to school and back each day. Robert and Sonny said some rode horses seven or eight miles to school. Robert’s wife Pat noted that the wintertime clothing was not nearly as good as modern clothing.

“Times were sure different back then,” said Robert, who noted that a fair number of students dropped out upon reaching age 16 because they were needed to work on the family farm.

Sonny and Robert also remembered getting up at 4:30 a.m. to stack 100-pound feed bags nine high. “We only weighed 127 and 124 pounds,” said Robert. Many high school boys also cut firewood, shoveled coal and helped with work on the railroad and other jobs since most of the young men were gone because of the war. 

Robert said his brother went into the service in 1941 and got out about the time Robert went in. “I didn’t see my brother George for about five and a half years,” he said.

Sonny served in World War II and the Korean Conflict. “In World War II, I was 18 years old and in charge of 23 men,” he said.

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