Thorntown H.S. grads reunite

By Marda Johnson/The Lebanon Reporter

Thorntown May 13, 2008 12:51 am

— About 200 Thorntown High School alumni — as well as some of their teachers and coaches — gathered over the weekend for the school’s 95th alumni banquet.
The banquet was Saturday at Thorntown Elementary School, which had served as the high school. The high school’s last class graduated in 1974; the school then was consolidated.
Among those attending the reunion was Dan Gunn.
Gunn was a Keewasakee basketball player in the late 1960s who later went on to be a coach.
“I’ve enjoyed seeing people,” Gunn said. “The coaches came back today. It’s nice to see them. I don’t think they know how much they’ve influenced people’s lives.”
In addition to coaches and classmates, Gunn liked seeing friends and neighbors from around the town. It was his first time back in the building since 1968.
“It’s kind of like a walk back in time,” Gunn said.
Another returning athlete was Max Price.
“Once you grow up in Thorntown, you’re always a Thorntowner,” said Price, laughing. Price, a 1953 graduate, now lives in Oklahoma.
Price went on to play basketball and football at Purdue University. He became a coach after college, and then went into the ministry.
Now “retired,” Price supervises a church camp — a sort of amalgamation of his two past careers.
“The kids keep you young,” he said.
Price tries to get home for the reunion every year.
John Coffman, president of the alumni association, said the 95th annual event was “going great.”
He said the intention at this year’s reunion was to “renew old friendships, visit, gossip and tell old stories.”
Planning for the event started 10 months prior. Each year, the class celebrating it’s 50th anniversary is the featured class — 1958 this year.
Food for the event was provided by Cochran’s Catering. Western Boone Star Voices provided entertainment.