Out of the original 96 members of the 1974 class of Cayman Islands High School, 38 former students celebrated their milestone 50-year reunion in September.
The reunion, held at Ristorante Pappagallo, featured a three-course dinner and live entertainment, as former classmates got reacquainted, old friends caught up with each other and everyone shared fond memories.
Calling the event “a tremendous success“, reunion organiser Hazel Brown told the Cayman Compass, “Some classmates hadn’t connected since graduation and it was a joy to reconnect to catch up, to share and bask in the friendship that was wrought by our common experiences.”
‘Significant milestone’
Class of 1974 graduate Sharon Mitchell told the Compass, “Our 50th reunion is a very significant milestone in our lives. We reflected on mosquitoes and how they got in the nostrils of the cattle. We reflected on our class trip to Costa Rica. [Our teachers] Karen and Ishmael Goddard got married on that trip!”
Some of that class would also be among the largest local groups to depart from Cayman on national carrier, Cayman Airways, with 49 students and teachers from the high school heading to Mexico for a week-long visit.
The students of the ’70s embraced the fashion of that time – bell bottoms, turtlenecks, short jackets and tie-dyed shirts – as well as the music of Radley Gourzong and the Happy Boys and the Humble and the Meek band.
Attendees went back in time as event emcee Carl Brown recalled that in 1974, Cayman’s population was about 14,000, and the Holiday Inn was only 2 years old.
It would be the year that Thomas Russell was appointed as governor, and the government announced a $600,000 project to modernise the George Town Hospital.
“The group witnessed the time of smoke pots, kerosene lamps [evolving] into limited electrical utility. Many of them had close family ties to the seafaring heritage in a visceral way, some of whom had relatives who died at sea or that been to war, experienced weather and maritime disasters,” Carl Brown told the Compass.
That graduating class represented the first under Cayman’s ‘new comprehensive system’.
“The class started in 1969 as the traditional secondary grammar and secondary modern streams. With the introduction of the new comprehensive school approach, the two streams were merged and were the guinea pigs of the new system. Uniforms were set aside, sets were introduced, we shuffled between the two sites – Walkers Road and the Annex,” Hazel Brown noted.
She added, “We handled all the teenage hormones in a new normal. It was a trying time looking back, but as teenagers do, we simply lived in the moment, fighting battles and forging lifelong relationships.”
The 1974 group was also the largest class to graduate, therefore “the challenge was to find a venue for the ceremony”, Brown noted.
Lovina Ebanks, Miss Cayman Islands 1975, was among the graduates. “I gave the class speech and at the end recited the poem ‘Desiderata’ which I remember often in my daily life. I [remember] was very nervous.”
She added, “I miss spending personal time with school friends who [now] live overseas, riding on Mr. Craddock Ebanks school bus which had no AC, from North Side to George Town, and I’ll never forget doing homework with only one propane lamp … that was a challenge for me and my six siblings; however, we were all good students and made it work.”
The reunion also featured a moment of silence to honour classmates who have passed away. The milestone celebration also saw the class’ first tutor, ‘Ms Gracie’ in attendance.
Grace Wright, 79, also taught Spanish. She told the Cayman Compass, “Attending the class reunion was a joy.”
“I got to see all the faces of the students I taught and tutored. I was very much involved with making sure they were not falling through the cracks and enjoyed the way they were raised.
“I remember how instrumental parents were with their children. They were very involved, hands-on and supportive. I remember students being very respectful and always helpful,” she said.
From the class of 1974 came “many accomplishments over the years”, Hazel Brown said.
“We have been accountants, air traffic controllers, bankers, condo managers, dieticians, firemen, nurses, pilots, policeman, politicians, teachers, and parents. We have contributed to all sectors of the economy and continue to do so,” she said.
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