Most of us have attended, at one time or another, a high school class reunion. We were concerned about our appearance, what clothes to wear, will any of our friends be there, and if we would recognize our classmates. Our spouses dreaded attending since they would not know anyone, they would feel left out, deserted for the evening while everyone else was having a fun time reminiscing and telling stories. And then there are those all-school reunions with a lot more people attending over a two-day period with great food and refreshments, live music, museums, auctions, a memory wall, cookbooks, history books, videos, proclamations, tents, souvenirs, and a candy store. Sounds like an all-school reunion could be a great time for all. And it will be! The eight-member reunion steering team and the nine subcommittees are hard at work to make the Ondossagon All-School Reunion THE EVENT of this summer in the greater Ashland, Wisconsin area.
The Ondossagon School opened in 1917 and closed in 1990. Ondossagon (Ojibwe for “on the other side of the lake“) was a small country school with classes from 1-12 and in later years, K-12. It was located about 4 miles west of Ashland, Wisconsin, in the Township of Barksdale.
Jan Lumberg Kupczyk (’70) came up with the idea for the all-school reunion and in September 2008, she organized a meeting at the Vaughn Library. To her surprise and delight, eight alumni showed up ready and willing to organize an all-school reunion. Dates agreed upon for the reunion were August 6 and 7, 2010. Friday afternoon and evening will be at the Benoit Community Center in Benoit, Wisconsin, and Saturday at the Bay Area Civic Center in Ashland, Wisconsin.
A general organizational meeting to establish subcommittees was held at the Benoit Community Center in March 2009. Nine subcommittees were established with chairpersons and each committee was assigned a liason to the Steering Team. Every subcommittee has responsibility for recruiting additional members.
It was decided to establish an Ondossagon web site, www.Ondossagonaggies.com, get on Facebook.com, and have our own Ondossagon blog. Our web master, who resides in the Green Bay, Wisconsin, area, built the website framework and it has been enhanced and populated by an alumnus residing in Oregon. The website, in addition to providing communication about the reunion, will be used for reunion registration plus the purchasing of souvenirs, cookbooks, and history books. All steering team minutes have been posted on the site. Also, the “name the reunion contest” was conducted on the website. We received over 70 suggestions of reunion themes and after all votes were tabulated there was a tie between “Aggies Again in 2010“ and “Ondossagon Forever.” Our reunion has two themes!
We identified one or two graduates by year of graduation who were responsible for providing names, mailing addresses, and email addresses of their classmates. Our data base currently contains 2154 alumni names and addresses, 942 of which have email addresses.
Filings have been made with the state to establish the Ondossagon All-School Reunion Committee as a non profit association. Since the reunion is also a fundraiser for the Benoit Community Center (BCC), all remaining funds or other assets on hand after the reunion will be transferred to the BCC, the last usable building of the former Ondossagon school district. The BCC also houses the Ondossagon School Museum which contains old records, photos, trophies, and other Ondossagon memorabilia. The museum will be open for tours on both Friday and Saturday of the reunion. We are encouraging donations be made to the BCC to help with the purchase of new heating equipment to improve heat to the gym, new chairs, upgraded kitchen equipment, additional gym ceiling insulation, parking lot improvements, additional security lighting, replacement of the gym roof membrane which is at its life expectancy, and potentially the installation of an elevator which will service the second floor where the Ondossagon Museum is located. Your tax deductable donation can be sent to
Some early all-school reunion fundraising allowed for the rental of the Bay Area Civic Center. Seed money has also been used for rental of a post office box, publishing the first edition of the OHS Cookbook, the sending of postcards in July 2009 notifying alumni of the reunion locations and dates, and costs related to sending out the registration forms. The Fundraising Committee is now completing its work for the seed money but will continue to receive donations payable to:
Currently, we have over 60 volunteers working on the reunion through the steering team and the subcommittees. Our Food Committee has arranged menus including a Cornucopia fish boil or a stacked roast beef dinner on Friday and old fashioned Ondossagon hot lunch on Saturday including but not limited to bean burgers, wiener roll ups, BBQ’s, and apple crisp. Also available on Saturday will be Huff’s Store (was located across from Ondossagon for many years) which will have some of the old time candy favorites for sale including Milk Duds, Sugar Daddies, popsicles, and other treats.
The Hospitality/Decoration Committee is working on banners, a teacher board, a memory wall, arranging for individual class exhibits, and coordinating a continuous showing of photos provided by alumni on the big screen at the Bay Area Civic Center on Saturday. Their members will provide coordination and assistance for alumni to connect with their classmates at Saturday‘s big event. They have reserved 205 motel/hotel rooms for the reunion attendees coming from out of town.
The Souvenir/Theme Committee has arranged for the creation of the reunion logo (thanks David Hnath) which will be used on T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and other items to be sold locally, at the reunion, and online. In addition, they have arranged for a live auction to be held in the big tent on Friday and for a silent auction on Saturday at the Bay Area Civic Center which are both fundraisers for the Benoit Community Center. We are requesting donations of items for these auctions from alumni, friends of Ondossagon, and community businesses.
The Nuts and Bolts Committee (Infrastructure) are in charge of setting up the big tent in Benoit on Thursday and taking it down mid-day on Sunday (we will need about 40 volunteers each day to accomplish this). They will also arrange for tables, chairs, porta potties, trash containers, generators for electrical needs, lighting, traffic control, and shuttles for moving people to and from Benoit from the Ashland area motels/hotels.
The Cook Book Committee is arranging for a second printing of the OHS Cookbook which contains many of the old school lunch recipes in addition to other family recipes from alumni and friends of Ondossagon. The History Book Committee, along with Taylor Publishing, is preparing a book that traces the history of Ondossagon. They are gathering information gleaned from old yearbooks, Blue and Golds, and from the Ondossagon Museum. Both the history and cookbooks will be for sale on our website, at select local merchants, and at the reunion.
The Registration Committee has responsibility for tabulating the completed registration forms, will be in charge of checking in the reunion attendees as they arrive at the reunion sites, and will create and distribute the name tags.
Volunteers are being solicited for the OHS pep band and the OHS chorus, both of which will be performing in the tent Friday night in Benoit and in the Bay Area Civic Center on Saturday just prior to the 8 PM program. Many additional volunteers will be needed to work shifts during our reunion weekend.
The reunion is still several months away and, as you can see, much work has already been accomplished. Our thanks go out to our many Aggie volunteers who will make this reunion an event for all to enjoy.
The Ondossagon School opened in 1917 and closed in 1990. Ondossagon (Ojibwe for “on the other side of the lake“) was a small country school with classes from 1-12 and in later years, K-12. It was located about 4 miles west of Ashland, Wisconsin, in the Township of Barksdale.
Jan Lumberg Kupczyk (’70) came up with the idea for the all-school reunion and in September 2008, she organized a meeting at the Vaughn Library. To her surprise and delight, eight alumni showed up ready and willing to organize an all-school reunion. Dates agreed upon for the reunion were August 6 and 7, 2010. Friday afternoon and evening will be at the Benoit Community Center in Benoit, Wisconsin, and Saturday at the Bay Area Civic Center in Ashland, Wisconsin.
A general organizational meeting to establish subcommittees was held at the Benoit Community Center in March 2009. Nine subcommittees were established with chairpersons and each committee was assigned a liason to the Steering Team. Every subcommittee has responsibility for recruiting additional members.
It was decided to establish an Ondossagon web site, www.Ondossagonaggies.com, get on Facebook.com, and have our own Ondossagon blog. Our web master, who resides in the Green Bay, Wisconsin, area, built the website framework and it has been enhanced and populated by an alumnus residing in Oregon. The website, in addition to providing communication about the reunion, will be used for reunion registration plus the purchasing of souvenirs, cookbooks, and history books. All steering team minutes have been posted on the site. Also, the “name the reunion contest” was conducted on the website. We received over 70 suggestions of reunion themes and after all votes were tabulated there was a tie between “Aggies Again in 2010“ and “Ondossagon Forever.” Our reunion has two themes!
We identified one or two graduates by year of graduation who were responsible for providing names, mailing addresses, and email addresses of their classmates. Our data base currently contains 2154 alumni names and addresses, 942 of which have email addresses.
Filings have been made with the state to establish the Ondossagon All-School Reunion Committee as a non profit association. Since the reunion is also a fundraiser for the Benoit Community Center (BCC), all remaining funds or other assets on hand after the reunion will be transferred to the BCC, the last usable building of the former Ondossagon school district. The BCC also houses the Ondossagon School Museum which contains old records, photos, trophies, and other Ondossagon memorabilia. The museum will be open for tours on both Friday and Saturday of the reunion. We are encouraging donations be made to the BCC to help with the purchase of new heating equipment to improve heat to the gym, new chairs, upgraded kitchen equipment, additional gym ceiling insulation, parking lot improvements, additional security lighting, replacement of the gym roof membrane which is at its life expectancy, and potentially the installation of an elevator which will service the second floor where the Ondossagon Museum is located. Your tax deductable donation can be sent to
The Benoit Community Center
63335 Ed Carlson Road
Ashland, WI 54806.
63335 Ed Carlson Road
Ashland, WI 54806.
Some early all-school reunion fundraising allowed for the rental of the Bay Area Civic Center. Seed money has also been used for rental of a post office box, publishing the first edition of the OHS Cookbook, the sending of postcards in July 2009 notifying alumni of the reunion locations and dates, and costs related to sending out the registration forms. The Fundraising Committee is now completing its work for the seed money but will continue to receive donations payable to:
The Ondossagon All-School Reunion
PO Box 149
PO Box 149
Ashland, WI 54806
(please see our sponsor page on the Ondossagon website).
(please see our sponsor page on the Ondossagon website).
Currently, we have over 60 volunteers working on the reunion through the steering team and the subcommittees. Our Food Committee has arranged menus including a Cornucopia fish boil or a stacked roast beef dinner on Friday and old fashioned Ondossagon hot lunch on Saturday including but not limited to bean burgers, wiener roll ups, BBQ’s, and apple crisp. Also available on Saturday will be Huff’s Store (was located across from Ondossagon for many years) which will have some of the old time candy favorites for sale including Milk Duds, Sugar Daddies, popsicles, and other treats.
The Hospitality/Decoration Committee is working on banners, a teacher board, a memory wall, arranging for individual class exhibits, and coordinating a continuous showing of photos provided by alumni on the big screen at the Bay Area Civic Center on Saturday. Their members will provide coordination and assistance for alumni to connect with their classmates at Saturday‘s big event. They have reserved 205 motel/hotel rooms for the reunion attendees coming from out of town.
The Souvenir/Theme Committee has arranged for the creation of the reunion logo (thanks David Hnath) which will be used on T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and other items to be sold locally, at the reunion, and online. In addition, they have arranged for a live auction to be held in the big tent on Friday and for a silent auction on Saturday at the Bay Area Civic Center which are both fundraisers for the Benoit Community Center. We are requesting donations of items for these auctions from alumni, friends of Ondossagon, and community businesses.
The Nuts and Bolts Committee (Infrastructure) are in charge of setting up the big tent in Benoit on Thursday and taking it down mid-day on Sunday (we will need about 40 volunteers each day to accomplish this). They will also arrange for tables, chairs, porta potties, trash containers, generators for electrical needs, lighting, traffic control, and shuttles for moving people to and from Benoit from the Ashland area motels/hotels.
The Cook Book Committee is arranging for a second printing of the OHS Cookbook which contains many of the old school lunch recipes in addition to other family recipes from alumni and friends of Ondossagon. The History Book Committee, along with Taylor Publishing, is preparing a book that traces the history of Ondossagon. They are gathering information gleaned from old yearbooks, Blue and Golds, and from the Ondossagon Museum. Both the history and cookbooks will be for sale on our website, at select local merchants, and at the reunion.
The Registration Committee has responsibility for tabulating the completed registration forms, will be in charge of checking in the reunion attendees as they arrive at the reunion sites, and will create and distribute the name tags.
Volunteers are being solicited for the OHS pep band and the OHS chorus, both of which will be performing in the tent Friday night in Benoit and in the Bay Area Civic Center on Saturday just prior to the 8 PM program. Many additional volunteers will be needed to work shifts during our reunion weekend.
The reunion is still several months away and, as you can see, much work has already been accomplished. Our thanks go out to our many Aggie volunteers who will make this reunion an event for all to enjoy.
“Aggies Again in 2010”
“Ondossagon Forever”
Terry Torkko ‘67
Co-chair, Ondossagon All-School Reunion
Great information Terry...........we are all very exciting and working very hard to make this Reunion the best it can be.....stay tuned for information as it develops.
ReplyDeleteJan Lumberg Kupczyk '70
Co-Chair