WILSON — Eleven members of the 25-member Wilson High School Class of 1973, the 50-year class, attended Saturday’s annual WHS reunion, along with the two other honored classes, the Class of 1998, the 25-year class and the recently graduated, and last, class of WHS, the Class of 2023.

The Independent-Reporter asked two members of the Class of 1973, Sydney (Hoch) Connelly and Luie Philbern, their thoughts about Wilson, high school life and seeing their fellow classmates again.

“I’m so happy to be part of the 50-year class,” Connelly said.

Connelly, who now lives in Arizona, said Wilson has changed since she grew up there.

“It was a bustling little town when we lived here,” she said.

Connelly, the daughter of the late Rudy and Vi Hoch, longtime owners/operators of the Snack Shack, said her favorite teacher in high school was English teacher Mr. Marsh.

“He really was a good teacher and he really wanted to make a difference in our lives,” she said.

Her favorite classes were band, where she played the trumpet, and home economics.

“I actually grew up on a farm, so I liked visiting my friends in town whenever I could,” she said.

Connelly said she felt cheated by the decision by the USD 112 Central Plains Board of Education to close the 7-12 building in Wilson at the end of this school year and transfer those students to Central Plains Jr./Sr. High School in Claflin for the 2023-24 school year.

“I think it’s terrible,” she said. “I think we need to do something to stop it and put it back like it was. We were blindsided and we were cheated.”

Connelly, however, said she remains hopeful.

Philbern said he, as well, was glad to attend the 50-year reunion of his class.

“Our class was always very tight,” he said. “It’s really nice to get back in touch with people and see how they are doing.”

Philbern said he and his family didn’t move to Wilson until 1969, the end of his freshman year.

“I finished high school here and then I moved away in 1981,” he said.

Philbern said Wilson is a very nice, tight community.

“It always felt like family,” he said.

Philbern, who now lives in Great Bend, said he gets back to Wilson often.

“So, there’s some people here I stay in contact with,” he said.

Philbern said Wilson had quite a few good teachers during his time in high school. In fact, he was able to quiz out of a lot of college classes because of what he learned at WHS.

Philbern said the one teacher who had the most influence on him was math teacher Mr.

Mog.

“He was teaching at a college level,” Philbern said, “and he was very good at it. There were three of us in what they called senior math back then, and what he normally covered in a year he covered in the first semester, so the second semester was wide open.”

Philbern said a lot of things were not taken into account by the USD 112 Central Plains School Board in making their decision to close the 7-12 building in Wilson.

“From what I’ve heard, it’s just a mismanagement of funds and a lot of people trying to profit off of shutting this down and redirecting stuff,” he said. “It would be a shame if this were the last class reunion we have in this town, so hopefully, they survive.”