Banquet hall full as 300 take part in ‘2-fer’ reunion

    After a year’s absence with no banquet, alumni of Chase County High School returned in droves Saturday for a reinvigorated event.
    Having to call off the 2020 alumni reunion due to COVID-19 concerns, this year’s event was billed a “2-fer” as alumni from classes ending in “1” and “0” shared the spotlight as honored classes.
    The Chase County Alumni Association was happy with how it turned out.
    Marlon Kunnemann, association president, said he had nothing but good responses on combining the two honored classes into one celebration.
    “Some actually asked if we could continue doing that,” Kunnemann noted.
    He said a few suggested having the banquet every two years and bring back two classes each reunion so they could also see their classmates a year ahead or behind them, like this year.
    While a great idea, Kun-nemann said that’s probably not feasible due to the possibility of more numbers showing up, and exceeding the building capacity.
    During the program, Kunnemann took time to recognized all the U.S. veterans in the audience, as the weekend also marked Memorial Day.
    This year, he also made a special note to thank the “men and women in blue,” he said, “who don’t get credit where credit is due.”
    Alumni of the “0” and “1” honor classes were individually introduced as their classes were recognized.
    The oldest alumnus on hand for the banquet was Irvin Bauerle of Champion. He was a member of the CCHS Class of 1940 and would have celebrated his 80th in 2020.
    Super Foods catered this year’s banquet and prepared 300 plates of food.
    The necrology of alumni who have died the past two years included 42 former students and one teacher. The full list is included with photos on page 9.
    Other alumni association committee members include Arlys Cox Cupp, Jacque Harms Banks, Carol  Johnson Kunnemann, Becky Bernard, Kelsey Cupp Steinkraus, Jeanette Sughroue Munger and Nancy Heskett Terryberry.