Class reunions are typically reserved for high school graduates — but not this one.
Byron Roberts, 72, thought a Grade 7 reunion from Central Fort George Elementary School would be more meaningful.
On Saturday, May 3, 22 of about 38 former classmates will gather at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club to reminisce, share a few laughs and catch up on the years gone by.
“There’s a lot of us who went to school as a core group all the way through,” Roberts said.
“We’ve got pictures — I’ve had them all enlarged — and yeah, it’s really quite interesting to see the transition through the years.”
The group has photos dating back to Grade 1, when the students were just six years old. To think they’ll meet up again is quite remarkable, he added.
“It’s been 65 years since many of us first met,” Roberts said. “We’re going to video conference with some people from back East who can’t make it.”
Attendees are travelling from across British Columbia, including Terrace, Vancouver, Chilliwack, Vancouver Island and Fort St. James. Some are coming from Alberta, and about half a dozen still live in Prince George.
The idea started when Roberts reconnected on Facebook with a Grade 1 classmate.
“Her dad still lived here in Prince George and she was coming to visit him two years ago. I asked if me and my best friend Vic could have lunch with her,” he said.
They started reminiscing, and Roberts learned that four of the girls from Grade 1 were planning a small get-together for late March 2025.
Roberts was part of a core group of four boys who used to hang out together back then.
“I phoned her in February to see when they were going to meet. They had postponed it to the end of April because a couple of the girls were driving and wanted to wait for safer road conditions,” he said.
“So I called the guys, then a few others in Prince George to see if they wanted to join. The answer was always yes — and it kind of grew from there. We tried to get hold of as many people as we could and through that, we discovered that 11 have passed. I guess it shouldn’t be surprising, but it is.”
Tracking down classmates wasn’t easy, especially the women, many of whom changed their names after marriage.
Roberts said he became something of a detective in the process.
“We’re just going to get together, have a nice dinner and chat until we close the place down,” he said with a smile.
