Reunion sparks ongoing meetings for Class of 1946 friends

(Above) Clear Lake High School Class of 1946 classmates (L-R) Janette Buck, Joan Ashland and Ann Thomsen turned a planning meeting for a class reunion into a monthly date.  The ladies gather each month at Culver’s restaurant in Clear Lake to talk about then and now.-Reporter photo by Marianne Gasaway.

by Marianne Gasaway

Kathy Treanor loves her job at Culver’s in Clear Lake.  She meets and greets hundreds who swing into the local restaurant to grab a bite to eat.  She also appreciates those who share good stories and friendship over their meal.

For the past several years Joan (Bisgrove) Ashland, Janette Buck and Ann (David) Thomsen have been gathering at Culver’s restaurant once a month to enjoy lunch and talk about everything from days gone by to current events, just as they did more than 70-years ago as high school friends.

“I learned these ladies are classmates from the Clear Lake High School Class of 1946 and they make it a point to get together and stay in touch,” said Treanor.

“We held a meeting to talk about a reunion a number of years back and we decided it was fun to get together,” explained Joan, adding that originally seven or eight were in the group planning a reunion for the class with 42 members.  “We figure some of the guys wouldn’t want to get together for our girls lunch now, so we just get together informally.”

When asked what they remember most about their high school days, all three responded with the same answer.  The war.

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“The war was a big thing and some of those in the class above ours who were 18 quit school and enlisted,” they recalled.  “There was rationing— shoes, gasoline, sugar.”

Thomsen said she got her driver’s license at the age of 15 and could drive to school from her rural Clear Lake home.

“My older brother was in the Navy.  I think that’s why I was allowed to drive to school,” she said.

Joan and Janette both lived in town and also remember how wartime effected their lives.  Like Ann, Joan lived on her family’s farm and helped with the chores and delivered milk for her father’s Bisgrove Dairy. They typically walked to school, which at that time was located on the site of Central Gardens today.

Despite wartime, the three say there was plenty of fun in their high school days.  They were involved in drama and music, along with their regular coursework.  Latin was the only foreign language offered and was encouraged for those who planned to attend college.  Pilot Knob was the site for Senior Skip Day and intramural sports were the only ones allowed for girls.

Joan and Jeanette went on to become teachers in Clear Lake and elsewhere.  They remember that men were paid more than women based on the reasoning that they had families to support.  Ann married at 19 and was active in farm life, which she loved.    

Each said that although they may have lived elsewhere, Clear Lake has always remained an important part of their lives.

“The roller coaster at Bayside was as scary as any in the country and we couldn’t get enough of it,” laughed Ann.  “Skating, amusement rides, The Ritz, swimming in the lake — it was all fantastic.  And the Fourth of July was like Christmas to us — like it still is for a lot of kids in Clear Lake, I guess.”

Looking out the window at Culver’s, Joan says she chuckled when she read a sign on a nearby business that stated “Local checks only.”   

“I told them they don’t get any more local than me.  My father’s dairy was right here in this Fieldstone area.”

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