Sudbury Secondary celebrates 100 years

Sudbury Secondary School is celebrating its centennial in 2008 with a reunion weekend planned for July 31 to Aug. 3.

A group of former cheerleaders are getting together to compile a list of retired pompon girls to invite to Reunion 2008 and the Reunion Athletic Banquet.

Former cheerleaders, led by Jane (Campbell) Costigan, are researching the school’s yearbook collection to ensure  every cheerleader is invited to the banquet that will take place Friday, Aug. 1.

Costigan was a cheerleader for the Sudbury High Wolves in the early 1960s. She can be contacted at 522-5321.

She is working on  the cheerleader reunion with Diane Ikonen. Ikonen can be contacted at 566-9752.

Connecting with former female students is often a challenge, as women usually dropped their maiden names when married, and took on their husbands’ names, said Ikonen, who cheered on the Sudbury Tech Devils from 1960 to 1965.

The high school was established as Sudbury High School in 1908. Later Sudbury Mining and Technical School was established on the same property in 1922.

In 1934 the high school and the mining school became two separate schools, each with its own principal. A large addition was added to the technical school in 1939.

Another large addition was opened in 1960 when the Sudbury Mining and Technical School became Sheridan Technical School. The schools merged into Sudbury Secondary School in 1974.

About 50,000 people have graduated from these schools since the first classes were held in a rented building at the corner of St. Anne’s Rd. and Durham St.

Prominent alumni include: Joe Bowen, sports announcer for the Toronto Maple Leafs; Daryl Brunt, Canadian Idol competitor; TV host Alex Trebek; Alex Baumann, Olympic gold medalist in swimming; scriptwriter Robert Adetuyi (Stomp the Yard); hockey player Tim Horton; and designer guru Bruce Mau.

As many as 30,000 people are expected to attend the Sudbury Secondary School’s 100th anniversary reunion.

Activities planned include a teachers’ banquet, a wine and cheese reception, an alumni banquet, a day of golf, an ecumenical service and what could turn out to be the largest dance in the school’s history.

The last reunion was held in 1983 to celebrate the 75th anniversary.

The organizers have set up a website: www.SSSReunion2008.com.