By Alan Sorensen
Grandparents came from across country and throughout the state to help celebrate St. Jude/Havre Centrals 13th annual Grandparents Day Friday.
Activities got under way at 10 a.m. with the grandparents being feted with coffee, juice, donuts, and entertainment. The school band, under the direction of Kirt Miller, performed.
The grandparents and students adjourned to classrooms at about 11 a.m. for further entertainment by the students.
Karen Kamlas seventh-graders identified towns, rivers, and mountains in Montana on a large map of the state on the classroom floor. The performance was part of the students Montana history project. Kamlas eighth-graders performed pantomime that the grandparents were encouraged to identify.
John Brineys sixth- and seventh-graders involved the grandparents in their science experiments, and Cindy Flathers seventh- and eighth-graders played math games with the grandparents.
Alma Seidels sixth-graders presented a play, Homesteading Days, that incorporated some of the actual events in the history of the Hunt, Shettel, and Seidel families. Her seventh-graders made May baskets.
All of the students and grandparents gathered in the gym after lunch to enjoy a talent show put on by the fifth- through seventh-grade students.
The day ended with the entire school students, grandparents and staff gathered in the church to celebrate Mass with Father Grosch.
The grandparents who traveled the farthest 950 miles from Golden, Colo. were Phyllis and Calvin Kelley, grandparents of Sunshine and Calvin Morsette. Ruby Klima, great grandmother of Jordan Patterson, came 850 miles from LaMoure, N.D., and Robert and Dorothy Revel, grandparents of Jon Johnstone, covered the 682 miles from Spokane to attend.
Among the other out-of-towners who shared the day with the students, were grandparents from Inverness, Cut Bank, Glasgow, Harlem, Big Sandy, Whitefish, Anaconda, Scobey, Chinook, Lincoln, and Great Falls.
The grandparents on hand who have attended the most often 12 years were Bernadette Morris Toldness, grandmother of Katie Toldness, and Albert Christian, grandfather of Tony Christian. Five other sets of grandparents had attended six or more years.
Six of the grandparents were alumni of St. Jude/Havre Central themselves, and six other grandparents top the age list by being 80 or older. The oldest was Steve Johnstone, 89, grandfather of Jon Johnstone.
Jenna and Justine Erhard and Marvel Swenson each have five grandchildren at St. Jude/Havre Central this year, and Darren Verploegen and Royce, and Norma Verploegen have eight.
