Generations of alumni gather for all-school reunion
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DIXON — When Eleanor Clark was in high school she was the only girl in a class of four boys.
“That was enough,” Clark joked. “We didn’t need anymore.”
Clark graduated from Dixon High School in 1953. In 1977, the hallways of Dixon High School closed. Now the building only serves students up to the 8th grade.
And though Dixon High School alumni have long since moved away and raised families in other towns and states, a small handful, like Clark, still make the journey to the small town during Melon Days to celebrate being “Demons.”
“The junior high is now the “bisons” but when I was a student we were the “demons,” Carol Lipscomb said as she donned her orange and black pep club t-shirt.
Lipscomb graduated in 1955 and she remembers the days when she and other fellow pep club members cheered on their six-man football squad and basketball teams.
Back then girls sports were rare and most were either cheerleaders or pep club members.
Clark was a cheerleader for four years. She now lives in Polson, where she said quite a few Dixon alumni ended up living.
But Lipscomb said as the years pass, the classes at the reunion get smaller because of alumni passing or not attending.
The All Dixon High School reunion was held in Polson for a number of years, until organizers decided to move the event back to their hometown. Last year was the first time the reunion was held in conjunction with Dixon’s Melon Days celebration. They had the chance to tour the building, the first time in years.
“All the fences were shorter, the hallways were narrower, the whole building had shrunk,” Janet Lemery, class of 1954, said of the tour.
This year was more informal and alumni had the chance to reconnect at the dinner and dance scheduled during Melon Days.
Lemery attended the function with her brother Jim Lemery of San Diego, who also attended the school until he was a sophomore.
“It (Dixon) is the last best place,” Lemery said.
Some of her favorite memories were buying penny candy from the local store and cheering on the football team, as they played local teams St. Ignatius and Arlee.
Lemery believes if was after the main office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs moved from the Dixon area to Pablo, that caused the population of Dixon to decline more.
The attendance at the reunion was down a bit this year as well, but that was because it was more casual, and most people were notified by email.
Lipscomb, Lemery and Clark stand together reminiscing and pointing out a few people nearby who were also alumni.
Lipscomb said as she rode on the reunion float during the Melon Days parade, she saw more alumni in the watching crowds than on the float.
“Most of them waved to us from the street,” Lipscomb laughed.
“But we still got a blue ribbon.”
