HHS Alumni Banquet leaders seek input on event's future

A rumor that the recent Holton High School alumni banquet might be the last one spurred Jackie Sommers of Topeka and her four siblings — all of whom graduated from HHS — to return to their alma mater and former hometown to relive their “glory days” over Memorial Day weekend.

“I just thought the whole thing was very nice,” said Sommers, a 1974 HHS graduate. “The food was really good, and all the guest speakers were also really good.”

Sommers said she hoped the rumor that the alumni banquet may become a thing of the past was exactly that — a rumor — because she’d like to return in two years to celebrate her 50-year class reunion, just as her brothers, Jeff Rogers and Jay Rogers, both of Topeka, celebrated graduation milestones. Jeff graduated in 1972, and Jay gathered with members of his class to celebrate their 55-year reunion.

“It would be nice,” said Sommers, who also attended this year’s banquet with sisters Jean Goodwin (class of 1968) and Joyce Wheeler (class of 1970), both of whom traveled from Texas for this year’s banquet.

Sommers is not the only one hoping that others will step up and continue the alumni banquet. Paula Birkbeck Taylor, a 1986 HHS graduate, announced during the May 28 banquet that it’s time for other HHS graduates to lend a hand to keep the banquet going in the future.

“Two people can’t do this,” Taylor said, referring to her cohort in arranging this year’s banquet, 1971 graduate Beth Haug McManigal. “No one’s going to stand up and say, ‘This is it.’ But we’re at a crossroads.”

The annual alumni banquet is hosted by the Holton Alumni Association, even though there is “no elected board, and there are few volunteers,” according to a survey being produced by the Alumni Association seeking public input into how — or whether — the banquet should continue.

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