ST. STEPHEN – The former Milltown School is having “The Big One” – a school reunion, that is.

Stephen Braysford is a co-chairperson of the committee organizing the Milltown School Reunion planned for Aug. 7 through Aug. 10 inclusive during next year’s International Homecoming Festival.

“The reunion is for anybody who ever went to the school, whether it was for one day, one month or years”, said Braysford. “It matters not how long you attended the school, we want you to come”.

Braysford said the Milltown School used to sit close to the road in front of where the W.T. Booth Centennial Pool is now located. Changes in school system in the 1960’s saw older students moved to St. Stephen High School to finish their formal education, making the Milltown School a place of learning for students in elementary grades, a practice that continued until the school’s closure in the mid-1960’s.

That’s part of the reason Braysford and his committee stresses they want anyone who ever went to the school to come to the Reunion.
“There was a 20 year span after the change where students continued to go to that school before it was closed”, said Braysford.

The organizing committee is stressing that it wants to hear from as many former students who attended the school as possible and members have established several contact phone numbers and email addresses that they hope people will use.

Braysford can be contacted at (506) 466-5163; Maynard and Jeanne Purcell ,(506) 466-4411, or by email at purcell@nbnet.nb.ca; Shirley Young at (506)466-3473 or by email at shirtsee@nbnnet.nb.ca; or Sallee McShane at (207)454-3589.

The committee annually mails about 450 Christmas cards to former Milltown School classmates said Braysford.

This year’s Christmas card will include a letter of invitation to the reunion outlining all the activities planned, from the several Wine and Cheese Parties set for Aug. 7, to the Meet and Greet at the Milltown Legion on Aug. 8 to the buffet dinner gala and dance featuring the band Donnie and the Monarchs at the Border Area Arena on Aug 9, to several church services and a breakfast brunch at St. Patrick’s Hall on Aug. 10.

Registration for the Milltown School Reunion cost $75 and covers the cost of attending the planned activities and meals for the four days of the reunion as outlined in the registration letter said Braysford.

Braysford said the committee is in the process of creating a website and hopes to announce the web address closer to Christmas.
In the meantime, the committee is having a fund-raising ham dinner buffet on Nov 2 from 4:30 P.M. at St. Patrick’s Hall at a cost of $14.00 per person.