Of the 20 kindergarteners who attended Woodland Park’s first kindergarten class in 1959-60, eight were among the 51 Woodland Park High School seniors who graduated in 1972.

Class of ’72 50th reunion schedule of events:

• Friday, July 29, 6-9 p.m., the 1972 graduates and their guests will meet at Rhapsody Bar, 121 W. Midland Ave., Woodland Park, for a meet and greet. The event will feature a video montage with 200+ photos from kindergarten through graduation; ’60s, ’70s and ’80s music will be provided by Moore Interactive DJ Services; and a special cocktail created by Rhapsody owner Erin O’Connell will be featured.
• Saturday, July 30, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., all WPHS graduates are invited to an all-class reunion in Memorial Park’s big pavilion. “All graduating classes are invited, but we especially invited the classes of 1982, 1992, 2002 and 2012 — all the 10s — to this event,” Beck said. “It’s nothing formal — just a meet and greet.”

“That was the biggest graduating class to that point,” Fredi (Hermann) Beck said.

The Woodland Park High School Class of 1972 yearbook photos.

Courtesy photo

Beck is visiting the area for the summer and is the chief planner for the WPHS Class of 1972’s 50th reunion. She was a member of that first kindergarten class, which was held in the former Faith Lutheran Church. “I think it was located where the (Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center) is located,” Beck said, adding, “A lot has changed since 1972.”

The Woodland Park High School Class of 1972 at its 25th reunion.

Courtesy photo

Beck’s father, Eric Hermann, served on the Woodland Park school board when the kindergarten was added. The kindergarten moved into the lower level of Ute Pass Cultural Center the following school year, allowing K-12 grades to be offered in a single building

“Our playground was where the Midland Pavilion is now — it was all gravel, then,” Beck said. “We used to ice skate on the tiny pond in City Park (Memorial Park), and they would light fires in the old chimney, which I’m happy to see is still there.”

Of the many historic events to touch the class through those years, two hit especially hard — the death of Eric V. Dickson in the Vietnam War and President John F. Kennedy’s assassination on Nov. 22, 1963. Dickson, who was killed in action on May 31, 1968, was the only Woodland Park/Teller County resident to die in Vietnam

“We were a K-12 school, we all knew each other, we all rode the bus together,” Beck said. “Eric was five or six years ahead of us, but we knew him. That was the first time the war hit us. We were in third grade when Kennedy was assassinated — that was the first time most of us noticed anything political.”

Death has not been a stranger to the class.

Yearbooks had classy covers 50 years ago as evidenced by this Woodland Park High School Class of 1972 yearbook cover.

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“As far as we can tell, we’ve lost six class members over the years,” Beck said. “We’ve been working hard to find all the graduates, but if we missed anyone, if someone didn’t get an invitation, if there was a death we don’t know about, please email me at classy5465@aol.com.”

Class of 1972 news items:

• The WPHS football team won a shutout game against Manzanola, 14-0. They lost nine games that year.
• Connie (Hammer) Carpenter and Scott Doud were class Homecoming King and Queen.
• Senior Class officers were Scott Doud, president; Dick Carpenter, vice president; LuAnn Solsvig, secretary; Babs White, marshal; and Daleen Tompkins, student council representative.
• Joe McKown kicked a field goal against Salida, the only points scored in a football game that was lost 3-64.
• Dick Carpenter, Dean Waters and Dave Brown, all of whom own businesses and raised their families in Woodland Park, along with Brian Lockwood, went to state in wrestling. That year, the wrestling team took first against Colorado Deaf and Blind at the Fountain tournaments, and fourth in the entire district.
• Three 1972 graduates recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversaries: Tracy and Julie (Hunt) Whitehead, and Ron and Rhonda (Mallett) Beug.
• Eight class of ’72 graduates completed grades 1-12 together: Diana Clark, Steve Derby, Connie Hammer, David Johnston, Fredi Hermann, Bob Regester, Christine Morris and Sandra Whittum.
• The Panther Clause was awarded Best School Newspaper in the state, and the award was accepted by Julie (Hunt) Whitehead, editor.
• The theme for the Junior-Senior Prom was “A Time for Us,” the Homecoming theme was “Autumn Mist,” and the graduation theme was “You are a Child of the Universe.”

The Woodland Park High School Class of 1972 in second grade with Mrs. Carty.

Courtesy photo