Bradshaw Graduates Gather for All-Class Reunion
By William Swett York News-Times Staff Writer
Reprinted from York News-Times
BRADSHAW — On Friday and Saturday nearly two hundred graduates of Bradshaw High School got together for an all-class reunion at the Bulldog Roadhouse and the York Country Club.
Arlene Wilson, who graduated from Bradshaw in 1979, said she was originally planning to hold an event in Bradshaw to celebrate her 45th anniversary.
But then she thought: why not just invite every class? That’s how the all-class reunion was born, which featured graduates from as long ago as 1945 and as recently as 1992.
Bradshaw’s school merged with Henderson’s in 1997-1998 to create the Heartland Community School District, which draws students from both Henderson and Bradshaw.
On Friday evening, graduates gathered at the Bulldog Roadhouse in Bradshaw for drinks. Then, many were up early on Saturday morning for golf before an evening packed with speakers, food, and dancing at the York Country Club. DJ Joey Moon, a resident of Las Vegas and Kearney, played 70s and 80s music.
While there is regularly an annual alumni banquet in Bradshaw that celebrates various years, Wilson hoped this celebration would bring a larger part of the school together.
The oldest alumnus at the reunion was Don Klute, who graduated from Bradshaw in 1945. The youngest alumni were Kevin Quiring And Bryan Mason from the class of 1992.
Willard Peterson, now a regular at York County Board meetings, once taught at Bradshaw for decades, starting in 1972. He attended the reunion, which featured graduates and staff.
Dick Berthold, who served as principal and superintendent of Bradshaw for 21 years, including when the school merged with Henderson, gave a speech on Saturday evening. The night before, outside the Bulldog Roadhouse, he described to the News-Times how the school ultimately decided to merge.
“It was a good decision,” he said. “We’ve always had good school boards and have had kids in mind.” In the last year before it merged, Berthold estimated that the whole K-12 school had less than 100 kids. He said at one point; they were only able to participate in sports because foreign exchange students were able to fill out the teams.
Spirits were high at the Bulldog Roadhouse on Friday evening as graduates from the period before the merge recalled their experiences at Bradshaw. “This is awesome — people that you haven’t seen for years,” Tom Luethje said.
