Hundreds attend Richland all-classes reunion

By SHAWN PIATEK
The Tribune-Democrat

July 05, 2008 11:13 pm

— Harold Bracken has witnessed the transformation of Richland Township during his 93 years.
When the 1935 graduate of Richland High School was a student, Richland was largely farm country. There were no four-lane roads, no retail centers and the high school was located in Geistown.
At the same time, Bracken, a Richland resident, said he hasn’t been inside the new, $40 million high school.
On Saturday, Bracken - the oldest Richland alum on hand - could swap very different stories with the school’s most recent graduates at the second Richland High School All-Classes Reunion at Windber Recreation Park.
“I got a lot of loving attention from friends I knew many years ago,” Bracken said of the event, which organizers said drew a crowd of about 1,200 graduates and family members.
“It was flattering, and it really makes you feel like people care about one another.”
Graduates attending the reunion came from all across the country, some traveling from as far away as Hawaii and Alaska. Keynote speaker Ron Machtley, class of 1966, was among those making a long trip, coming all the way from Rhode Island.
Machtley, president of Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., said he and his wife, Kati, visit the area frequently as they both have family residing here. In fact, Machtley, a former U.S. congressman, said he used to joke with U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, that Murtha received more votes than he did from his own family.
Being raised in the region and educated at Richland have been two keys to his success, Machtley said. He said he sees a lot of the same qualities in the five Bryant students who are from this region.
“Our teachers really imbued us with a lot of knowledge and civic pride,” Machtley said. “I think that’s why Johnstown is such a special place.”
The last all-classes reunion was held in 2005. It drew a crowd to Saturday’s event.
“I think what’s nice with an all-classes reunion is that the people you get to catch up with the people you knew who were behind you or ahead of you in school or were from the same neighborhood,” said Cindy Wentz McLaughlin, one of the event’s organizers.
“At a regular reunion, you only get to see that small group of people you graduated with.”
And organizers were pleased with the turnout. With the holiday weekend and heavy rain threatening the event, they were pleasantly surprised by the number in attendance.
“We were really worried about the weather earlier, but we’ve been lucky and it’s held off all afternoon,” said Marianne McGowan Nugent, an event organizer. “And of course we were up against the holiday and that helped in some cases, but we had other folks sending us their regrets due to travel plans.”

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