Rock Bands, Doobies and Lemon Gin Memories at Grimsby High School Reunion

The 1970s were a time of long hair, bell bottom jeans, some of the best rock ‘n roll merchandise – and fond memories – for four ladies gathered at Grimsby High School on Saturday.

At “The Last Hurrah” school reunion that day, Sylvia Seregelyi and her sister Marg Seregelyi, along with their high school friends Annette Long and Maria Bonafiglia, browsed through old school yearbooks on display in the Years Room. 1970s from the second floor and finally found their photos in them.

The reunion was filled with laughter and memories of their carefree teenage days over 40 years ago.

It was a poignant day for the women, who along with countless other former staff and students make the journey to the 96-year-old school, which is at risk of closing as the District School Board of Niagara constructs the new West Niagara Consolidated High School.

While the other three still live in Grimsby, Marg Seregelyi has come all the way from Sudbury to say goodbye to her alma mater, of whom she still has such fond memories.

“We all hung out together,” she said. “We used to smoke cigarettes and doobies.”

The ladies also remember how, in the 1970s, some fairly well-known bands performed at their school: Ian Thomas, Max Webster and others.

“I have posters at home of when Max Webster played here,” Bonafiglia said.

Long said the girls would make a point of getting ready for concerts by consuming alcohol first, often lemon gin.

“We’ll get drunk first,” she said.

“We would walk it into the toilet tank,” Sylvia Seregelyi said.

For the latter, it wasn’t all fun and games: in grade 9, she said she was going through a difficult time and found that the school staff were always there to help her.

“I hated going to school, but the teachers were great,” she said. I loved Mr. Misener, the history teacher, and Mr. Gilbert, the math teacher. I also had a guidance counselor who was great: he went for walks with me and we talked.

Looking back, those days were full of vivid memories decades later, she said.

“We really had a lot of fun.”

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