Standing on the gym floor where they met as Clarkston High students, a group of friends celebrated their 50th anniversary since meeting each other in 1955.
Carolann (Hutchinson) Reed, Nancy (Mossier) Gonzalez and Barbara (Stierstorfer) Cosner were joined by fellow classmate and best friend Victor Ison as they shared memories and noted how the area has changed since they graduated in 1959.
The women met on the first day of ninth grade in the gym while getting their schedules.
‘I didn’t know anyone besides my brothers and cousins,? said Gonzalez.
After meeting each other in the gym, the trio gained a reputation as being close friends and soon were known by many as ‘the three musketeers? because they were always together. The women credit math teacher Floyd Vincent with providing the nickname.
‘We were a small community, so we became close knit. We’d have sleepovers and birthday parties and other things,? said Reed.
The girls eventually became friends with Ison who knew Reed before high school from the school bus and the alphabetical seating charts teachers used while they were students.
Standing in the building, which has undergone renovation and became the community education center, the friends pointed out the difference in the school experience in Clarkston today.
‘It was better in 1959 because it was smaller and you had more personal relations? In the bigger schools today you can’t get to know your entire class. It’s more impersonal now because of the size,? said Reed.
‘We went through everything together in school, it was like family. I look at my children and they don’t have the same type of contact we had,? Reed said.
Ison said the graduating class of 1959 was approximately 103, resulting in a smaller teaching staff causing students to have the same teacher two or three times a day.
‘Instructors were very important and an integral part of your life. We had a close relationship with them,? he said.
The friends, who stayed in close contact, were all in each other’s weddings and have supported one another during funerals and other events.
Wearing sailor hats to the reunion in recognition of their senior trip to Washington D.C., they highlight the trip as one of their most memorable moments at Clarkston High School. The girls laughed as they recalled meeting sailors on the trip as teenagers.
While reminiscing, Ison said cars were very important in their youth, especially for the drive-in movie theaters. He and Reed also said Ted’s Restaurant on Woodward and the Big Boy on Dixie Highway and Silver Lake were key hang outs after school.
Gonzalez recalled going to ‘Jailhouse Rock,? one of the first Elvis movies in Clarkston, at a drive-in. She and Cosner said Gonzalez’s father went three times trying to get tickets. Reed said she did not go because she thought he was too wild, an opinion Cosner said many parents shared at the time.
While each of the friends have produced families of their own, the 50-year connection makes up an irreplaceable part of their lives.
‘I can’t imagine life without them,? said Reed.
‘It’s awesome we’re together after 50 years. It shows there is a lot of hope in the world,? said Ison.