The Sir John Franklin Territorial High School's 30-year reunion is set to take place July 18 to 20. About 20 per cent of the approximately 101-student class is expected to attend. Part of the class is pictured here during their grad walk in 1984. Among the names Yellowknifer has been able to obtain are Dag Bergerson, on the boy's side from front, standing next to a man whose name is not known, Gord Mark, Bart Coumont and David Sutherland. On the girl's side from front, is a woman whose name is unknown standing next to Barb Richardson, Gina Mohr and Mary Adams. photo courtesy of Leslie Goit.

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It's been 30 years since Sir John Franklin's Class of 1984 walked across the stage, and while the approximate 101 graduates have scattered across the country, many will be coming together next weekend for their third high-school reunion.

Organizer Leslie Goit, who has largely remained in the city but dipped her toe in the "great down south," said each reunion has been illustrative of a different stage of life.

The 10-year reunion was about the family barbecue, she said, with most attendees wanting to show off their kids.

The 20-year, she said, was about spending quality time with adult friends and was "very, very social," - so social, in fact, a connection made at the reunion resulted in an eventual marriage.

The upcoming reunion, she said, will be a venue to figure out new hobbies and activities now that family commitments aren't as pressing.

"For all we know, we may have something we can share in our next set of years. A friend of mine does motorbiking and lives in B.C. ... well maybe I want to go visit her there and enjoy what she has to offer," said Goit.

The reunion is set to take place over two days, with a meet-and-greet at the school on Friday night, and festivities planned to coincide with Folk on the Rocks - the city's annual music festival marking its 34th anniversary this year - on Saturday.

"We can enjoy Folk on the Rocks as a backdrop to really enjoying spending time with each other," said Goit, explaining the group will have a table set up with memorabilia that will serve as a connection-point during the festival.

Although the city has grown over the three decades since Goit graduated, much has remained the same, she said.

"It was a pretty happenin' place," said Goit of Yellowknife in 1984.

"It had its urban feel by then and yet it was still a small town. (The Northern Arts and Cultural Centre) had just opened its doors, we had one of everything ... the bowling alley, the theatre ... in terms of lifestyle it was pretty much like today. We had an eclectic music scene happening ... Folk on the Rocks was just getting going. It was a fun town to live in."

Attendees are expected to arrive from Alberta, B.C., Halifax and Nunavut. In 1984, the school was called Sir John Franklin Territorial High School and was also attended by those who lived in Akaitcho Hall - the residential school building beside the high school, which closed in 1984 and was demolished in 2006.

"Many of my fellow graduates and classmates are from Nunavut ... I wouldn't doubt that 25 per cent of our grad class at least was from Nunavut," she said.

Although past reunions have garnered attendance from about 20 per cent of the graduates, this year, Goit says, it's looking like there will be fewer attendees. She said she thinks this is partially attributed to timing, but may also be because of social media.

"I can't rightly put my thumb on it other than the element of Facebook has really kept us together already, so there's no surprises," said Goit.

"It's taken that element out of what somebody's been involved with or done with their life and that sort of thing," she said, but added the social media site has simultaneously been good for planning events and keeping people in touch.

Overall, Goit said she just hopes to connect people with their memories.

"I consider reunions as that opportunity to come home and just enjoy your own memories of your hometown, and Yellowknife being such a stellar, stellar hometown, a wonderful place to grow up in, the joy I get from planning these reunions is that somebody can truly re-connect with their home," she said.

"It's just the opportunity to come home."

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