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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, May 5, 2016 | 6 Spotlight "Connected to your Community" | photos courtesy Roger Sanders At left, board of education Inspector R.K. Self presents Ontario Scholars awards to Richard Purdy, Vita Linkevicius and Roger Sanders in 1966. The graduates of the former Gordon E. Perdue High School in Oakville recently reassembled and took the same photo again -- 50 years later. The original appeared in the Daily Journal Record (pictured below). Gordon E. Perdue grads looking to host 50th reunion by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff A former Gordon E. Perdue High School student, who graduated in 1966, is attempting to touch base with his former classmates in hopes of organizing a 50th anniversary reunion. Oakville resident Roger Sanders began attending Perdue in 1963 after completing Grade 9 at T.A. Blakelock High School. At that time, Perdue had just opened at the southwest corner of Rebecca Street and Dorval Drive, but Sanders said he could already tell there was something special about it. "For a brand new school, it had a lot of spirit. Our teams did well. Our football team the `Perdue Panthers' did well, our basketball team did well," said Sanders. "It was a new type of high school in that prior to that, high schools in Ontario were essentially academic or technical or commercial. Perdue was all three. I remember it as being kind of like an experiment, which I think turned out very, very well." Sanders noted while some aspects of high school have remained the same, like school dances and drama clubs, other things have changed. The newspaper account and photo that accompanied it as a trio of students from the Class of 1966 graduated from the former Gordon E. Perdue High School in Oakville. For example, Sanders was the only male student in his typing class where students learned to type, not on computers, but typewriters. Another difference was if he was caught not paying attention, he could count on getting a whack on the arm with the yardstick the teacher always carried. Following graduation, the students of Perdue's Class of 1966 scattered to the four corners of the globe. Sanders attended Wilfrid Laurier University (then Waterloo Lutheran University) where he took economics and political science. He got a job with Unioil and later Pricewaterhousecoopers and eventually moved to England, where he and his family remained for around 30 years. He only recently returned to Oakville to be closer to his children and grandchildren. Sanders said the idea for a reunion came from a conversation with his best friend Richard Purdy, also a Perdue graduate, who now lives in Waterloo, Ont. During the exchange, the pair had wondered what had happened to classmate Vita Linkevicius. The three had been named Ontario Scholars in their graduating year and had been featured in a photo in the local Daily Journal Record in 1966. Sanders and Purdy soon learned Linkevicius had moved to British Columbia, but returned to Oakville now and then to visit her mother. Sanders went to Linkevicius' mother's home to enquire when his classmate would next return and was amazed to nd her visiting that day. Sanders, Purdy and Linkevicius arranged a get-together and not only caught up, but also retook the 1966 photo that had run in the paper. "It was great. We had a really nice morning together and brought each other up to speed see Trio on p.8 NEIL OLIVER Vice ­President and Group Publisher KELLY MONTAGUE Regional General Manager Volume 54 | Number 36 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington (905) 845-3824 Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. DANIEL BAIRD Director of Advertising ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor Editorial Department (905) 845-3824 Advertising Department (905) 845-3824 Classi ed Advertising (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095