www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, September 2, 2016 | 4 High school reunion continues to grow each year by Julia Le Oakville Beaver Staff It began with a small get-together at the Old Riverside Tavern on Sixteen Mile Creek more than 17 years ago. A handful of friends from Oakville Trafalgar (OT) and T.A. Blakelock (TAB) high schools met over drinks at that tavern place that no longer exists today and reminisced about their fondest high school memories. Malcolm Malley, who graduated from OT in 1960, said it was such an enjoyable time plans started to form for when the group would meet next. Now, 18 years later, the reunion continues to be an annual tradition that has snowballed to include more than 100 people who graduated from OT and TAB from 1954 to 1965. This year's get together will be held at the pavillion in Coronation Park, 1426 Lakeshore Rd., on Wednesday, Sept. 7, rain or shine, from 1-5 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to bring refreshments and chairs. Malley, who now lives in Wasaga Beach, said in years past, the reunions were held in people's backyards, but had grown so large a bigger venue was needed. The reunion, he noted, is a chance to break out the old black and white photos and yearbooks from the days gone bye and meet with good friends to catch up on each other's lives. "Most of us are now in our 70s," said Malley, who moved to Newmarket in 1968 and then eventually to Wasaga Beach, but continues to call Oakville home. "It's great to turn the clock back and think of good times and your youth." Recalling some of his fondest memories growing up in Oakville as a teenager, he said there wasn't much you could do in the "boonies" back then so he and his friends often hung out in each other's barns along Upper Middle Road or drove around in the fields in an old car. They also retreated to Lofquist, an appliance store on Lakeshore Road that had a record bar in its basement that would play the latest rock and roll music. "Marion Nichols would be spinning the discs," he said, noting how she played all top hits from Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Lionel Richie and Fats Domino. Everytime he and his wife Janet Malley (nee: Badger), who attended TAB, have returned to Oakville for a visit, they can't help but point out where things used to be such as Loquist and the Gregory Theatre at Lakeshore and Trafalgar roads. He shared how Nichols attended one of the reunions when she was 100 years old, see Taking on p.5 Graduates from Oakville Trafalgar and T.A. Blakelock high schools from the 1950s and 1960s meet each year to reminisce about the past. In 2005, they gathered at graduate Ean Algar's home in Burlington. | submitted photo Dr. Marisa D'Angelo Dr. Shivani Saggar We offer full Family Dental Services in our new modern office in a calm and relaxing environment. We are a paperless office and use digital x-rays. We welcome kids, teens, adults and seniors. NEW PATIENTS are welcome and we will accommodate your dental emergencies. We will directly bill your insurance company and offer convenient evening and weekend appointments. 2525 Old Bronte Road, Suite #130 Palermo Professional Centre (ground floor) www.reflections-dental.ca 905-827-8700 Come by for the Long weekend and enjoy our Lunch & Dinner Specials. AyA Kitchens of oAKville 1195 north service roAd west Buy One entree Dish anD receive a 2nD entree Dish Not valid with any other offer. Expiry Sept 15/2016 $6.00 OFF 905.847.1522 ayaoakville.com Patio Now oPeN 376 Iroquois Shore Rd. Oakville Weekdays 11am-3am · Weekends 11am-4am 905.845.7937 halF price OFF Not valid with any other offer. Expiry Sept 15/2016 Buy One pita anD receive www.montfortrestaurants.com a 2nD pita