It has been 65 years since the Class of 1948 walked the hallowed halls of Flathead County High School, but to many alumni the memories of those school days are still crystal clear.

Francis Van Rinsum, born and raised in Somers, recalls smoking driftwood with his friends along the shore of Flathead Lake.

Shirley Morton Bertelsen still giggles as she recalls sneaking boys into the local movie theaters — she ushered at the Roxy, Liberty and Strand theaters for 50 cents a night.

“All the boys would come to the exit door and we let in about 20 of them. We did it every night,” she said with a laugh. “We might’ve given a little popcorn and candy away, too.”

Dorothy Gilder Stickney, the class salutatorian, remembered it wasn’t uncommon for kids to hitchhike to Lake Blaine to go roller-skating at an old lodge there.

And there was always fun to be had at the Silver Shadow dance club in Whitefish where teens could kick up their heels.

The memories flowed as many members of the Class of ’48 got together Wednesday in Kalispell. It’s wasn’t a full-blown reunion but rather a gathering of classmates who live in the Flathead Valley and were able to attend. 

Of the 153 graduates, 25 still live in the Flathead, according to Marvin Hobbs, who had a lead role in organizing the reunion along with Bertelsen, Van Rinsum, Stickney, Ted Van and Sylvia (Engstrom) Olson.

The Class of 1948 was Flathead High’s 50th graduating class and thus always has had a special status because the school’s Golden Jubilee was celebrated the year they graduated.

In the years following World War II, it was a glorious time to be a teenager in the Flathead.

“We lived in the best of times,” Bertelsen insisted. “We were the babies of the Depression Era, but I never felt I wanted for anything.”

Van Rinsum echoed that feeling: “We made our own fun.”  

Van readily agreed, too.

“We were all raised during the Depression,” Van said. “There was no food bank, no welfare; everybody worked, but no one considered themselves poor.”

Van recalled it took only one secretary — Mrs. MacDonald — to run the high school office.

“Hardly anyone locked their doors, and there weren’t any windows shot out,” Van said, referring to a recent rash of car vandalism in Kalispell. “There was strong discipline in the homes.”

But that didn’t mean there weren’t some good-natured practical jokes pulled now and again.

Van and Ritchey Ostrom (George Ostrom’s younger brother) went for a joy ride down the Kalispell Airport’s runway — with the police chief’s vehicle, which had been left idling in front of the airport office. The police car’s lights were flashing the entire way.

“We ran like hell,” Van said about what happened afterwards.

The daring duo didn’t get caught at the scene, but three days later the chief caught up with them. Placing his big hands on their shoulders, the chief said they’d need to spend some time in the holding room at the police station. So they lounged for a few hours, doing penance. They missed dinner but were let out later that night.

Not many students had their own cars in those days. Bertelsen remembers plenty of dates when she’d ride on the handlebars of her beau’s bicycle.

Norm’s News was the place to go for strawberry soda — and if you wanted to skip school you’d head to Norm’s to play pool in the back room.

Bertelsen recalled the time she and a couple of friends skipped school to sunbathe on top of the Kirpatrick Court motel. The bookkeeping teacher spotted them, and then it was off to Principal Flottman’s office and a stint in detention.

Detention was no punishment, though, Bertelsen confided. “We all had a heck of a good time,” she said.

The Class of 1948 had plenty of cliques. 

Van Rinsum, a farm kid, was one of the “Aggies.” Bertelsen’s clique, the PLICKDABS, named for the first letter in each girl’s name, even had its own song. Van remembered the “Dirty Dozen,” Kalispell’s eastside girls whose parents were among the town’s prominent businessmen.

Anton “Tony” Amundson, was one of the smart kids. He was class valedictorian.

“I studied hard,” he recalled. “I did a lot of homework.”

Amundson credited Flathead’s dedicated teachers with preparing students for successful futures. He helped build Hungry Horse Dam, then went on to help build the Anaconda aluminum plant in Columbia Falls and worked there for close to 30 years.

Van flew planes for Pan American starting in 1952. He flew for 38 years, retiring from United Airlines in 1986.

Van Rinsum is still driving a school bus in the Creston area, a job he has held for 53 years.

Hobbs owned the Dillon Hotel and later managed Kal-Mont Lumber Co. He has been involved with lots of reunion planning for his class and is known for his attention to detail. Hobbs’ yearbook is filled with sentiments, urging him to “remember our swell times” and calling him a swell guy.

Many alumni have contributed to their communities in so many ways, Hobbs said.

The reunion committee thought about who the most famous of their classmates have been. They came up with three: J.D. Coleman, who had successful careers in both the military and as an author; Larry Blake, the founding president of Flathead Valley Community College (after whom Blake Hall is named); and JoAn Baldwin Zalewski, a professional entertainer who lived in the Hollywood area for many years.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.